Need help! Weird purple huge with ATI rage 128?

[Lowlypawn]

My friend has a Athlon 700 with an ATI rage 128 video card.
But now when he starts the computer the screen has a purple huge and looks squashed.
After an hour of reinstalling the drivers, monitor, checking the bios and 20 restarts I tried unplugging the computer form the wall and that seemed to fix it.
But the same problem has came back 2 more times and both times he had to unplug to fix it, Kind of annoying.
Dose anyone know what the hell causes this?

 

[Lowlypawn]

Come on, some one must have an Idea?

 

[Toejam31]

NO sarcasm intended. What the heck is a weird purple huge???

 

[Toejam31]

Oh, sorry ... I get it. You mean a weird purple HUE. I should have figured it out sooner ... but I kept imagining a enormous blob on the screen, and that threw me!

I suggest that you check the monitor, instead of the video card. If the card WAS working, then this kind of display fluctuation is likely to be a monitor problem. One of the "guns" in the monitor may be damaged, or the system might have temporarily set the monitor refresh rate too high and burned up some of the screen phosphers. I once saw a Gateway monitor with an ATI Rage card do something like this.

Unless you are trained in this area, take the monitor to a technician. There's enough voltage in a standard monitor to kill a man, and you need the proper equipment to drain off the capacitor.

Toejam31

 

[Guest]

Sounds like the video card is overheating. I had a similar problem with an AIW 128.

Try another video card (if one is available) or take the monitor to another machine and see if it happens there.

 

[Lowlypawn]

Sorry for the confusion with my bad spelling.
So your saying u can damage a monitor my setting the refresh rate to high?
I have mine set to 100 Hz and I did change my friends to 85hz.
Should I lower mine, I have a Syncmaster 950P?
And turning the power off to fix it leads me to believe it’s the monitor.
Next times it happens I will tell my friend to just unplug the monitor and see if it fixes it.
Then we will know if it’s the video card or the monitor.
Thx

 

[Toejam31]

Hi, Lowlypawn ...

Yes, you can definitely damage a monitor by having too high a refresh rate, or by trying to use a resolution that the monitor cannot support. You can burn up a monitor in just a few seconds if either of these is too high.

You need to check the "specs" on both the monitor(s) and the video card(s), and see if the hardware limits were exceeded.

As a rule of thumb, most 17-19 inch monitors will accept a refresh rate of 85Hz at 1024x768x32 ... but not all. I have seen cheaper models that only support 75Hz. And the video card must be able to support the resolution and refresh rate.

I would suggest that you temporarily lower the refresh rate and resolution on your friend's system to 640x480 with a refresh rate of 75Hz, and then connect another monitor, so you can isolate the problem. If the difficulty occurs with both monitors, the culprit is the video card. If not ... you'll both know the problem is with the monitor.

I don't recall the specs for a Syncmaster 950P right off the top of my head ... but it will probably handle a 100Hz refresh rate just fine if the resolution isn't too high. Check your monitor manual. Be sure that you have the lastest drivers for the monitor(s), as well as the video card.

Good luck ... Toejam31

 

[Guest]

It might just be something wrong with the monitor. Mine was doing the same thing, except with a blue hue last year. I would fix the problem (temporarily) by hitting the side of the screen . Eventually it just died and started making a buzzing noise. I tracked the noise down the power converter, and fixed it by replacing the dead unit inside the monitor itself. Six months later, it's still working great.

BTW, I'm running an ATI Rage 128 too

 

[Guest]

Moniters go well when you spill coffee in them

 

[Lowlypawn]

What brand/model was it?