[dba-Tech] Weird problem with Dell Inspiron laptop

[Jim Lawrence]

Hi Arthur:

Unfortunately, I have no simple answer to your situation but it doesn't sound insurmountable...if this error hasn't been documented on the web. One note that I may say is that, traditionally, too many peripheral on a laptop will lead to problems unless you have a very top end product...laptops were never built to be used in this way...they are supposed to be lean and portable and high port usage will cause power problems. I have resolved issues by connecting peripherals one at a time when the machine has fully booted...don't boot with every thing connected as it could eventually blow something on the motherboard or fry a port or two... 

IMHO, when using a lot of peripherals use a desk-top type computer as that is what they are meant for. 

Of course you have a cat which could inadvertently cause all sorts of problems...I have a grandson who could challenge the best of techs. ;-)

Jim    

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur Fuller" <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of Hardware and Software issues" <dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 3:44:24 AM
Subject: [dba-Tech] Weird problem with Dell Inspiron laptop

This is the strangest problem I think I have ever encountered. Normally I
run my laptop "as" a desktop: I seldom move it from my desk, and it's got
lots of peripherals attached, including speakers, a 4-port USB 3.0 hub,
wireless keyboard/mouse, and a 22" Acer external monitor.

And there's the rub. Everything has worked perfectly for a few years now,
until recently. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the display turned
upside-down, on both the built-in display and the external monitor. After
some experimentation, I discovered that if I unplug the external monitor,
the built-in display returns to rightside-up, but the moment I plug in the
external again, both displays revert to upside-down. I haven't made any
changes to anything. True, once in a while my kitten likes to lie on the
built-in keyboard, for warmth presumably, so it may just be possible that
she hit some magic keystroke that caused this, but on the other hand, that
doesn't explain why unplugging the external returns the built-in display to
normal.

I'm baffled. It's no big deal, ultimately, since the built-in monitor works
fine. But I did enjoy having the pair of monitors in stretch mode.

Has anyone got a clue why this is happening? Or suggestions as to what I
might look at to restore it to normal behaviour? I do have another monitor
but it's attached to my desktop computer, and it's a hassle to switch them.

While I'm at it, on the 22" Acer monitor there are four buttons beneath the
display, whose purpose I have never bothered to figure out, and naturally
the user guide is long gone.

-- 
Arthur
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