I run dual screens and after the latest NVidia driver update / Windows update, I’m having big problems with the first screen (attached via DVI) not being enabled and the second screen (attached to the VGA connector via a KVM) intermittently flashing. The odd thing is that it flashes twice. When it flashes, the screen briefly goes totally black but there is no loss of signal to the screen.
System is Windows 7 x64 Ultimate fully patched. 4 GB RAM, Nvidia 7600 GS AGP. Asus P5P 800 VM motherboard. CMedia sound card. KVM is a DLink DKVM-4U. I’ve checked the connections. The usual utilities are installed - Windows Defender, Microsoft Security Essentials, Malware Bytes, etc.
I foolishly forgot to note which driver version was installed. Uninstalling the Nvidia driver (258.96) and reverting to an earlier one (197.45) has ameliorated but not resolved the issue. Both screens now stay enabled but I still get flashing on the second. I do not get flashing when the second screen is displaying the output of another computer.
Under 258.96 the problem was vastly worse: it kept losing the screen connected to the DVI connector. I could enable it in Windows Control Panel, but it would be quickly disabled. NVidia’s Control Center would not see it. In VGA mode, the second screen does not flash, but is just a clone of the first, which isn’t much use.
The flashing does not seem to be related to any application being run.
I’ve emailed Nvidia for help but have yet to receive a reply.
That’s pretty strange behavior alright. My first guess would have been the KVM until I read the bit about rolling the driver back.
I guess the obvious answer is that you didn’t roll it back far enough. It’s a sad fact that the period of time for which companies really maintain backward compatibility seems to be getting shorter all of the time. The AGP standard is probably getting to the point where there aren’t enough people using it anymore that nVidia gets a lot of complaints when it doesn’t work properly. That might sound strange since there are still probably a lot of AGP cards still in use, but not so much if you consider the fact that the average user probably doesn’t bother updating their drivers.
From everything you’ve said it does indeed sound like a driver problem, so if you continue to try earlier versions I think there is a good chance you will be able to find one that will work. Since you apparently had one which worked with your present OS, there shouldn’t be any issue with getting it re-installed once you find it.
Ah my brother recently had a similar problem with vista. As in 2 days ago. All his icons were missing as was the desktop wallpaper on monitor one, but the menu bars were all there. And you could click the invisible icons.
On the off chance that the motherboard bios could have something to do with it, you might want to see if Asus has any versions of the bios for your board that are more recent than the present bios version.
However I wouldn’t install a new bios unless from the comments to any updates it looks like compatibility with video drivers could have been an issue. Even then I would only do it if you’re sure that continuing to try older drivers is pointless.
Definitely don’t get the problem with the generic drivers, but I need the dual-screen capability and as soon as I reinstall the NVidia drivers (I’m now using 190.38), the flashing recurs.
An update: it seems the screen doesn’t flicker if another machine attached to the KVM is switched on. I guess there’s a dodgy connection somewhere in the KVM and the driver update was just coincidence.
Well, the good news is that KVM switches are dirt cheap - for the plain vanilla kind with inputs for 2 computers and an output for a VGA monitor, the price (with all cables) can be as little as $15. But the price goes up sharply for 2 port/2 CPU models. The cheapest models seem to be around $100.