windows 7 - Uninstall laptop screen, replace with external monitor

08
2014-07
  • TheWizKid95

    So as the title states, I took off the display panel on my Dell N4010 and replaced it with an HP LE1901w external monitor because I didn't feel like purchasing a $50+ LCD screen (Got the monitor for $9 at Goodwill). I also removed the CD Drive (don't ever use it) and placed the WiFi antenna where it was located, but that works well. ([picture][1])

    Anyways, because I did that, a few problems came up.

    First, when I boot up my laptop, it does 8 consecutive beeps and then starts over to warn about display failures, even though I have the external monitor hooked up. Is there any way to turn this off? I've checked the BIOS settings and I don't see anything about any chimes, beeps, or default displays.

    Also, the "Starting Windows" splash screen is off center, as well as the BIOS some times. Auto-Adjusting the monitor only helps with the BIOS, but the splash screen still pushes to the left. It's very noticeable and I wanted to know if there's a fix for it.

    Finally, my computer still recognizes the laptop's built in display. I've tried disabling it in the device manager, but I wasn't able to get a permanent fix. For the monitor to work properly, I have to enable the "Projector only" display setting with the F2 Key or the graphics options. Is there any way to completely uninstall the laptop's monitor? Even my Linux install recognizes the laptop's monitor.

    One last thing, it would be nice to control the monitor's brightness with the laptop's brightness keys. I know I can control the monitor's brightness along with other settings with the Intel Graphics Properties ([picture][2]),

    so I don't think it should be too hard to re-configure the keys to do the same.

    I'd really appreciate a some suggestions. If you need any more information, just ask.

    EDIT: New problem just popped up, GRUB2 is off center as well and auto-adjust doesn't help

    • Answers
  • arielnmz

    You computer, being a notebook, was made to use an LCD screen attached to it's motherboard. Your extenal monitor is, and will always be, the second monitor (until the drivers take care of it). So it's natural that the boot sequence and the boot screen show up incorrectly, because of the metrics of your second monitor being different to that of the original lcd screen. I've had this issue too and, as far as I know, there's nothing you can do about it. As far as the screen works well once the drivers have been loaded, there shouldn't be any problem with it.


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  • Kyle

    I recently had the display fail on my Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop. I currently have my TV hooked up to the laptop's S-Video out which works fine as long as I'm running in Windows. For the first minute or so when the computer is booting I get no display. I was wondering if there was any way to disable the laptop screen entirely so that the TV display is active from the beginning (not just after Windows loads). I realize there may be a BIOS setting for this, my only problem is I can't see the BIOS settings screen since no display is active at that point so if anyone has any BIOS setting solutions I'd need the exact keystrokes to hit :)


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  • Randolf Richardson

    Take a look at your function keys (F1 to F12) -- you should see some symbols on most of them, probably shaded is a darker colour.

    If you can spot one that looks like it might resemble two TV screens (these two boxes will likely be separated by a slash), then look for another key on your keyboard most likely called "Fn" or "Function" which will probably also be in the same darker colour shade as those symbols.

    After locating that "Fn" key, press and hold it, then tap the relevant function key with the two monitors on it. This should cause your laptop to switch the current video output from laptop screen to external display. Pressing it again will cycle between the different external display ports and/or combinations of just one or multiple (simultaneous) displays.

    This should work before the OS even begins to boot, but this depends on whether your BIOS supports it. If your BIOS does not support this feature directly, then it will only work in Windows after the appropriate add-on tool is loaded (or if the video driver has built-in support for it).

    The user manual for most laptop computers also documents these special functions that share the Function keys.