Mitsubishi projector won't display Vista
April 14, 2010 5:28 AM Subscribe
Hi fellow Me-fites! I am puzzled by this: we have a Mitusbishi projector (it is several years old) that simply will not project with a Vista desktop. It will display from XP Pro all day long, but if we switch the cable to a Vista machine, it goes all "No Signal" on us. Please help, as I am the local desktop support guy and they are looking to me for resolution! :-) Thanks!
Does Vista see it? don't you have to tell Vista it's there, download drivers or something?
posted by Max Power at 5:39 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by Max Power at 5:39 AM on April 14, 2010
Silly questions..
You are enabling the extended desktop / mirrored desktop from the vista machine? I believe "windows key" and the letter "p" pressed at the same time enables projector mode.. (sorry, on a xp laptop right now) Or go through the traditional display options.
You are not trying to go DVI-I to VGA? (Or whichever the DVI spec is w/out the analog component)?
You are sending a signal the mitsubishi can handle? (Not sending a 1024x768 or whatever signal to projector which will only handle 800x600 and refuses to work with anything higher.)
The vista machine(s?) in question has a working VGA/DVI port?
posted by defcom1 at 5:45 AM on April 14, 2010
You are enabling the extended desktop / mirrored desktop from the vista machine? I believe "windows key" and the letter "p" pressed at the same time enables projector mode.. (sorry, on a xp laptop right now) Or go through the traditional display options.
You are not trying to go DVI-I to VGA? (Or whichever the DVI spec is w/out the analog component)?
You are sending a signal the mitsubishi can handle? (Not sending a 1024x768 or whatever signal to projector which will only handle 800x600 and refuses to work with anything higher.)
The vista machine(s?) in question has a working VGA/DVI port?
posted by defcom1 at 5:45 AM on April 14, 2010
Your problem likely isn't which OS is running, but how it is configured.
Right click on the Desktop on both machines and go into the Display Settings. Go into the advanced settings, and make sure that both machines have the same resolution, number of colors, Hertz (Hz) and so on. Specifically, try a lower resolution on the Vista machine - over 1024x768 is likely too much, and you may need to go really extreme and do as low as 800x600 or 640x480 - depending on the age of the projector. Vista won't like those low resolutions, so you might have to Google a way to force it that low. If these are laptops, try using the function keys to enable the external VGA port instead of going through the Windows display settings.
posted by itheearl at 5:49 AM on April 14, 2010
Right click on the Desktop on both machines and go into the Display Settings. Go into the advanced settings, and make sure that both machines have the same resolution, number of colors, Hertz (Hz) and so on. Specifically, try a lower resolution on the Vista machine - over 1024x768 is likely too much, and you may need to go really extreme and do as low as 800x600 or 640x480 - depending on the age of the projector. Vista won't like those low resolutions, so you might have to Google a way to force it that low. If these are laptops, try using the function keys to enable the external VGA port instead of going through the Windows display settings.
posted by itheearl at 5:49 AM on April 14, 2010
Response by poster: Hi again, Me-fites! just an update, definitely still seeking solutions... we are making this connection with a standard VGA cable. we have lowered the resolution on the Vista box, I think we put it at 800x600. I haven't edited the # of colors, or Hertz though... our standard setting for the XP machine seemed to work okay. Anyway, thanks and keep the suggestions coming! :-)
posted by rxbert at 7:19 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by rxbert at 7:19 AM on April 14, 2010
Is this a laptop? They have "internal" (out of band, outside the scope of the operating system) controls for the external display connectors.
For example, on my Latitude, you hit Fn F8 (which says CRT/LCD on it). This toggles between one, the other, or both.
(Duh, what itheearl said).
Also, seconding his check the refresh rate advice.
posted by gjc at 7:41 AM on April 14, 2010
For example, on my Latitude, you hit Fn F8 (which says CRT/LCD on it). This toggles between one, the other, or both.
(Duh, what itheearl said).
Also, seconding his check the refresh rate advice.
posted by gjc at 7:41 AM on April 14, 2010
Is this supposed to work? I remember hearing about some copy protection over analogue connections in versions of Windows following XP. Maybe it's that.
posted by devnull at 8:59 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by devnull at 8:59 AM on April 14, 2010
Are you sure this isn't a hardware problem with the laptop? Have you tried connecting the Vista laptop to any other monitors/projectors to see if the external video port is actually working properly?
Suggestions:
- Make sure the external video port actually works
- Start up the projector first, before you boot the laptop.
- Try using a different cable.
- I know it's a long shot but (if available) a driver update on your laptop's video card and a firmware upgrade on the projector may make a difference.
posted by talkingmuffin at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2010
Suggestions:
- Make sure the external video port actually works
- Start up the projector first, before you boot the laptop.
- Try using a different cable.
- I know it's a long shot but (if available) a driver update on your laptop's video card and a firmware upgrade on the projector may make a difference.
posted by talkingmuffin at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2010
Whoops, I see that you said it was a desktop. Never mind the first suggestion since I'm now assuming that the desktop connects to an external monitor.
posted by talkingmuffin at 9:14 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by talkingmuffin at 9:14 AM on April 14, 2010
Color depth won't matter, don't bother messing with that. Do make sure that it's set to 60hz.
posted by The Lamplighter at 9:47 AM on April 14, 2010
posted by The Lamplighter at 9:47 AM on April 14, 2010
First thing would be to google the make/model of the projector to make sure there isn't a simple fix for this out there.
2nd - if the projector is like most of them it should be displaying bios/pc boot up stuff that's neither vista or XP related. You could boot up the vista box with XP or linux or whatever and check that it's not PC hardware related.
posted by anti social order at 12:57 PM on April 14, 2010
2nd - if the projector is like most of them it should be displaying bios/pc boot up stuff that's neither vista or XP related. You could boot up the vista box with XP or linux or whatever and check that it's not PC hardware related.
posted by anti social order at 12:57 PM on April 14, 2010
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posted by eccnineten at 5:36 AM on April 14, 2010