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olinccu

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Dell Latitude E5400 - Windows 7 Pro 32bit Video Driver Issue

Greetings Experts,

After a thorough google search and a quick search through EE questions, I am posting this issue asking for your expert help/suggestions. Hopefully it is not an easy fix that i should have known but just overlooked it due to it being so simple.

Here is the background info on the issue:

I just deployed a brand new Dell Latitude E5400 Laptop to a new user. It is the first laptop in our organization that will have windows 7(outside of all the IT staff members who have been using Win7 for about a year with no issues). The user that the new user is replacing has the exact same model Dell Latitude E5400 laptop, except it has Windows XP Pro SP3 installed. The laptop sets into a Dell E-Port Plus Docking station model number PR02X. The Docking station is connected to 2 external monitors both via the 2x DVI ports. When the old user docks his laptop and powers on, both monitors turn on and everything works great. However, when the new user docks his laptop and powers on, only 1 monitor will turn on, the second monitor displays a "no signal" message and then goes into sleep mode.

Here is a list of things that i have tried during my troubleshooting:
1) Checked video cable, as well as power cable, connections on docking station and monitors
2) Tried switching the 2nd monitor over to the VGA port
3) Replaced the DVI video cable with a brand new one
4) Flip-flopped the DVI cables on the 2 DVI ports(this resulted in the monitor that was not working, to start working, and previously working monitor to display the "no signal" message - so now i know it is not an issue with the physical monitor or cables)
5) Replaced the entire docking station with a brand new one(same problem still - so now i start to examine the laptop for driver issues)

Here is the meat and potatoes of the problem:

After searching through EE i saw a few other folks with similar issues, but most of them had slightly different issues. I have narrowed down the root of the issue to the incorrect video driver. However, upon loading windows 7 onto the machine, windows 7 automatically installed this "Standard VGA Graphics Adaptor". See Screenshots.
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When entering the Service Tag into the dell Drivers and Downloads website, it states that there is a updated driver package that is compatible with windows vista/windows 7. See Screenshots.
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After downloading the driver and trying to update it on the laptop, i received this error message. User generated image
I tried uninstalling the standard VGA adapter that windows auto installed. It made me restart to finish the process, and when the machine booted back up, windows auto installed the same driver again.

When i tried updating the current driver, i received this message. See screenshot.
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Just to throw it out there to rule out the easy stuff. I am the LAN admin here, and am logging with the domain admin profile, so it is not a permissions issue. I am A+ certified(3 years ago), but am also Windows 70-270 certified, CCNA, CCENT, CCNA Voice, and working on CCNP. So I am not incompetent, but i havent had to troubleshoot an issue like this in quite some time, so i apologize if it turns out to be an easy fix.

Thanks in advance for your help! Hopefully you guys can help me out! I appreciate it.  
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RaithZ
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From the sounds of the error message when installing the driver from Dell, the laptop may not have the G45 chip in it, it might have a different video card/chip.  I would check the original configuration of the laptop from dell using the service tag at http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/details?c=us&cs=2684&l=en&s=pub&~ck=anavml and clicking the original configuration tab.
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When you were downloading the drivers for the laptop did you download using the service tag or the model number? If you use the service tag then you should have a listing of drivers for your specific build. If you chose to browse via the model number there may be more than one driver available for the video card. Apparently the one you were trying to install is not compatible with your system. Choosing a 32 bit or 64 bit windows 7 drivers also makes a difference. Your problem definitely looks like a driver issue since windows is installing a generic driver. Apparently the driver you downloaded may not be the correct driver for your laptop. What is the service tag for this laptop? It looks like there are only 32 bit drivers available for windows 7. http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=W732&catid=-1&dateid=-1&impid=-1&osl=EN&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=LAT_E5400&hidos=WLH&hidlang=en&TabIndex=&scanSupported=True&scanConsent=False
What you havent mentioned is "Have you enabled multi monitor support"?
Have you told windows to extend the desktop across 2 monitors?
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olinccu

ASKER

@ RaithZ: thanks for the suggestion, when viewing the system information and clicking the original system configuration tab like you suggest displays the following: see screenshot
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Maybe it is just me having a stressful day and i missed it, but I do not really see the video card info on that list.

@ web_tracker: thanks for the comment. I was indeed searching the drivers and downloads site by the specific laptop service tag, which is displayed in the screenshot above. Also, the OS is the 32bit version, so no issues there. I think RaithZ might be on to something by saying that the chip is different, but on the driver details page for the Intel Gx45 chip, but i am not sure what chip i have if it is not the Gx45.

@ Neilsr: thanks for your suggestion. Sorry, i forgot to mention that. I did see another EE post that suggested that as well, i tried the "Windows Key + P" method that brings up this box(screenshot down on my desktop, not the laptop in question)
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However, that box did not display on the laptop. I also tried the Fn Key + F8, nothing happened there either.

I also neglected to mention that i went through all the obvious display settings. Only 1 monitor is detected. Also after reading a forum post elsewhere, the "Standard video driver is incapable of 2 video signals at one time.
You are correct no specific chip or card is listed on the configuration page indicating it was shipped with just onboard graphics.  

After checking the dell website, they only list drivers for the integrated Gx45 chipset, and a discreet nVidia card which according to the original system config list you do not have.  However there is another package listed for the Gx45 series, one that has the files zipped and an executable inside.  Does running that package produce the same results?  Its located here:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=2684&l=en&s=pub&releaseid=R279809&SystemID=LAT_E5400&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&deviceid=16047&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=5&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=6&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=413310

This page lists both versions of the package, the one you already tried and the one I linked above:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=2684&l=en&s=pub&deviceid=16047&libid=6&releaseid=R279809&vercnt=5&formatcnt=0&SystemID=LAT_E5400&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&catid=-1&dateid=-1&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1&checkFormat=true
Avatar of olinccu

ASKER

I did try both versions of the driver package. Both resulting in the "Computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing the software" error message. I also tried, updating the current driver with both packages and got the "Best driver is already installed for your device" message for both.
You could try to install the driver for the gx45 chipset from the package provided by intel. I am away from my desk ATM but will post a link to it as soon as I get back from lunch
Another option could be to try the nvidia driver. Worst case it tells you the same thing.
Hi,

Okay i was just checking the first screenshot. If you see under display adapter there is vnc mirror driver. That vnc mirror driver could be the problem.

Lets do this uninstall both the vnc mirror driver and standard vga driver. Restart the computer in safe mode with networking. Check whether you have any yellow exclamation marks.

If yes then double click on yellow exclmation-click on details tab-select hardwareids- and post the ven and dev ids.

Try it.

Ded9
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ASKER

@ RaithZ: Thats a good suggestion, i am going to try and find the driver straight from the intel site right now.  I will post the results after i try it out.

@ ded9: Thanks for the comment. Thats a good idea, but i am not sure that the VNC mirror driver is the culprit, as all of our other machines Windows7 and XP have this same configuration with our VNC application that we use. But that is definitely something that i can give a shot at and see if that does the trick. Thanks, and i will let you know the results.

The only problem is that the user has the laptop back(He claims that he can "Struggle through with only 1 monitor for now") so i will have to find a time to wrestle the laptop away form him to do more testing.
Also i would recommend running this tool

http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.56-setup-en.exe

Post the motherboard section screenshot.


Ded9
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ASKER

After uninstalling the standard video driver, then rebooting into safe mode with networking, i found that windows again automatically installed the standard video graphics adapter. While in safe mode i uninstalled it again, then tried installing the 2 different intel drivers, both resulting in the same "Computer does not meet the minimum requirements" message as before. Also tried RaithZ's suggestion of the Nvidia driver, but i received a message that said that the proper hardware could not be found. So i assume that it does not have the Nvidea chip, but does have the Intel Gx45 chip.

@ ded9: here are the screens of the CPU-Z application that you mentioned. One thing that i am confused about is that we have ruled out that it does not have an Nvidia chip, but on the "Graphics" tab, it shows the Nvidia logo...? is that there by default, or does it populate depending on the brand of the chip?

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ded9
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Any luck?

Ded9
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I had to give the laptop back to the user again, this time he said he actually needed it back to do something(who actually does work on their 3rd day on the job? :) )

But i have downloaded the Nvidia drivers listed on the Nvidia website from the link that ded9 provided. I will install that tomorrow morning if i can get the laptop back again.

I will keep you guys posted. Thanks again for all you help with this!
Avatar of olinccu

ASKER

Great news guys!! I was able to aquire some time with the laptop while the user was at lunch today, and It turns out that the laptop does indeed have an Nvidia graphis card. I extracted the .exe driver file that i downloaded from the nvidia website. Then I went into device manager and right clicked the standard VGA display adapter and selcted update driver. Chose the path of the folder and it found the driver files and installed fine and rebooted and now both monitors are working perfectly. The card must be a GeForce 9200M GS in case you were curious.

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Thanks again for all your help guys!! you saved me alot of time and frustration!
Glad to know your issue is fixed.


Ded9