does HP Pavilion dv6-6173cl support 2 external monitors ?

[dc88slc]

I know how to set up. Support docs indicate I should check my  product specs to see if 2 ext mons are supported but I have no idea where that would be. I can extend to a mon connected to VGA or a mon connected to HDMI but not both at the same time. W10 sees that there is a mon 3 but will not display on it. Same mons and W10 OS works fine on a surface I have connected also.

 Is this a case that the hdwe config from HP just doesn't allow both the VGA conn and the HDMI conn to be active at the same time or am I missing something buried in the details ?

[banhien]

@dc88slc 

Its specs

          https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c03015481

which shows it has

• Digital Media Card Reader for Secure Digital and Multimedia cards
• 2 SuperSpeed USB 3.0
• 2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
• 1 HDMI
• 1 VGA (15-pin)
• 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
• 2 Headphone-out
• 1 Microphone-in

You can use 2 external monitors using NATIVE HDMI and VGA ports.

Regards.

[dc88slc]

Sounds great. Problem is , one monitor or the other will work. Not both. If I extend the laptop display to, say the VGA connected monitor,  the HDMI connected monitor will not display anything. In W10 settings/display, W10 seems to be "seeing" the 3rd monitor but it is greyed out for such things as dragging to rearrange. The icon can be selected, though, and under "multiple displays", the default choice is "disconnect this display". If I attempt to choose "Extend desktop to this display", it will allow me to but the other external monitor shuts down and the items that were showing on it move to the new display. When I select "Identify" in display settings, W10 running on the laptop correctly identifies (numerically)   the monitor that is on (displaying) and indicates there is a 3rd monitor but it is not displaying anything including its numeric identifier. Again, in Settings, it can not be rearranged as it is now greyed out, but the now "dormant" monitor can be selected. Again, in multiple displays, the default choice is disconnect, if extend is selected, the stuff from the active screen is just moved back to the earlier active screen (which is currently dormant)  which now becomes active again and the other one now goes dormant. On and on, not allowing both screens to be active ?

[banhien]

@dc88slc 

Do you use NATIVE connections ? If still does not work machine is probably a bit old you have to use adapter. You can use modern adapter which could cost you an arm or a leg or just a working one (and cheap) such as

              

I bought on eBay for A$70. You can find cheaper elsewhere.

Regards.

[dc88slc]

Yes, native connections. Coming to the conclusion that this model does not enable more than one external monitor active at a time, at least through the wiring scheme in place for the computer. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that an HP employee with actual knowledge of the situation monitors the support forum and will provide a product specific answer. From the support site :  "Check your computer specifications to see if multiple monitors are supported on your PC." and "  Check your product specifications to learn about external monitor support for your model."  That's the basic question I am trying to get answered here as there is no clear statement that I have found yet in the "Product specifications" that I have been able to find but there is clearly doubt raised by HP's own statements on the support site. I do not see how a docking adapter would solve the problem if a signal from both the HDMI connecter and the VGA connector is not allowed concurrently by the system hardware, which seems to be the case, as the dock is not going to get the signal from one or the other to pass on. Suffice it to say that the Surface that is also connected to these same monitors works fine, with mini display adapter cables for HDMI and VGA.   I appreciate your efforts on this question and the time taken to suggest possible solutions.