Problem on Flat Panel Display

andyng111 · Apr 17, 2005, 04:48 AM

Dear all,

I bought a DVI->HDMI cable for connecting my R9550 to 37" LCDTV. I connect a monitor to the VGA connector and the LCDTV to the DVI connecter(through the DVI->HDMI cable). Everything works when I power on the machine. I can see the startup screen, the bios screen without any problem. However, nothing shown up when it enters the windows. I spent a lot of time on the settings and still it didn't work. Eventually I reinstalled WindowsXP and this time I get into the windows succesfully, everything looks fine with the resolution 640x480, both monitor and the LCDTV works. The only thing is that XP is using generic driver for the display card. Then, I installed CATALYST 5.2 and restart. The same thing happened, I can't display anything on the LCDTV when the computer enters windows. Checking the settings in CATALYST control panel, I found that in the "Display" Tab, there is a red cross on the cable under the DFP section. I can't turn it on as the secondary display. Looks like CATALYST cannot detect my LCDTV. Why is that? Everything works fine before install the ATI display driver. If I uninstall the CATALYST, then everything show up again. I have tried several different drivers but it still didn't work. Is that anything related to the HDCP? It would be appreciated if you can help me on that issue. Thank you.

Spyre · Apr 17, 2005, 08:15 AM

There are two types of DVI
DVI-D
DVI-I

Perhaps the drivers need the cable to be DVI-I as they use the analog component in detection of the monitor type

Im not sure if HDMI carries the analog part of the signal

Other than that you can try a different cable or try using the CCC as the CP is out of date and it may have been a problem thats solved in the CCC

Warpy · Apr 17, 2005, 08:23 AM

First of all welcome to DH andyng111.

Have you tried installing the latest Catalyst drivers with the ATI Tray Tools? I dont use ATI myself but I have heard the ATI Tray Tools enable you to add certain features, enabling and disabling them.

andyng111 · Apr 17, 2005, 11:50 AM

thank you all
I have tried ATI tray tools, but it didn't work
probably Spyre is right. Probably HDMI cable don't have the analog part
Is there any way to skip the detection of monitor?

Spyre · Apr 17, 2005, 02:28 PM

I dont think so, is there not another way to connect the TV like component for now?

Submit feedback to ATI regarding this problem
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...ionID=737-1713

Maybe they can add a force DVI connection to on (as long as manual specifications are entred or something) a bit like the force TVOUT feature

Its probly important to get this feature sorted as HDMI is supposed to be replacing DVI connectors ... but I guess by then there will be ATI cards with HDMI ports instead of DVI ones (since they are a lot smaller and it would save lots of space on the cards)

Spyre · Apr 17, 2005, 02:39 PM

This could be another reason

Quote:

Q1) Can I connect from HDMI to DVI?
A1) Yes. You will only have the video functionality however. The video portions of HDMI and DVI are "pin compatible". You can use an HDMI to DVI cable or a HDMI to DVI Adapter. Whether or not it will actually work or not requires a bit more complex of an answer. Why? HDCP. HDCP stands for "High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection" (HDCP). It is meant to prevent you from copying content you are not "allowed" to copy. see here. Generally HDMI connectors all use HDCP. They don't technically "have to", but it would be pretty silly to use an HDMI connector without it having HDCP. DVI connections on the other hand, may or may not have HDCP. Computers and LCD monitors for example, can have DVI connections which do not have, or "need" HDCP. Many of the early HDTV's to include DVI connectors do not have HDCP. Some projectors, especially non-Home Theater oriented ones with DVI connectors do not have HDCP. Generally you will need to be sure that both devices use HDCP in order to connect together an HDMI device and a DVI device.

If the ATI card expects this to be enabled when its own drivers are installed (to prevent people copying movies, and the TV doesnt support it) then there wouldnt be a picture

It could be a bug with the drivers so try some older ones to see if they work or not

Thats just a theory, I dont have a fancy TV to test this with (unless anyone wants to send me one hint hint

)

andyng111 · Apr 18, 2005, 02:02 AM

thank you Spyre
where do you find this message?
Actually, I have asked ATI for support before I came here. The ATI's customer representative is really unprofessional and just don't want to look into the problem. At first he said HDMI is not supported. After I showed him that ATI's website said it is HDMI compliant, he said I have to use component adaptor. I have told him it may be the driver's problem. But he never look into the driver and just give me standard answer. I am really angry with him. Eventually, he said my card is a "Powered by ATI" product, not a "Built by ATI" product and ask me to contact the manufacturer. I can't such a large company provide such service.

andyng111 · Apr 18, 2005, 02:11 AM

May be change of registry settings can help
Anyone knows how to do it?

thank you

Spyre · Apr 18, 2005, 05:44 AM

When submitting feedback to ATI you shouldnt contact customer support use the link I provided instead

ATI's customer support based on personal experience and from what other people have said across multiple forums is pretty awful. Its good for RMA'ing a faulty card or for completely new people to the world of graphics cards but thats about it

ATI's cutomer support seem to rely on stock emails and when that doesnt work they either give up entirely or get things wrong as they dont have the experience needed (same with most tier 1 helpdesks so its not just an ATI problem)

ATI's driver team on the other hand are very good at what they do, so bug reports that goto the driver team are delt with pretty professionally so use the link I provided as bugs goto the right place then

The quote I posted was from google, not related to ATI but a HDMI to DVI FAQ

andyng111 · Apr 19, 2005, 03:40 AM

thanks Spyre
I will try it.

Spyre · Apr 19, 2005, 03:45 AM

Two of the best things to try though are a driver from say around a year ago to see if thats any help

Also another thing to try is to boot the PC with just the TV connected and no other monitor to see if it works like that ... you may have to experiment a little here with enabling the tv device before shutting down the PC and rebooting with it just connected

Spyre · Apr 19, 2005, 04:17 PM

What is the make and model of TV by the way?