2560x1600 on the m14x: Mini Display Port to Dual Link DVI?

I have a 30" Apple Cinema display that I want to use with my m14x.

I purchased a mini display port to dual link DVI adapter through Apple.

Connecting this to my m14x, I cannot seem to get it to work.

I've tried with both Windows 7 x64 and Windows XP x86 (yes, you can install XP natively on the m14x). The results were identical in both - the 30" Cinema display is not recognized.

Is this an issue with the Intel driver, perhaps? There's no way to force the nVIDIA driver to take over the whole system, right?

I really wish instead of this supposedly "high-tech" Optimus, manufacturers would go back to the low-tech but RELIABLE physical switch or BIOS toggle to change GPUs. I am 99% sure that the issue wouldn't have occurred unless it required two drivers to talk to each other which just increases the bug surface tremendously as demonstrated by my current "edge case".

In a similar vein, has anybody been able to drive a 120Hz 3D display using the mini display port to dual link dvi adapter from Apple? At least that would help determine whether the mini display port to dual link dvi adapter is working as designed.

By the way, let me expand on "it doesn't work" a little: while on Windows 7 x64 the display is not recognized at all, on Windows XP x86 I can enable the second monitor at an apparently arbitrary resolution; however even the latter is not useful because after clicking Apply, the settings do not "take" and the monitor remains disabled again.

 

Did you plug in the usb cable also? The usb cable needs to be plugged in to supply additional power.

 

Brilliant, that fixed it on the Windows 7 (x64) side.

However I notice that the nVIDIA GPU drives the monitor (as indicated in the nVIDIA Control Panel) and not the Intel Integrated GPU...

I wonder if the Intel Integrated GPU on the m14x is capable of steering 2560x1600 resolution? Does anybody have any experience with this?

I saw some posts on the Lenovo forums from users complaining that the stock drivers for the Intel GPU would NOT drive 2560x1600.

Lenovo actually shipped custom drivers a few months down the road to support the resolution:

T420 - Unable to get max resolution of 2560x1600 v... - Page 5 - Lenovo Community

This is actually important because there are no XP drivers available for the nVIDIA GPU on the m14x, only Intel IGP drivers.

So if anybody actually has Intel IGP drivers for XP that have been proven to run at 2560x1600 resolution, I would be much obliged, and add them to the driver collection here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/626346-m14x-xp-drivers.html

Thanks for all the help!

 

Wow, that cable from Apple is like £99. I would never pay silly money like that for cables. They are cheaper!

 

I guess I'm glad I don't live in the UK then

 

It's still exspensive in the US!

I paid £9.99 for mine.

 

I am unsure if the Intel can push that Res, but I'd guess it can. On the M11x and the M14x, the displayport and HDMI are only wired to the nvidia gpu. It is impossible to use HDMI or displayport with the Intel gfx.

 

I'd rather the new optimus than having to restart my computer in order to switch between discreet and integrated. <_<

 

I guess that answers the question. 2560x1600 cannot be driven by HDMI or VGA, only dual link DVI or the mini display port. So I suppose this is a dead-end. Many thanks for the clarification!

You wouldn't happen to have any ideas to work around this, would you

 

Unfortunately I have lost 2560x1600 even on Windows 7 now, after flashing a new BIOS (first stock A08 Dell, then the custom BIOS's).

Does anyone have a stock Dell A06 BIOS as that one used to work for my 2560x1600 display.

 

A gracious soul at Dell technical support has made BIOS A07 available at:

Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

I can confirm that this BIOS DOES DRIVE the 2560x1600 30" display when used in conjunction with a mini display port to dual link DVI adapter (such as the one provided by Apple).

Thank you Adolfo Escalante! You have restored my system to operational order. It is people like you who make all the difference at giant companies like Dell.

Once again, thank you.

 

Can you run it at 60 hz? I just bought this monitor and can only get it at high resolution by running at 35 hz.

 

Im currently having issues with my Dell XPS17 L702X, i have a LG W3000H 30" monitor that im trying to run off my laptop via a DVI-D to mini display port adapter. My graphics card is Nvidia Geforce GT 555M.

Ive spoken to dell they have updated all the nvidia drivers and spoken to LG who say the monitors are plug and play so no need to update the drivers for the monitor on my laptop! (i did download the updated drivers from LG but there wasnt any software to run) link LG W3000H-BN Support: Find Manuals & Warranty Info | LG USA

With all this the max res i can get from the monitor is 1280x800, ive done some searching and all i can see is people saying about the mini diplay port adapters that have usb aswel to generate the power to run the monitor e.g.
Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter - Apple Store (UK)

Can some1 please help im so lost!

Thanks

 

Hi,
There are a few questions/things you should check:

• are you using a single or dual link DVI-D cable (refer to DVI page on WikiPedia for how the plugs on the DVI cables differ)
• does your mini displayport to dual link adapter support up to 330MHz pixel clock (you can search google on things like how to calculate pixel clock - nvidia has this visible in their control panel at least for their Quadro cards under custom resolutions)

Even with using a single link DVI cable you should be able to get up to 1920x1200@60Hz (depending on what EDID information your monitor is reporting back to the graphics card)

Re the display port to DVI adapters and USB lead - typically only the adapters that have the USB fly-lead support dual link DVI, otherwise you have a display port to single link DVI adapter.

How long is your DVI cable?

Great if you can answer some of the above


Cheers