[Help] How to stop monitor detection?

[trodas]

I using CRT Eizo F520 monitor on GeForce 6800 GS. Usually Zeropoint drivers, but to get to the question - is there any way to stop windows from detecting if my monitor is on or off?

Apart from disabling Plug & play service - this does the trick, but also cause disfunctionality of my X-Fi sound card (and Creative soundcards/drivers in general as it did the same with other Creative cards...).

Why?

Because I used to start my machine at morning, so it fold for me, and when I come back home, I just start the monitor and continue working and folding or gaming

The problem is, that when the monitor is off when windows is booting, then after one enable it back again, windows detect it as "new" monitor and this cause all sort of troubles. From ignored settings (for the old monitor, they are logically ignored now...) to having many identical monitors... etc.

I'm all open to either software (drivers mod?) or hardware (cut some detection wires?) solution as well. In the VGA connector, there are the there wires for "monitor bits" and I think killing them (or disconnecting, if you prefer ) might do the trick, but I better ask if is there any way to kill this detection in software. Eg. in drivers.

This might even give a performance improve. Tough very little

Any ideas, guys?

A DPMS off could be a elegant solution 5min should be enought - remember, the monitor is covered and 10min is too much for nonventilating monitor - we better should not overheat him.

The problem with DPMS is simple, yet deadly. According to the manual, the monitor know four modes.

ON - normal display - green led - 80W.

STAND-BY - blank display - green led - 64W (80% or normal)

SUSPEND - blank display - flashing green led - less that 10W

OFF - blank display - yellow led - less that 3W

Obviously I need either SUSPEND of OFF mode, since the STAND-BY mode still comsume 80% of power, witch should easily overheat and eventually burn the covered monitor...

BUT - and there it come - when I set in widnows control pannel to off the monitor in say 2minutes (testing), it goes only the the STAND-BY mode, and as we know already, standby mode in NOT ENOUGHT. Even after more that 2min it did not enter the SUSPEND mode, so... And I need suspend at least. So, either how to stop the detection, of how to make the monitor goes by DPMS into suspend or off after 5min? I would still prefer more the no-detection thing, because some things is IMHO better to do by hand...

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[Grunth0s]

If you start the machine with the monitor switched on, and then turn the monitor off once Windows is loaded, will it still see it as new hardware when you turn it back on?

[trodas]

Np. Nope. Of course not.

This way it works well, and that is what I do now, but the added power cycle is not healty for the monitor and it is also boring and time consuming wait, so, I looking for ways to fix that.

Breaking the monitor ID 1 - 3 signal lines on GFX card sounds more and more appealing to me, tough...

[Elektrik]

trodas

You can check "Fixed aspect ratio timing" in GForce_Propertis/Display_Mode_Timing but it isn`t very well....

[HyperHacker]

Breaking the monitor ID 1 - 3 signal lines on GFX card sounds more and more appealing to me, tough...

You better be absolutely sure. Sounds to me like that'd make it not find your monitor at all.

Try using NirCmd to turn it off or put it in low-power mode and see which state it goes into.

[trodas]

Elektrik - but this won't stop monitor detection at all

HyperHacker - well, you got point. It cross my mind too - I'm positive that breaking the wires 11, 12 and 15 (11 is monitor ID Bit 0, 12 is monitor ID Bit 1 and 15 is monitor ID Bit 3 according to one schema, and acording to another is at pin 12 DDC data wire and at pin 15 is DDC clock) stop winblows detecting the monitor. That would be okay AFTER I install the monitor driver, but I'm still not sure about:

1) what happend when the monitor is not detecting? Will win continue to use the original settings for my installed (and now not detected) monitor? I think likely yes, but far from sure...

2) what happend on fresh win install? If win can't detect something, how they will react? Do they still allow me to install the monitor ini file? I slightly doubt it...

So, making the Vesa DPMS power saving work is maybe better solution, after all. But - how? The util nircmd.exe you pointed me can handle only commands like:

nircmd.exe monitor off

or

nircmd.exe monitor low

Nowhere near I find anything that could relate to change the DPMS level winblows use to "turn off" my monitor, as it instead enter only the stand-by state, witch is a problem...

Using he nircmd caused (in both cases, off and low) the monitor enter only the stand-by ...

Futhermore it (w/o mouse movement or keyboard press) quickly restore its on status...! So, all nircmd did is a black screen flick there. Odd, eh?

[HyperHacker]

You have to also make sure you know how your BIOS will react. I suggest you just coat the pins in a non-conductive substance, then if it doesn't work you can just scrape the coating off.

I had problems getting Nircmd to turn the monitor off too, since when the screen saver started it'd just turn back on. My solution was just to use a batch file to start the screen saver, wait a few seconds for it to set up, and then turn it off. Sounds like you might have a different problem though, but try turning screen savers off just in case.

[LLXX]

I think the video card will still work even if it doesn't detect a monitor, since it always outputs the signal - but yours may be a special case. I've never had to install any drivers for a monitor on any of my systems.

[trodas]

HyperHacker - so you favor the HW solution too? Oh, my dear...

And there is even better solution. Have you ever heard about CE filters (mostly LC made, PNY add a nice 4 point (hell hard to desolder) coils) that is used on all VGA cards to make them pass the emission CE norm, witch is pure BS, since electromanetic emissions of CRT monitor are about 100x higher that to what the card must fit, but whatever. The point is, that I desoldering these from my GFX cards to get sharp picture for years, and even on the pin 15, there is a LC filter. So, desoldering just the L mean cuting the signal

I did not have any screensaver enabled, so I quess that either my monitor, or my gfx card or my monitor, my gfx card and my board won't work together on the DPMS issue...

LLXX - well, I'm not concerned (and I never was) about the output, but more like about the winblows monitor. Even you claim you never install monitor, windows does install "default monitor" and every changes (refreshrates mainly) are stored there. So, there is always a driver for monitor.

The question what I solved today is, if winblows accept no P&P monitor and the aswer is - YES!

Since even Scala does recommed hardware modification too (among other users):

http://www.scala.com/miscellaneous-faq/ddc...or-disable.html

...so I made it. I tested it first on my computer that my sis is using by simply desoldering the L filter on the GFX card, witch lead to the pin 15 on VGA. Worked flawlessly, tought the first time one pull on machine with modded monitor cable/gfx card like this, a new monitor driver install is need

But this is also a very good thing, becuase it answer me my worries, if I could ever install the monitor after killing the Plug&Pray for good! So, the answer is YES! Yes, I can. Great.

So I made the same mod on my main machine, this time by removing the pin 15 into the VGA connector from my monitor (I don't want take down my watercooling block from my GFX card, so...) and it also need one monitor reinstall and then work flawlessly!

Hooray for hardware disabling of the super-annoying Plug&Pray thing!

Edited May 11, 2006 by trodas