[Solved] Vista and VGA cable questions

[Ray1000]

I have a Toshiba Satellite A200-27Z laptop with no screen or top cover.

I intended using it in conjunction with a monitor or occasionally with the TV for my wife’s catch up programs.

I bought a new VGA cable ... connected it to a 15" LCD I came by at the same time as the laptop and there is no back light on the monitor ... I'm surprised as I thought it was working when the previous owner had it.

Checked the continuity on the cable … there are only 8 of the 15 pins connected.


Q1. Could this cause the back light not to function?


Connected the laptop to the TV using the same cable … It works normal to the point where the Vista home screen comes up, then it goes off and says … No signal … check the cable.


Q2. Could this be related to the cable?



It appears Vista does not have a facility for copying an image of the system onto a separate hard drive (for Backup / Restore purposes)


Q3. Is there a way round this?


Using Firefox or IE with Vista there is a black background at the top of the screen which is subsequently covered by new tabs and the bar across the bottom of the screen is black.


Q4. Is there a way of changing the colour scheme on the browser?


Thank you


Ray

 

[Ray1000]

When connected to my desktop monitor using its wired in VGA cable the laptop works perfectly well.

Ray

 

[KenB]

Hi Ray

there is no back light on the monitor

Can you try this on another system ?

checked the continuity on the cable … there are only 8 of the 15 pins connected.

Not all connections are used.
There is no connection on pins 4 / 11 / 12 / 15
Pins 5 to 10 are a common earth - there should be continuity here.
Pins 1 / 2 / 3 are R / G / B

See here:

Which pins are not giving continuity ?

( It is rare for a new cable to have problems )

 

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Ray, here I am again, as continuation from Ken, the 15" LCD screen should also have a power connection, either direct from mains or through a small power supply, is that connected? If no power the backlight can't work.

Q 2, I think Ken has covered that, though rare for a new cable to be faulty, it can happen. Though if the cable is OK, there may just be some oddity regarding the resolution of the TV screen against the resolution the laptop graphics can provide.

Q 3. There are plenty of third party system image making applications, myself and Ken use one called Macrium Reflect, we can give more information if needed.

Q 4, not sure what you mean and a screen shot would help, does it do this on your desktop monitor when using that?

Nev.

 

[Ray1000]

Hi Ken,

Due to the male/female end configuration I can’t readily test the monitor on my desktop and next doors Sony Vaio has a different type of VGA ... with an extra pin or two.


The continuity from one end of the cable to the other is different to your diagram.

1 yes OK
2 yes OK
3 yes OK
4 no OK
5 to 10 no should be yes
11 no OK
12 yes should be no
13 yes OK
14 yes OK
15 yes should be no

There is no continuity between 5 and any of the 6 to 10 when checked at the same end of the cable ... perhaps there shouldn’t be?

Ray

 

[Ray1000]

Thanks Nev,

I have the power lead connected to the monitor.


The TV picture is momentarily perfect … up to when the Vista screen appears … just as it should be changing to the screen with the start button … it goes off.


It’s probably nothing to do with it but my tablet device works thro the TV but that is using HDMI … something the laptop doesn’t have.


I’ll have a look for the Macrium Reflect.


I’ll do a screen shot next time I couple it to my desktop monitor … it is only a minor thing … the writing and icons at the bottom of the screen are less clear against the black background than they are against the blue of XP. And the top just looks odd.


I still need to do more work on the resolution … I may have the wrong display driver.


Ray

 

[KenB]

Hi Ray

Tutorial on Macrium Reflect here:
click here

Just found another wiring option for VGA

If you are getting something on screen up until the Vista splash screen then the VGA cable is OK.

What if you try booting in Safe Mode.
Constantly tap F8 about once per second after switching on.

 

[Ray1000]

Thanks Ken,

Looking more closely at the first diagram ... "from the wire end" ... my list should read ...

1 no continuity should be yes
2 no should be yes
3 correct
4 yes should be no
5 correct
6 no should be yes
7 no should be yes
8 no should be yes
9 no should be yes
10 no should be yes
11 yes should be no
12 yes should be no
13 correct
14 correct
15 correct

I'll compare it with the second diagram later.

Ray

 

[KenB]

Ray

Make sure you give Safe Mode a try

 

[Ray1000]

You are right as usual Ken,

It does seem to work normally in Safe Mode ... I have only just tried it so I'll get back to you with the results of putting it into normal mode.

Ray

 

[Ray1000]

I think there is a relationship between the black parts of the tool bars I am seeing and the display problem ... I'm sure Vista should look visually better than this one does.

I have had it running, once, in normal mode with the "faulty" cable but only by chance ... if I were to restart it normally it would probably just give the no signal message. Each time I do it I have to change it over to the desktop monitor to be able to turn it off properly.

Ray

 

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Ray, a screen shot, even taken with an ordinary camera, will at least give us chance to say "Blimey, I haven't seen that one before"

However it might give a clue as to what may be wrong.

Nev.

 

[KenB]

Ray,

Question:
Are the ends of your VGA cable blue?
Older ones were not.

 

[Ray1000]

Yes Ken it is a blue cable ... the key to solving this was the suggestion to start in Safe Mode ... I then moved onto Safe Mode plus networking and noticed the black background had gone from the browser page. I removed the recommended Toshiba display driver leaving it with 'Standard VGA Graphics Adapter' showing under Display Adapters and the monitor then worked properly in Normal Mode.

Presumably the recommended Toshiba display driver would be OK if the laptop had a screen!

I have bookmarked the Macrium Reflect page and will have a read later.

Ray

 

[KenB]

Hi Ray

So - problem solved re. display ?

Give Macrium Reflect a go

 

[KenB]

Sorry Ray - I didn't answer this:

Presumably the recommended Toshiba display driver would be OK if the laptop had a screen!

No - not really.......then again possibly It should have worked using a monitor.
It could be that the resolution was not compatible with the monitor.......but would be OK if there was a screen ( we will never know )
It could be that the Toshiba drivers were corrupt or even the wrong ones.

 

[Ray1000]

Thank you for your help Ken,

As you say the problem is now solved.

Ray

 

[KenB]

Thanks for the feedback Ray