Radeon 9100 Dual Monitor Probs

[hirschma]

Just installed a Powercolor Radeon 9100 in the gf's computer. No love on the second monitor.

Here's the details: the card has one VGA, and one DVI. Video works from the VGA port to either monitor, no problem. Both monitors are analog VGA only.

I'm using a generic DVI->VGA adapter that has worked on Nvidia based cards for the second monitor.

I never get any video to the second monitor, from BIOS, Windows, whatever. Windows and the ATI softwares can't detect a monitor on the DVI port. On my Nvidia dual DVI card, I always get BIOS video on both displays.

edit: As per recommendations on the Powercolor site, I'm using the latest drivers from ATI. Still no love.

So...

* I'm guessing that it could be a non-compatible DVI adapter. Can anyone recommend one?
* Is there a way to force video detection on the DVI port of this card?
* Should I be seeing video before Windows loads, or is the hardware doing detection?
* Am I silly for buying a Powercolor card? I get the impression that it may below the ghetto line.

Thanks.

jonathan

 

[minendo]

Were both monitors plugged into the card when you installed the latest drivers? Also, have you double checked the video card settings to make sure that it is set up for dual display?

 

[hirschma]

Originally posted by: minendo
Were both monitors plugged into the card when you installed the latest drivers? Also, have you double checked the video card settings to make sure that it is set up for dual display?

Answers:

* Both monitors were plugged into the card from power-on forward. No display on second monitor at any time, not even bios screen.

* Cannot activate second monitor in any control panel since it is not being detected. No obvious way to force video output on second port.

Thanks.

jonathan

 

[Yamyam]

I've got the same problem on my setup. Here's my configuration:
MSI KT3+ (the RAID version) with latest BIOS
Athlon XP 1800+
1 Gb RAM (2x 512 Mb DDR)
Powercolor Radeon 9100
Primary monitor: Dell D1626HT 21" Trinitron monitor
Secondary monitor: (identical to first)
WinXP SP1 with all the latest updates

I tried using the driver and control panel on Powercolor's site (unable to install, corrupted file) and the latest driver, control panel, and Hydravision application from ATI (same failure modes as hirchma's system). The display settings simply won't recognize the DVI connection.

Anyone have any troubleshooting ideas? This is very frustrating because I upgraded my video card ONLY for the sake of running dual monitors (previous card was an 8500 with a DVI-D connection).

 

[hirschma]

Well, I got some info from PowerColor, and they suck.

From PowerColor:

"If this model name has "L", it means this card doesn't support 2nd CRT function." So you fell into the same trap that I did - the product listing says dual monitor, the connector on the card is meant for either digital or analog, but the damn card doesn't support analog on the second port.

The rest is academic, but might be of interest to someone searching for this later on...

PowerColor are, in a word, retards Not only do they say in their manual that all of their Radeon 9100s support a second CRT, but they use the wrong damn connector!

Here is a pic of my card. Notice the four hole pattern on the right side of the DVI connector.

Here is a picture of a DVI-I connector, which is obviously what PowerColor is using.

Which, the DDWG, the folks that maintain the spec, define as both digital and analog (i.e., CRT). More info here.

Had I seen this in NewEggs's picture, I would have know that there was no way to connect a CRT to that port, and steered clear. That is the correct port for digital-only out.

So, PowerColor gets both the manual and the connector wrong. I'm supposed to figure this out exactly HOW?

I will say that, to NewEgg's credit, they are working with me to get a card in my hands that will meet the false specs of the PowerColor crap, at no additional cost. Hopefully they'll actually do it.

jonathan