8 Posts
0
789
Problem with multiple displays on Precision 7760 through WD19DCS Dock
I have a Dell Precision 7760 Laptop with a Dell WD19DCS dock and three Dell monitors:
- Dell U2415 Display DP to Dock DP (1920x1080 Landscape)
- Dell U2415 Display DP to Dock DP (1920x1080 Landscape)
- Dell U3818DW Display USBC to Dock USBC (3840x1600 Landscape main display)
I usually leave the laptop closed and shutdown nightly and boot using the dock button on weekday mornings. I've been using this hardware (and layout) since Jan 2021.
Last week (Jan 12, 2023), after a teams update and reboot, one of the U2415 Displays would not come out of power save mode and windows doesn't see the monitor.
I found that the only way to get all the monitors to work is to open the laptop and keep it open. If I close the laptop, the monitor goes back into power save. The other two external monitors work fine.
The 7760 has two display adapters (Intel & NVIDIA) the only thing I can think of is that either an update was applied to Teams or a policy change was applied that cause a configuration change, but I can't seem to figure out what change cause the monitor to stop working the way it was.
The Display layout looks like this with the laptop open Multiple displays (Extend desktop …):
1 - Dell Precision 7760 Laptop (1920x1080 Landscape)
with Display Adapters (Intel UHD Graphics and NVIDIA T1200 Laptop GPU)
Dell WD19DCS Dock
3 - Dell U2415 Display DP to Dock (1920x1080 Landscape)
4 - Dell U2415 Display DP to Dock (1920x1080 Landscape)
2 - Dell U3818DW Display USB-C to Dock (3840x1600 Landscape main display)
If I close the laptop the layout changes to this:
3 - Dell Precision 7760 Laptop (I'm not sure but this may be the dimmed 3 display)
2 - Dell U2415 Display (was display 3 above)
X - Dell U2415 Display (was display 4 above, but now in power save)
1 - Dell U3818DW Display (was display 2 above, but now display 1)
Could the configuration have changed from using the NVIDIA display adapter to using the Intel Adapter? I'm not sure how to tell which adapter is in use when the laptop is open or closed.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Alan
P.S. One change I noticed is that before this problem, all three monitors displayed the DELL logo on booting. Now the two side monitors (the U2415 monitors) display a message on boot about how the monitors support 1920x1080 and that whatever the dock is sending it isn't the right format for the two U2415 monitors).
ewongsmx
176 Posts
1
January 18th, 2023 16:00
It sounds like there may have been a change in the way your computer is handling the display settings when it is connected to the dock. It is possible that the configuration changed from using the NVIDIA display adapter to using the Intel adapter, or that there was a change in the settings for the displays on the dock itself.
One thing you can try is to check the display settings in the NVIDIA control panel and ensure that the correct display adapter is being used for the external monitors. You can also check the settings in the BIOS to see if there are any options related to the display adapters and external monitors.
Another thing you can try is to check the firmware of the WD19DCS dock, and see if there is any update available, and if it's not the latest version, update it and see if the problem persist.
Additionally, you can try to disconnect the dock and all the monitors, then reconnect them, and see if that resolves the issue.
Lastly, you can contact Dell technical support for further assistance, they can check the system's configuration and see if any other troubleshooting steps can be taken.
kae36
8 Posts
0
January 19th, 2023 13:00
The fix was ridiculously simple (computer support remotely connected and fixed it for me), but it was really close to what @ewongsmx was suggesting. I was kind of embarrassed, although I had tried what they did, just not in the same sequence.
Like magic it started working. Even when I close and reopen the laptop it still works, so I guess the configuration got messed up and now it's fixed.
Thanks for all the ideas and help.
ewongsmx
176 Posts
1
January 19th, 2023 14:00
I'm glad to hear that the issue was resolved and the solution was simple. Power cycling the dock and changing the "Multiple displays" option to "Extend desktop to this display" can sometimes resolve issues with external monitors not working properly. It's understandable that you may have been embarrassed about the solution being simple, but it's important to remember that troubleshooting can be a process of elimination and that sometimes the solution may not be immediately obvious. Additionally, it's very common that the problem is not just one thing, but the sequence of actions that fix the problem. Thanks for sharing your experience and appreciate the help you got.