Dell 3008WFP DVI-D re-occuring port failure for many users.

Sorry if this seems like a really dumb comment. I experienced a similar problem with my Dell 3008WFP.  However, it was only when I turned on the monitor AFTER I had turned on the computer.  If I turned on the monitor before the computer, it was fine. Otherwise no amount of tinkering would get the monitor to recognize the DVI.

Are you leaving the monitor on standby or switching it off?

Cheers

Matthew

Hi,

I have just had a similar problem - 3008WFP connected to an ATI Radeon HD3400 series card - worked fine yesterday but no amount of tweaking will make it work today.

However, I did get a response by reducing the resolution to 1920 x 1200.

Not that this is a solution as at the price of these things you expect full resolution.  It may a valuable clue however.

Let me know if this works.

Nick

Thanks for the responses and tips guys, but unfortunately the monitor will not play.

Cheers,
Ed.

Hi Ed

Thanks for posting this info, it's probably the most detailed description of this problem I've come across.

One of my DVI ports has also just failed with this issue (monitor stuck in power save once operating system switches out of VGA mode).

This appears to be quite common, a number of users reporting multiple returns after each of DVI-D1, DVI-D2 (and if used HDMI) progressively failing over time for a number of units.

Additional info and observations:

- I have the A02 revision

- The problem initially occurred with the (now broken) port connected to my Vista x64 machine, with Nvidia 8800GT and recent Nvidia drivers.

- The symptoms seem very similar to the common "EDID corruption" / "Stuck in power save" problems that seem to have plagued Nvidia/Dell a few years ago (google for either term to see what I mean). The EDID corruption issue affected a few other monitors beyond Dell. Dell released a tool, "DVI Recover" to fix the problems at the time, but this was later removed. This can still be obtained from other sources, but from what I've heard it doesn't solve our problem and can't fix extended EDID data.

- The system POST screen and initial windows load display through the port, but don't scale to full screen as they normally would. The definition of the content during this period is conspicuously blurry, apparently not a true 1:1 pixel mapping of 640x480, either offset or slightly scaled somehow. This leads me to believe the graphics card is only displaying content through the analogue pins of the DVI cable and failing as soon as it switches to trying to use a digital signal. This doesn't explain why the graphics card would choose to do this during POST when it appeared to be producing a digital output here prior to the problem, perhaps there's a fallback to the analogue pins for corrupt/invalid EDID during POST that isn't used by the operating systems/drivers.

- Booting in safe mode causes windows to display in the same manner as the POST screen

- I can confirm the port also stays in power save when connected to a Macbook Pro with 8600GT running OSX 10.5.6. Interestingly, with the 3008WFP set as a second monitor it stays in power save, but report it's presence, name and dimensions to the OSX display preferences utility.

See also:

- http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19241730.aspx

- http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19247098.aspx

- http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19244744/19380652.aspx

- http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17821634&page=11

- http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1089937.html

- http://komeil.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!11E09A8750032F2C!252.entry

- http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t83979.html

- http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:qWtw3t4r1y0J:download.microsoft.com/download/a/d/f/adf1347d-08dc-41a4-9084-623b1194d4b2/edid_over.docx+edid+windows+check&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

- http://forums.entechtaiwan.com/index.php?topic=6567.0

Rahim

I have also had the problem with the dell 3008 wfp.  I had the monitor less than a month and the DVI port one failed.  I got by on the second port.  Had the worse time getting through to dell but finally got a replacement.  A refurbished one.  I should of requested a new one but was happy to have a screen again.  Well, the problem happened again.  It got  replaced with another refurbished one.  It happened a third time.  I am now on my 4th monitor.  After the last incident, I requested a brand new one and insisted that it be shipped as I did not recieve a new monitor within my first replacement period.  This new one is going fine so far but it's only two week old.   There is definelty a probelm with this monitor with DVI ports going out. I did everything as stated above it the other posts but figured after trying my dell 2407, that it wasn't my video, drivers, OS or anything like that.  It was the monitor.  Could of saved me a lot of work.  Anyways, I have an AO2 revision as well.

Hopefully this new one will last.  I just fear that it will probably go out the day after warranty is up.  As I have stated before, there are others on an overclockers forum that have this monitor that have had the same issue.  Three others besides myself. 

Dell needs to look into this and figure out why this is happening.

so your on your 4th too.  You have more patience than me.  I paid to much for this monitor just to rig it to work.

I wrote a review of this monitor on it's sale page telling about this problem and dell did not let it get submitted.  Not a very truthful company as they censor their reviews to make them only look good.

I'm on my fourth monitor now and I think I have found a working solution.  Every 5-10 days my monitor still drops out on the DVI port I have been using.  What I do is plug in the analog connection to the 2nd DVI port on my video card (DVI to analog adapter) in addition to the DVI port on the monitor.  Using the NVidia control panel I setup the system to run multiple monitors.  At first the resolution on the digital is limited to 800x600 but given some time (and maybe a restart or two later) I can then adjust the resolution back to 2500x1600 and switch the digital to my primary display.  I normally unplug the analog connection at this point and wait until the DVI fails again before repeating.

Hope this works for others - I would still prefer a monitor that didn't do this at all!

I'm experiencing the exact same issue with my new 3008wfp.  I received it today and the problems began immediately--anytime my resolution changes, I need to go through a ridiculous routine involving plugging in a single-link DVI cable, switching the monitor's input, and then plugging the dual-link DVI cable back in.  Obviously, this makes it a blast to play games too old to run without switching to a lower resolution.  It's really upsetting that Dell apparently has no inclination to fix such a serious issue.

After reading this thread, I decided that I should shutdown my xps 200 and unplug the hdmi end of the cable from the back. And start up the computer without the cable. When my pc was booted up, I plugged the cable back in. However, I don't know if the issue will come back. My issue started when I updated driver for my hdmi VisionTek Raedon pro x1600 256mb video card. I was only able to use the new drivers once I disabled the ati hotkey poller service. This service was causing the new drivers to make the screen flash. I have "force TV detection enabled in Catlylist control center. If my power save issue returns, then I will going to try "Alternate DVI operational mode" and "reduce DVI frequence on high resoluiton displays in CCC. "Alternate DVI operational mode" is usually checked by default.

In short, before I fooled around with CCC, I had the power save problems only with hibernation; when I messed with many of the settings in CCC, I had it all the time. I also had the refresh rate set at 70 hrtz

My problem is somewhat different but probably related

- tested 5 units of 3008WFP (if I remember correctly some Rev A01 and some Rev A02) in Aug/Sept 2008

- all these 3008WFP units I have tested function just the same, since day one

- we have only Radeon HD 3850 / 256 MB cards with Windows XP SP3 English 32-bit

- connected with the supplied DVI cable to get 2560x1600 resolution

- experimenting with different driver versions has not shown any change

- experimenting with CCC settings has not removed the problem ("Reduce DVI frequency on high-resolution displays" or "Alternate DVI operational mode").

Problem description

- System post ok, windows starts, shows the progress indicator on screen (so far as it should)

- When the resolution should be changed to 2560x1600 (after the progress indicator reaches "100%"), the screen gets sometimes black and displays "no signal". This happens some days about 1/3 of all windows boots, sometimes only 1/15 boots (when rare it occurs only about once a week or so). In 6 months there has not been found any pattern here. But there has been a work around all the time: remove the DVI cable from Radeon, attach it again, and then it usually works immediately. If not, remove it again and on third time it should work. And this problem behaves exactly the same on both systems (Abit IP35 PRO / Q6600 / 4 GB / HD 3850/256 / XP Pro SP3 Eng).

- I have tested changing parameters in the Radeon related services, and disabling the "ATI Hotkey Poller" service to "manual" altered the situation so, that the removal of the cable did not help and the system needed to be shut down (press power switch shortly that leads to normal shutdown) and then started again (which works 100%).

- Using screen saver is not an option since the same about 1/10 of times the screen should awake from sleep it displays "no signal" and the cable needs to be detached and attached again.

Are there any updates or responses from Dell on this situation?  I was planning on ordering one last week but there was a warning of delayed delivery for some reason.  Today there seems to be no problem ordering.  I haven't seen recent reviews indicating the dvi trouble.

I spoke with an EVGA tech who is a friend of mine.  He says that NVIDIA knew about this problem a few driver revisions ago and has fixed the problem.  I would suggest you update to the latest driver to prevent this from occuring.

Here's the issue:

"Anyway, the research I did after that suggests that the issue is caused by the EDID in the monitor hardware being flashed/cleared by the video card when using the DVI port. Doing a google search for "fixing EDID on DVI" returns a fair amount of info, but no clear, or should I say simple, solution. Apparently the monitors EDID settings are not protected & are able to be changed by some video cards. Dell used to have an EDID fixer executable on the website, but all the links to it have been removed, so I was unable to try that. I think this issue affects other than Dell monitors also, so it's likely an industry problem & no one wants to take responsibility for resolving it. If anyone comes across a real solution, please let us all know."

I copied that from an email I recieved.  THe EDID of the monitor was getting altered by the NVIDIA driver.  I don't know which it was but does not seem to happen on the last few revisions.  So that's all I have, try updating your video card driver.  If your DVI port has gone out, then RMA and change the driver in safe mode before proceeding with the new monitor.  I don't know for sure that this is a fix, but it seems logical.

Do a Google search with "Dell DVI Recover utility". I found it that way (is the 1st web page presented as a result with that exact search), not that I would give the direct link or encourage to use it once you find it with Google – but after you have found it and downloaded, do a search with the filename (one of those found inside the zip file) and then you will find the instructions (that are not deleted) how to use it: one for nVidia and another for ATI cards.

I do not understand all the secrecy around this, but OTOH it is a DELL utility that everyone seems to be using in the end (no matter what brand of display!). I would also feel more comfortable if the files and info came directly from Dell.

Some weeks ago I switched to a DisplayPort card (FireMV 2260) and the problem has gone away.

AutoCAD causes whichever screen its displayed on to flash in and out of standby, but the screen always recovers without intervention.  I put this down to drivers.  I am running 2 off 3008 displays on a Fire MV2260 and 1 off 3007 display (DVI) from an ATI 1550 card in a Dell 2900 server running Windows Server 2003.  The half height PCIe x16 display cards are connected to the x8 and x4 PCI slots via ribbon cable adaptors.

With all that going on, its hardly surprising that the displays jump abouit a bit.

In Windows 7 beta, all three monitor go into standby regularly dusing software installs (perhaps something to do with UAC - always seams to happen just after a UAC warning screen) but always comes out again withiou a reboot.  I mention this as the Windows 7 (64 bit version) install went completely smoothly and loaded all the correct drivers, no CD's, no floppies, all very impresive and not what I am used to from Microsoft.  It even offered to get a driver from the ATI website and did so when I approved.

Anyway, back to the core topic - if the previous chaps fix does not work, you can always slip your cards on eBay and swap to DisplayPort cards.

Hope this helps

Hello!

I have the same problem!

DVI - Black Screen
HDI - Black Screen

VGA - Is working!

Did not find a solution

Regards

squalo