I just bought a MSI B450M-A Pro Max motherboard. It only has an HDMI output to monitors. I have three VGA monitors. So I bought an HDMI to VGA adaptor. No video. I took my notebook and the adaptor back to the computer shop. The service man hooked my notebook to his VGA monitor. No video. Then he tried two other different adaptors. No video. But when he tried the adaptors on his notebook and desktop they all worked. Why? They only work with Windows. He found me a link to a Linux solution which doesn’t work. It starts with “Go to your BIOS and disable secure boot”. Somewhat difficult to see the BIOS with no video. Someone suggested I should install Windows. I slip a Win10 DVD in the drive and switch the power on. The drive starts indicating it found the Win10 DVD, but once again no video.
If anyone can think of a workaround please let me know. Otherwise there will be a brand new motherboard in my garbage soon and I can’t find a motherboard with VGA output. Well not here in my Swedish location.
Support for (analog) VGA has been waning for years, while digital outputs have been around for over two decades. Digital displays use less power, emit less heat, and provide better output. Have you a TV with HDMI input you can connect to to sample the advantages? A new display may prove to be your best investment. Meanwhile, there’s probably an active HDMI to VGA converter somewhere you can find that would work. Of course, an old discrete PCIe graphics card with VGA outputs would also work, and likely be your least cost option. You might be able to find one locally in a thrift shop PC, or get one from your computer shop guy.
Which has what to do with what? And, are you sure? VGA signals are analog. PCs and non-CRT displays are natively digital. That means power is required to convert between analog and digital twice for each connection between PC and non-CRT display.
And you are also aware that many modern monitors have also a VGA input?
For some definition of “many”, and of “modern”, yes. I have 13 LCD & LED displays. Except for the newest (4k), which is already 5 years old, they all have VGA inputs. In the stores, the selection has been and is dwindling. Eliminating the dwindling demand analog functionality simplifies design, and keeps cost and price down.
Even a lot of gaming monitors have a VGA input nowadays.
Fewer and fewer new ones are available as time goes on. Same goes for motherboards with graphics outputs. The non-oldstock new motherboards that do have VGA outputs each use an onboard HDMI-to-VGA converter to an IGP HDMI output, and have been for several years. e.g. this 5 year old CPU I have doesn’t provide VGA output, but the 5 year old Asus motherboard it’s installed on does. Neither CPU nor motherboard I bought in December provide VGA among the 3 outputs. It doesn’t have DVI either, instead providing 2 HDMI to go with the DisplayPort.