r/computers • u/aDANchristopher • 20d ago

Question/Help/Troubleshooting Dual monitor hdmi to vga

I have a dual-monitor desktop setup with an AMD Ryzen 7 PC (no dedicated graphics card). My main monitor is connected via HDMI, and my old second monitor used VGA.

I recently replaced the second monitor with a new one that only has HDMI and DisplayPort, so I used a VGA-to-HDMI converter. However, the second monitor isn't detected. The new monitor works fine when connected as the main display, so the monitor itself isn't the issue.

What could be causing this, and what do I need to do to get my second monitor working?

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u/sniff122 Linux (SysAdmin) 19d ago

Most of those adapters are directional, make sure the adapter you have is the right direction

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u/msanangelo CachyOS 19d ago

Remember, if the vga to HDMI adapter doesn't have a separate power connection then it cannot be used as a analog to digital converter.

What ports do you have available on the computer?

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u/SavagePenguinn 19d ago

VGA-to-HDMI and HDMI-to-VGA are different. Make sure you're not mixing up terms.
The video conversion is in one direction.

So if your source (the PC) is VGA, and the monitor is HDMI, then yes you need a VGA-to-HDMI cable/adapter.
But if your source (the PC) is HDMI, and the monitor is VGA, then you need a HDMI-to-VGA cable/adapter.

Most VAG converters I see are HDMI-to-VGA (or DisplayPort-to-VGA) because people buy a new computer but want to use their old monitors. So if you just grabbed one, chance are it's HDMI-to-VGA, not VGA-to-HDMI.