PC Tech Thread

Yeah. I'd preemptively ordered the Corsair cable so won't have to use the thing in the box.

Should still have plenty of space to avoid abrupt bending so am reasonably confident it'll be ok. Touch wood...

Good, otherwise you'll have to live in that spacious box.

Mad lad.

Windows10 question - my <alt> key is behaving as though I am pressing <alt>+<escape>, and sends the current window to the background.

This happens even if I'm using it with another key <alt>+<tab>, for example, sends the current window to the background and selects the next window after the one that gains focus - so I then need to <alt>-<tab> back again.

I don't have any mappings (as far as I can tell)

Short of working my way back & uninstalling stuff, and ideas what's happened?

[Edit] it looks as though the <alt> and <alt>+<escape> are swapped.

How do I swap them back.

@tw found this online...

The solution may depend on your keyboard, try each of the following keyboard shortcuts one at a time to see if that switches those keys back:

Fn + A

Fn + S

Fn + Space Bar for 3 seconds

If none of those work for you:

Open Device Manager

Expand the Keyboards section

Right click your keyboard and choose 'Uninstall'

Then restart (not shut down) your PC

also apparently if your keyboard supports ios/android and is set to that mode it can also do weird shit like this.

Cheers for looking. I ended up rolling back manually late last night, and uninstalled a load of motherboard management stuff - and it seems to have worked.

I also spilled Guinness on my keyboard, so now this:

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Fuck you, scroll lock.

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Different type of question now, as my googlefu is weak.

I need a switch that has two inputs - displayport and HDMI, and two outputs - again, display port and HDMI.

I would like to be able to select either displayport or HDMI, or both at the same time.

This is because, apparently, my PC will refuse to boot up when connected to my monitor via DP, and will only do so over HDMI. And I don't want to keep plugging the cables in & out.

I can't just leave them plugged in, as the GPU will think I'm outputting to two different monitors, and the monitor will think I'm inputting from two separate GPUs.

Which is ok if I'm using PIP, but I'm not.

Any ideas what I should be looking for?

Any ideas what I should be looking for?

A new computer🙂

Seriously, it sounds like a problem which should be solvable with some BIOS fuckery

Are both the DP and HDMI ports on a dedicated graphics card, or both on the motherboard, or one on each?

Both on one GPU.

It'll be some sort of fuckery, for sure.

A bit of googling suggests that its a combo of Asus mobo, nvidia card, and samsung g9, all passing the buck on what is causing the problem.

Not that I can update the monitor firmware at all - it's resolutely refusing all attempts so far.

had that on an older monitor. for a while I just left the monitor on/pc on.

eventually gave up in the end and bought new monitor

I should add my new monitor takes FOREVER to come of standby. and mouse movements won't trigger it. I have to slam keys till it wakes up.

I hate this kind of nonsense. If I don't "catch" the output of my pc by switching to the right input on the monitor at around the right moment it just goes "nah there's no pc there" and goes into standby. Additionally when you select an input on the monitor it doesn't just wait, it very cleverly cycles through the input options, because it knows which device I want to see on screen better than I do

from the looks of it you'll find switches with dp and hdmi in but only be able to get hdmi out.

what miiiiiiight work is if you get a basic 2 in 1 out display port toggle switch like:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PWAY-Displayport-Bi-Direction-Converter-Displays/dp/B09SYPYNKG/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1FY5J8G2E79Z0&keywords=displayport+switch&qid=1667609749&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjgwIiwicXNhIjoiMy41MiIsInFzcCI6IjMuMzYifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=displayport+switch%2Caps%2C65&sr=8-6

and just switch to the empty "input" to sever the connection from computer to monitor instead of unplugging.

Another possible is a dummy HDMI like this and then disable that monitor after https://amzn.eu/2Ofu5ib

Hi people, a question for the hive mind - anyone know anything about USB C hubs? Our use case is that I have a Windows Surface Pro 7+ for work, my wife has a 2020 Macbook Air M1. My computer has the Surface connection port, a USB C port, and a regular USB port. The Macbook has 2 x Thunderbolt ports.

We need a hub that we can both connect our computers to (not at the same time, obvs), which will have minmum of network cable, 2 x screens (ideally with desktop extended across both external screens and the laptops' own screens although I think I'm right in saying that the Macbook might not support that?), keyboard and mouse connected to, which ideally would also charge the computers but that's not absolutely critical.

Does anyone know a few options on hubs that would do all this? Ideally we don't want to spend a fortune, so as long as the above are all covered whatever is the best value option that does all that we would probably go for. Thanks very much in advance!

The question is not the one you think.

The question isn't about USB-C the cables... but about whether you can find a hub that fuly supports USB-C as a hub, and Thunderbolt as a hub... the answer is no, you cannot.

The Surface Pro 7+ is a USB only device... and anything you get that works for that is going to have shortcomings on the Apple and vice versa.

If your wife had the Surface Pro 8 then you'd be gold as those have Thunderbolt. But unfortunately there's no perfect solution here.

You may be able to get a working solution with a Dell USB-C dock... but you'll need to accept it's going to have rough edges... like the 2 x screens not being supported great and the Mac seeing them incorrectly.

Ok tha ks very much for the reply - I thought I'd seen some that implied they would work to a reasonable degree, I. E. basically do what we need but maybe sacrificing the dual display aspect of the macbook but sounds like I've misunderstood something along the way, which is not a total surprise!

Reddit says use the analog jacks not the optical

Ta - I reached that conclusion too.

I also didn't realise that a) optical only ever does 2.1, unless it's an encoded signal (dd5 or whatever), and b) the YouTube 5.1 test videos are useless, as they aren't actually surround.

I now have analogue 3.5mm jacks connecting things up, and it's all good.

I've also found a BIOS update that *seems* to fix my DisplayPort boot problem.

not sure if correct thread but trying anyway

ive just got a PS5 and noticed it doesnt have toslink out. my 5.1 surround will only output at 1080p whereas my projector will do 4k. ive been looking at those hdmi converter things to send the hdmi video signal to the projector and the audio signal via toslink to my 5.1 however all the options have made my brain hurt. has anyone bought one of these and if so which one would you recommend. the price variation is wild

I think I have something like this spare, send me a PM and I'll check when im home next week

Ah thats very kind of you spotter. I ended up gambling on one of these and it worked a treat.

HDMI 2.0 Audio Extractor 4K 60Hz PS5 1080P 120Hz 4:4:4 HDCP 2.2 CEC D-olby vision HDR de-embed SPDIF Optical 5.1CH 3.5mm stereo L/R Audio Breakout D-olby Digital Audio Decoder EDID Management Scaler

https://amzn.eu/d/d1IUGGh

Stuttering youtube videos on Dell laptop. I don't recall any recent driver updates. Have recreated in multiple browsers so figure it's a gpu or driver issue.

There's Intel drivers available for update but not specific Dell video drivers. So I'm not that keen on installing the Intel ones.

Intel UHD Graphics, 01/06/2021, 27.20.100.9664 is installed

Intel has available:
"This download installs Intel® Graphics Driver 31.0.101.3790/31.0.101.2114 for Xe Dedicated, 6th-13th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor Graphics, and related Intel Atom®, Pentium®, and Celeron® processors. Driver version varies depending on the Intel Graphics in the system.
Version: 31.0.101.2114
Release date: October 26, 2022"

much newer, but

"Installing this graphics driver from Intel may remove customizations from your computer manufacturer (OEM).

If a newer graphics driver is available from Dell, we recommend you install that driver instead. To learn more about installing an Intel driver on your OEM system, refer to this article. If you encounter any issues with the Intel driver, please report them to us.

If you have a 6th Generation Intel® processor or higher, your computer manufacturer’s customizations will remain intact after upgrading to this graphics driver. To identify your Intel® Processor generation, see How to Find the Generation of Intel® Core™ Processors."

What would Jesus do?