4 displays working flawlessly added a 5th and now only 1 works.

[kevinlambert77]

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​Hi all,

As the title says I had 4 displays working flawlessly. I got greedy and added a 5th. Now only my main monitor (my TV) works great, at least that didn't stop working or I'd be 100% screwed. My, "Collection" of monitors: My TV a VIZIO M43-C1 43-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2015 Model), an old Samsung Syncmaster (which was given to me), a slightly less old Syncmaster (from my old PC) and 2 Acer R240HY bidx 23.8-Inch IPS HDMI DVI VGA (1920 x 1080) Widescreen Monitors. My TV and the old Syncmaster are hooked up directly to my PC, the others are hooked up to a Plugable USB 3.0 Universal Laptop Docking Station for Windows thru various methods (VGA, HDMI, etc). The docking station itself is connected via a USB 3.0 cable to the PC. I use a program called Displayfusion to manage everything. Displayfusion is a bit flawed but for the most part it does what I need it to do. Neither Displayfusion nor my PC recognizes another display besides my TV. Edit: I am unable to access my Graphics Properties. Window will not appear but there is tab open in the taskbar.

The 2nd Acer was recently purchased and that's where the problems start. I rearranged the monitors (with the PC off) and hooked up the 2nd Acer via a USB 3.0 cable and HMDI adapter. Only my TV and my original Acer fired up. Insert confusion! I used the 1st Acer's HDMI cable on the 2nd Acer and it worked fine, so I knew it wasn't a DOA needing a return to Amazon. Still the other 3 monitors didn't have a signal. I restarted the PC and now only my TV works. Insert more confusion! Now I also get many popup bubbles saying, "This device could run faster if connected to a USB 3.0". Pretty much all of my stuff is already on USB 3.0. I also get a message on startup about DisplayLink not being compatible with my USB Host controller.

Things I've tried that have been fruitless:
1. Updated the graphics card.
2. Updated my docking station.
3. Unplugged the PC and monitors and left them alone for about 5 minutes (a Youtube suggestion).
4. Disabled my USB Host controllers, rebooted, Windows found the drivers and the update just hung on installing.
5. Updated my USB Host controllers from my PC's manufacturer, which I don't think was successful because my PC/update just hung on installing again. I still get the DisplayLink message.

Things to try:
1. For some stupid reason System Restore is turned off. However, I'm sure I have a Windows Image backed up on an external HDD (which is not plugged in). So that may or may not be a future option.
2. Uninstalling the USB Host controller drivers in Safe Mode with Networking.
3. Last option: I bought this PC with Window 7, simply because I do not like anything from Windows 8 on. I do have the Windows 8 disc (came with this PC) but that would mean upgrading to Windows 10. The seller/builder on Amazon obviously targeted to the sale to people who dislike anything other than 7 but still, they included 8 on disc. The Amazon link is no longer available.

PC specs:
​Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 SFF i5-4460S, 16GB RAM, 250GB Solid State Drive, Win7 Pro 64 Desktop Computer.
Intel 4600 integrated graphics card.

If you haven't guessed I'm not a complete noob but compared to a seasoned PC user, I may as well be. Please try to make any suggestions in as plain English as possible. For example I watch Linus Tech Tips on Youtube and he may as well be speaking Japanese because it makes no sense to me. I don't know where the bottleneck(s) is or if I've fried something. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Kevin.

 

[lastofthebreed33]

In 2009 I had 6 monitors hooked up to my HP laptop and never had a problem. How I did this, and you might look into this for your situation was first off to purchase a good "hub." At that time I used "Kensington's Model No. K3318A," which I plugged into my fastest USB port. Then using external Video Adapters, USB to DVI/VGA/HDMI never had any problems. Only thing I didn't like at first but got used to it, your cursor starts in lower right-hand screen, 3 over 3 screens, 24 Inch screens, and you move it to the left side screen, then up to the top 3 and then to the right. This allowed me, while building my own website then, to spread out my work, blend it, and then using the center screen-lower, put it all together. Haven't done this in a while, but figure with what is available today using a 3.0 hub, and your matching usb on the computer it should work. My computer handled 3 by itself, and the use of the 3 external adapters through my hub, no complaints. hope this helps or offers you ideas which helps you correct the problem.

 

[kevinlambert77]

I don't mean to be rude but this didn't really help at all. I have a really good, well-rated, very overpriced, USB hub AKA docking station. I mentioned this in my first paragraph. Search Plugable USB 3.0 docking station on Amazon. They're about $90 USD.

I think my problem is a USB driver and/or GPU driver issue. I'm just scared to mess with it. I don't have the money for a new good quality PC right now.

Regardless, thanks for your input and time.

 

[lastofthebreed33]

I don't mean to be rude but this didn't really help at all. I have a really good, well-rated, very overpriced, USB hub AKA docking station. I mentioned this in my first paragraph. Search Plugable USB 3.0 docking station on Amazon. They're about $90 USD.

I think my problem is a USB driver and/or GPU driver issue. I'm just scared to mess with it. I don't have the money for a new good quality PC right now.

Regardless, thanks for your input and time.

 

[lastofthebreed33]

Let me start by saying thank you for being kind, also have to admit I flat missed your info about the multiport usb hub. Now to take care of your drivers you suspect aren't up to snuff, open your control panel, then find your Device Manager which you open up. Not knowing how your device manager has things set up, I'll suggest you look for "Universal Serial Bus Controllers," and begin updating them from the folder you have onboard your computer which has your drivers. When you click on update drivers, you see a new box appear this has two ways you can update your driver, Search Automatically will search your computer and the internet to find your driver/s. The other is to click on, Browse my computer and this will allow you to manually install the drivers. When you click on this another box appears, which says Browse for drivers on your computer, the top part has a way if you have all the info to go directly to this, and the second, lower down says, "Let me pick from a list of available drivers." Clicking on that will take you to the file on your hard drive where these are stored, it also should offer you one or two solutions. You click on it and almost immediately the driver begins installing. You can do this with all of the items in this section, when done, reboot your computer and then attempt to hook up your monitor's again and hopefully this takes care of things. If it still doesn't, then you might want to ask about the external video adapter I mentioned, my reason would be that trying to use the 5th monitor, causes your video card issues or possibly you have the resolution for this screen up on high, you might want to see if you can adjust it so it matches your other monitors that way they could be said to be in sinc. with that hope this helps, and it is rather easy to do, referring to the drivers onboard your computer and installing them. Enjoy your weekend, and if it works you are welcome to write and let me know, if not, I'll be as stumped as you are.