Connecting monitor to Laptop.

shoutman

Hey guys, i'm trying to connect a monitor to a laptop, I know you do it through the 15 pin video slot at the back of my laptop, however the monitor im wanting to connect doesnt have a cable that fits the 15 pin slot. Its a sony monitor taken from a HP desktop, and the cable used to connect from the monitor to the desktop looks the same at both ends if thats any help.

I know the info im giving you is kind of vague but if anyone knows what im taking about is it possible to get a cable that has a 15 pin connection on one side and will connect to the monitor on the other?

The model of the monitor is SDM-E96D

Thanks in advance.

Spocker

A quick google of the model number shows it has both DVI and D-Sub (the 15 pin one) on that monitor. Are the plugs on the cable you have white? - then thats the DVI connection. You should be able to pick up a D-Sub cable with that plug on both ends hady enough, Maplin, Peats, Adverts, etc etc....

shoutman

No the plugs are black.... any idea how much those connections are? Thanks for the help.

Spocker

7 yoyo's from Peats: http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/test_new/catalog.cgi?view_product=1&id=9020

shoutman

This is the cable that it uses at the moment...
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Spocker

Yup thats a DVI (the're nomally white). You'd be looking for the one in the Peats link above to connect to your lappie

shoutman

Cheers Spocker thanks for all the help.

shoutman

I got a DVI to 15pin converter plug so that I can plug that into the laptop and the dvi I to DVI cable ffrom the monitor into that plug, however it is not working. When PLugged in and I turn on the monitor it says no input signal and goes into power save mode. And in display properties on my laptop it says that the second monitor is not active. Have I left out a step or is the connection just not working properly?

Spocker

Have you set your laptop to output to the monitor connection. Depending on the model, it's usually Fn + Fx (where Fx is one of the function keys). There is normally 3 modes - laptop screen only (the default), monitor only and both....

shoutman

I think the problem is that the laptop cant find the external monitor in the display menu of the control panel a second monitor is not shown up and when i click attatched once I press apply it goes back to what it was before.... im thinking it might be a dodgy connection, ill try it on a different laptop later and see if itworks.
Thanks for the help.

shoutman

no use there either. I dont know what the problem is.

When I plugged out the monitor (which was in standby mode) the same message came up saying there was no input signal. So I am totally lost as to what the problem is. When I go into Control Panel -> Display -> Settings there is a drop down menu where it says display. I have the external monitor plugged out now and theres still the same two options,

1 Plug and play monitor: on mobile intel on 945 GM express family chipset
and
2 Default monitor: on mobile intel on 945 GM express family chipset

Even with the monitor plugged in its these same two options... any clues?

thanks again.

Spocker

shoutman wrote:

When I plugged out the monitor (which was in standby mode) the same message came up saying there was no input signal.

This is the monitor telling you there is no input signal and is expected behaviour. When the monitor is fully disconnected you will always get this message. When the monitor receives any kind of signal (which may not result in something on the display) the message will disappear.

shoutman wrote:

1 Plug and play monitor: on mobile intel on 945 GM express family chipset
and
2 Default monitor: on mobile intel on 945 GM express family chipset

These options have no relationship to a monitor being connected or not. I would suggest you get the latest drivers/software for the Intel card and then come back. Somewhere in that software (once it's installed and you have connected the monitor) will be the option to turn on both displays.

shoutman

updated the drivers but still no luck, my laptop runs with ATI mobility Radeon drivers, but still nothing. I've gone into device manager and searched for new hardware but the external monitor isnt coming up.... could it be that the monitor just isnt connected? ie. dodgy connection?

It says the input is DVI-D on the external monitor but there is still no input signal...

So the monitor is connected but the laptop just isnt reading it, could it just be the type of monitor it is?

Spocker

shoutman wrote:

mobile intel on 945 GM express family chipset

You said you were using an Intel chipset

mathias

You need to take a look at this ,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

In particular , pay attention to the pin outs , the crossed section on the side has c1 , c2 , c3 , c4 , which are the analog pins , ( VGA is analog ) ,If the DVI to 15 pin convertor you bought is going to work the cable has to have these pins , your cable in the photo does not have these , therefore you are not supplying any signal to the monitor , that DVI cable you have is DVI D only , you need a DVI-I or DVI- A type , or one that has those four connections mentioned earlier.

Your best bet is to buy the VGA cable mentioned in previous posts , a DVI-I cable would work too , along with the convertors you bought ,but only if the actual monitor connection has the analog pins.

In any case the VGA cable is likely to be the cheapest option.

shoutman

Spocker wrote:

You said you were using an Intel chipset

That was on the second laptop I tried.

shoutman

mathias wrote:

You need to take a look at this ,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

In particular , pay attention to the pin outs , the crossed section on the side has c1 , c2 , c3 , c4 , which are the analog pins , ( VGA is analog ) ,If the DVI to 15 pin convertor you bought is going to work the cable has to have these pins , your cable in the photo does not have these , therefore you are not supplying any signal to the monitor , that DVI cable you have is DVI D only , you need a DVI-I or DVI- A type , or one that has those four connections mentioned earlier.

Your best bet is to buy the VGA cable mentioned in previous posts , a DVI-I cable would work too , along with the convertors you bought ,but only if the actual monitor connection has the analog pins.

In any case the VGA cable is likely to be the cheapest option.

Cheers for that, I guess I should of just kept it simple and bought a whole new cable, ill go into town and exchange it tommorrow, thanks to both you guys for the replies.

shoutman

Cheers lads got the VGA cable and everything is working great.

Spocker

Good stuff.