Switched from DVI to HDMI, Windows detects phantom display.

[joelm3103]

It's been quite a while, loooooong time lurker, used to be active but then I got hella busy. Anyways down to the issue, had my monitor connected via DVI when I realised I had a HDMI cord laying around so I decided to switch. After doing so, I realise every time I tried waking my PC up or even shutdown/restart, I need to manually hit the "Detect Display" button on my monitor before it shows anything. If I don't, monitor stays in sleep mode.

If I go into Advanced Display Settings it shows that I have 1 display, but if I hit detect, it would show a phantom display which I think is causing the issue.

I've already tried:

• Reinstalling drivers
• Tried earlier driver version before that I knew didn't give said problem
• Tried switching cables back to DVI, problem fixed but I would like to use the HDMI

Wasn't exactly sure if to post here (Microsoft Windows and Software), Monitor forum or the Hardware forum, so move accordingly if needed.

 

[MidnightShadow]

This might sound really stupid, but you disconnected the DVI cable, right? I've seen that plenty of times... if you leave both cables connected, the PC sees it as two monitors, even though it isn't. Also, check for driver updates and Windows updates.

 

[joelm3103]

This might sound really stupid, but you disconnected the DVI cable, right? I've seen that plenty of times... if you leave both cables connected, the PC sees it as two monitors, even though it isn't. Also, check for driver updates and Windows updates.

Haha, not stupid at all man. Yea I did disconnect the DVI cable. Decided to play with it a bit to see if I can get to the bottom of the situation. Today I used DDU to completely uninstall the drivers and downloaded the latest, still didn't solve the issue. Doesn't really make a difference between both cables so I just stuck with the DVI and I don't use the monitor for audio, so won't really be needing the HDMI. Wished I knew what caused the issue though, I have a feeling it's the monitor itself since I've searched a bit and others had issues with Asus monitors as well.

Edit: Also would like to mention, I don't think it's a phantom display anymore because even with the DVI it still shows the weird "secondary monitor not connected"...which I guess can just be because I've never hooked up a secondary display but gfx supports it.

TD;LR - Issue was not fixed but I'll stick to the DVI, if anyone has any solutions I'm still up for testing but it's not urgent.

 

[MidnightShadow]

So, try opening your screen res in control panel and seeing if there is a second monitor there (I have two, but was able to duplicate your issue by clicking detect, then telling it to connect via VGA and make it show a third monitor that isn't really there). You can see that in Capture1.

In Capture2, I clicked on the phantom display (number 3), and then chose "Remove this display." from the context menu. Apply and test. If that doesn't work, check your device manager and make sure you don't have some leftover drivers from previous monitors and whatnot. Let me know if any of that helps.

 

[joelm3103]

So, try opening your screen res in control panel and seeing if there is a second monitor there (I have two, but was able to duplicate your issue by clicking detect, then telling it to connect via VGA and make it show a third monitor that isn't really there). You can see that in Capture1.

In Capture2, I clicked on the phantom display (number 3), and then chose "Remove this display." from the context menu. Apply and test. If that doesn't work, check your device manager and make sure you don't have some leftover drivers from previous monitors and whatnot. Let me know if any of that helps.

It's definitely not a phantom display as I'm getting another display not detected like #4 on yours. Reason I thought it was at the beginning is because the HDMI was not waking up from sleep/monitor standby mode. This made me believe it was a phantom display, I thought Windows tries to wake up the "2nd display monitor" rather than my current HDMI connection.

To clarify, main issue only happens when I got HDMI connected but it's all good for DVI and VGA (tested that too).

 

[MidnightShadow]

Ah, I see. So your mouse isn't actually moving into a phantom area off the screen and still stops at the edge like it's suppose to do regardless of the connection type you're using? I thought that's what you meant, so I apologize.

 

[joelm3103]

Yea haha, it's all good man, thanks for trying . I'm just taking a guess it's the monitor since I've looked up some Asus monitors and some people experienced similar effect.

 

[MidnightShadow]

Gotcha. Well, if you ever get into it and figure it out let me know. I'm curious.