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HP Recommended
HP Envy Phoenix 860-010
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

I have been happily running two monitors since I got this computer in April 2016, one monitor connected to the HDMI port and the other to the DVI port on the NVIDIA GTX 960 card.  This card supports four monitors maximum.  It has 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, and 3 DisplayPort connections.

 

Note that on model 860-010 you cannot use the two vertical HDMI ports marked HDMI 1 and HDMI 2.  They are not active in this model .  They only work with lesser models that use integrated graphics.  This model has the dedicated graphics card, so only the ports on the card are active.  (That's according to HP Support and I can confirm it from experience.)

  

Now I need to connect a third monitor which only has DVI and VGA ports.  My only option is to connect it to one the DisplayPort ports on the card through an adapter.  I contacted NVIDIA support and they told me that either an *active* or *passive* adapter will work with this card.

 

So I bought a passive DisplayPort to DVI adapter cable and connected the third monitor to one of the DisplayPorts.

 

When I boot, the boot screen shows up on my third monitor but it flags an unspecified error, says it can't start Windows, and offers to recover my system back to a restore point, which I of course decline.  I tried various advanced troubleshooting options, two different DisplayPort ports, and two different DVI monitors with the same results each time.  When I disconnect the third monitor, the computer is back to normal and boots fine.

 

My third monitor is obviously able to display stuff through this connection because the boot screen and various error and recovery screens show up there, and I can use my mouse to interact with those screens.

 

The error message screen references log file C:\windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt.  That file flags the following error:

 

Root cause found:
---------------------------
Unknown Bugcheck: Bugcheck 3b. Parameters = 0xc0000005, 0xfffff80181a107b3, 0xffffd000cc9f60b0, 0x0.

 

I tried looking up this error online and got no helpful hits.

 

Does anybody know how to make a third DVI (or HDMI) monitor work on this model?

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Confirmed that my problem was a bad DisplayPort to DVI passive adapter cable.

 

I got the third monitor working by getting a Plugable Active DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter for $19.95 and switching one of my existing monitors from using its DVI port to using HDMI.  Then I connected the third monitor, which only has DVI and VGA connections, to my computer with a DVI cable.

 

Now all three monitors work fine.

View solution in original post

4 REPLIES 4
HP Recommended

Update:

 

When I run two monitors, one connected to the HDMI port and the other to a DisplayPort through the DisplayPort to DVI passive adapter cable, it works fine.

 

So the cable itself is OK.  It's only when I attempt to run a third monitor through that cable that it fails.

 

I suspect NVIDIA support was wrong when they said a passive adapter would work for a third monitor.  I've heard of a video card that works fine with a passive adapter for the first two monitors but requires an active adapter for the third.  I was hoping the NVIDIA GTX 960 was not like that.  Does anybody know for sure?

 

Also, the precise sequence of boot messages with the third monitor is:

 

1. Preparing Automatic Repair screen.

2. Diagnosing Your PC screen.

3. Automatic Repair screen with message "Windows couldn't load correctly"

HP Recommended

Another update:

 

My limited success with the DisplayPort to DVI passive adapter cable appears to have been a fluke.  I think I have a bad cable.

 

I tried several different combinations of monitors and ports and could not get any other configuration to work with that cable.  Even just running a single monitor with that cable failed.  So I went back to the two-monitor-with-adapter-cable configuration that I reported working yesterday, and now it fails like every other attempt with the same error message.

 

Maybe I was hallucinating but I swear that cable worked yesterday.  It's a Cable Matters Gold Plated DisplayPort to DVI Cable, 6 Feet from Amazon.com for $11.99.

 

I'm going to switch things up and try a DisplayPort to HDMI active adapter for one of my existing monitors and run the third monitor off straight DVI.  Will post my results in a few days.

HP Recommended

PierreBoulez

 

I run three monitors off my desktop -- and the third monitor is connected using a USB-to-VGA adapter kit.

 

You can find various versions of these, some using USB 2.0, some using USB 3.0.  Also, you can get kits connecting to VGA, DVI, or HDMI (maybe even DP).

 

You have to shop around, and the prices go up as you choose different USB versions and different video ports.


Good Luck



I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
HP Recommended

Confirmed that my problem was a bad DisplayPort to DVI passive adapter cable.

 

I got the third monitor working by getting a Plugable Active DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter for $19.95 and switching one of my existing monitors from using its DVI port to using HDMI.  Then I connected the third monitor, which only has DVI and VGA connections, to my computer with a DVI cable.

 

Now all three monitors work fine.

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