Using an old HP laptop's monitor in my desktop system

[sps7]

For years I've been using a reliable HP 1740 monitor in my desktop tower computer system. For some time now that HP 1740 runs fine for hours and then suddenly, out-of-the-blue, goes fully black. When this happened, I'd turn off the power to the monitor, wait and then turn the power back on. This usually worked but it's getting worse now so I figure something in the monitor electronics is failing.

I have an older HP laptop which has a VGA port. Can I just run the VGA cable from the desktop tower computer to the HP laptop monitor's VGA port or is this not so simple as I supposed at first?

Will the wired mouse from the back of the desktop tower computer work on the HP laptop monitor?

My desktop tower's sole OS is MX-21 but the older HP laptop has some older version of MX.

[I can't give you a QSI because I'm using a tablet to submit this.]

[Eadwine Rose]

As far as I know, those monitor connections on laptops are signal out only, not in.

BUT.. I would love to be proven wrong!

[Huckleberry Finn]

Yep. That way it'll be from: output to: output.

But at least you can try the monitor for the last time connecting to laptop, then (sadly) replace/repair if necessary. (Don't forget to try the Fn+FX keys (whatever the combination is on yours) to switch bw. display outputs in case it stays completely black.)

[baldyeti]

Some AIO's (all-in-one) allow using their screen as output for another system but i have never seen a laptop where this is possible.

[chrispop99]

Sadly what you want to do is not possible using VGA. (Or any cable connection such as HDMI.)

You might be able to set up screen-casting between the two machines, or use something like vncViewer, but you would need a working monitor on the desktop machine to set it up. In either case, performance would be very poor on a laptop that had a VGA port..

Chris

[CharlesV]

For years I've been using a reliable HP 1740 monitor in my desktop tower computer system. For some time now that HP 1740 runs fine for hours and then suddenly, out-of-the-blue, goes fully black. When this happened, I'd turn off the power to the monitor, wait and then turn the power back on. This usually worked but it's getting worse now so I figure something in the monitor electronics is failing.

I have an older HP laptop which has a VGA port. Can I just run the VGA cable from the desktop tower computer to the HP laptop monitor's VGA port or is this not so simple as I supposed at first?

Will the wired mouse from the back of the desktop tower computer work on the HP laptop monitor?

My desktop tower's sole OS is MX-21 but the older HP laptop has some older version of MX.

[I can't give you a QSI because I'm using a tablet to submit this.]

This is going to sound strange, but give it a try. Unplug the power cable from the monitor and then with the power cable unplugged, hold the power button down keep pressing it for 10 seconds. Then plug the power cable back in and try to turn the monitor on. ( This can 'un-shock' the monitor and if it shocked then it will turn on.)

Also, some of the older HP monitors like this were frequently "going out" and leaving them sit without power for at least 24 hrs, would 'revive' them.

[Huckleberry Finn]

... Unplug .. hold the power button down keep pressing it for 10 seconds...

Good idea. I sometimes do that on our lcd tv when it begins freezing etc. kind of reset ... At least no harm and nothing to lose :)

[i_ri]

Have a fire extinguisher at-hand and wear rubber shoes; do not plug computers together.
8-|

at Fault can be (sounds like) the Cable to the hp1740? try different cable? any difference dvi or vga? is there use of an adapter in the line?
signal or power? is there a backlight inverter?
Always saddening to lose a long-standing equipment osteam member like your hp1740.
Treat yourself to a new touchscreen?

[rokytnji.1]

TV's are cheap at walmart lately also.

Posting this on a MX 21 Fluxbox Dell 755 with a big screen NEC TV Box. Using VGA from nvidia card and Speaker from TV for sound.

Code: Select all

harry@mx:~
$ inxi -zv8
System:
  Kernel: 5.10.0-21-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-21-amd64
    root=UUID=8d18d6c3-7355-42de-9762-0a664eca307b ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Fluxbox v: 1.3.7 info: tint2 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0
    Distro: MX-21.3_fluxbox_x64 Wildflower Oct 20 2021 base: Debian GNU/Linux
    11 (bullseye)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex 755 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 6 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0GM819 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell v: A11
    date: 08/04/2008
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  RAM: total: 3.71 GiB used: 1.49 GiB (40.2%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges
    required.
PCI Slots:
  Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core2 Duo E6550 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Core2 Merom
    level: v1 built: 2006-09 process: Intel 65nm family: 6 model-id: 0xF (15)
    stepping: 0xB (11) microcode: 0xBA
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 1x4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2092 high: 2190 min/max: 2000/2333 scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2190 2: 1995
    bogomips: 9309
  Flags: acpi aperfmperf apic arch_perfmon bts clflush cmov constant_tsc
    cpuid cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts est fpu fxsr ht lahf_lm lm mca
    mce mmx monitor msr mtrr nopl nx pae pat pbe pdcm pebs pge pni pse pse36
    pti rep_good sep smx sse sse2 ssse3 syscall tm tm2 tsc vme xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion
  Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode;
    SMT disabled
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling,
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GF108 [GeForce GT 430] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia
    v: 390.157 non-free: series: 390.xx+ status: legacy-active (EOL~late 2022)
    arch: Fermi code: GF1xx process: 40/28nm built: 2010-16 pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0de1
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: N/A display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 49 s-size: 708x390mm (27.87x15.35")
    s-diag: 808mm (31.82")
  Monitor-1: VGA-0 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 50
    size: 697x392mm (27.44x15.43") diag: 800mm (31.48") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.157 renderer: GeForce GT 430/PCIe/SSE2
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: Dell Optiplex 755
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:293e
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com. GeForce GT
    430 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0bea class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k5.10.0-21-amd64 running: yes
  Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82566DM-2 Gigabit Network vendor: Dell OptiPlex 755
    driver: e1000e v: kernel port: ecc0 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:10bd
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 2-2:4 chip-ID: 0bda:8771 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0
    lmp-v: 5.1 sub-v: 646b hci-v: 5.1 rev: d99
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:5 sco-mtu: 255:11 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
    link-mode: slave accept service-classes: object transfer
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.55 TiB used: 248 GiB (5.3%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD2003FYPS-27W9B0 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    rev: 5G09 scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Toshiba model: DT01ABA300
    size: 2.73 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 4096 B type: HDD
    rpm: 5940 serial: <filter> scheme: MBR
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVDRAM GH41N rev: MN01
    dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw
  Features: speed: 40 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
    rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 85.89 GiB size: 84.36 GiB (98.22%) used: 46.73 GiB (55.4%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: rootMX21
    uuid: 8d18d6c3-7355-42de-9762-0a664eca307b
  ID-2: /media/harry/_misc raw-size: 1.25 TiB size: 1.23 TiB (98.42%)
    used: 201.27 GiB (15.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7 label: /misc
    uuid: a14d3c77-5729-40ee-900a-4c792b99a9da
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 3.95 GiB fs: swap label: N/A
    uuid: 96461763-a4aa-4535-9d37-5de8130f84f8
  ID-2: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 size: 1 KiB fs: <superuser required>
    label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-3: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 size: 244.14 GiB fs: ext4 label: /data
    uuid: cf478cb9-3e25-4236-9118-801f1ae76212
  ID-4: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6 size: 244.14 GiB fs: ext4 label: /data2
    uuid: 16c3c4b1-7067-4f94-8dd2-423c23ea427d
  ID-5: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 size: 2.73 TiB fs: ntfs label: TOSHIBA EXT
    uuid: 6CD2B55FD2B52E68
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-2:4 info: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: Bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 0bda:8771 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 5-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 5-5:3 info: Toshiba America External Disk 2TB Model DT01ABA200
    type: Mass Storage driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 0480:d000 class-ID: 0806
    serial: <filter>
  Hub-6: 6-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 6-2:4 info: China Resource Semico Keyboard type: Keyboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s
    power: 98mA chip-ID: 1a2c:0021 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-7: 7-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 7-2:2 info: Trust B.V. USB+PS/2 Optical Mouse type: Mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 15d9:0a4c class-ID: 0301
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 57 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 65%
Repos:
  Packages: 2083 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2075 libs: 1008
    tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,synaptic pm: rpm pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 8
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security/ bullseye-security main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 194
  1: cpu: 15.3% command: firefox pid: 317467 mem: 524.9 MiB (13.8%)
  2: cpu: 4.5% command: firefox-bin pid: 319131 mem: 184.7 MiB (4.8%)
  3: cpu: 1.8% command: firefox-bin pid: 317554 mem: 140.0 MiB (3.6%)
  4: cpu: 0.9% command: xfce4-terminal pid: 319832 mem: 46.4 MiB (1.2%)
  5: cpu: 0.4% command: conky pid: 2968 mem: 10.6 MiB (0.2%)
  Memory top: 5 of 194
  1: mem: 524.9 MiB (13.8%) command: firefox pid: 317467 cpu: 15.3%
  2: mem: 184.7 MiB (4.8%) command: firefox-bin pid: 319131 cpu: 4.5%
  3: mem: 149.6 MiB (3.9%) command: firefox-bin pid: 317679 cpu: 0.1%
  4: mem: 140.0 MiB (3.6%) command: firefox-bin pid: 317554 cpu: 1.8%
  5: mem: 109.7 MiB (2.8%) command: firefox-bin pid: 317581 cpu: 0.1%
Info:
  Processes: 194 Uptime: 7d 17h 8m wakeups: 1 Init: SysVinit v: 2.96
  runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1
  alt: 10 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.4 running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.23
harry@mx:~
$ 

Makes for a good TV box when the wife rules the remote.

[Huckleberry Finn]

@rokytnji.1 thank you for that, just:

Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: N/A