Uncooperative Gateway monitor \ VOGONS

Uncooperative Gateway monitor

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First post, by MegaMobian

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Hey, y'all.

Welp, this is my very first message here (so please forgive me if this is in the wrong forum, I have no idea what I'm doing. . .) Anyways, I have a Gateway LE500 CRT monitor that I want to use instead of my DELL LCD for my Windows 98 PC build (y'know, for a more authentic feel), but whenever I try to plug it into my graphics card (an ATI Radeon 9250 PCI) it shows "no signal." The card works just fine with the LCD, but for some reason it just does not want to cooperate with the Gateway monitor. The Gateway monitor will work with the onboard graphics just fine, so I don't think it's a problem with the monitor itself. I've tried messing around with BIOS settings. I've tried making sure the VGA cable has a good firm connection to the Radeon's VGA port. I've tried reseating the graphics card. I've even tried uninstalling the card, drivers and all, and reinstalling it. No dice, unfortunately. . .

The strange thing is that I noticed that Windows had installed drivers specifically for the DELL monitor, so I thought "oh, well maybe if I uninstall those drivers it'll work just fine." It did not. So, then I thought "maybe I just need to install the drivers for the LE500." That didn't work either.

I'm really at a loss here, and any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Reply 1 of 9, by BitWrangler

Posted on Today, 02:37

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Is monitor working otherwise, seeing POST screen, works when you boot to command prompt? Just blanks out in Windows. Or have you got nothing at all when plugged to this card.

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Reply 2 of 9, by DaveDDS

Posted on Today, 02:51

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Since the monitor works on the on-board port, it's probably not a bad monitor or cable (I;m assuming you are using the same cable in both cases). Since the Dell LCD works on the graphics card, it's probably not a bad card.

I suspect it's some incompatible signalling ... perhaps resolution, refresh rate, sync polarity or any number of factors.
Graphics cards usually come with a setup/adjust tool that works with their drivers to adjust many aspects of the video signal.
Assuming you have this, you could take a look and see what it can adjust - you might have to "play a little".

Been so long since I worked seriously with W98 - does it support two monitors on two separate video interfaces?
If you could get such a setup working, it would make it a lot easier to "try things" without constantly having to lose video and move cables.

good luck!

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Reply 3 of 9, by MegaMobian

Posted on Today, 04:43

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BitWrangler wrote on Today, 02:37:

Is monitor working otherwise, seeing POST screen, works when you boot to command prompt? Just blanks out in Windows. Or have you got nothing at all when plugged to this card.

Nothing at all. Just a blue box with white text that says "NO SIGNAL."

Reply 4 of 9, by BitWrangler

Posted on Today, 04:51

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This sounds weird, but you can try the magic reset for confused digital detection CRTs... lick your thumb, wipe it so so it's just damp, then plant it firmly on the end of the VGA cable, pushing hard enough to contact all the pins... there are some theories that the digital circuits get hung up with static buildup or something... putting the one megohm approx thumb resistor across the pins to the shell bleeds it out.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 5 of 9, by MegaMobian

Posted on Today, 04:51

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DaveDDS wrote on Today, 02:51:
Since the monitor works on the on-board port, it's probably not a bad monitor or cable (I;m assuming you are using the same cab […]
Show full quote

Since the monitor works on the on-board port, it's probably not a bad monitor or cable (I;m assuming you are using the same cable in both cases). Since the Dell LCD works on the graphics card, it's probably not a bad card.

I suspect it's some incompatible signalling ... perhaps resolution, refresh rate, sync polarity or any number of factors.
Graphics cards usually come with a setup/adjust tool that works with their drivers to adjust many aspects of the video signal.
Assuming you have this, you could take a look and see what it can adjust - you might have to "play a little".

Been so long since I worked seriously with W98 - does it support two monitors on two separate video interfaces?
If you could get such a setup working, it would make it a lot easier to "try things" without constantly having to lose video and move cables.

good luck!

The uncooperative monitor in question actually has a built-in, permanently attached VGA cable, if that makes any difference.

As for using two monitors on separate video interfaces with Windows 98, I believe (if my memory serves) I've looked it up before, and can recall discovering that you could. I'll have to check again, though.

Also, I'll definitely try what you suggested with the ATI control panel to see if that helps. Thanks for the support, man!

Reply 6 of 9, by MegaMobian

Posted on Today, 04:53

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BitWrangler wrote on Today, 04:51:

This sounds weird, but you can try the magic reset for confused digital detection CRTs... lick your thumb, wipe it so so it's just damp, then plant it firmly on the end of the VGA cable, pushing hard enough to contact all the pins... there are some theories that the digital circuits get hung up with static buildup or something... putting the one megohm approx thumb resistor across the pins to the shell bleeds it out.

I'll have to try that. Thanks, man! As stated before, anything helps, no matter how seemingly outlandish!

Reply 7 of 9, by NeoG_

Posted on Today, 05:18

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Is the DELL monitor also using VGA? Or DVI?

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Reply 8 of 9, by MegaMobian

Posted on Today, 07:32

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NeoG_ wrote on Today, 05:18:

Is the DELL monitor also using VGA? Or DVI?

VGA

Reply 9 of 9, by NeoG_

Posted on Today, 07:43

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Unless you have confirmed there is something else that can show up on the screen my gut feel would be an issue with the cable

If the monitor is new enough to have a “no signal” message it will also have an “out of range” message if the signal is beyond the capabilities of the screen

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