Bricked LG Monitor

[Slothinger]

Bricked LG Monitor

[digitaltrails]

Now it stays black with no osd.

I have a different (older) LG monitor 27UL650 with a display controller type Mstar (sl=0x05), controller number: mh=0x00, ml=0xff, sh=0x00. Not sure if that's in anyway similar, but I thought I ask some questions anyway...

Are you saying he little button on the monitor no longer brings up the monitor's internal on-screen-display? That should be independent of the input connection. It should work no matter what the monitor is connected to. If the monitors internal OSD isn't coming up, that may mean the panel, or some part of monitor, is no longer working. Could it be a warranty-type defect kicking in and perhaps only be coincidentally related to ddcutil? In which case you could just send it in for warranty repair reporting that the panel seems dead.

Given you are posting outputs, it seems the monitor is still responding to DDC commands. It seems like the current input source is DisplayPort-1:

VCP code 0x60 (Input Source ): DisplayPort-1 (sl=0x0f)

Experimenting with my own monitor...

If I switch to an invalid input I can definitely use the monitor's internal OSD to switch back (or also use ddcutil to switch back).

I even have a input listed in the ddcutil output which does not actually exist on the back of the monitor and isn't listed in the OSD. Selecting this non-input just results in it naturally resetting to a real input.

One issue I've had is if the nvidia driver loses track of the monitor, I may have to use the GUI NVIDIA Settings->Display Configuration to bring it back online. But the monitors OSD still works in those circumstances, just the PC output is blank.

Sounds like you've tried different cables. Have you tried a different PC/Laptop?

Also, see #241 for info on how to report a problem.

[Slothinger]

When i press the powerbutton of the monitor, only the button lights up and the display stays completely dark.
This would be a very big coincidence, if the monitor randomly dies when i was messing around with this tool some minutes before.
I dont think its Nvidia related as i tried it with a notebook (intel), android phone over usbc and an old mac. All devices recognize the display. (resolution, power, etc)

@digitaltrails Thank you for your answer and the link! I'll add this file asap to this issue.

Does someone know if there is a different way to get the firmware files for lg monitors? Sadly the support website doesnt list one for this monitor.

I dont know if i can fix this on my own, but i hope i can prevent other users of this monitor to get into the same trouble...

[rockowitz]

I'm sorry to hear of your apparently bricked monitor. There have been a few reports of this, but always with brand-X Chinese imports. So I would not give up hope just yet.

I have a few questions and comments.

You say that the problem is associated with using feature x60 to change input source. But you also say that input source switching worked, but the monitor wouldn't wake up after it subsequently went to sleep. This suggests that the problem is not with feature x60.

Were you trying to do something non-standard with feature x60, such as using it in conjunction with features in the mfg range xEO..xFF, or using an alternate source address, as has been described by people trying to reverse engineer Picture-By-Picture, etc.

When diagnosing problems you want to use option --disable-dynamic-sleep . The dynamic sleep multiplier reported (.0.00) is VERY aggressive and can be the source of communication errors, though I don't see evidence of that in your output.

Some monitors will respond to DDC requests no matter which input it is sent on. Others will respond only if the ddcutil command is issued on the currently active input.

It is possible that the brightness value is so low that the monitor is black. Try issuing command ddcutil setvcp x10 100 --dis 2 to turn the brightness up to max.

Some monitors do not use the input source values specified in the Monitor Control Command Set spec, but instead use non-standard values. Play around with alternate values.

[Slothinger]

I'm sorry to hear of your apparently bricked monitor. There have been a few reports of this, but always with brand-X Chinese imports. So I would not give up hope just yet.

I have a few questions and comments.

You say that the problem is associated with using feature x60 to change input source. But you also say that input source switching worked, but the monitor wouldn't wake up after it subsequently went to sleep. This suggests that the problem is not with feature x60.

When i was trying to switch the input it only went black for half a sec and then it came back to the current input.
I tried some commands with ddcutil and after that the monitor was definitely working, but the first sleep 10 min later or so killed it. mby i changed some power settings or something?

Were you trying to do something non-standard with feature x60, such as using it in conjunction with features in the mfg range xEO..xFF, or using an alternate source address, as has been described by people trying to reverse engineer Picture-By-Picture, etc.

I was trying some commands which are described here:
https://github.com/rockowitz/ddcutil/wiki/Switching-input-source-on-LG-monitors
Something like this: "ddcutil -d 1 setvcp xF4 x0090 --i2c-source-addr=x50 --noverify"

When diagnosing problems you want to use option --disable-dynamic-sleep . The dynamic sleep multiplier reported (.0.00) is VERY aggressive and can be the source of communication errors, though I don't see evidence of that in your output.

Some monitors will respond to DDC requests no matter which input it is sent on. Others will respond only if the ddcutil command is issued on the currently active input.

It is possible that the brightness value is so low that the monitor is black. Try issuing command ddcutil setvcp x10 100 --dis 2 to turn the brightness up to max.

Thx for your help! I'll try this and report back asap!

Edit:

Display 2
   I2C bus:  /dev/i2c-4
   EDID synopsis:
      Mfg id:               GSM - Goldstar Company Ltd (LG)
      Model:                LG HDR WQHD+
      Product code:         30541  (0x774d)
      Serial number:        304NTGYA7791
      Binary serial number: 347791 (0x00054e8f)
      Manufacture year:     2023,  Week: 4
   VCP version:         2.1

root@user-pc:/home/user# ddcutil setvcp x10 100 --dis 2
root@user-pc:/home/user# ddcutil  getvcp x10 --dis 2
VCP code 0x10 (Brightness                    ): current value =   100, max value =   100

Set the brightness but the monitor stays black.

Some monitors do not use the input source values specified in the Monitor Control Command Set spec, but instead use non-standard values. Play around with alternate values.

[digitaltrails]

I see LG offers OnScreen Control software to control this monitor from MacOS or Windows. Perhaps you could plug it into a MacOS or Windows machine and try you luck with LG's software.

[Slothinger]

I see LG offers OnScreen Control software to control this monitor from MacOS or Windows. Perhaps you could plug it into a MacOS or Windows machine and try you luck with LG's software.

I already tried messing around with different tools so set the default values like brightness, contrast etc but that didn't help.
I was hoping that the lg onscreen control provides a reset function but it is missing this and many features from the real osd.
The other software i tried was "EnTech Monitor Asset Manager" which had a reset function but that didn't work either.
As the monitor was under warranty i had to turn it in for a repair, so i think we can no longer analyze the problem...