Fick svar från Intel (yay) om mitt problem med att datorn stänger av HDMI/DVI utgången om den inte finner en display där. Tyvärr är svaret inte det mest positiva, men de svarade iaf, tillskillnad från Acer (som jag tänker ringa imorgon).

För de som undrar så skrev jag följande:

The drivers for the Intel GMA 950 don't allow me to force the DVI and/or HDMI output. This stops me from using a HDMI switch, it also stops the use of a HDMI splitter. I can't start the machine without having my display turned on since then I'd get no display (until I restart the machine or switch to Away mode and back again).

The Intel GMA 950's HDMI output must behave like the rest of the hometheater equipment, and that is to provide an output of my choosing (like 720p) without any autodetection.

I've contacted Acer support about this, but since they use plain Intel drivers, I feel that this is an inherent problem with your drivers and not something that can be fixed by Acer.

Svaret blev:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Intel(R) Technical Support.

Unfortunately, we do not provide support for any type of converters. If your laptop was equipped with this type of connector you mentioned, then you need to use a TV that uses the exact same connector. The usage of converters, adapters, dongles, HDMI spliter, etc. will prevent the TV-out feature from working correctly.

Note: The TV-out feature is integrated by the system manufacturers, not Intel. Variations on connection standards and other specifications may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Skulle aldrig nämnt HDMI splitter/switch eller HDMI överhuvudtaget. Nåja, har svarat på det och försökt förklara det lite bättre:

Hi and thanks for the swift reply.

I get the feeling that I didn't explain the problem good enough.

This is not a TV-out connection, and it makes no difference if I connect my screen directly to the DVI output (you wouldn't belive the different things I've tried at this point).

Even with a straight DVI to DVI connection, the problem remains…

Your software (which ships with the driver that can be downloaded on the links you provided) explicitly tries to detect any connected screen during bootup and/or coming out of standby/away mode. How do I know this? Well, if I have the screen turned off and/or disconnected when I awaken the machine, I won't get a picture just by reconnecting or powering on the screen. I need to put the machine back into away-mode again and back to get it to detect and enable the DVI output. It almost seems like once the card/drivers have looked the first time, it doesn't bother to keep looking.

And herein lies the problem. I need to make the driver enable the DVI output even if it doesn't see a monitor on the other side. Right now it seems to default to the TV-out, since connecting my screen to the composite output gives a picture of the desktop (although very muddy due to the high resolution).

Most other gfxcards that I've used (ATI and nVidia models) have the option to ignore autodetection and force the desired output. Just to check that I'm not at fault, I've tried my other desktop with a GeForce 7800GTX with the same screen, WITHOUT the problems described here, so I can't imagine that your drivers and/or utilities wouldn't allow this as well.

Once again, this is NOT a TV-out feature, it's a standard DVI connection. In any other situation, I'd change the gfxcard to another vendor (to quickly solve my problem) but since this computer doesn't have any AGP or PCIe slots, I'm kinda stuck with it. It's a good gfxcard, so don't get me wrong (movies in 720p looks great) but unless this issue can be resolved, it doesn't matter how good it works with video since I won't get any video at all.

This request should be simple to fix, I wouldn't be surprised if, in the end, it's only an option for one of the igfx*.exe files that comes with the driver (or a registry tweak).

So again, I need to force the DVI output to always display the screen, no matter what the autodetection code in the driver thinks.

Förhoppningsvis fortsätter de att svara kvickt