I picked up an ATI VGA Wonder XL24 video card about a year ago. It is a very versatile video card, but has issues when trying to use it an LCD monitor.

Issue one:

The video card will not initialize properly on some computers and only 640x480 and below resolutions are available. I found that in every instance a simple reboot clears this problem. I setup a boot configuration to do an soft reboot. I then select the normal configuration that I want to use. This has a happened on every AT class computer that I have tested with an LCD. Installing the video card in my NuXT build and Epson Equity Ie, I do not have this issue. I have also found pressing the reset button will cause the same probem as doing a power on. That is why a soft reboot is required.

Issue two:

1024x768 resolutions default to interlaced mode with an LCD and cannot be display. This even happens when selecting a monitor with the VINSTALL utility that supports higher refresh rates. To get around this problem, I first select the NEC XL/PLUS/4D/5D or Sony CPD-1304 for the monitor type with the VINSTALL utility. Save the configuration to EEPROM and then restart the computer. I then go back into to the VINSTALL and go to the monitor type and select F5 for a custom monitor setup. Select the 1024x768 16 color or 256 color mode. Now you will be greeted with a message on your LCD that the video mode cannot be displayed. Just keep pressing the ] key to keep increasing the refresh rate. My screen finally displayed when it hit 59HZ. I kept increasing the refresh rate until I got to 60HZ and then saved the configuration to EEPROM. You will need to do this for both the 16 and 256 color 1024x768 settings.

I just wanted to pass along what I have encounter with this video card. I suspect the same issue may affect other versions of the ATI VGA Wonder video cards and hopefully what I have found out will help others in the same situation.