CRT black screens; LCD fine.

dlaugh

I recently upgraded my mobo, processor, ram, and card. An adventure, but almost everything is working.

The hang up is that I cannot get my CRT to work with the new Sapphire Radeon 1950XT. I get through about 1/2 of the Windows boot up (seeing the blue status slider moving back and forth on Windows screen), then it black screens, shutting off the output to the monitor. Eventually, the monitor turns itself off b/c of no input.

I *can*:
* get the CRT to run in VGA Mode via F8
* boot CRT if the drivers are wiped (I think the equivalent of VGA mode; it looks the same) -- once drivers are re-installed, the problem starts up again.
* run without any problems at all on my LCD.

I've tried the CRT singlely and together with the LCD. I've tried both in both Radeon ports.

I've tried the drivers that came on the install disk and the latest ATI drivers. I've also tried the Omega drivers; I couldn't get those to work at all for some reason. (It appeared as though some file wouldn't install -- I never got past VGA mode.) I've tried 3 different DVI adapters to the CRT. I've tried Driver Cleaner. I've tried setting the CRT to its lowest resolution and refresh. I've flashed the mobo with the latest bios.

This must be some sort of driver problem; the cut off point to black screen really looks like the point when it is probably loading the graphics drivers. One added note: Windows, for some reason, still wants to find new hardware every time I boot up, despite the successful installation of the Radeon drivers. Unclear why this is so, and it may be related to my woes.

Set up:
Sapphire Radeon 1950XT
Intel 6600 processor
EVGA nForce 680i SE mobo
Antec True550 PS
Windows XP Home
ViewSonic big CRT, connected via DVI adapter

Dyre Straits

Greetings and welcome to DriverHeaven!

First, you don't give any specific information about the CRT. If you've tried the CRT using both outputs from the video card, it sounds like you're pushing the Resolution and/or Refresh Rate beyond the ability of the CRT to handle. That also sounds reasonable since you can run the CRT in VGA mode. So, try reducing both Res and Refresh Rate down to at least 1024x768 @ 60 Hz and see if that does any good.

As for the "found new hardware": This will happen with just about any modded/third party drivers if the WDM Drivers for the Video Capture aren't included. You'll need to make sure you're installing the WDM drivers to take care of that issue.

Good luck!

dlaugh

Thanks for the friendly welcome. The monitor is a ViewSonic P225fB, a 20" CRT.

http://www.viewsonic.com/support/des...series/p225fb/

I've tried setting to the lowest resolution available, and 60 Hz. No luck.

Robert McClelland

Is the crt under warrent still?

dlaugh

Nope. I don't think this is a CRT problem, though? It was displaying fine until this upgrade, and can display fine in VGA mode and during the boot cycle up through what I'm guessing is the driver load phase of Windows.

Robert McClelland

Do you have on board video on that mother board to try out? Maybe could be bad pci express or agp you have?

dlaugh

Here's another wrinkle to throw everyone for a loop:

I tried connecting another LCD to the same cable (so now running 2 LCDs). I can set up everything fine using that -- extend the desktop to the second monitor without problem. If, without powering down, I then disconnect the cable from the second LCD and connect it to the CRT, everything works fine. I can even reconfigure the resolution on the CRT without problem. When I go to reboot, though, I lose it. I'm back to the same behavior as before -- most of the way through Windows boot up, then black screen.

Does this help shed light on the problem? (I may end up chucking the CRT in favor of an LCD. The blacks are so black though, which is great for photo editing.)

Spyre

The CRT monitors EDID is probably corrupted hence the black screen but it works if you hot swap it from another display.

Dyre Straits

With that CRT active, right click on a blank spot of the Desktop and then select Properties.

Click on the Settings tab.

Click on the Advanced button.

Click on the Monitor tab.

Uncheck: Hide modes that this monitor cannot display.

If you're using Catalyst Control Center, also go to the Monitor Properties/Attributes and uncheck "Use Extended Display Identification....."

Good luck!

dlaugh

DS"s suggestion did not work, but Spyre's tip is very interesting. I've done more reading on EDID and this sounds very much like it could be the problem. Anyone have tips on fixing a corrupt EDID? Some of the EDID utilities I've tried are having trouble detecting the monitor.

Dyre Straits

OK....try this:

Go into Device Manager and make sure you select the Views/Show Hidden Devices.

Now, go down and Remove/Uninstall ALL....every single...Monitor that shows up. Include all Plug-n-Play monitors. Once you have done this, click the OKs out and then reboot and let Windows redetect the attached monitors. Make sure your CRT IS attached.

Good luck!

irocneekes

hey, im having the same problem with my crt monitor i just get a black screen...it responds and everything but nothing shows up on the screen..have you found a fix to it yet? or can anyone help me ? i dont know if its a corrupted edid but then again..i dont really know what that is..help me pleaseeeeeeee! thanks - kenneth