TC-391 Dual monitors fail, either works, not both.Windows 11 does not recognize a second monitor

Tom_ONC
Tom_ONC Member Posts: 2 New User
edited December 2023 in Aspire and Veriton Desktops

Purchased an Acer Aspire Desktop TC-391 in Aug 2021 with intent to use as a general work desktop with just one monitor. Now I'd like to use two. I'm not looking for high end gaming support or high frame rates, just a general work setup for my wife. But, only one output will work at a time, never both. Both the HDMI and the VGA work, as a one display config. Windows 11 does not recognize a second monitor, regardless of which monitor is connected to which port. Oddly, when both are connected it always defaults to the VGA. Here's the spec's on the PC and GPU along with what I've tried.

Aspire TC-391 w/ AMD Ryzen 5 4600G Hexa-Core CPU with built-in AMD Radeon 1636 GPU with 512MB VRAM - DDR4 1600MHz at Rev C9 using Renoir BIOS; the chassis comes as one HDMI output and one VGA output; both are functional, but not at the same time. Here are the specifics on things done so far:

Most drivers and other firmware installed at time of purchase were dated 08-2020. Looking at the Acer site, most updates are only dated 12-2020, except for the BIOS (mentioned below) which was dated 06-2021. So, updated from Acer website: a) VGA Driver to latest, 27.20.1032.2 dated 12-2020 - seemed to install fine and was recognized; b) VGA Utility for AMD to latest, 19.20.10021.0 dated 12-2020 - seemed to install partially, uses the old Windows UWP method, log file shows some appx files not found, no documentation on what it actually is (see note below); c) AMD Radeon utility to latest, 10.20.10028.0 dated 2020, worked fine; d) and finally updated Acer BIOS to latest, R01-A1, dated 06-2021, which mentions external VGA support, worked fine but didn't fix anything.

One thought was that the failed UWP could be what Windows 11 uses to discern if there are two monitors, but I'm not savvy enough to figure that out from the files in the install package - mostly scripts, appx files, a few xml files. So, at this point, I'm out of ideas and appreciate any suggestions. AMD does not provide much specific info about support of dual monitors on that GPU. I suppose an option is to add another simple GPU card. Thanks much !

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]
[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Answers

  • Tom_ONC
    Tom_ONC Member Posts: 2 New User

    SOLVED ! : ) As you would expect, something weird. I shut down to open the case and inspect the available slots for another card (only one full length PCIe on mother board). Then, upon powering back up, both monitors came on. So, a hard boot was required after one of the updates, not that I can pinpoint which update. Oddly, the BIOS update reboots, but that is not sufficient. A hard boot was required. I hope this can help someone else, so I'll leave it here.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Both connector are on different internal ports:

    image.png

    So perhaps you just had Windows set on Duplicate instead of Extend?

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.

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