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2 graphics cards?

 
 
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      19th Jan 2009
I have an Acer Aspire m3640, on the back it has a single vga at the bottom and then at the top of the pc it has another vga,an hdmi and a dvi ouput. I assumed this meant that it would someway possible to be able to run multiple displays. But up until not I can't seem to get anything out of any of the top outputs.

http://www.acer.co.th/backend/backof...55.html?id=655 thats the specs for the pc which looks like there is 2 graphics cards or something one which has the single vga the other which has the other 3 outputs.

I've been on the nvidia control panel and been through all the settings but it only seems to work for the card wiith the single vga, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or theres some software I need to get it to work. Help please.
 
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      19th Jan 2009
Hmm *Starts to scratch head*

Hi,

So you PC has three outputs - 2 VGA and 1 DVI ?

Once you hook up your Secondary Monitor did you checkd the Display Settings (Not the nVIDIA display settings) so Right click Desktop - Properties - Settings etc, do you then have the option to enable a secondary display ?

Let me know if you have any luck mate

Opps... Almost forgot, Welcome to the Forum

 
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      19th Jan 2009


Looks like you have your monitor running on the on-board graphics slot at the moment. To use the extra graphics card you will need to reset the Bios to enable this. As you start the pc keep on pressing the "Delete" key and you should be able to access Bios, make the change and carry on. Which version of Linux are you using ? Which extra graphics card do you have ?
You will only be able to use the on-board graphics OR the graphics card not both at the same time.

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      19th Jan 2009
Ah, That makes more sense, thanks for posting the Specs Ab

Oh Dear - sillly me, I've only just realised that your OS is Linux

 
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      19th Jan 2009
I'm not using linux my OS is vista, I have 4 outputs (2 vga's, one dvi and one hdmi) I'd prefer to be able to use to the top one as it has 3 outputs not a single output. How do I reset the Bios, I'm new to all this lol.
My old laptop was running dual screen but that was easy was just a case of display properties etc like you said but on this when I right click the display option isn't there only the Nvidio control thing
 
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      19th Jan 2009
Stupid me just had proper look behind the pc, seems the bottom card which I thought only had a single vga actually has a dvi output aswell which means I could of run multiple screens off the bottom card the whole time!
 
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      19th Jan 2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shane206
Stupid me just had proper look behind the pc, seems the bottom card which I thought only had a single vga actually has a dvi output aswell which means I could of run multiple screens off the bottom card the whole time!
No worries lol.

Hmm not quite sure where I got Lunix from - you can tell it's a Monday lol.

Off that card now, you can just hook up both monitors and have dual (use the display settings in Windows)

p.s. if your secondary Monitor is VGA, just buy yourself a VGA to DVI adaptor

Welcome to the world of Multi-Monitors

 
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Last edited by Nobody in particular; 19th Jan 2009 at 05:13 PM..
 
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      19th Jan 2009
Haha that's ok. Yer I know how to do it off that card same principle as my old laptop setup (laptop screen and 17" monitor). New plan is to run the 19" monitor off the vga and the 26" tv off the dvi (with dvi to hdmi adapter cable) one above the other (not sure which order yet) when on the pc mainly the 19" will just have itunes or something running but when I want to watch tv aswell then it will be used for msn and stuff.
 
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      19th Jan 2009
Glad it's worked out well in the end

Yeah, until people have used Multi Monitors, they don't realise how handy they are. I've been using Dual Monitors for a few years, then early last year, I upgraded my PC, so I bought myslef another Monitor. So now I have three 17"

 
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      19th Jan 2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nobody in particular
No worries lol.

Hmm not quite sure where I got Lunix from - you can tell it's a Monday lol.

Off that card now, you can just hook up both monitors and have dual (use the display settings in Windows)

p.s. if your secondary Monitor is VGA, just buy yourself a VGA to DVI adaptor

Welcome to the world of Multi-Monitors
Shane nver told us what os he used and you got the linux from the specs I posted from his link. So breath a sigh of relief as it was not the dreaded Monday blackout syndrome. Your safe for another week.

 

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