How to add a second display to a Dell Optiplex if the VGA is damaged?

[freedonX]

I got an old Dell Otiplex 3020M Ultra Small Form Factor (or Micro...dunno what it is). It's from 2015 and has a Display Port and VGA video outputs. 
Turns out the VGA port is damaged, when displaying on the monitor connected through the VGA it's mostly RED color. Sometimes a bit yellow. So if it's RED means the B and G are not working and if wiggle it a bit, the yelllow would mean the B is bad.

I sent the unit to a friend who has experience with electric circuits and if he could solder a new VGA pin I bought at a local shop. 

But he told me , the pins and motherboards are very thin and he could damage the motherboard.

So I'm stuck with a not-so bad machine (i5 4gen with 8GB and 480 SSD). Works wonders for the office. BUT they all use 2 monitors so don't know what to do as an alternative for 2 video outputs.

Any suggestions?. Don';t know if USB2 has the bandwitch so I could get a USB-VGA cable

Edited February 4, 2021 by freedonX

[JaredFrost]

There is a display addon port on the motherboard, circled in red, you can get addons for VGA or HDMI, possible DisplayPort also.

Linkage: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32866103969.html

 

Edit: Sorry, just noticed the link is for 7040M, in theory it should work for that 3020M, but you can probably find one that specifically says it's compatible with the 3020M

 

 

[freedonX]

8 minutes ago, JaredFrost said:

There is a display addon port on the motherboard, circled in red, you can get addons for VGA or HDMI, possible DisplayPort also.

Linkage: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32866103969.html

 

Edit: Sorry, just noticed the link is for 7040M, in theory it should work for that 3020M, but you can probably find one that specifically says it's compatible with the 3020M

 

 

WOW didn't know that existed!  Just opened the case and it only says DP/HDMI but alas it's great to know!
But you are right about the model, because the one for 7040M would conflict with the fan of the 3020M

Thanks!

[JaredFrost]

It wouldn't interfere with the fan, it mounts on the opposite side, behind the SATA drive, circled in blue, there should be a punch-out in the chassis there so you can slot it in.

I do suspect they're compatible through the whole Micro series, so even though the one I listed says 7040M it'll probably work, but at $35 USD its a fairly expensive test.

 

This ebay listing seems to confirm that: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-WFJ0V-D-Port-Card-for-Optiplex-3020M-7020M-9020M-3040M-7040M-9040M-B-3/124424536139, it's for a displayport one, but same diff I think.

 

You can probably get them cheaper, if you have computer shops around you that sell off-lease machines, those would be ones they've purchased in-bulk from companies to refurbish and sell, they may have exactly what you need.

 

Fun fact!, just some added information, just in case you didn't know, there MAY be an M.2 slot under the SATA drive so you could add more another storage drive, that depends though, not all 3020M/9020M's had that, but if it does have one sadly it's probably a SATA M.2 slot not NVMe.

 

Completely not related to the question, but the newer models even have i9 options, and the latest 7080M has a PCI-e riser slot around where the SATA drive goes with options for a dedicated AMD 4GB GPU, technically it's just a PCI-e riser with a 4x(I believe) PCI-e slot, so if it'll fit you could put anything in there, 10gig NIC, GPU, whatever fits.

 

[freedonX]

So that's what that extra hole is more... Boy I'm learning new things! 

 

Space isn't an issue. The drive is 480GB and it's not even 1/3 full. 

 

Thanks! 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

dang yeah looks like that model doesn't have the swappable port; I've got a similar model to the one mentioned above it has a 3rd slot that has a 2nd display port currently. The usb ports on the model I have are stacked 2 and 2 so there's more room for the expansion slot.

 

what you could do is get a USB adapter for a 2nd display. usb-to-dp or usb-to-hdmi. they work good for day to day use; just not great for gaming which I'm guessing you're not doing on that thing anyway.

 

edit: it looks like the usb-to-hdmi adapters are a bit of a cheaper solution than display port adapters but here's one of each as an example from Amazon

 

https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-DisplayPort-Ultra-High-Definition-3840x2160-DisplayLink/dp/B00QGW67Q2/

https://www.amazon.com/ABLEWE-Graphics-Converter-Projector-Compatible/dp/B07TT6WZ7V/

[freedonX]

Found a $12 (converted to $US) USB-VGA at a local shop. It's on backorder so I should receive it next week.

It's those types of things in life  that once you have them (having 2 displays) you just can't go back to just 1 display

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, freedonX said:

It's those types of things in life  that once you have them (having 2 displays) you just can't go back to just 1 display

Ain't that the truth... I used dual screens since the CRT days. Went to a single 32" wide screen, and went back to dual 27" a few months later..

[freedonX]

So bought the usb3 - vga. Turns out it acts funny. 

 

Beside the obvious of the error (attached). 

 

It sometimes blocks some sort the primary display that is the Display Port making it not display nothing on the monitor. 

 

I've been playing with 2 independent monitors and been mixing between display port , vga and the USB-vga. I have 1 x display port cable. Also 1x vga cable also a DP-dvi cable (+adapter) (one monitor has dvi). And that's what I say funny. Have to reboot to make it show on another screen or sometimes the monitor says there is no display signal. Even sometimes if I unplug all cables except that one that I'm trying but still get no signal. Have to restart. 

 

Wonder if there's a conflict of some sort. 

[freedonX]

Did a fresh window 10 install with all optional drivers. Was finally able to get both displays at the same time. Though the text of the 2nd screen is a bit fuzzy, most noticeable with white text. Like blur

Currently it's connected to a new Dell 2219H via the VGA (1920*1080). If I lower the resolution , the blur gets a bit worse

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by freedonX
kinda worked...editing post

[Brandon H Supervisor]

22 hours ago, freedonX said:

Did a fresh window 10 install with all optional drivers. Was finally able to get both displays at the same time. Though the text of the 2nd screen is a bit fuzzy, most noticeable with white text. Like blur

Currently it's connected to a new Dell 2219H via the VGA (1920*1080). If I lower the resolution , the blur gets a bit worse

 

yeah that can happen with the digital-to-analog conversion on the VGA adapter. VGA uses an analog signal remember. that's the main reason I recommended a HDMI or DisplayPort usb adapter as they'll hold the image quality being pure digital signals.

 

if your monitor only does VGA though then I can see why you went that route.

[freedonX]

6 hours ago, Brandon H said:

yeah that can happen with the digital-to-analog conversion on the VGA adapter. VGA uses an analog signal remember. that's the main reason I recommended a HDMI or DisplayPort usb adapter as they'll hold the image quality being pure digital signals.

 

if your monitor only does VGA though then I can see why you went that route.

Though this is happening only when using it as the 2nd display (and actually working!)

Before I reformat, I would ONLY get signal on the usb-vga monitor and not the display port (the primary display). (never knew why). and I know the usb-vga was setup as secondary display, because when I would bootup the PC, I wouldn't get a signal until I was inside windows. So in that meantime, I wouldn't have any issue with the quality of the image via the usb-vga.

In general, I've never had any issues with digital-analog adaptors. Let it be my surface pro, or my desktop or another machine I use at the office. The DVI/HDMI/DIsplay Port to VGA (in thos examples) work just fine.