Laptop to TV trouble?

WeirdoFreak

I had my laptop (Compaq Presario c300) hooked up to my T.V and few months ago and it was working grand.

But since I had to do a fresh install of XP, my laptop isn't recognizing the television when I connect the leads. I'm using S-Video lead like this.


I've been searching the net all day looking for answers but nothing seems to be working. I'm thinking I must be missing a driver or something. Any help is much appreciated.

Capt'n Midnight

you probably need to reinstall the video drivers check www.hp.com for drivers

WeirdoFreak

I used vga cables today, it sorted out the picture but no sound from the tele, only from my laptop.

I've tried hooking up the audio using this lead but still no sound. I don't know what's wrong, it used to work grand.

JonathanAnon

If the S-video cable worked before then I would persist with that. Assuming that the cable is still working, and the television is the same, then the only thing that has changed is your laptop... When you used it before did you use some key combination to switch from laptop to TV screen, or did you have to go in to some mode on the telly?

WeirdoFreak

JonathanAnon wrote: »

If the S-video cable worked before then I would persist with that. Assuming that the cable is still working, and the television is the same, then the only thing that has changed is your laptop... When you used it before did you use some key combination to switch from laptop to TV screen, or did you have to go in to some mode on the telly?

What happened is my laptop was on its last legs and me mate had the same laptop as mine, he gave me his because his hard-drive was gone, so I put my hard-drive into his laptop, I've only realised today that it's not the same model, just looks the same. So I've installed XP over Vista, don't know if that has anything to do with it.

JonathanAnon

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

so I put my hard-drive into his laptop, I've only realised today that it's not the same model, just looks the same.

Surprised that worked actually, as Windows XP disk usually wont boot with different hardware. First thing I would suggest is what Capt'n suggested above.. There may be a different video card on that laptop, and your copy of XP will not have this driver unless you have specifally installed it.

Is there a key combination that you need to hit to switch the laptop to use the s-video cable. I know when you are sending to external VGA cable there is usually a key stroke combination to accomplish this.

You will get the general idea from this article, but this does NOT specifically apply to your scenario.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2313125_connect-projector-laptop-computer.html

WeirdoFreak

Thanks, I'll have a look at it when I go home, so should I just try and download the video driver for the laptop I have now, or the video driver for my old laptop.

My old laptop was the Compaq Presario c300.
The one I'm using now is the Compaq Presario c500.

JonathanAnon

Compaq Presario C500
That's the link to the page on Compaqs website. If you can find the exact model number, you can get the drivers / manuals etc from this website.

WeirdoFreak

I'm getting very closing to giving up on this

What I can't understand is when I connect me s-video cable from laptop to tv and right click on my desktop and scroll down to graphic options, there's no output option appearing as it should:(

And usually when I connect a device to my laptop I do hear that little beep, the same sound you hear when connecting a usb stick etc. But nothing...

JonathanAnon

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

I'm getting very closing to giving up on this

What is the exact model.. The manual should be on that link I sent you, and it may help..

WeirdoFreak

Manufacturer: Hewlett-packard
Model: Presario c500 (gh961ea#abu)
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
CPU/Ram: 1.595 GHz / 1014 MB
Video Card: Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family
Sound Card: Conexant High Definition Audio-Venice 5045

JonathanAnon

Well I've ran a google search for gh961ea#abu and it appears that your model is actually Compaq Presario C550EM Notebook PC. Here's a link to the manual:
Compaq Presario C550EM

This is the part that relates to the s-video. Could it be this easy?

Capt'n Midnight

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

Video Card: Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family

If you haven't got the correct driver then you have not passed Go.
Make sure it's the one for the laptop you are currently using.

WeirdoFreak

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If you haven't got the correct driver then you have not passed Go.
Make sure it's the one for the laptop you are currently using.

When I go into my device manager under display adaptors, thats the one that shows up.

WeirdoFreak

Ok bringing this back to life lol.

I have Windows 7 installed, but when I go to the downloads page on hp.com they have no updates for windows 7 operating system, I must be missing the video driver so. Here's a link to the page. Windows 7 isn't in the list.

http://pcsupport.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=pcsupport&cdn=compute&tm=39&f=11&su=p284.9.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=3&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http://support.hp.com/

Fysh

From HP's website:

"If your operating system is not listed, HP does not have software or driver downloads available for this product in that operating system."

There's more information about HP products and Windows 7 here and here. The long and the short of it is, HP don't support your laptop on Windows 7 and thus won't provide drivers for it. So if it doesn't work, there's not a great deal you can do about it.

WeirdoFreak

Cheers I'll have a go at a few of them when I get home, it's not looking good though really:(

Fysh

The thing is, we still haven't figured out what was causing the problem so there's no way of knowing if the issues you're experiencing now are the same problem or a whole separate problem that may be trivially fixed.

In the context of your original problem, I'm still a bit unclear about what happened. My understanding of it is this:

• You originally had a Compaq Presario C300 with Windows XP, which you could connect to your TV using a 7-pin S-Video cable and get both audio & video on the TV.
• At some point you had unspecified problems with this, and ended up putting your original hard drive into a Compaq Presario C550EM chassis. At this point you discovered that you were no longer able to connect your TV using the old lead.
• In the new chassis you could connect to external displays with a VGA connector, but were unable to get sound to carry across to the TV.
• Installing Windows 7 has not changed this situation, in part due to HP's stated lack of official support for Windows 7 on your hardware.

Is all of this correct?

WeirdoFreak

Yep, that's it in a nutshell

Fysh

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

Yep, that's it in a nutshell

OK, that's useful. I know this is unlikely, but do you still have the chassis of your old laptop? The part number would be very useful here.

I suspect your problem is that your old hardware had a dedicated graphics chip, whereas your current hardware has integrated Intel graphics. The old hardware would thus have separate drivers that could handle an external display, whereas the integrated graphics do not as they are more limited in power.

That being said - if your current hardware also has an S-Video connector, there must be some way of using it...

WeirdoFreak

Fysh wrote: »

OK, that's useful. I know this is unlikely, but do you still have the chassis of your old laptop? The part number would be very useful here.

I still have my old laptop in the wardrobe at home, is the chassis number just the same as the serial number on the bottom. I'm at college now so will post it up later.

Fysh

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

I still have my old laptop in the wardrobe at home, is the chassis number just the same as the serial number on the bottom. I'm at college now so will post it up later.

Yeah, you should have a product name and a part number (listed as p/n) which should help us figure out what it is and what drivers it will have used.

WeirdoFreak

Was just at home there for me break.

p/n....... RT150EA#ABU
s/n....... CND6432GH3

Fysh

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

Was just at home there for me break.

p/n....... RT150EA#ABU
s/n....... CND6432GH3

Right, it looks like its a Compaq Presario C310EA - specifications here. So the graphics card may not be the key part, but instead the version of XP. Seems this model originally shipped with XP Media Centre Edition 2005.

What version of XP have you got installed at the minute? (Right-click on My Computer and select Properties to check)

WeirdoFreak

I haven't got XP installed on it anymore, I have Windows 7 Ultimate. XP was the original operating system that came with it.

JonathanAnon

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Internet+Devices&ProductLine=Netbooks&ProductProduct=Mobile+Intel%C2%AE+945GM+Express+Chipset+Family

There is a Windows 7 driver for that video chipset on the Intel page .. Can you install this?

WeirdoFreak

I downloaded and was able to install that software but still no joy.

Ok, Vista was the original operating system that came with this laptop, If I re-installed vista do you think that would make it work?

Fysh

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

Ok, Vista was the original operating system that came with this laptop, If I re-installed vista do you think that would make it work?

I wouldn't bet on it - I'd be surprised if Vista could do anything that 7 can't with the hardware, unless there was a very specific driver that's only available for Vista.

When you connect your external display via the S-Video lead, what are you doing to try and switch to the external display?

WeirdoFreak

When it did work I used to just plug it in, right click on the desktop, go to output to and pick T.V.

I've tried a good few other ways, going into control panel, connect to external device, but there's no option to connect to the t.v. with s-video only vga. Computer isn't recognizing t.v. went connected up.

JonathanAnon

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows7/Connect-your-computer-to-a-TV

Instructions from Microsoft for Windows 7:

To connect your computer to a TV, your computer needs to have an output port that matches one of the input ports on your TV.


After you have the right cable, follow these steps to connect your computer to your TV:

1.Turn off your computer and position it within easy reach of your TV. Disconnect the monitor, but leave the mouse and keyboard connected.
2. Connect the appropriate video cable from your computer's output to your TV.
3. Turn on your TV and set it to the input that matches the output on your computer. You might need to refer to the user's guide included with your TV for instructions on how to do this.
4. Turn on your computer. You should see Windows displayed on your TV. If the screen looks stretched, or part of the screen seems cut off, you probably need to adjust the screen resolution in Windows. For more information, see Getting the best display on your monitor. If you can't see Windows on your TV, you might need to reconnect the computer to your monitor and adjust the screen resolution before you connect to your TV.

WeirdoFreak

So the cable I have won't work, s-video to rca. I'll need s-video to s-video.

The thing is I have a vga cable from my desktop that I've tried and that works for the picture but have no sound. Sound is only coming from the laptop speakers.

Fysh

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

So the cable I have won't work, s-video to rca. I'll need s-video to s-video.

The thing is I have a vga cable from my desktop that I've tried and that works for the picture but have no sound. Sound is only coming from the laptop speakers.

Yeah, VGA is video-only.

Depending on your S-Video connector you may be able to get sound out as well as video - strictly speaking S-video is video-only, but it's possible your laptop has a non-standard implementation.

You could get a 3.5mm male-to-male lead and use that to connect laptop headphone jack to the TV, along with the VGA cable. More cables, I know, but it'll work.

Alternatively maybe spend a while rooting through the manuals for your old laptop? There might be something useful in there about using S-Video to connect up to a TV.

WeirdoFreak

Fysh wrote: »

You could get a 3.5mm male-to-male lead and use that to connect laptop headphone jack to the TV, along with the VGA cable. More cables, I know, but it'll work.

I tried that already but strangely enough still no sound.

I'll have another mess around with it later.

Fysh

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

I tried that already but strangely enough still no sound.

I'll have another mess around with it later.

If a 3.5mm cable from laptop to tv isn't giving you sound through the TV, it's most likely on the TV side of things. Check the TV manufacturer manual to see if there's anything unusual going on there.

colinod0806

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

I used vga cables today, it sorted out the picture but no sound from the tele, only from my laptop.

I've tried hooking up the audio using this lead but still no sound. I don't know what's wrong, it used to work grand.

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

I tried that already but strangely enough still no sound.

I'll have another mess around with it later.

if this is the lead you used for sound its not the right one.you need the 3.5 male to male lead.there should be an input for it somewhere near the vga input