Computer Experts - Monitor Issue

[D_W]

I generally work my day job with two PCs when working from home. Both are laptops. I use one laptop for work connectivity and the other is open only if I am streaming audio or something - dumb story, i guess, but I don't like it when the media is accessible in front of me - it's distracting, so the second PC is just streaming audio for bluetooth.

Thanks to advancing age and the desire to compare documents, I bought a large flat panel monitor last week. the monitor is physically connected via HDMI and works fine. I don't use two screens, just configure the monitor as the second screen.

Here's the setup:
1) main laptop in front of me, connected to new monitor, new monitor is second monitor setup on laptop (not using two screens at once). HDMI connection
2) old laptop for streaming is behind me on a separate table. open, but so that I can see it/be distracted or be encouraged to change the media often.

For a couple of days, this worked well.

Yesterday, for some reason, every time I open the old laptop (#2) the connected monitor above (#1) goes black and will not display anything. I have to unplug it to get to the laptop screen.

if I close laptop 2, disconnect the HDMI cable on laptop 1 and reconnect it, it works properly again.

.....until I open laptop 2, and then the monitor connected to laptop 1 again disconnects.

I couldn't believe that this wasn't a coincidence so I did it a half dozen times throughout the day while sitting in numbing silence in my home office. Every time.

how could this be the case? I don't see the second monitor auto detected as a device anywhere on PC 2.

I suppose I have enough old phones that I can open one and use it as a podcast audio device, it's just less convenient to navigate through.

 

[graham88]

Just to clarify. The monitor is connected to laptop 1. You open laptop 2 which has no connection to the monitor and the monitor goes black?

 

[D_W]

That's correct. Makes no sense to me. I don't think the monitor has wireless connectivity. Could the second laptop be causing some kind of interference through a defective hdmi cable or something?

 

[graham88]

Highly doubtful there's interference, although it can't hurt to trade out the cable if you can rob a spare from somewhere. There's a LOT of badly made HDMI cables out there, even from names you'd normally trust. Can you tell me the make and model of the monitor so I can check specs? Other options are to isolate power and signal cables as they can affect eachother, a few inches of separation is sufficient. Maybe check you haven't got too many things plugged into the mains power as the laptop opening could draw extra current and the monitor just gets a voltage drop and cuts out. The last option is highly unlikely but this seems really odd so it's worth trying anything. Try these steps individually and let me know how you get on. Test to see if the problem occurs between each step, because if it works you won't know what actually did it.

1. Separate power and signal cables
2. Remove laptop 2 from the mains and run on battery (eliminates power draw option)
3. Change out HDMI cable if you have a spare (television perhaps?)
4. Post a link to the monitor in a reply so I can check through.

Unfortunately I have no phone reception at work so this is probably the last you'll hear from me for 13 hours. Good luck.

 

[nickds1]

You mention that the old laptop has Bluetooth on - I presume that this is to drive headphones/ear buds/speakers

It may be, like many new monitors, that your new monitor supports Bluetooth connectivity (without knowing the model I can't check), so when the old laptop comes out of sleep/turns on it is connecting to your new monitor which is just trying to display the last thing it connected to (HDMI or Bluetooth).

Try disabling Bluetooth on the new monitor (if you can) as you don't need it as you're using HDMI from your work laptop. If you don't need Bluetooth on your old laptop (I e. if you're using the laptop's own speakers for audio) you could also simply turn off Bluetooth on the old laptop.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

I agree with @nickds1 though the op said he's using bluetooth for streaming.
Yes try turning bluetooth off on L2, send audio to L2's speakers or connect to something via the 3.5mm jack and see if the monitor still presents the same issue. If it does then it's not a bluetooth issue and we'll have to investigate elsewhere though for the life of me I can't think what it could be.
Good luck.
Martin

 

[D_W]

Thanks, gentlemen.

The monitor is this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TTDRXNS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
At the outset, I attempted to connect this monitor to L2, which is older, just to experiment since it's my PC. I've had L2 apart a couple of times and the HDMI port now does not work properly...at least I suspect. I attempted to "find" the new monitor when the HDMI port didn't work, but I don't think the monitor has any connectivity without a cord. this is the first monitor I've bought in 20 years, so the terminology in listings is now foreign to me.

And then things were fine for a day or two and this issue cropped up intermittently as far as I could tell but now as soon as L2's screen is open, the monitor goes black every time.

I have turned the bluetooth off on L2 to see if that's the issue, and no dice, but just did a quick check and didn't power everything off.

Your suggestions have given me other things to try - including power cords, which are stranded close together before they diverge to go to each.

 

[graham88]

Unfortunately, that link shows up as a monitor arm in the UK.

 

[Yojevol]

Unfortunately, that link shows up as a monitor arm in the UK.

That's peculiar. I tried it earlier today and I got the monitor. Just tried it a 2nd time and got the arm.
Go Figure as they say over there.

 

[graham88]

I decided to search the link on google and got the correct item. Unfortunately following it went back to the arm. So I searched the small amount of info in the google search. Can confirm there is no bluetooth capability in the monitor, although it appears to be a brand unavailable to the UK so here's the manual to what I believe is the monitor.

https://manuals.plus/koorui/24n1a-24-inch-business-computer-monitor-manual

 

[D_W]

I decided to search the link on google and got the correct item. Unfortunately following it went back to the arm. So I searched the small amount of info in the google search. Can confirm there is no bluetooth capability in the monitor, although it appears to be a brand unavailable to the UK so here's the manual to what I believe is the monitor.

https://manuals.plus/koorui/24n1a-24-inch-business-computer-monitor-manual

https://koorui.net/products/24e4
this is the model number in the amazon listing. Amazon probably doesn't want you to see anything on the US site, at least that's what i'd guess.

no clue on the brand name - I figured it was just made up.

 

[graham88]

this is the model number in the amazon listing. Amazon probably doesn't want you to see anything on the US site, at least that's what i'd guess.

no clue on the brand name - I figured it was just made up.

Thanks.

Still no bluetooth, shame because it seemed an obvious answer after reading it, I blame it being 4am when I replied .

I'd start with the free options I listed above, cable separation and running laptops on battery power to test. As an afterthought - is there a range at which it is affected? Would moving the laptop further away do anything? After that I'd go to a reputable AV shop near you and buy a quality HDMI 1.4 cable. The one provided with the monitor is probably very poorly made. I have a HP monitor and even their supplied cables weren't brilliant, profit and all that I suppose.

A quick note on cable separation, signal cables include audio, visual and networking and do not like being near mains cables becasue the AC current will induce noise in the conductors if the signal cables aren't sufficiently shielded. Keep power a few inches from signal cables and avoid having coils of mains cables as this amplifies the effect. Signal cables can be bunched together because the current is very, very low and they won't be able to induce anything. Likewise AC is normally safe to bundle together, but problems can still occur if you start adding transformers to the mix - such as a laptop charger, I'd keep the charger away from signal cables too, it is of course one of the aforementioned coils of wire. Sorry if any of this sounds patronising but without knowing your experience or background I always try to keep the language as simple and jargon free as possible.

Other than that I'm drawing a complete blank. I've given the problem over to some of the guys I collaborated with when I worked in IT just in case someone has any bright ideas.

 

[D_W]

Not patronizing at all. I much appreciate the help, because I figured the monitor didn't have bluetooth, but when you get something for $135, you never know if the hardware does and the software doesn't and something's not right. the menu options and navigation within the monitor aren't that convenient for an old timer of sorts who likes on/off brightness, contrast and the pillow shaped picture that means change the shape of the edges or move the picture left to right.

If I figure out what it is, I'll report back. I have a spare (higher quality) HDMI cable, and none of the arranging from what's probably the real interference is something I'd considered. The cable that I'm using is of the 15 foot $7 with shipping variety. I'm guessing interference from a transformer is at fault because that is something I moved around between start the days with success vs. failure.

Excellent problem solving advice here.

 

[raffo]

Are L1 and L2 linked in any way, a shared folder or some other feature? Is L2 on stand by when the lid is down? If so and L2 reconnects to your local network and broadcasts something that L1 picks up and tries to do something about, like a popup announcement, it may cause that video port to go silent. Your problem is really weird.

 

[graham88]

Not patronizing at all. I much appreciate the help, because I figured the monitor didn't have bluetooth, but when you get something for $135, you never know if the hardware does and the software doesn't and something's not right. the menu options and navigation within the monitor aren't that convenient for an old timer of sorts who likes on/off brightness, contrast and the pillow shaped picture that means change the shape of the edges or move the picture left to right.

If I figure out what it is, I'll report back. I have a spare (higher quality) HDMI cable, and none of the arranging from what's probably the real interference is something I'd considered. The cable that I'm using is of the 15 foot $7 with shipping variety. I'm guessing interference from a transformer is at fault because that is something I moved around between start the days with success vs. failure.

Excellent problem solving advice here.

Ha!

Completely forgot about the pillow thing, always used to mess with that on the PC's at school, and removing the balls from old mice to turn the lesson into a warzone. They ended up supergluing the mice shut because we were an absolute nightmare. Thanks for the memory.

 

[D_W]

Ha!

Completely forgot about the pillow thing, always used to mess with that on the PC's at school, and removing the balls from old mice to turn the lesson into a warzone. They ended up supergluing the mice shut because we were an absolute nightmare. Thanks for the memory.

Now you're talking more back in my era. I remember the days when if you didn't buy a good mouse, you were in for torture. Doctoring mouse balls or hiding them was grounds for war, and the odd guy who spent big bucks for a track ball was kind of like "is that guy legit or not?".

I also remember the days when PC processors increased in both clock speed and processing power (one core) quickly, and there were no bus locks on chips and intel said "we're not worried about the overclocking market - it's less than 10% of users".

Things have changed a lot and working in business apps and going to the shop in off hours or throwing a ball with the kids completely eliminated knowing anything about what's currently marketed.

I also remember PC companies in the US who would custom configure a PC back then before you could just return everything and they had a no returns policy. Guy that I rented an apartment with during an internship bought a PC online from one of the large budget custom PC makers (not gateway or dell) and it never worked. He called their tech support and went rounds with them, it never started up, and he complained wanting to return it and they said no-dice.

 

[graham88]

The irony for me was I was terrible for playing with settings when I was at school to screw over the next class/teachers. Few years later I apprenticed as a school IT technician! Needless to say I was lucky enough to know almost every trick in the book, would have been a horrific experience otherwise. We went to college once a week as part of the apprenticeship and the terrorization continued. Our tutor did absolutely nothing to discourage this because he said it was good practice for problem solving.

I don't miss having to remove the trackball periodically and cleaning the gunk off the rollers, those balls were so bouncy and perfectly spherical that they'd disappear the second you placed it somewhere.

I was lucky, my dad used to work for telecomms companies when I was a child, one of them even had Sir Tim Berners-Lee working there at the same time (guy who eventually went on to invent the world wide web). I remember the first computer I used had a very pricey upgrade to a whole 1kB of RAM. I'm currently sat here with 32 million times that amount and the costs were comparable. Computers are so commonplace these days and manufacturers and software designers lock so much down because of it. I've been out of the industry for 4 years now and I'm fairly certain theres a lot of new things I'd probably take ages to learn.

 

[raffo]

were you the BOFH?

http://bofharchive.com/1995/bastard95-01.html

 

[graham88]

How have I never heard of this? I wish I had the malice to take out the frustration that built up from my users back onto them, but alas I generally tried to just make everything work and keep everyone happy.

 

[Scruples]

It couldn't be anything as simple as the monitor's own screensaver, could it?