Struggling getting graphics card working on laptop

[charliealpha]

SO I am really struggling getting the game working with the GPU on my laptop .  I have an HP Envy with integrated graphics card (intel UHD 620) and a separate Geforce MX150.  on the laptop if I set it to play on integrated card the game runs but slowly.  If I set it to play on GPU I get the splash screen, then that goes away and I just get the changed little green cursor but no screen.  Tried all sorts of settings but nothing seems to work.  

What is even more perplexing/annoying is that if I attach a monitor via the HDMI cable I get the same response BUT If I attached a monitor via DELL displayLink box that I have then it all works fine with the GPU.  I've checked resolutions and refresh rates between monitors and they are all set the same 

Can anyone help me work out why it only plays with the GPU via the display link box?

[Schrullenhaft]

When you initially ran this particular CM game, what monitor were you using, the internal laptop display, the HDMI monitor or the DisplayPort monitor ? With the external displays plugged in, do they become the 'only' monitor or do they become the primary monitor and your laptop display remains on (and becomes 'secondary', etc.) ? How does the Dell DisplayLink box hook up to your HP laptop (via what connector) ? Are the HDMI display and the DisplayPort display separate monitors or the same one that you're simply changing the inputs on ?

Depending on which game you have and where you installed it, you may be able to find the 'Preferences.pfc' file in the root of the game's main directory; this is the 'preferences file'. Deleting this should reset everything to the default setting within CM (it does NOT delete your activation, so there's no worries in deleting it).

When you run CM again, try to configure your setup (BEFORE running the game) in the way that you are most likely to play CM, i.e. - with the internal display (only), or the HDMI or DisplayPort monitor plugged in. Hopefully CM will see your setup and configure itself properly.

[BFCElvis]

Also, the games only have about a 50/50 shot of running on those Intel integrated cards. Right click your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel. Under 3D Settings (Global) use the drop down menu to set it to run on high performance graphics. 

[charliealpha]

thanks for the advice all but still no joy.  Schrullenhaft - answers are: 

 - Initially ran on laptop - I've reinstalled with Geforce as the default but still same result.  When it works on the monitor I have it set to primary with my laptop display as secondary.  the DisplayLink Box hooks up via USB (when the monitor is hooked up via HDMI it doesn't work).  I'm running CMBN and did try the preferences deletion - didn't make any difference.  

I've tried every setting to force the Geforce card to be used locally (everything is set to support max performance with the laptop ) but still struggling

[Schrullenhaft]

Within the Nvidia Control Panel you usually need to add a 'profile' for the game (listing its executable) in the 3D Settings section. This typically forces the game to run on the GeForce (since it recognizes the executable and should switch to the GeForce's graphics to run it). I would have assumed that selecting the 'High Performance Graphics' would have defaulted the display to the GeForce.

So you originally ran the game and activated it on the laptop's internal display (where it ran with the Intel graphics to your knowledge) ?

I still don't know why he DislayLink box will not work with the HDMI display and the game, but it will work with the DisplayPort monitor. Maybe its some strange firmware thing with the DislplayLink box (preferring to run with the Intel graphics rather than the Nvidia).

[charliealpha]

Thanks both for your input to my problem (and dedication on this forum!)  Just to let you know I ended up wiping and rebuilding the laptop and now everything works fine.  The issue is to do with some tweaks that HP do to the graphics drivers (intel and NVidia) that manages how they are used locally.  I had updated my NVidia drivers to the latest version which had messed the HP tweaks up.  

The reason the DisplayLink box worked seemed to be because the monitor were running off the displaylink firmware which seemed to override the laptops settings

Thanks again for your input