Battling a random issue wondering if anyone has any insight
Posted by voltagejim@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 10 comments
So we have 2 PC's with two 27inch Samsung monitors hooked up each. Last year we had an issue where randomly one of the monitors would just go black and the user would have to unplug the cable and plug back in for the monitor to come on.
The monitors are hooked up via DP cables going into mini DP adapters into the video card. I tried swapping out all adapters and cables, tried restarts, tried turning freesync on the monitors off, tried changing both monitors to be 120hz, but eventually the only thing that seemed to work was deleting the user account and having the user log back on and recreating it.
Issue seemed to be done with and I did not hear anything. Last week we actually just replaced both those PC's with new HP's with 13th gen i7 CPU's, 16GB RAM, SSD HDD, and I was told that as of 3 days the issue is now back and monitors are randomly going black. I checked all the same things and issue is still happening.
I can try deleting the user accounts again, but this is a brand new PC barely a week old so would those already be corrupt? Users are getting frustrated and I am grasping at straws on what to do next. Even viewer shows absolutely nothing. I am almost thinking to try and pitch the idea that the monitors are bad at this point.
pawwoll@reddit
Check if it's not issue with static charge (monitor goes off when using chair or when standing up)
Also check if having 2 different refresh rates on monitors helps, 0,004hz difference is fine.
voltagejim@reddit (OP)
Thanks so much for the static idea! I asked the users to jot down when the issue happesn and what they were doing, just got an email tonight from a 3rd shift user and it is leaning towards static! Here is what they emailed me:
"3:56pm – Went to the window
4:45pm – Went to the window
5:01pm – Went to the window
5:25pm – Went around to fingerprinting printer
5:47pm – Turned to go to the tube
6:02pm – Went to the window
6:40pm – Turned to the shelf, this one came back on by itself.
Each time it seems like I moved too quickly and had static shock built up. If I moved really slow and I discharged the static shock away from the desk it seemed to help."
What would be the best way to shield these monitors?
voltagejim@reddit (OP)
I know the first time this happened, they originally had 2 different refresh rates, so I set them to be the same but it didn't help. I will check about the static discharge
Procedure_Dunsel@reddit
Does it happen when the monitors come out of sleep? I’ve seen times when “adapters” work fine when first powered up, but coming out of sleep they didn’t get the memo and stayed off till unplug/replug or power cycled.
voltagejim@reddit (OP)
From what I am being told by the users, they will be working and suddenly one of the monitors goes black. It does not come back on unless they unplug the cable and plug it back in.
Also, for the 2 PC's it is happening on, it is always the same monitors, on one PC it is the right monitor, ont he other PC it is the left one.
Someone mentioned static electricity, and I am trying to find a way to test that theory or a way to prevent the static buildup if there is one.
Procedure_Dunsel@reddit
Just for gits and shiggles, I’d track the cables and see if the offenders are actually on matching ports on the video cards.
voltagejim@reddit (OP)
well one thing I haven't done is plug the dual monitors of each PC into the onboard video on the towers. But just really odd had the same issue last year and swapped to brand new tower barely a week old and same issue starts back up.
They also do have a radio (it's a jail) nearby too if that could have any affect.
Procedure_Dunsel@reddit
Another way to test the same thing - swap the cables at the card and see if problem moves.
CyberSec89@reddit
Try using a different cable type for one of the monitors. Such as hdmi or use and hdmi adapter for the the DP. Either way use a diff cable input for one of the monitors so they’re both not using the mini display.
voltagejim@reddit (OP)
Unfortunately the only ports on the video card are mini dp