Turning off displayport monitor resets desktop

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rockdude14

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 28, 2003
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I got a HD 7950 so I could use three displays. So I have to use displayport on one of my monitors.

The problem is when I turn that monitor off it acts as though I have disabled that display and makes the other monitor the primary and moves all my screens and changes their sizes. Its a general pain in the ass.

Is there any way to get this to stop happening?
Thanks
 
I have run into the same problem, and spent many hours poring over forum threads and TechNet discussions.

The conclusion I came to is: nope. :(

(Fake edit: if your monitor has a feature to keep source detection active all the time, like the HP ZRxxW series that I have, turn that on and Windows won't detect the monitor as having been turned off.)

(Fake edit 2: it has been suggested that removing the "hot plug detection" pin prevents this behavior, but the suggestion referred to HDMI cables. DP connectors have such smaller pins that I don't even consider this a viable option unless you have supernatural dexterity. It's also not been confirmed that it even works with DP cables.)
 
Do you have anything that shows what pins need to be either covered or removed? I wouldnt mind buying a new cable to give this a shot.

I have an Asus PA246Q but I dont see anything about keeping source detection active all the time but I'll keep looking.

Thanks
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort

Pinout is on the righthand column, pin 18 is what you seek. Also, tell me if it even works. I tried a sliver of masking tape to do it nondestructively, but no dice (it was way too small of a connector).

If you want to investigate further, search for "hotplug autodetect".
 
Re: the pin "block" idea.

Instead of trying to get in on the connector, which is tiny, sacrifice a cable. Actually, it'll take two. Cut one in half, and strip all the individual wires. Find out which wire corresponds with the desired pin (number 18, above).

Now that you know which wire is attached to pin 18, take your OTHER cable, cut open the exterior sheathing, find the wire you're interested in stopping, and cut it.

Let us know if that works.
 
c3k said:
Re: the pin "block" idea.

Instead of trying to get in on the connector, which is tiny, sacrifice a cable. Actually, it'll take two. Cut one in half, and strip all the individual wires. Find out which wire corresponds with the desired pin (number 18, above).

Now that you know which wire is attached to pin 18, take your OTHER cable, cut open the exterior sheathing, find the wire you're interested in stopping, and cut it.

Let us know if that works.
Click to expand...

You don't cut the wire in half, just strip the shielding, find the wire, and cut that one wire.
Ohm meter with continuity is all you would need.

And both of my cards do it as well, 5850 and 6950.
I run 1920x1080x3 so everything shifts back to normal most of the time, some gadgets sometimes need to be rearranged though.

Be nice if there was a registry setting for this, and just turn it off.
 
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For what it's worth, I contacted AMD about this a while ago and they said that the professional drivers have a way to turn off this feature, so it's totally possible. I never followed up for more info, though (I'm not using 3 monitors, so I didn't need to use DisplayPort). Guess we just need people to petition AMD/Nv to add that override to their consumer drivers too.
 
Anyone know if there's a solution to this issue yet?

It's complete bullshit that Microsoft hasn't addressed this "feature" in over two years.
 
It's becoming incredibly difficult to use my main monitor for multiple devices, when any time I switch, all of the windows that I use constantly on my second monitor, get completely moved and re-sized.

There must surely be some sort of simple program or custom driver patch that could resolve this problem?
 
My solution is to disable power saving, aka "turn off the monitor after x minutes". I set the "Turn off the display" to Never. The only time I see a disconnect, is if power savings goes into effect, and I have powered off a monitor. Otherwise I have been fine, running three dsplayport connected u2211h monitors since my 5870x6 card. This applies to a newer 7970 I now use.
 
deep-cover said:
My solution is to disable power saving, aka "turn off the monitor after x minutes". I set the "Turn off the display" to Never. The only time I see a disconnect, is if power savings goes into effect, and I have powered off a monitor. Otherwise I have been fine, running three dsplayport connected u2211h monitors since my 5870x6 card. This applies to a newer 7970 I now use.
Click to expand...

But I frequently need to use my main monitor for other devices, and upon switching back, everything gets screwed.
Never mind if I want to turn off my monitors while I'm not sitting at my computer.
 
Really surprised that someone wouldn't have made a patch for this somehow. Especially since there are supposedly some type of pro drivers that let you do it?
 
Zepher said:
You don't cut the wire in half, just strip the shielding, find the wire, and cut that one wire.
Ohm meter with continuity is all you would need.
Click to expand...

This. You cannot solder or clamp two DiplayPort cables together like a decades old serial cable. You have to maintain proper line impedances and shielding across the signal lines, after all this is a multi-gigabit transmission.
 
I ran into so many stupid little issues trying to use Displayport I simply went back to Dual-Link DVI. Instantly, all problems disappeared.
 
djsb said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort

Pinout is on the righthand column, pin 18 is what you seek. Also, tell me if it even works. I tried a sliver of masking tape to do it nondestructively, but no dice (it was way too small of a connector).

If you want to investigate further, search for "hotplug autodetect".
Click to expand...
Apologies for the bump but I just read this...

Anyway, I successfully insulated pin 18 of my DisplayPort cable (via electrical tape and a very steady hand and the right tools) connecting to my 4K monitor but when you do that the monitor does not get recognized by Windows and thus this approach does not work...I take the tape off and the monitor is recognized but the original problems persists.

I just went back to the work around of not letting Windows power down my monitors.

As for the folks who bounce between different sources, I have no work around.

Please post if someone has a solution or a better work around.

Regards,
Rob
 
There's STILL no solution for this? i've been dealing with this headache for over a year and i simply can't bare this nonsense crappery anymore. it's seriously pissing me off, i've been on the edge of smashing something into bits.
it's been years, i'd guess there's a solution, but anywhere i go, i see that those threads have just been abondoned without hope.
also i have nvidia card and not amd. using a 4k monitor and i can confirm that blocking pin 18 in displayport cable will NOT help. It just stops recognizing my monitor, it thinks i plugged in a normal 1080p monitor and nothing works properly, yet if i turn the monitor off with power button, it still messed up my icons. so pin 18 is a no go with 4k monitors on displayport.

furthermore i cant use hdmi as my 4k monitor supports 60fps only over displayport. hdmi will give it 30fps only.
please someone say there's a fix ..
 
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