Dual Display bug

[Trayy]

i recently bought an Intel Arc A770 16GB (the acer or predator variant) and couldn't be happier with it.
However,
ever since i correctly installed the GPU into its corresponding PCIe X16 slot i cannot get my dual display to work upon a new boot e.g. when the pc is shut down -it is completely off- and turn it back on, is when the problem occurs.

i have 2 completely different displays/monitors both are from the brand LG.
the monitors in question:
LG QHD 1440p (144Hz) - main monitor with DP cable
LG ULTRAWIDE 1080p (60Hz) - with HDMI cable in portrait mode (flipped)

whenever i do 'start up' the pc from completely off, the HDMI monitor works flawlessly.
but whatever i do next to make everything work as it should:
-go into display settings within windows
-making sure my main monitor gets a picture on the screen by showing ONLY that screen instead of "extend these displays" *this feature never works first boot*
-once my main monitor has a picture i have to restart the pc
-once restarted i set the main monitor refresh rate to 144hz (is 60hz on every boot)
-once the refresh rate is set i have to do another restart for it to fully settle
-after the last restart i can finally click on "Extend these displays" within the windows Display settings and im finally good to go.

its a rather annoying quirk to be having to go through these steps on every boot when i could be making coffee or something else..

but after that everything works as it should, and i can continue using the card with the newest driver installed as of today its version "31.0.101.4644"

PS:
Before purchasing the intel Arc A770 card,
i used the Nvidia 1080Ti (EVGA FTW3) and everything worked flawlessly.

PPS:
if need more information i'm happy to cooperate in giving you the best possible answer (if i can).

[ELehner]

Hello!

I just posted a similar problem. 

And i have a setup alike yours monitor wise.
Samsung 4k via HDMI and a HP 1440p in portrait mode. (its a small world:)

Samsung monitor is working and the second monitor is black and is not detected correctly. 
With driver 4644. 

Try to use the .4577 driver version. 
This one works for me. 

For me the main drawback with 4577 is that Blender is crashing (when using cycles Renderer).

I have no gaming titles that challange the ARC770 so there is no experience on my side. 

As mentioned in my Post. Pay attention to your cables. 
I had the oppinion that digital cables like HDMI and DP are all the same and
there is no difference between cheap and high end cables. 
But i was wrong. Especially when cable length ecceeds 1.5meters (ca. 5ft) or cable adapters are used. 

Greets

Erich

[Trayy]

Hello Erich!

i just came from driver 4577 and prior used 4575(when i first installed the card).
as of today i am on the newest driver 4644
but all of these drivers give me the same problem..

-i don't use blender or any other rendering program, my main focus is to simply turn the pc on, check the news or some light youtube video watching and start gaming.

The other thing i noticed (gaming related) is that i crash after X amount of time within the game "Stray" when i push every setting to the highest possible.
-when i turn shadows down i can play longer and sometimes not crash.

But this is gaming related which i feel like is not my main problem here..

The problem happens before any kind of graphical load hits the card..
unless.. properly detecting a monitor falls under the category 'graphical load' which i find highly unlikely.

*i checked my cables, this what i always do before i even start posting*
(i should have mentioned it in my original post)

the DP cable is an expensive cable.. gold plated and according to the shop i bought it from highly praised by customers.
The HDMI cable (this is for the monitor that DOES work every time i start my pc) is a cheap under 10$ cable not exceeding 1meter in length.

The DP cable is 0.5meter because i wanted to have the best and or fastest possible 'connection' if that makes sense.
i read somewhere that if cables exceed a certain length they can loose their signal, specially when its a cheap cable.

yet the system never fails to boot with the HDMI cable (in portrait mode) but then my struggle starts.

so my verdict is that i really think it has something to do with how it detects monitors or something.

[Trayy]

PS:

more people have complaints about the arc cards ONLY posting in HDMI mode or with any HDMI cable plugged in it EVEN when a DP cable is plugged in...
it's like it picks HDMI over DP and just ignores DP until the user does some manual tweaking.
-this is literally my situation

[ELehner]

Hello!

There is definetly something wrong with the drivers when a DP and a HDMI monitor is connected. 

The reason i pointed to the cable issue is:
After change from 1070 to ARC770 i used a Iiyama 4k and my HP 1440 Monitor both on DP.
Then i bought a Samsung 4k TV as main monitor and used the Samsung with HDMI and the Iiyama with DP .... worked.

The Iiyama broke down with an inverter problem (Backlight is turning off after 2 seconds) and i switched back
to my HP 1440p as second monitor. 

Used the same cable (DP to DVI converter) that worked before (with ARC) ..... and the monitor was only detected as 720p monitor.
Bought a better DP cable (19€ 8k certified) and it worked (1440p). (4577 driver)

Installed the new driver ... DP monitor is 1(main) and HDMI is 2.. 
DP monitor is black.. resolution is 1080p .. cant change settings because they are displayed on monitor 1 (whitch is black).
Reinstall 4577 driver .. all is ok. 

When i want to have fun .. i switch the Samsung TV to Gaming Mode... (connected via HDMI).
Then things become really strange .....WHEN a DP monitor is connected.

White Noise glitches(half of the screen has for a split second a white noise)... some spaks(ranodm white pixel flashing).
This behavior would point to a bad cable but..
When i plug off the DP monitor reboot... everything is fine. 
For the ARC the Samsung is a new and different monitor when the gaming mode is enabled on the TV. 

Switching off the game mode on the TV and both monitors work in peace together. 

So maybe one of your monitors has some settings that can influence the detection of the ARC. 
For my Samsung tv .. the game mode change the HDRI settings and i think this is what drives the driver crazy.

For your problem with the game stray..
Have you tried to change the fan settings in the ArcControl software(if its a thermal issue). 
If you did .. do you have it open while you are gaming. 
Because i noticed that when i have the software closed the settings dont work. 
(i dont have tested this with recent drivers)
Also try to open the Taskmanager (win11) or ArcControl  or a tool that can watch the vram. 
UE crashed often when it hits the Vram limit(shadows are expensive). 
As i know stray is mande in ue4 so try command line options.
https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.2/en-US/command-line-arguments-in-unreal-engine/
-dx12
-vulkan 

(how to change start parameters in steam)

https://www.howtogeek.com/825209/add-command-line-arguments-to-steam-gog-epic-games-store/#:~:text=Go%20to%20your%20Steam%20library,command%20line%20arguments%20you%20want.

Intel managed to iron out so many problems i have hope this DisplayPort problem will be setteled soon. 

[Trayy]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply in regards to the game Stray, i am going to look into starting the game with a command parameter.

i use presentMon to monitor my system at all times, i never saw the VRAM hit the limit within the game Stray nor did the card ever overheat e.g. got too hot (stayed below 80 celcius).

though for now im keeping quiet about my game problem as that is not the main issue at hand,
if i want more help regarding that issue i will start another thread.

best regards,

Tim

[Andres_Intel]

Hello everyone,

Thank you for posting on the Intel®️ communities. I see that you are having dual monitor issues with your Intel® Arc™ A770 Graphics (16GB), I will be happy to help you.  

Related to the game Stray issue to keep this thread organize I recommend opening a new one for this issue, and we will be more than glad to help you

To have a better understanding of the situation, please answer the following questions:

• Did it work properly before? If so, did you notice it started after a driver update or after any change?
• What is the monitor model? I see you mentioned the brand of the monitors, but can specify the model? This is to check the compatibility.
• To know if there is a pending update on your system download, run, save and attach the report for the following tool Intel® System Support Utility for Windows (SSU), you can find the steps on the link How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows.  

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Trayy]

Hello Andres,

Yes, i have been having this problem after i installed the Arc A770 16GB card properly.
i installed it with a riser cable (this is due to my pc case design) and so there is currently no other way for me to test anything unless i completely strip this pc build that took me well over 1,5 hours to build.
The riser cable in question is a PCIe gen 4 capable cable.

on to your questions:

• Did it work properly before? If so, did you notice it started after a driver update or after any change?
    - No it did not with this card. With the previous (different) card from Nvidia it worked flawless.
  
  
• What is the monitor model? I see you mentioned the brand of the monitors, but can specify the model? This is to check the compatibility.
    - i have a 2 monitor setup right now: 
    * LG 32GK650F-B (Main monitor in normal mode) - connected via DP
    * LG 25UM58 widescreen (flipped portrait mode) - connected via HDMI
  
• To know if there is a pending update on your system download, run, save and attach the report for the following tool Intel® System Support Utility for Windows (SSU), you can find the steps on the link How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows.  
    - attached a report made with SSU
  
  Another thing i have found so far is that whenever i disconnect the HDMI cable BEFORE i start up my pc it obviously only has 1 connection (DP) and monitor to pick from, this works.
  once im in windows i can reconnect the HDMI cable/monitor and everything works as it should, even the refresh rates are perfectly setup.
  
  this is yet another reason why i think it has something to do with how the card detects monitors or what the preference setting is, and this is something i can't change.well if you are anyone else needs more info, please let me know.

Regards,

Tim

[Trayy]

PS: yes, i have removed my IP addresses from the SSU report file due to publicly posting it on a forum and i don't see why that has anything to do with my problem.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Trayy,

Thank you for your response, all the information provided has been really helpful.

 Please follow the steps below and let me know the results:

• To discard all possibilities and keep the system up to date, update Windows to the latest version. Contact Microsoft for guidance.
• Clean install the graphics driver to version 31.0.101.4644 with Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). For guidance, How to Use the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to Uninstall an Intel® Graphics Driver.
• If the issue persists, can you please install the graphics card without the riser cable, just for testing? I understand you have installed it because of the case design, but I need to know if the behavior changes.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Trayy]

Hello Andres,

im going to treat the questions or suggestions the same as last time.

• To discard all possibilities and keep the system up to date, update Windows to the latest version. Contact Microsoft for guidance.

           - I will try and update Windows 11 to 22H2 (or higher if possible) to minimize Windows actually being the problem here.
             The last time i updated to 22H2 my system hang and crashed while updating and refused to post afterward.
             This in turn led to a reinstallation of windows and so i can't promise anything, crossing my fingers.

• Clean install the graphics driver to version 31.0.101.4644 with Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). For guidance, How to Use the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to Uninstall an Intel® Graphics Driver.
  
  - i assume you want me to DDU in safe mode which i prefer and thus going to do that after the Windows update if possible.
  
• If the issue persists, can you please install the graphics card without the riser cable, just for testing? I understand you have installed it because of the case design, but I need to know if the behavior changes.

          - i can't promise you this.
            the only other evidence i have is that my old 1080 Ti works fine with the same monitors, cables and windows version.
            but....

if all of the above fails im going to try and plug the card in its respectable PCIe X16 slot outside of the pc case, without the riser cable.

i will try to get back to this post once i have updated Windows to 22H2 or higher if possible and share my findings.

regards,

Trayy.

[Trayy]

Hello Andres,

I have updated Windows 11 to 22H2 successfully e.g. the latest version.
i forgot to mention i did DDU in safe mode after updating windows.
However i still have the same problem, meaning there is 1 thing left to try and not looking forward to it.
but before i go ahead i wanted to verify 1 last thing for my sake;

* does it matter: what GPU ports are occupied with the 2 cables/monitors?
there is only 1 HDMI port that i can locate so i do not have much choice regarding HDMI but, there are 3 DP ports in total.

as of now: i have my monitors connected in the HDMI port and the DP port furthest away from the HDMI port e.g. there are 2 DP ports in between and remain un-occupied/not used.

Just want to rule out other simple things first before stripping this pc build.

I'm also open for other solutions if you (or anyone for that matter) can think of any (if any) other then the once stated in this entire discussion.

Meanwhile i shall search the web regarding Riser cables and dual monitor setup similar to mine that have a similar problem.

Regards,

Trayy

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Trayy,

Thank you for your answer and the information provided.

I just want to make sure that all the steps have been completed, were you able to test the graphics card without the riser cable? Which were the results?

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Trayy]

Hello Andres,

I haven't had the time to test without the riser but, i will try to find the time to do it either on Saturday or Sunday.
once i've tested your theory, i will come back with my findings whether or not it worked.

in the mean time i did try another monitor e.g. my television that has a DP connection.
apparently when 2 DP monitors are connected there is no problem.. and this is confusing to me.

it becomes a problem (for me) when the HDMI port is connected to a monitor..

To add to the discussion, i recently upgraded from my old Gen3 Riser cable to this new Gen4 Riser cable which set me back $100.
you'd think if a cable cost that amount, that its a quality cable from the brand Link-up.
These cables are tested to work with RTX4090 GPUs.

PS:
a few minutes ago i tested my problem with a DP to HDMI converter/adapter to see if i can replicate my problem but this works fine.
so again, whenever i plug anything in the HDMI port, something weird happens upon every boot and reboot of the system causing it to not properly detect my DP monitor, like its hard-stuck with the HDMI monitor e.g. refusing to run both HDMI and DP at the same time, picking one over the other which is driver related.. i wish i could somehow see the code within the driver to maybe help resolve this issue not just for myself but for others as well. oh well...

Regards,

Trayy

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Trayy,

Thank you for your response and for the information provided, that helps a lot.

I will wait for the results after testing the graphics card without the riser cable, as soon I have them I will continue with the next steps.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Trayy,

Were you able to test the graphics card without the riser cable?

Which were the results?

Let us know if you still need assistance.    

Best regards,   

Andres P.   

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Trayy,

We have not heard back from you, so we will close this thread. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards, 

Andres P.   

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Niffin]

I figured out that for me, with same board, the system will turn off second display forever if i do not login quickly.

I.e. it boots and detects both displays, they are both powered on.

Then if I don't login fast enough, the secondary display is turned off and is missing in system until reboot.

I suppose the problem is with user-mode control panel which does not start fast enough to properly 'configure' the board.

BTW Can't report the bug via intel graphics control center because it is always offline and shows 'problem with reporting a bug'