I have a brand new monitor that I hooked up to my docking station and although everything seems to be connected properly, I am getting the "check signal cable" message. Since the only thing I had to connect was the power cord and the monitor cable, I am a little confused as to why it is not working. Do I need to power my laptop down and restart?

First is your laptop closed? If not, there is likely to be a key (usually F7) that, when pressed with the Fn key, toggles between external monitor, built in monitor or both. See if pressing that helps.

First is your laptop closed? If not, there is likely to be a key (usually F7) that, when pressed with the Fn key, toggles between external monitor, built in monitor or both. See if pressing that helps.


That didn't work. Yes, my monitor is open and was open when I hooked up the additional monitor.

If the laptop was opened, then its most likely set to the built in monitor and you have to activate the external one. How to do that varies from laptop to laptop so you need the instructions for your laptop. Almost all laptops I've seen have a toggle button that cycles through internal, external or both.