Can't get display right in Win98

I worked on a Windows 98 system yesterday that had display problems I
couldn't fix. The main symptom was that it couldn't get any more than 256
colors or change screen resolutions. Classic, right? Just get the right
drivers for the display card. Done it a million times.

Customer had the CD that came with the ATI card, so I used its Setup
program. Didn't work. Then tried just installing the drivers manually from
here. Didn't work. Went to the ATI website to look for something new, but
those didn't work either.

At this point I decide the card must have gone bad for some reason, so I
swapped it with a known good one I had, and then installed its software.
Same result. Where do I go from there? This is a new situation, to me.
What does this suggest? Windows or motherboard? I wonder if a PCI display
card would have yielded different results. If so, would that mean the AGP
part of the motherboard may have gone bad? Questions questions...

Did you try uninstalling the driver from safe mode first? . Did you check
your bios settings? Does this board happen to have onboard video? I doubt a
PCI card is better.

"Bob Nocshus" wrote in message
...
I worked on a Windows 98 system yesterday that had display problems I
couldn't fix. The main symptom was that it couldn't get any more than 256
colors or change screen resolutions. Classic, right? Just get the right
drivers for the display card. Done it a million times.

Customer had the CD that came with the ATI card, so I used its Setup
program. Didn't work. Then tried just installing the drivers manually
from
here. Didn't work. Went to the ATI website to look for something new,
but
those didn't work either.

At this point I decide the card must have gone bad for some reason, so I
swapped it with a known good one I had, and then installed its software.
Same result. Where do I go from there? This is a new situation, to me.
What does this suggest? Windows or motherboard? I wonder if a PCI
display
card would have yielded different results. If so, would that mean the AGP
part of the motherboard may have gone bad? Questions questions...

What does uninstalling the old driver from Safe Mode accomplish? I've never
approached it that way. I thought any new ones would just replace old ones.
I don't approach application installations/replacements that way, but I
guess I've always done it this way with drivers. I don't know if the
motherboard has onboard video or not, but I know the monitor was only hooked
up to these AGP cards.



"tomcas" wrote in message
et...
Did you try uninstalling the driver from safe mode first? . Did you check
your bios settings? Does this board happen to have onboard video? I doubt
a
PCI card is better.

"Bob Nocshus" wrote in message
...
I worked on a Windows 98 system yesterday that had display problems I
couldn't fix. The main symptom was that it couldn't get any more than
256
colors or change screen resolutions. Classic, right? Just get the
right
drivers for the display card. Done it a million times.

Customer had the CD that came with the ATI card, so I used its Setup
program. Didn't work. Then tried just installing the drivers manually
from
here. Didn't work. Went to the ATI website to look for something new,
but
those didn't work either.

At this point I decide the card must have gone bad for some reason, so I
swapped it with a known good one I had, and then installed its software.
Same result. Where do I go from there? This is a new situation, to me.
What does this suggest? Windows or motherboard? I wonder if a PCI
display
card would have yielded different results. If so, would that mean the
AGP
part of the motherboard may have gone bad? Questions questions...

"Bob Nocshus" wrote in message
...
I worked on a Windows 98 system yesterday that had display problems I
couldn't fix. The main symptom was that it couldn't get any more than 256
colors or change screen resolutions. Classic, right? Just get the right
drivers for the display card. Done it a million times.

Customer had the CD that came with the ATI card, so I used its Setup
program. Didn't work. Then tried just installing the drivers manually
from
here. Didn't work. Went to the ATI website to look for something new,
but
those didn't work either.

At this point I decide the card must have gone bad for some reason, so I
swapped it with a known good one I had, and then installed its software.
Same result. Where do I go from there? This is a new situation, to me.
What does this suggest? Windows or motherboard? I wonder if a PCI
display
card would have yielded different results. If so, would that mean the AGP
part of the motherboard may have gone bad? Questions questions...




Was it that there was no option for increasing the colors and resolution...
or were you able to set the colors higher...but the monitor was just not
able to display them?

"garwhite" wrote in message
...
What does uninstalling the old driver from Safe Mode accomplish? I've
never
approached it that way. I thought any new ones would just replace old
ones.
I don't approach application installations/replacements that way, but I
guess I've always done it this way with drivers. I don't know if the
motherboard has onboard video or not, but I know the monitor was only
hooked
up to these AGP cards.

I haven't used 98 for a while, but I have had to remove display drivers in
safe mode to cure display problems. It has something to do with entries in
the registry, start in normal mode and you just see the current display
entry in device manager. Start in safe mode, on a problem 95/98 system, and
you'll probably see two or three display entries in device manager.

HTH

--

Ian

A7N8X Deluxe v1.04
Uber Bios 1006 + Sata Bios
XP2500 @ 2400MHz
Corsair Twinx1024-3200LLPT
200 x 12.0
ATI Radeon 9700Pro
2 x Maxtor 120GB 8MB SATA RAID 0

The colors and screen resolution settings wouldn't budge -- exactly the way
they behave when you have the wrong drivers (or none but default) installed.

"philo" wrote in message
...

"Bob Nocshus" wrote in message
...
I worked on a Windows 98 system yesterday that had display problems I
couldn't fix. The main symptom was that it couldn't get any more than
256
colors or change screen resolutions. Classic, right? Just get the
right
drivers for the display card. Done it a million times.

Customer had the CD that came with the ATI card, so I used its Setup
program. Didn't work. Then tried just installing the drivers manually
from
here. Didn't work. Went to the ATI website to look for something new,
but
those didn't work either.

At this point I decide the card must have gone bad for some reason, so I
swapped it with a known good one I had, and then installed its software.
Same result. Where do I go from there? This is a new situation, to me.
What does this suggest? Windows or motherboard? I wonder if a PCI
display
card would have yielded different results. If so, would that mean the
AGP
part of the motherboard may have gone bad? Questions questions...




Was it that there was no option for increasing the colors and
resolution...
or were you able to set the colors higher...but the monitor was just not
able to display them?

Interesting, but I'm not sure I was having that problem. Any time I tried
different drivers, Device Manager would display that change. Also, there
was never more than one display adapter showing there, and, as I said, it
changed every time I tried something different.

Does this sound like the kind of situation that would likely have changed if
I had first removed the drivers in Safe Mode. I'm thinking the solution
lies elsewhere, but maybe not. I truly don't know.

"IanDunbar" wrote in message
...

"garwhite" wrote in message
...
What does uninstalling the old driver from Safe Mode accomplish? I've
never
approached it that way. I thought any new ones would just replace old
ones.
I don't approach application installations/replacements that way, but I
guess I've always done it this way with drivers. I don't know if the
motherboard has onboard video or not, but I know the monitor was only
hooked
up to these AGP cards.

I haven't used 98 for a while, but I have had to remove display drivers in
safe mode to cure display problems. It has something to do with entries
in
the registry, start in normal mode and you just see the current display
entry in device manager. Start in safe mode, on a problem 95/98 system,
and
you'll probably see two or three display entries in device manager.

HTH

--

Ian

A7N8X Deluxe v1.04
Uber Bios 1006 + Sata Bios
XP2500 @ 2400MHz
Corsair Twinx1024-3200LLPT
200 x 12.0
ATI Radeon 9700Pro
2 x Maxtor 120GB 8MB SATA RAID 0

"garwhite" wrote in message
...
Interesting, but I'm not sure I was having that problem. Any time I tried
different drivers, Device Manager would display that change.

Yes it normally shows just the new driver, even when you have problems with
it, unless you start in safe mode.

Also, there was never more than one display adapter showing there,

Did you get a chance to look in safe mode? I've only seen multiple entries
from safe mode.

Does this sound like the kind of situation that would likely have changed
if
I had first removed the drivers in Safe Mode. I'm thinking the solution
lies elsewhere, but maybe not. I truly don't know.

Display drivers in 95/98 have caused me hours (days?) of fun and games in
the past, until I started clearing old drivers out first. The system had
corrupt display drivers already by your description.
I've never had a graphics card or an AGP slot fail, it's normally always
software related IMO.


--

Ian

A7N8X Deluxe v1.04
Uber Bios 1006 + Sata Bios
XP2500 @ 2400MHz
Corsair Twinx1024-3200LLPT
200 x 12.0
ATI Radeon 9700Pro
2 x Maxtor 120GB 8MB SATA RAID 0

"garwhite" wrote in message
...
The colors and screen resolution settings wouldn't budge -- exactly the
way
they behave when you have the wrong drivers (or none but default)
installed.


then it must be some type of AGP problem (i'd guess)

look in the bios to see if there is anything to tweak for the video

I worked on a Windows 98 system yesterday that had display problems I
couldn't fix. The main symptom was that it couldn't get any more than 256
colors or change screen resolutions. Classic, right? Just get the right
drivers for the display card. Done it a million times.

Customer had the CD that came with the ATI card, so I used its Setup
program. Didn't work. Then tried just installing the drivers manually from
here. Didn't work. Went to the ATI website to look for something new, but
those didn't work either.

At this point I decide the card must have gone bad for some reason, so I
swapped it with a known good one I had, and then installed its software.
Same result. Where do I go from there? This is a new situation, to me.
What does this suggest? Windows or motherboard? I wonder if a PCI display
card would have yielded different results. If so, would that mean the AGP
part of the motherboard may have gone bad? Questions questions...

If I don't use the install disk that came with my SyncMaster 955DF
monitor, I get results like you have.
__________
If you give a little they give a lot.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/disco