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223784
DisplayPort, Auto-detect, & Windows 7
I've been using a Dell u2410 for a few years now and I love it. Recently however I've started using DisplayPort in a multi-monitor configuration, and every time I go to a different input on my main monitor for something like a gaming console for example, Windows will assume the monitor has been unplugged and jam all of the windows I had open onto the other remaining monitor. It even goes so far as to move around stuff that's just hanging out on my second monitor that should have no reason to move.
There have been multiple threads and discussions about this problem, with seemingly no suitable response. So I'm here looking to see if there's anything that can be done.
Is there some type of setup I can do with the monitor so it doesn't utilize the autodetect functionality of the DisplayPort and HDMI connections? Is there an option or setting for it? If not, why?
There must surely be some way to overcome this horrible problem. Perhaps some custom-made software to disable the autodetect on the Windows end of things? Some simple hardware hack I could perform on the monitor? I know some people have successfully bypassed this issue by modifying their cable to remove the one lead that makes this "feature" function. I'd rather avoid that at all costs, and to be honest it seems like a fairly bogus solution to a problem that shouldn't exist.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I know there are tons of other people out there with this similar issue.
In summary: Using the DisplayPort connection on my monitor in a multi-display setup makes it so that I can't power down my monitor or change inputs without my entire desktop being completely rearranged in a horrible mess. This is extremely problematic since I always need to keep a large number of things open in specific locations, especially on my secondary monitor which I keep always on so I can constantly, well, monitor a great many things.
There needs to be a solution to this other than using a different connection type or physically modifying the cable.
Thanks.
gurrhack
1 Message
1
April 24th, 2015 16:00
I think it's safe to say that Microsoft will not fix this issue, considering you can find questions like these from 5 years ago without any satisfactory answer.
I experienced the same problem with my new Dell display and it annoyed me to the point where I wrote my own utility that will restore applications to their original positions and sizes when all my monitors are turned back on. So it's not a real solution, but a workaround that works for me.
You can find the source and binary here: github.com/.../RestoreWindows
Try it out and let me know if it works for you or not.
DonGateley
16 Posts
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April 12th, 2013 01:00
This is Microsoft protecting Media companies by inhibiting the cable swap-in of devices which could record the digital data stream that the system believes it is sending to a monitor. As yet it remains undefeated and Microsoft does not respond to inquiry or acknowledge the issue. I knew it was an issue with HDMI but this is the first I've heard that it also afflicts DisplayPort.
If you are running fully updated Windows 7 or 8 and this is happening on your monitor when you switch sources within it then the monitor has a flawed design. I had a Samsung T260HD and now a Dell U3014 monitor each with multiple sources and all is well when I switch among them internally but if I try to use an external switch (HDMI in my case) the problem you describe shows up with no known (based on considerable research) way to overcome it .
SolidSnake3035
2 Posts
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April 13th, 2013 12:00
I'm not sure that it's entirely because of DRM/piracy. It's supposedly so if you lose access to a screen with windows on it you won't lose them in the empty space or something. Probably a bunch of stupid reasons for the regular users who don't know anything. I don't know if the monitor has a flawed design, or if it's just adhering to the "functionality" of DisplayPort and Windows. Are you saying you have a multi-display setup, or only one, and when you switch back to it everything is okay? Because it's only in the multi-display environment where this becomes an issue, because Windows says "oh there's no screen space there anymore, let's jam all of this stuff over to the remaining monitor, and while we're at it lets move the stuff that's sitting peacefully over there too!". It's really quite . I was hoping that perhaps my monitor would have a feature to ignore the signal from the data stream on the cable, which basically does nothing other than this. If not that, I'd imagine there's some registry entry that could be adjusted or some custom made program to intercept the signals and stop Windows from doing what it does in these situations. To have it basically just act as any regular analogue or DVI port.
DonGateley
16 Posts
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April 13th, 2013 22:00
Yes, On my U3014 I have my extended Windows display on the HDMI port and if I internally switch using the monitor's control panel to the DVI-D, where I attach the output of an HDMI switch (with several inputs) via an adapter, and switch back to the HDMI nothing has changed on the Windows extended display.
On my previous Samsung T260 there were several HDMI inputs and I could switch among them with the monitor's remote and nothing changed on my Windows extended display when I switched back to it. What does not work is bringing the extended display in via an external HDMI switch with other inputs. Switching among those inputs causes the Windows extended display contents to collapse to the primary display.
This is all about HDCP so I would expect the DisplayPort, which shares the same protection protocol, to have the same properties as the HDMI in this regard. In brief it is the monitor itself, not the port, that negotiates the HDCP protocol and contains the key so as long as Windows remains connected to that monitor nothing needs to be re-negotiated and Windows never knows about the internal switching.
If you have a monitor with multiple inputs and using the monitor's control you switch among them and that causes the Windows extended display to collapse to the primary display then the monitor design is flawed and not handling HDCP correctly. So long as the switching is done within the monitor itself, the Windows extended display should not collapse.
Hope that helps.
DonGateley
16 Posts
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April 13th, 2013 22:00
I forgot, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to Windows that anyone has disclosed which can overcome this. Whenever Windows has to re-negotiate the HDCP protocol, it reports disconnect and causes the collapse. If you can figure out how to defeat that there are a lot of people interested. If the term HDCP is not known to you Wikipedia has a good section on it, what it does and what it's for. Simply put, it's for media protection.
DonGateley
16 Posts
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April 24th, 2015 18:00
Oops. I find that it doesn't restore my desktop icons, just the windows. I have another solution for that so I can get by but could that be added to your utility?
DonGateley
16 Posts
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April 24th, 2015 18:00
Thank you, gurrhack. It works perfectly on my DisplayPort monitor connected through a USB adapter!
Now I can power it down at night without loss of context.