SB220Q will not wake using display port to HDMI cable

sbuehler

I just received several Dell Optiplex 5090 PCs which have two Display Ports and several SB220Q monitors to go along.   Because the monitors only have VGA and HDMI, I got several Display Port > HDMI cables for each PC.  What I found is that if I restart the PC, the monitors wake normally.  However if I shut down the PC and turn it back on the monitors will not wake.  All Windows Updates have been completed.  I've also run through all of Dell's driver updates (including BIOS) and even installed the Acer specific driver in Windows for the monitors but it still will not work.  I have to unplug the display port cable and plug it back in for both before it works.  On the monitors I tried turning off the source auto detect and set them only to HDMI but that still didn't help. 

The only way I can get them to work is by using a separate display port > HDMI adapter then use an HDMI cable to the monitor. 

Any idea why this wouldn't work and how to fix it?

JackE

>>>I have to unplug the display port cable and plug it back in for both before it works.>>>The only way I can get them to work is by using a separate display port > HDMI adapter then use an HDMI cable to the monitor.  >>>

Probably the adapter. Does it work if you unplug the HDMI cable from the adapter instead of the DP cable to the PC?

sbuehler

JackE said:

>>>I have to unplug the display port cable and plug it back in for both before it works.>>>The only way I can get them to work is by using a separate display port > HDMI adapter then use an HDMI cable to the monitor.  >>>

Probably the adapter. Does it work if you unplug the HDMI cable from the adapter instead of the DP cable to the PC?

JackE, if i have an adapter between the PC and monitor there is no issue.  Its only when I use the single cable with DP on one end (at PC) and HDMI on the other (at monitor).   It appears to be the type of HDMI.  I've ordered a new "High Speed" DP to HDMI cable and will try that out.  If that doesn't work, I'll just need to get a bunch of adapters for all of them.  Not my favorite solution, but better than others.

JackE

>>> if i have an adapter between the PC and monitor there is no issue. >>>

Sorry. Misunderstood. Then your adapter or converter seems to be working as it should. It seems to have some smarts in passing through complete HDMI signals both ways. I sorta doubt a passive DP-to-HDMI port form factor cable has the same smarts needed to work properly. It will be interesting to see if a passive high speed cable works. Please let us know.

sbuehler

JackE said:

>>> if i have an adapter between the PC and monitor there is no issue. >>>

Sorry. Misunderstood. Then your adapter or converter seems to be working as it should. It seems to have some smarts in passing through complete HDMI signals both ways. I sorta doubt a passive DP-to-HDMI port form factor cable has the same smarts needed to work probably. It will be interesting to see if a passive high speed cable works. Please let us know.

Agreed.  I was kind of hoping there would be some sort of software solution like drivers or firmware updates that I could do to make the cables I had work.  But it is what it is I guess.

JackE

>>> if i have an adapter between the PC and monitor there is no issue.>>>

Yeah, sorry, passive bi-directional signal adapter cables almost seem like an oxymoron.

But the adapter or converter you're now using seems like a smart one. Could you please share which one you're using? 

sbuehler

JackE said:

>>> if i have an adapter between the PC and monitor there is no issue.>>>

Yeah, sorry, passive bi-directional signal adapter cables almost seem like an oxymoron.

But the adapter or converter you're now using seems like a smart one. Could you please share which one you're using? 

JackE said:

>>> if i have an adapter between the PC and monitor there is no issue.>>>

Yeah, sorry, passive bi-directional signal adapter cables almost seem like an oxymoron.

But the adapter or converter you're now using seems like a smart one. Could you please share which one you're using? 

I may not have been clear with the reason I was trying to find a software solution.  I had purchased a total of 23 of the Dell Optiplex 5090 PCs for users in our company, along with about 40 new Acer SB220Q monitors and 40 DP > HDMI cables for each.  When the first unit was put into production we discovered the issue where the monitors wouldn't wake when the PC was shut down.  I was hoping to find a way to solve the issue using the exising hardware that I had rather than needing to return all the cables and buy 40 adapters and HDMI > HDMI cables instead.  Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be an option and I agree, using an adapter and HDMI cable does solve the problem, but because I was sitting on so much new hardware specifically for this project, I was hoping to find a better solution.

Hopefully that clears up the reason for my question.

JackE

>>>23 of the Dell Optiplex 5090 PCs for users>>>

What about asking the vendor to exchange DP-only cards for HDMI-only or combo cards?

sbuehler

JackE said:

>>>23 of the Dell Optiplex 5090 PCs for users>>>

What about asking the vendor to exchange DP-only cards for HDMI-only or combo cards?

I mean, that's an option also, but not ideal as the delay caused by either shipping all the computers back, or waiting for replacement cards to arrive and then be installed is still longer than the preferred solution of simply finding a driver or firmware update that would make everything that I have now work.

As I mentioned, replacing the existing cables with adapters and other cables is a solution, as is replacing the cards in the PCs.  But neither of these is my preferred solution of keeping the hardware I purchased and simply updating software to fix the compatibility issue.

JackE

What is the brand & model number of the DP-only cards? There may be a way of resetting their ports as if the plug was pulled.

sbuehler

JackE said:

What is the brand & model number of the DP-only cards? There may be a way of resetting their ports as if the plug was pulled.

The ports are soldered to the motherboard.  There isn't a separate card.   I did find a Spiceworks article (link) discussing a similar problem when the PC was in sleep mode, which is different than I'm seeing, but after walking through the whole process the issue still persists.

JackE

Yes, but the mainboard graphics chip or card feeding the ports should have a brand & model number. Like Acer, Dell should have  graphics control panel software that might be able to essentially simulate physically re-seating the cable plug by quickly disabling/re-enabling the port Perhaps you might want to consider registering and posting the issue on a Dell users forum if you haven't done so already. it might be a fairly simple fix if the dp signal output port also produces hdmi signal output..

billsey

I'd look into replacing the cables before replacing the PCs... It's likely the cables aren't passing something through that's needed for waking or not generating an active signal that's needed. That's not unusual on the cheaper adapter cables. Also remember that DP to HDMI and HDMI to DP are completely different and not compatible, even when the cables look the same, since one needs to be active and the other passive.

sbuehler

JackE said:

>>>23 of the Dell Optiplex 5090 PCs for users>>>

What about asking the vendor to exchange DP-only cards for HDMI-only or combo cards?

At this point I'm pretty sure that we're having two different conversations.  You may have missed the part where I said the DP ports were soldered on the motherboard. 

sbuehler

billsey said:

I'd look into replacing the cables before replacing the PCs... It's likely the cables aren't passing something through that's needed for waking or not generating an active signal that's needed. That's not unusual on the cheaper adapter cables. Also remember that DP to HDMI and HDMI to DP are completely different and not compatible, even when the cables look the same, since one needs to be active and the other passive.

This is the solution I am following.  As I mentioned, multiple times, I have them working with new hardware.  The entire goal of this post was to try and find a software solution that would allow me to make this work with the hardware I have.  While I appreciate the responses, any comment suggesting that I swap hardware, in any way, clearly has not read and understood the question I've asked.

JackE

>>>The ports are soldered to the motherboard.  There isn't a separate card.  >>>

Yes, but the mainboard graphics chip or card feeding the ports should have a brand & model number. Like Acer, Dell should have  graphics control panel software that might be able to essentially simulate physically re-seating the cable plug by quickly disabling/re-enabling the port Perhaps you might want to consider registering and posting the issue on a Dell users forum if you haven't done so already. it might be a fairly simple fix if the dp signal output port also produces hdmi signal output..

billsey

What I am trying to say is if there is a hardware issue with the cable not acting as the monitor expects, there will not be a software solution. My guess is that because the cable is not passing an active signal the monitor is powering fully off after a period of time instead of just going into a sleep mode. I know of no way to change the settings on the monitor to remove the full power off after complete loss of signal from the OSD, so you are stuck with the current behavior without replacing the non-compliant cables.

JackE

Yes thanks @billsey , This point was raised earlier in the thread about his signal converter having the smarts to pass through complete HDMI signals both ways. But a passive DP-to-HDMI port form factor cable doesn't have the same smarts needed to work properly

That's why the Dell users forum was suggested. To see if a graphics control panel was available to essentially simulate physically re-seating the cable plug by quickly disabling/re-enabling the port through the GPU control panel. It might be a fairly simple workaround that allows using a dumb cable instead of a smart signal converter.