Hello all,

I have been running a Samsung 910N flatscreen display from an Nvidia Quadro FX5500 Graphics card. This has been operating fine for 6 months or so. However, last night the screensaver cut in as normal and when I came back, the display would not recover but showed a flag saying "Not optimal display mode 1024 x 2048 recommended". Now I cannot get any disply in order to resolve the problem. I would be grateful for any help you can give

Nothing comes on the display at all? Well, starting with the often overlooked obvious - are all the cable connections securely fastened? Note many, if not most monitors these days use detachable cables, so you need to check both ends of each cable. And does the monitor power on? Does the card feel like it is securely fastened? If not, unplug from the wall, open side panel, touch bare metal and check the card and it's power connections. Then all other connections inside. If the card feels tight, skip the internal inspection for now.

That graphics engine is used in several cards made by several makers, but the ones I saw all used DVI connectors. The 910n is analog only so you must be using an adapter. Try a different one. They are low-tech devices that normally don't fail, unless physically damaged - bent pins, dog, etc. Then make sure it is attached securely.

If the cables are secure, and the monitor's power light shows the monitor is getting power, then you need to determine is if the monitor is bad, or something in the computer. You should be seeing the initial boot stages because this is in standard VGA resolutions, supported by all cards and all monitors as dictated by industry standards. This is necessary because until operating system specific drivers are loaded from the hard drive (way into the boot process) the BIOS (the initial set of instructions the computer sees at boot) only has enough memory to store a basic set of commonly understood instructions. So you need to find another monitor and attach it to your machine and see if it works. For a double check, put your monitor on another computer and see if it works there.

If a second monitor works, check and set the resolution.

If it is established the monitor is good, then you will need to look at the graphics card, or perhaps the power supply, or something else. Let us know, then we can go from there.

I took out the graphics card, cleaned all contacts and checked the connectors, but the problem remained. I tried my monitor on a different machine and it was fine. Then I tried a different monitor on my machine and this was fine as well. I also checked the settings and the resolution etc was correct. Finally, I tried my monitor back on my machine and it was fine. No logic there!! Must have been a connection. Anyway, I thought I would just report this back to you and thank you very much for your help.

Kind regards

I tried my monitor back on my machine and it was fine. No logic there!! Must have been a connection.

Often, just the process of disconnecting and reconnecting a connection scrapes clean the contacts, making a better mechanical connection, necessary for a good (hopefully) zero resistance electrical connection. Or perhaps, as you noted, a connection might have been loose. The best mechanical connection maximizes surface to surface mating areas, which, in turn, minimizes potentials for dirt and corrosion degrading those very mating surfaces. Another possibility is a cable has a broken wire inside and moving it about completed a broken circuit. If it happens again, wiggle the cables and see what happens, or just try another cable.

Anyway, I thought I would just report this back to you and thank you very much for your help.

And I am happy you did. It frustrating (and considered poor forum etiquette actually) when a thread just stops and we as thread contributors, or just following along, are left hanging. We realize that often folks find solutions on their own, or by a thought triggered by something said here - and while we come to help folks, the bonus is perhaps learning something new along the way. So a follow-up post letting us, and future readers searching for resolutions to their similar problems, know what fixed the problem is always welcomed, if not expected.

As for the thanks, well, that's the icing on the cake! You are welcome!