Help want external primary monitor under bootcamp

Discussion in 'MacBook Pro' started by wildmilne, Jul 17, 2008.

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  1. wildmilne, Jul 17, 2008

    wildmilne macrumors regular

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    Jan 19, 2008
    #1
    I have a Macbook pro with the Nvidia 8600GT video card...i'm trying to make the external monitor the primary monitor. I can use them together by extending my desktop to the external monitor, but i can't make the external the primary...and turn off the laptop display. In the Nvidia control panel there is a drop down that lets you choose the primary monitor, but the laptop display is the only one i can choose.

    Anyone know how to do this?
     
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  2. Hydroxs, Jul 17, 2008

    Hydroxs macrumors regular

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    Jun 25, 2008
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    Atlanta
    #2
    Right click and go to property. Go to the tab where you can set you resolution and stuff. Then click on the screen with the number 2. Check make this my primary(main) monitor and extend into desktop. You can also set that when you close the lid of the mbp so it doesnt go into sleep mode.
     
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  3. zgnoud, Jul 18, 2008

    zgnoud macrumors member

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    Feb 15, 2008
    #3
    im assuming this is for xp, b/c from my experienced the whole dual screen primary/secondary configuration works perfectly on Vista. On xp, the nvidia drivers offered on bootcamp is outdated, thus you need newer drivers to set your external monitor as the primary (b/c by default its greyed out yeah?)

    Anyway, you can get new drivers from this site; http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/
     
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  4. wildmilne, Jul 18, 2008

    wildmilne thread starter macrumors regular

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    Jan 19, 2008
    #4
    Thanks for the replies, yeah im using XP.

    Thanks, yeah i downloaded drivers from that site late last night didnt get a chance to install yet.

    With the built in drivers I can extend the monitor fine but if i close the lid they both turn off and there is no way to make the external the primary (that i can find).

    Will let you know how the laptop2go drivers work out.
     
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  5. robotworks, Aug 13, 2008

    robotworks macrumors newbie

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    Aug 13, 2008
    #5
    Need to modify nv4_disp.inf

    This problem took me hours to solve on my Dell, but I got it. You see you first have to "enable" the selection of the external display as a primary one. Then you can "easily" use this device as external.

    1. Get the nvidia drivers (from the Bootcamp section on the Apple DVD). Copy these to your hard drive and try the install. Cancel it on the welcome screen.

    2. AND/OR, download the drivers and try to install. It will complain that they do not support your hardware. Its okay. Then open the nv4_disp.inf file from the Bootcamp install and copy the sections from "
    ; Localizable Strings" and from "[NVIDIA.Mfg]" for your particular hardware

    **3. Add options to the INF
    See: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6614

    4. Then uninstall the old drivers

    5. Install the new ones.
     
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