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May 29th, 2021 19:00
Dual Monitors
I will start this off by saying I am not a computer person at all. I just bought a Inspiron 3880 to work from home and can not get my dual monitors to work. One is a Dell E2016H and the other is a Dell P2014H. The computer has one VGA and one HDMI port. I can get both monitors to work with the VGA. But when I try to hook up the second with the HDMI cable it will not work. Neither one of the monitors has a HDMI port but have a Display port. I bought an display port to HDMI adapter today and can not get them both to work. I have gone to settings, display and selected detect and the computer can not detect a second monitor. I have Downloaded new driver tech support told me to did not work. I have switched the connections on the monitors with the same luck. I have selected the proper setting on the monitor with no luck. I am at a loss and don't know what to do
RoHe
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May 30th, 2021 11:00
Do you only have onboard Intel UHD Graphics or do you also have an add-in AMD or NVidia video card? If you have an add-in card, the first monitor has to be connected to the card.
Either way, connect both monitors to the PC and turn them on first. Then reboot and start tapping F2 to open BIOS setup. When it opens, find the Multi-Display option (see table 3) and Enable it. Then use the Primary Display option to choose which of the two will be the primary monitor.
Don't change anything else in BIOS setup, but be sure to save the changes and exit setup. The PC will reboot itself automatically when you exit setup. When you're back at the desktop, you can use Windows settings to make any additional configuration settings changes, if necessary.
BTW: Keep in mind some video adapters only work in one direction. So make sure the one you got is either bi-directional or is HDMI(PC)>DP(monitor) and not DP(PC)>HDMI(monitor).
PerdueAA
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June 1st, 2021 09:00
So I only have the onboard Intel UHD Graphics. I did as you suggested and entered the BIOS set up and the only option I had was for the primary display. There was not a Multi-Display option. The Video adapter is HDMI coming from the tower into a DisplayPort adapter into the monitor.
RoHe
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June 1st, 2021 11:00
Which Intel CPU do you have?
Were both monitors connected and turned on before you booted the PC and opened BIOS setup?
Did you confirm that your adapter is HDMI(PC)>DP(monitor) and not DP(PC)>HDMI(monitor)? You may not be able to use it in both directions.
If this monitor has its own On Screen Display (OSD), open it and make sure it's set to use DP because some monitors don't automatically detect and switch to use the correct input.
If all else fails, you could get a USB3>DP dongle for the 2nd monitor. Just make sure the dongle supports your version of Windows and the "recommended" (aka: "native" or "optimal") resolution of the monitor connected to the dongle.
RoHe
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June 1st, 2021 11:00
One more thing to try...
If both monitors were connected and turned on when you looked in BIOS setup for the Multi Display option, disconnect the HDMI cable from the PC, reboot and open BIOS setup again and look for the Multi Display option again...
dctobin
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June 3rd, 2021 18:00
Ron,
Your advice here is correct. I just bought an Inspiron 3880 along with two HDMI-in Dell monitors (S2721NX). 3880 has only one HDMI-out port, the other is VGA. I couldn't get both monitors to work. Bought a cheap VGA/HDMI connector on Amazon. Still didn't work. Even though my office tech who remoted in to my computer could see both screens, I could not. I thought it was the cable, so I bought another cheap one. Still no joy. Over an hour on the phone with Dell tech, no joy. Today I bought a VGA-out to HDMI-in connector (it requires power, via USB into the box). Now it works! So the VGA to HDMI has to be in the right direction, and powered.
thomas10291
1 Message
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October 25th, 2022 01:00
Because you have a widescreen that is very helpful to you, dual monitors are more beneficial than a single one. It can be used for a variety of activities. Because they are aware that a large screen is preferable to a small one, professionals frequently employ wide displays. How can you tell if your computer supports dual monitors? is a valid question. You will start by asking yourself this query. You can determine whether your computer supports a single monitor or two monitors in a straightforward manner.