Force native resolution to Non-PnP monitor in Windows

Question

I've got a 22-inch, 1680 x 1050 monitor. Brand X2gen, model MW22U. Connected by DVI cable to my NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT graphics card.

Several days ago my monitor stopped working. It displayed nothing after the boot process.

I loaded Safe Mode which forced it to 1024 x 768, which did display. I installed updated drivers for my graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce ION Driver 185.85) which forced it to 1024 x 768 when I then returned to Normal Mode.

But I cannot set it to a resolution higher than 1024 x 768!

I then tested it with another monitor--a 20-inch, 1680 x 1050 Dell--which was detected successfully and did run at its native resolution. So, the problem is the monitor, not the computer or video card.

I switched back to the problem 22-inch monitor which was still suck at 1024 x 768. I noticed that the monitor was "Generic Non-PnP". I think before it was "Generic PnP". I changed the monitor driver to "Generic PnP". That didn't help.

I've installed and reinstalled NVIDIA GeForce ION Driver 185.85, but that doesn't fix it.

I've tried to add "Custom Resolutions" in the NVIDIA Control Panel. That errors with: "Custom mode test failed."

How might I be able to force Windows to use this monitor's native resolution?

Answer 1

The most likely reason is that the EDID data of your monitor is corrupted or not transferred correctly.

EDID tells your system which features the monitor has and which resolution it supports.

First check if there's anything which could prevent the EDID exchange: Broken cable, damaged connector, VGA-DVI adapter, one-monitor-two-workstations switch, ...

You could try to completly disable EDID for your monitor, a quick Google search revealed that this frequently resolved similar problems for other users.

If this can't be done with the driver software, a last resort would be to disable the pins responsible for EDID on your DVI cable.

Taken from: http://www.overclock.net/ati/47962-way-disable-edid.html

However do be careful: do your own research first and best try with a separate DVI cable first.

Answer 2

I switched from using a DVI cable to a VGA cable, and then the monitor was detected and its native 1680 x 1050 resolution was available and automatically selected.

Answer 3

You may need to install the drivers for the monitor itself, or re-install them. Monitor drivers have never really been an issue in the past when using SVGA connections, and general pnp drive was good enough, but with DVI monitors its often necessary to install the actually driver to get it to go to the resolution you want. I experience the same issue with a Dell 24 inch DVI monitor, it limited my resolution until I installed the dell drivers for the monitor.

Answer 4

Try choosing another equivalent monitor, such as the Dell 22" you tested, instead of "Generic PnP". I've had this problem in the past when connecting to a high resolution overhead projector, and selecting a different monitor from the Windows built-ins did the trick.

Answer 5

If it used to work, nothing has changed, and it no longer works, it suggests to me that the monitor has developed a fault; if it is under warranty, I'd get it checked out (so no to void the warranty)

Answer 6

DriverGuide.com used to be pretty good for digging up drivers but you now have to register to get in (you could previously use "drivers / all" as the login).

They have an X2Gen section but they've turned that page off at the moment. It comes up as the second link on a Google search, so I think it's only temporarily down.

Answer 7

Sounds like the monitor is busted, but if not - the video driver stack may have become stuck somehow, you'd need to boot it into safe mode, remove the drivers (use un-installer or dedicated purger specifically for nvidia drivers), then remove the devices (graphics card and monitors) themselves in the device manager and reboot... installing or upgrading nvidia or ati graphics drivers tend to sometimes make a real mess unless properly uninstalled first.

Answer 8

Zack, I recommended PowerStrip to someone else with a similar issue (it turned out that his TV has a max resolution that was lower than what he was trying to force). See if you can force 1680x1050 using it.

Answer 9

Three suggestions ...

... Under the Display control panel, click on Advanced Settings and go to the Monitor page. Under Monitor settings, check the screen refresh rate - if this is too high, some resolutions may be locked out on the main screen. Given that you have a LCD, this should be set to 60Hz and left there.

... same location as above, but turn off the setting Hide modes that this monitor cannot display.

... Alternatively under the Adapter tab instead, press List All Modes and select the exact mode you want. This dialog bypasses the usual safeties, so you can screw things up, but should let you set exactly the resolution needed.

Hopefully one of these will let you go back to DVI and the better display that results.

Answer 10

I did a quick google search and came up with this link for the drivers for your monitor.

-JFV