unable to achieve three monitor setup on w700

hello

i have a thinkpad w700, with quadro fx3700M video card , win7 32 bit, 2.8ghz core2duo processor, 4gb ram, 80gb ssd, 500gb secondary drive

i have a second monitor, a 17" dell

i recently bought a thinkpad port replicator with digital video, hoping i would be able to use that to connect a third monitor, a 32" sony lcd tv

i can only get one external monitor to work

the moment i connect the second monitor, all my screen go black, and my hdd light starts flashing



i have the latest nvidia drivers, and windows is fully up to date

its very annoying, since i got the replicator precisely because i wanted to be able to run a three monitor set up


any ideas as to what the issue is?

thanks in advance

 

NVIDIA only supports triple-monitor configurations with multiple-installed video cards. ATI is the only vendor to currently support more than two displays per singular video device.

 

The graphics card in your w700 can only support two displays at one time. You could disable the internal LCD to use two external LCDs, but I doubt you want to do that due to the quality of the w700 LCD.

The T410 and some of the newer ThinkPads with Nvidia Optimus can support four simultaneous displays but that is using both the discrete and integrated GPUs simultaneously.

One other option would be a DisplayLink adapter. These have their own graphics hardware and would allow you to use a 2nd external display. This runs over USB so isn't ideal for video, but works well enough for a secondary productivity monitor.

This adapter is one possible and inexpensive solution.

 

Or diy vidock or vidock 4 can also give you multiple external LCD supports.

 

thanks all

i've not stated the problem clearly

i'm connecting the third monitor through a

ThinkPad USB Port Replicator with Digital Video

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-72822.html

i simply can't get it to work. seems the replicator is not living up to its billing

incidentally, i also have a kensington displaylink usb - dvi adapter i installed this and wound up stuck at my laptops login screen . i had to do a system restore

i'm assuming its some driver conflict -i have been planning on reinstalling windows 7. maybe a fresh build will not have these issues.

 

To my knowledge the ThinkPad USB Port Replicator with Digital Video is a DisplayLink device. Therefore, the problem is likely in the driver for your port replicator. Uninstall the driver, download the newest version from Lenovo, and see if that fixes your problem.

Also, can you post a screenshot of your display settings (right click desktop and choose 'screen resolution' in win7)? Possibly, display adapters in device manager as well. This should show us if the dock is appearing correctly.

 

i've just completed a long overdue windows reinstall. i figured that might resolve the problem and other niggling issues.

it has. . .sort of. i have found that i can get the three monitor setup working with aero disabled.

once aero is enabled, i get the black screens had the hdd access light.

 

Nvidia has given DisplayLink USB Video Cards problems from the beginning...if you goto DisplayLink: Connect Expand Enjoy and click on download drivers you should be able to get the latest drivers which offers improvements on computers running Nvidia Cards...

http://www.displaylink.com/filestore/release_note/DisplayLink-5.5.29194-release_notes.txt

I've been using DisplayLink enabled docking stations since 2007...

 

thanks a lot

oddly enough, i'd already been there and downloaded the drivers, though that particular dock is not listed among supported hardware . installing the drivers made no difference

 

It is possible that it is a driver, Under the add/remove programs you should see 2 entries for DisplayLink, uninstall those and reboot and then try to reinstall. I've used the Toshiba DynaDock with both the X61T and the X200T driving 3 monitors. If a full uninstall doesn't work you may have a faulty docking station...