Re-Monitored
Mar. 18th, 2023 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeA while back, I mentioned that one of my computer monitors died and we bought a new, larger one. Recently, we decided to get a second one of the same model, if it was available. For a wonder, even though three whole months had passed (which appears to be an eternity in the computer and monitor market), when we went to Best Buy, we found that we could at least order another one. Transportation disruption during the heavy winter storms delayed the delivery to the store, but that was not a big deal. Yesterday, we took advantage of having to take apart the computer desk for the new wiring to also put in the new monitor.
These three monitors are shared between two computers. My personal computer uses the monitor on the right exclusively. My work machine uses the monitor on the left exclusively. The middle monitor is shared between the two computers. Initially, the shared-monitor setup used a VGA switch box, but that setup grew increasingly untenable as the newer monitors don't even have VGA ports on them. We cobbled together a solution here, but it wasn't great, and the 22-inch monitor in the middle grew increasingly unfit for purpose.
What was at one time the largest of my three monitors (the 24-inch Acer monitor now at far left) is now dwarfed by the pair of Samsung - 32" ViewFinity S7 4K UHD monitors. The Acer is now tied to the work computer (through a cable running from the HDMI output on the Day Jobbe laptop through an HDMI-VGA adpter to the VGA input on the Acer monitor), while the ViewFinity at right is attached to my personal computer via a DisplayPort connection. The middle ViewFinity is shared between both computers, but doing so turned up a problem of cabling.
The ViewFinity monitors now installed have two input ports each: one HDMI and one DisplayPort. It is possible to share them between two computers without using a switch box if you plug one into the HDMI and the other into the DisplayPort. Switching inputs requires using the control switch under the center front of the monitor. It took a while to find how to switch it, but it's only three steps (left arrow, move between inputs, enter to elect) and not especially annoying. However, while I have a mountain of VGA cables, a smaller pile of HDMI cables, and a bunch of different connectors, I only had one DP cable, and I needed it to connect the monitor of my personal laptop, while I ran an HDMI cable from the personal machine to the middle monitor. We tried several cable configurations and adapters, but it appeared that we needed another DisplayPort cable.
This afternoon, after an SFSFC board of directors meeting, Lisa and I went to Reno and bought another DP cable. We also took care of grocery shopping at WinCo Foods and Raley's. After we got home and unloaded groceries, Lisa made dinner while I once again fiddled with cables, this time running the DP cable from the Day Jobbe laptop output to the DP port on the ViewFinity monitor. Success at last! We now have all three monitors, with the middle monitor shared without having to swap cables.
It certainly gets annoying when you have a box of what seems like every cable and adapter known to humanity, only to discover that the one part you need is the one you don't have in that box. But we got it running in the end.
These three monitors are shared between two computers. My personal computer uses the monitor on the right exclusively. My work machine uses the monitor on the left exclusively. The middle monitor is shared between the two computers. Initially, the shared-monitor setup used a VGA switch box, but that setup grew increasingly untenable as the newer monitors don't even have VGA ports on them. We cobbled together a solution here, but it wasn't great, and the 22-inch monitor in the middle grew increasingly unfit for purpose.
What was at one time the largest of my three monitors (the 24-inch Acer monitor now at far left) is now dwarfed by the pair of Samsung - 32" ViewFinity S7 4K UHD monitors. The Acer is now tied to the work computer (through a cable running from the HDMI output on the Day Jobbe laptop through an HDMI-VGA adpter to the VGA input on the Acer monitor), while the ViewFinity at right is attached to my personal computer via a DisplayPort connection. The middle ViewFinity is shared between both computers, but doing so turned up a problem of cabling.
The ViewFinity monitors now installed have two input ports each: one HDMI and one DisplayPort. It is possible to share them between two computers without using a switch box if you plug one into the HDMI and the other into the DisplayPort. Switching inputs requires using the control switch under the center front of the monitor. It took a while to find how to switch it, but it's only three steps (left arrow, move between inputs, enter to elect) and not especially annoying. However, while I have a mountain of VGA cables, a smaller pile of HDMI cables, and a bunch of different connectors, I only had one DP cable, and I needed it to connect the monitor of my personal laptop, while I ran an HDMI cable from the personal machine to the middle monitor. We tried several cable configurations and adapters, but it appeared that we needed another DisplayPort cable.
This afternoon, after an SFSFC board of directors meeting, Lisa and I went to Reno and bought another DP cable. We also took care of grocery shopping at WinCo Foods and Raley's. After we got home and unloaded groceries, Lisa made dinner while I once again fiddled with cables, this time running the DP cable from the Day Jobbe laptop output to the DP port on the ViewFinity monitor. Success at last! We now have all three monitors, with the middle monitor shared without having to swap cables.
It certainly gets annoying when you have a box of what seems like every cable and adapter known to humanity, only to discover that the one part you need is the one you don't have in that box. But we got it running in the end.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-19 05:14 pm (UTC)Then I decided I wanted to add my second monitor. My new computer also has a Display Port input, so I bought a two-HDMI-to-single DisplayPort (DP) adapter (from Amazon) and plugged in both monitors. Nada. Neither monitor would display anything. It was then recommended to me that I get an many-types-of-ports adapter to USB-C. This time I went to Best Buy. When again both monitors failed to display anything, I took that one back to Best Buy.
But I'm still down to a single monitor. I've since discovered that I actually have FOUR Display Port inputs on the computer, so I'm thinking of trying again; this time, leaving the DVI-to-HDMI input alone, and plugging the VGA into the Display Port to see if that will display the second monitor.
It's been about ten years since I bought a new computer (desktop), and this one has many different ports (USB, USB-3, USB-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, but unfortunately there's not enough of any one type. Fortunately, I figured out how to get the two USB ports on my monitor to work with the new computer, and the other day I bought a four USB-to-USB_C hub. With those and my seven-USB-3-to-USB-3 hub, I have more than enough inputs.
In case you're wondering, I have two 8-TB external hard drives, two printers (one color), and a scanner hooked up to the computer, not to mention hooking up various thumb drives now than then. And I have three other external hard drives that are full. I have unhooked those since they're redundant at this point.
The only thing I have left to figure out is how to get Word and Excel to recognize my laser printer. I think the latest Windows 11 update did something to disable them. So right now, print to PDF is my friend.
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