NVidia TV-Out and DVI projector problems

[serafis]

Help please! My HTPC uses a Palit Sonic 7300GT 256MB video card, with outputs for S-video/composite/component, VGA and DVI.

I have a standard CRT TV connected to the S-Video output (via the composite adaptor), and a Panasonic PTAX100E LCD projector plugged into the DVI socket via a DVI/HDMI adapter.

I'm using the latest NVidi drivers with DualView enabled, with the TV as the primary monitor (800 x 600) and the projector as the secondary monitor (1280 x 720).

PVRX2 is set to start on 2nd monitor, so I can watch TV & movies on the projector, and use the Windows Desktop on the TV (if I turn it on) for any debugging or configuration. Sometimes I just want to watch something on the TV though, without the projector turned on.

I have some annoying problems with this setup.

1. With only the CRT TV connected, (DVI physically unplugged) the PC boots fine and the POST messages and Windows desktop are displayed on the TV.

But if I then connect the projector via DVI/HDMI, Windows does not detect it so I can't use "Display / Properties / Advanced" to set up dual screen; and NVidia does not have the DualView option available (only Clone and Span).

This means that I cannot use the projector until I reboot. "So why boot with DVI disconnected?", you may ask.

2. Well, with both TV and DVI connected, I get a blank screen at boot (i.e. no POST messages) on either TV or projector. Both screens remain blank until Windows loads and initialises the display drivers, then everything's usually fine.

Why is this and can I do anything about it, e.g. force the card's hardware to treat the TV as primary monitor at boot time?

3. If I reboot with the projector connected but turned off, again no boot screen and I have to wait until Windows loads the drivers before I can see anything on the TV; after that it's fine although the extended desktop second monitor (projector) still seems to be "virtually" enabled.

However if I then turn the projector on, it doesn't detect any signal on the HDMI input so no image is displayed. The only way to resolve this is to reboot, which is a problem if GBPVR is in the middle of recording something.

3. Normally I leave the PC in Standby (S3) mode, so it can wake for automatic recordings. If I resume it with the projector turned on, sometimes everything is fine. Other times, the resolution of the image on the projector is mucked up and only displays the left-hand side of the image, stretched to the full width of the screen.

I usually need to reboot with both TV and Projector on to get it working again, which is a pain if it's in the middle of a recording (which it often is).

I generally know what I'm doing with PCs and haven't been able to find an obvious fix for these problems - my old FX5500 didn't seem to have half the trouble the new card does with dual TV and DVI outputs.

Any ideas how to get this working better? Is there a way to reinitialise the video card hardware from within Windows, to force it to redetect the attached screens and apply the desktop profile (as it does when Windows first starts), without a reboot?

Any suggestions welcome, and thanks in advance.