![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Hello,
I am having an issue where I am not able to set my monitor's native resolution. I have searched everywhere for a solution but couldn't find one, so I have resorted to writing a forum post to see if someone knows a solution or could help me diagnose the problem. Sorry if the post is a bit long but I'm trying to provide as much info as possible so I wouldn't have to write it later.
Anyway, here is the problem:
I have a Samsung T220 monitor that I connect to my Gateway P-7811FX laptop with a VGA cable, and recently it stopped letting me set the monitor's native resolution of 1680x1050.
That resolution is missing from the list in both the Nvidia control panel and the display settings in windows - it shows resolutions like 1600x1024 and 1600x1200, but doesn't have the one I need. Setting it as a custom resolution doesn't work either.
I am using the latest Nvidia driver for my card and have tried an older one (from February 09) as well. When I tried the old driver, it didn't work for a couple of days but magically started working on Christmas. So today I tried updating to the latest driver again (hoping the problem had been resolved) and am now stuck with the old problem again.
I could trying rolling back to the old drivers but since this problem appears to occur randomly (it didn't work on those drivers at first), I'm not sure that that's the issue. I would also like to use new drivers instead of being stuck with old ones.
Installing monitor drivers from Samsung's website didn't help either. Before that I've been using Windows' default driver, with which it worked perfectly before.
The problem started a couple of weeks ago for no reason that I am aware of. It worked fine for months on my Windows 7 RC operating system. Then the res just disappeared from the list. I bought Windows 7 Professional a week ago and did a clean install, but it had the same problem.
I would like some help in figuring out where the problem lies, or at least what can be ruled out:
- do the monitor drivers (both the default and Samsung's) not have that resolution?
- do Nvidia's display drivers not support the resolution, or is there some other issue with their drivers?
- could it be some other software issue, like a recent Windows update?
- is the monitor broken? It doesn't seem to be as it shows the right resolution on my desktop PC.
- is there a problem with the DVI cable? I have tried another and the problem persisted so probably not.
- could the DVI port on my laptop be broken, not allowing the monitor to send info about the resolutions it supports?
It would also be nice if someone could explain what determines the list of supported resolutions. Does the monitor tell the computer of it's native resolution when you plug it in? Or is it the monitor driver, the display driver, or a combination of both?
Figuring out what hardware/software is causing the problem would tell me who I would need to contact for support, if no solution is found here.
Thanks in advance!
I am having an issue where I am not able to set my monitor's native resolution. I have searched everywhere for a solution but couldn't find one, so I have resorted to writing a forum post to see if someone knows a solution or could help me diagnose the problem. Sorry if the post is a bit long but I'm trying to provide as much info as possible so I wouldn't have to write it later.
Anyway, here is the problem:
I have a Samsung T220 monitor that I connect to my Gateway P-7811FX laptop with a VGA cable, and recently it stopped letting me set the monitor's native resolution of 1680x1050.
That resolution is missing from the list in both the Nvidia control panel and the display settings in windows - it shows resolutions like 1600x1024 and 1600x1200, but doesn't have the one I need. Setting it as a custom resolution doesn't work either.
I am using the latest Nvidia driver for my card and have tried an older one (from February 09) as well. When I tried the old driver, it didn't work for a couple of days but magically started working on Christmas. So today I tried updating to the latest driver again (hoping the problem had been resolved) and am now stuck with the old problem again.
I could trying rolling back to the old drivers but since this problem appears to occur randomly (it didn't work on those drivers at first), I'm not sure that that's the issue. I would also like to use new drivers instead of being stuck with old ones.
Installing monitor drivers from Samsung's website didn't help either. Before that I've been using Windows' default driver, with which it worked perfectly before.
The problem started a couple of weeks ago for no reason that I am aware of. It worked fine for months on my Windows 7 RC operating system. Then the res just disappeared from the list. I bought Windows 7 Professional a week ago and did a clean install, but it had the same problem.
I would like some help in figuring out where the problem lies, or at least what can be ruled out:
- do the monitor drivers (both the default and Samsung's) not have that resolution?
- do Nvidia's display drivers not support the resolution, or is there some other issue with their drivers?
- could it be some other software issue, like a recent Windows update?
- is the monitor broken? It doesn't seem to be as it shows the right resolution on my desktop PC.
- is there a problem with the DVI cable? I have tried another and the problem persisted so probably not.
- could the DVI port on my laptop be broken, not allowing the monitor to send info about the resolutions it supports?
It would also be nice if someone could explain what determines the list of supported resolutions. Does the monitor tell the computer of it's native resolution when you plug it in? Or is it the monitor driver, the display driver, or a combination of both?
Figuring out what hardware/software is causing the problem would tell me who I would need to contact for support, if no solution is found here.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited: