[LINK] VGA Dummy Plug to Mine for Bitcoins

[Tom Worthington]

My three year old laptop (running Linux Mint) has developed the annoying 
habit of displaying a black screen when booting, unless an external 
monitor is plugged in.

I found hundreds of queries on the web about this problem, with any 
conclusive software fix. What solved the problem was a "VGA Dummy Plug". 
When inserted in the computer's VGA socket this tricks the system into 
thinking a monitor is installed and allows the boot.

Apparently such plugs were used in some early bitcoin mining computers. 
A PC chassis was used with multiple graphics cards. But to for Microsoft 
Windows to recognize the graphics card, each required either a monitor 
plugged in, or a dummy. Thus there are many VGA Dummy Plugs offered online.

More in Blog post: 
http://blog.tomw.net.au/2018/01/fix-for-blank-screen-at-grublinux-login.html


-- 
Tom Worthington, MEd, FHEA, FACS CP. http://www.tomw.net.au t 
+61(0)419496150
TomW Communications Pty Ltd. PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia
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Honorary Senior Lecturer, Computer Science, Australian National University
https://cecs.anu.edu.au/research/profile/tom-worthington