I use one Dell U2311H monitor for the same computer both as the monitor on my desk and as a monitor placed in my shelf to watch videos on. For both setups the computer stands in the same place and to make change of setup (moving the monitor) less of a hassle I've got separate cables (display and power) for the desk and the shelf. I connect the display cable in the two different setups as follows:
- Desk: The DVI slot of the motherboard to the DVI slot on the monitor.
- Shelf: The HDMI slot of the motherboard to DVI slot on the monitor.
I connect the display cable to the motherboard, Asus P8Z68-V PRO, because I use the integrated graphics on an Intel Core i7-2600K CPU.
When I change between the desk and the shelf setup I usually do the following:
- Turn of the monitor.
- Disconnect the power and display cable from the monitor.
- Move the monitor to the desk/shelf.
- Connect the power and display cable on the desk/in the shelf to the monitor.
- Turn on the monitor.
Note that these steps don't include turning off or restarting the computer. My problem is that sometimes after I complete step 5, when I turn on the monitor, and I'm using the shelf setup there is no display and the monitor goes to sleep (this does not happen with the desk setup). Thus I suspect this has to do with the HDMI interface or the cable in the shelf setup since these are the main differences. Currently I manage get display in the shelf setup by connecting the monitor to display and power and then reconnecting the HDMI plug to the computer. Why don't I always get display after completing step 5?
If it matters I run Ubuntu 11.04 64-bit on the computer.