DUal monitors with PXI 8102

[MogaRaghu]

I have got the PXI 8102 system with one analog input / one analog output / one DIO card fitted in.

My requirement is to use two montiors in EXTEND mode. ( When I choose the WIN+P I do get the option to extend ) and so I thought this must be possible.It has a DVI-I port.

Question is this : Can I connect one splitter which has a DVI-D and DVI-A to this port and connect two montiors and get the EXTEND option to work. I tried a DVI-I to twin DVI-D splitter and just got DUPLICATE images. What I want is EXTEND .

1. Is this possible with the PXI 8102 controller ?

2. If not what options do I have to connect another monitor to extend my screens ??

Thanks.

[Josh_KNH]

Yes, it is possible to use a splitter that provides a single DVI-D and a single DVI-A (or VGA) connector to configure the display for extend mode in Windows. The PXI-8102 has a single digital channel and a single analog channel output through the DVI-I connector, which is why you cannot use two digital channels to work as you want, but one analog and one digital monitor is fine.

Cheers,

Josh_KNH

[MogaRaghu]

Oh, if this could work then all my woes are over. I was under the impression that the PXI-8102 has a single frame generator and the frames put out on both the Analog and Digital channels was one and the same . However if as you wrote I can extend with a ANA + DIGI splitter, then thats what I need. Shall try and revert.

Have you by chance tried out something similiar ??

Thanks

[Josh_KNH]

I have tested exactly what you are trying to accomplish with a PXI-8102 in the past. There is a KnowledgeBase article here that talks about the configuration you want to use.  If you take a look at the accessories for the PXI-8102, you can purchase the splitter from NI (part number 780868-01) and it is a supported configuration.

You can also get a DVI-I splitter elsewhere and it will probably work, although I have seen ones that route the DDC pins incorrectly in the splitter, which will cause problems with getting both monitors working correctly.  This was years ago when DVI-I was still relatively new - hopefully that's not a problem with splitters you can buy these days.  And of course, the splitter NI sells routes the DDC pins correctly to the DVI-D connector. 

Cheers,

Jiosh_KNH

[MogaRaghu]

That is really good news. And reading the link you gave it does look like the EXTEND Mode is possible. Will contact rightwway for the splitter.

Thanks a ton for your kind support.

Cheers.

[Kousy]

Bought DVI-I splitter from eBay to extend displays. Both DVI-D female & VGA female splitter is working separately fine. But when try to extend displays the PXI controller 8102 boots using VGA cable connected monitor when both the splitter cables connected. And the other monitor is not coming up.

Removing the VGA cable and reboots the controller is now boot up with DVI-D cable connected monitor. And now inserting the VGA cable extends the displays into VGA monitor.

How to resolve this to extend displays when connecting both splitter cables in place before boot up itself? Is there any configuration setting available to rectify this?

Thanks,

G Kousalya

[Josh_KNH]

A couple of quick things to try:

1. Ensure you have the latest BIOS version.

2. In BIOS Setup, look under Advanced > Video Configuration and ensure that the DDC routing is set to DVI.  That is the default and should be the configuration that correctly enables support for display DVI first during boot.  If it is set this way already, it couldn't hurt to try the opposite.

3. Try a different brand of DVI monitor.

If one of those options doesn't fix it for you, then I suspect that there is something unusal about that splitter.  As I mentioned earlier in this thread NI sells a known good splitter  but there are some steps you could take to confirm this is the issue before getting a different splitter.  You can check the DDC routing of the cable.  You will need some pinouts for VGA and DVI - Wikipedia's should work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

As well a multimeter to check signal continuity.  You can verify which signal routing of the DDC data and clock line exists for your splitter.

1. DVI-I connector to only DVI-D connector (correct)

2. DVI-I connector to VGA connector (incorrect)

3. DVI-I connector to both DVI-D and VGA connectors (incorrect)

Anything other than the first configuration could result in the behavior you are seeing.

Cheers,

Josh_KNH