HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

clem57 — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 10:46:37 GMT

I have been building PC's for many years and found out not all serial pins are wired according to standards. I am afraid this comes to play in DVI to HDMI cables as well. So without testing the signals on the cable, nothing is for sure. Darn manufacturer LOL

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

colporteur — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 22:38:16 GMT

I'm curious if you would know the answer to this question.

The DVI resource you provided shows the pinout between HDMI and DVI-D. Does the pintout change if it was one of the other DVI types?

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

colporteur — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 22:35:02 GMT

The premise for looking at connectors is to determine a cause for the monitor failing to detect the Pi video after power up. The video signal will be on specific pins depending on the DVI connector employed. I confess the fact it worked once and not again is a condition I am parking at the moment.

I wasn't aware of a way to change the signal level as clem57 has pointed out in his post. Did this give you any success or has the monitor gone and can't be tested?

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

kse001 — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:36:03 GMT

Thanks for the response. If you go back to the original post I made where I listed all the steps I've gone through, I think I've tried all the things you suggested already. The thought that an apt update might have been the root cause is interesting, but I tried reflashing the image several times and there is no video at any point. By that I mean, the problem is not that there's video until the OS boots and then the screen goes blank, but rather than there's never any video at all because the monitor goes into power saving mode and stays there whether the Pi is on or off. The main boot image I'm using doesn't suppress any output as the OS boots, and I did try several different images as well, so at a minimum I'd have expect to see some text scrolling through the screen before the monitor blanked on one of the images I tried.

I appreciate all the responses I've gotten here. Pretty amazing community of people trying to help! I guess my main concern was that I had done something myself to cause the problem and was hoping to ensure I did not repeat my mistake and render another Pi unusable for my project since Id rather not have to buy a third one for this. I'm starting to think that the issue may have been semi-unique and that there simply may not be an answer, or at least one that's feasible for me to determine given the time and equipment I have. Since the second Pi worked with the monitor, I've not disconnected it and am reluctant to do so - as much as I'd like to better understand the issue with the first Pi, I am kind of in "why mess with success?" mode as I've been playing with this off and on since November. If I hit the problem with the second Pi, I will likely go back and try the steps suggested by Christopher Stanton above since its something I hadn't considered and experimented with.

Thanks again!

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

clem57 — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 04:45:51 GMT

Can you do the following command:

uname -a

This can tell what software level you are running on Raspberry Pi. If it changed due to an apt update, that would explain your trouble.

Also look at https://pinouts.ru/Video/hdmi_dvi_cable_pinout.shtml This explains the pins like the pictures from colporteur above.

Looking https://www.dell.com/downloads/emea/products/snp/UltraSharp%202007FP_EN.pdf shows the operating frequencies and screen coordinates.

One parm that may help is the following to boost signal strengthen especially for a long cable.

config_hdmi_boost=4

Look at https://www.opentechguides.com/how-to/article/raspberry-pi/28/raspi-display-setting.html to use a tool to get the EDID information for your monitor.

Match it with the following settings as an example:

"CEA" corresponds to hdmi_group=1
"DMT" corresponds to hdmi_group=2
The value inside () corresponds to hdmi_mode.
From the above result:
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

I know this is a lot of information, but it can be tackled.

I hope this leads you to success.

Clem

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

kse001 — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 03:26:51 GMT

The monitor connection and cable I was using are both dual link DVI-D. I'm not totally sure I understand your question/statement, so I may not be responding to what you meant, but I don't think the connectors come into play with this. My reasoning is that things did work initially, right up until I disconnected everything and moved it to a different room in the house. Also, I connected an Intel NUC using the same HDMI-DVI cable I'd used with the Pi when it worked and got a signal. Plus the fact that the new Pi is now working with everything else being the same seems to support that. With all that having been said, though, I definitely don't claim to know enough about this to say one way or another with any authority. I'm just going on the testing I did and how I interpreted the results.

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

colporteur — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 02:16:15 GMT

If I am reading correct, the monitor has a DVI type connector and you are using a HDMI to DVI?

Can you tell me what DVI connector is on the monitor?

I may be taking you down a path that is not valid but here is my train of thought.

I have HDMI to DVI cables. The DVI connector is third from the top. I'm have on order a adaptors HDMI female to DVI connector at the top.

Do these connector impact a monitors ability to detect a device. Again I'm just thinking out load.

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

kse001 — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:15:12 GMT

That's a very interesting idea! I did not really play around with the order in which I connected devices - never thought about that. I will have to give that a shot and see if it has any effect!

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

kse001 — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:13:49 GMT

Yes, that is correct. I can even add a little more information to that:

I had gotten a second 2007fpb monitor and run through the tests on both of them after the original Pi stopped displaying, and neither one displayed. Both monitors exhibited the same behavior: they detected "something" was connected to the DVI port, but went into power saving mode and never came out. The same thing happened when I tried the HDMI-VGA adapter on both of them. From what I read in my research, this was common for others who have experienced this problem. I unfortunately no longer have access to the second monitor for testing, so I'm limited to testing with the first one which is connected (and still working!) to the second Pi.

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

colporteur — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 02:01:09 GMT

Wow that is a strange one. By the way, great documentation.

I wrote this summary after reading some of the posts to have you confirm your current condition.

You have two Pi3B+ (same model) one displays and the other doesn't display on HDMI using 2007fpb monitor. The Pi that doesn't work, in the past worked at least once.

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

cstanton — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 10:33:20 GMT

This sounds like it could be the victim of the order in which the devices are setup and powered on.

For example:

- Power off all devices

- Connect up the cabling, except power.

- Connect power to the display first, turn the monitor on into standby mode with only one display input

- Power on the Raspberry Pi using a default Raspbian setup on the SDCard

Raspbian in its latest builds have some accommodations for the display due to the dual output of the Raspberry Pi 4, it tries to detect how the screen works that it's connected to and determine the correct resolution and settings, and if it hasn't received this information as the Raspberry Pi is powered up/powered on, then it's going to have difficulty negotiating the display properly.

I'd be interested if an older version of Raspbian would work 'better', though it may be difficult to find an older version these days. Still, my main thoughts here are the order in which the devices are plugged in and powered on.

Equally if this has already been tried, then attempting to plug in the display when both the display and Raspberry Pi have been powered on separately may be worth trying, though I would suspect it may not renegotiate the connection to the display as well.

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

kse001 — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 21:11:37 GMT

Thanks for the response. I do have the newer version, so if I did go this route I'd have to get one of the cables you mentioned. I think I'd probably shop around for a different monitor in the resale shops first to see if I could find one that would work with it before going that route, since as you said, the resolution wouldn't be the best. Worst case, I could use the original Pi to run Octopi or something along those lines so it's not a total loss. I'm really mainly interested in understanding what could have happened so I can avoid running into this issue again. For the time being, I'm not removing the HDMI cable from the Pi that's working.

RE: HDMI output to Dell 2007fpb monitor not working

mp2100 — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:46:12 GMT

I have a way that you probably can use your original rPi, but you may not like it.

First of all, good troubleshooting and documenting your troubleshooting. I had a few suggestions half way through and then, oh, you tried that already.

So, I happen to have my own Dell 2007fbp monitor. It's an old model, I rescued it from the recycle pile. And I rescued it for use with an rPi because it has a composite port:

https://www.dell.com/downloads/emea/products/snp/UltraSharp%202007FP_EN.pdf

And all raspberry pi models have a composite port. Resolution won't be very good, but it would make your rPi usable. With the newer Pi models, it's a bit more difficult because you'll need a 3.5mm jack to composite cable.