Laptop won't detect Acer monitors

[JB10132022]

I am attempting to hook up two external Acer monitors to my HP laptop and the laptop will not detect the monitors.  I have tried:

Two different docking stations

The Acer has VGA, DVI-D and DP ports on the back - I have tried DP/DP cables and DP/HDMI cables.

I have selected the Extend option under Windows+P

I have attempted to search for additional monitors under settings

What else is there to try??

[banhien · Accepted solution]

@JB10132022 

The specs of your machine is

            https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c06620352

It has following ports

• 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-C® 5Gbps signaling rate;
• 2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate;
• 1 HDMI 1.4;
• 1 AC smart pin;
• 1 headphone/microphone combo

Your monitors have following ports  "The Acer has VGA, DVI-D and DP ports on the back".

If you wish to connect 2 monitors only please use

Monitor 1: HDMI (machine) to DVI-D (monitor) direct cable such as

                    https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/comsol-hdmi-male-to-dvi-male-cable-1m-cohddm01

Monitor 2: USB to DVI-D adapter such as

                    https://www.mwave.com.au/product/klik-20cm-displayport-to-single-link-dvid-female-adapter-ac39736

Note: you can use DP port on monitors but very expensive and ignore VGA ports. The USB-C port is useless for monitors.

Regards.               

[JB10132022]

Thank you Banhien.  I will try. I just tried a DP to HDMI cable straight from one of the monitors, into the laptop, but the monitor still didn't work. Should this have worked?

[banhien]

@JB10132022 

Did you use a right cable ? You need a bidirectional cable, not Uni-Directional cable. You can use your cable to connect DP (on computer) to HDMI (on monitor) but not another way.

Regards.

[JB10132022]

Hello again Banhien.  Thank you very much for helping me with this.

You mentioned for monitor 2, that I should look for a USB to DVI-D, but the link shows a DP to female DVI-D adapter.  Looks like I need a male DVI end.  Did you mean to mention a USB or DP for the other end?

[JB10132022]

I bought a dual HDMI adapter and two VGA to HDMI cords and now the monitors are working.  Thank you!