Monitor keeps turning off

[Russ1981]

Sometimes when I go to do a playtest in RPG Maker VX Ace my monitor completely turns off, and I can't get it to turn back on, my only option is to restart my computer. I've updated my drivers and I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware issue, my video card is easily capable of running the program. I could be completely wrong though and it might be a hardware issue after all, but I hope not. Does anyone else have this issue?

 

[Andar]

It's not a hardware issue (at least not directly), its a driver issue.

Ace native resolution is not one of the standartisized windows solutions, so the graphics card has to use some tricks when transferring the data on a full screen output (that effect will never happen if you run windowed).

For some reasons, the graphic card switches to a frequency that your monitor does not support, and the monitor electronics switch it off to prevent damage. You should be able to get the monitor back on by using RM's keyboard shortcut for disabling fullscreen and switching your monitor off and on again after this.

If you want to solve the problem, you need to replace the monitor driver with one that fits your monitor better (In case of monitors, it's Plug'n Pray, not Plug'n Play) because the graphic driver wouldn't select that setting if it didn't believe your monitor to be capable of displaying it.

Alternatively you might try to exchange the display driver or configure it manually for other resolutions.

 

[Russ1981]

I'll admit I'm somewhat computer illiterate when it comes to drivers and graphics cards. If you're saying I need a different driver, wouldn't that mean my graphics card wouldn't work properly if I went with an entirely different driver than what my graphics card runs on? I'm disappointed that I can't run my games in fullscreen mode without running the risk of my monitor being unhappy and not cooperating. It typically only happens after I exit the playtest, not usually when I start it up. I do have a fairly old but still decent graphics card, I'm using an ATI Radeon HD 4870 right now.

 

[Andar]

there are two different drivers at work here, the monitor driver (which tells the graphic driver about the limits of the monitor) and the graphics driver (which tells your graphic card how to work),

In the case of the monitor driver, you probably already have the wrong driver installed, or that effect wouldn't happen - and most monitor drivers are included in windows, not supplied by the monitor itself. So there should be no problem trying out different monitor drivers, especially as those can't block the lower resolution outputs.

Installing the wrong graphics driver will cause display problems, so that's not one part where you should experiment with any driver - but there are different versions of the graphics driver, and usually another update appears every two or three months. So simply go to AMD's website with your computer, have them detect your graphics card and link you to the newest driver available for it.

 

[Russ1981]

Yeah I already did a clean install of the new graphics driver for my card, so maybe it's my monitor's driver that's outdated. The weird thing though is I just went to Acer's website and looked up my monitor and for some reason it only had a Vista driver, and I'm on Windows 7. I was thinking about getting a new monitor or 2 anyway soon, so hopefully that'll fix my problem.

 

[Andar]

Yeah I already did a clean install of the new graphics driver for my card, so maybe it's my monitor's driver that's outdated. The weird thing though is I just went to Acer's website and looked up my monitor and for some reason it only had a Vista driver, and I'm on Windows 7. I was thinking about getting a new monitor or 2 anyway soon, so hopefully that'll fix my problem.

No, the reason why it hadn't a downloadable driver is because all monitor drivers are generic drivers already included in the windows database.

Goto change driver in the device manager and instead of the automatic update search, make a manual selection...

 

[Russ1981]

I don't even have a new driver downloaded to change manually though, and the Acer website won't let me download the newest one because there apparently isn't one for WIndows 7 like I said. I'm confused. I never had to do this because when my friend built my computer he just plugged in the monitor and it worked fine. I actually probably just screwed myself up because he told me to uninstall the driver and one would automatically be downloaded again, that didn't happen. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable change, except in the device manager it's reading as generic PnP monitor now rather than the model number. I woke him up from a nap so he's not being very helpful lol.

 

[Andar]

You do NOT need a download.

You need to know the solution of your monitor, and manually (NOT automatically) replace the PnP-Monitor with the standard monitor type of that resolution.

The attached pictures are from the German Win7, but you should be able to find the marked buttons and (red markings) and follow that to the driver selection.

Then scroll to the top of the manufacturer's list and select the standard monitor types (however that is worded in english) and go to the monitor with your specific resolution and try that.

 

[Russ1981]

Okay I found what you told me to look for, and I found Acer and I see the list but I don't see the model of my monitor. I have an Acer X223W but it's not listed there.

Update: I got an email back from Acer and this is what they told me: Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Unfortunately, the only driver listed on our support site is for Windows Vista. However, Windows 7 should be able to find drivers for the monitor to work properly.

There's one problem with that, Windows 7 isn't finding the driver for me, so I'm stuck with it saying that it's just a generic PnP monitor.

 

[Russ1981]

I know double posting is technically against the rules, but it's been a few days and I still don't have an answer.

 

[Shaz]

It's only double posting if 72 hours haven't passed. They have. You're not double posting.

 

[Andar]

Okay I found what you told me to look for, and I found Acer and I see the list but I don't see the model of my monitor. I have an Acer X223W but it's not listed there.

No, you didn't.
If you found and used Acer drivers, then you didn't found what I'm talking about, because I told you to go away from the Acer drivers.


You need to switch to microsoft's default drivers, but not the PnP driver - you need to manually select the driver for your monitor's physical resolution.


I made another picture to show you where to click - if you select acer, then you're at the wrong manufacturer.


If the attached picture still doesn't help, then please provide screenshots of what you're seeing on your screen and I'll point you to the correct places.