Hey everyone,
I'm trying to make sense of a frustrating issue I'm having with my dual monitor setup using my Lenovo P1 Gen 4 laptop. I recently bought a KVM switch to tidy up my messy cables and a Dual DP-TBT3 adapter to connect everything more smoothly. When I tested it with my PC, everything worked perfectly, but when I connected my laptop, only one monitor would display a signal.
No matter how many times I disconnected and reconnected the adapter, it would flip between the two monitors. I dove into BIOS updates and graphics settings to troubleshoot, and even locked myself out once, which was an adventure in itself. It seems like my laptop might not support dual signals through its USB-C port, and the adapter isn't capable of splitting the signal as a proper dock would.
To avoid spending a fortune on a dock, I picked up two single DP-USB-C adapters, but again, only one monitor displayed. After some experimenting, I found that using one DP-USB-C adapter alongside the Dual DP-TBT made both monitors work. It's all baffling!
Here's the summary:
1. Dual DP-TBT adapter only gives me one signal.
2. Two individual DP-USB-C adapters also yield one signal.
3. Using one DP-USB-C adapter and the Dual DP-TBT adapter together results in both monitors being active.
I'm feeling a bit lost and could really use some adult guidance to figure this out. Thanks in advance, and I'm open to any budget-friendly solutions you may have!
3 Answers
From what you described, it seems you should try a dual DP MST hub instead of a Thunderbolt-specific one. The Thunderbolt setup demands two individual DisplayPort streams, which many laptops don't support. An MST hub can split one signal into two, which should work fine with most Windows machines, but Apple devices don't support this method, hence the confusion. You should have better luck with that setup.
It sounds like your laptop's USB-C ports might have different capabilities. One can handle DisplayPort Alt mode for dual monitors, while the other may stick to Thunderbolt. When you use the Dual DP-TBT adapter, it checks for the capability and might not support MST (multiple display streams) via that port, which could explain the signal issues you're facing. It's kind of a common hurdle when dealing with Thunderbolt vs. regular USB-C configurations.
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