Samsung LCD Monitor Resolution Problems

[bka1967]

Greetings Experts!

I am having major monitor and Nvidia problem with one my Samsung 216BW monitor capable of 1680x1050 @60Hz.

It is connected via RGB analog to Abit NF7-M running Win XP SP2. The on board VGA is GeForce4 MX AGP Graphics.

The monitor was working fine at its highest resolution for last 7 months. Now I cannot get it to work at highest resolution. Suddenly the fonts are not sharp, I have tried to get it to fix for last several days.

The monitor OSD menu shows that it is running at 63.8 kHz 60 Hz NP 1280 x 1024.

Windows Display Properties show that I have 2 of these monitors connected.

The first monitor is at 1680x1024, 32 bit.

The second monitor…you cannot get more than 1360x768 at 32 bit. I cannot get any more resolution on it by sliding the pointer. It comes back to 1360x768.

The Nvidia control panel (version 1.2.0.82) shows it at 1680x1024 @ 60 Hz. Sometimes during my attempts to fix it shows one or two monitors. Right now it shows Samsung 1 of 2.

I have downloaded latest Monitor drivers here http://www.samsung.com/us/support/do...&disp_nm=216BW

The motherboard link is here http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/mothe...ARCHTEXT=NF7-M

The CPU is AMD|2500 /333 ATHLON XP BARTON, however XP is showing it at 1.09 GHz. I have 1 GB of Ram.

I am not a gamer, I was very happy with this monitor. I do have another same monitor. I have not tried to put the second monitor on this desktop.

I got it working once, but when I restarted it went back to same problem.

I need help desperately.

Thanks!

[leprechaun_40]

Doubt it's a monitor problem actually. Try removing the second monitor in the device manager if more than one is shown, maybe remove both and let it reinstall. See if you are showing more than one video adapter there too, if so, remove them both and reinstall the drivers. It sounds more like a driver issue for the video card to me.

[BipolarBill]

Yes and you're running your CPU at a low speed too. It should be running at 1883MHz.

Go into BIOS Setup > SoftMenu III and set your FSB Frequency to 166MHz.

[Midknyte]

download the latest driver (which are probably pretty old)

uninstall the old drivers, boot to safe mode and run driver sweeper, install new drivers.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_93.71_2.html

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655

[bka1967]

Thanks to all of you for replying.

I saw 2 Samsung Monitors in the device manager and I deleted both of them.

I also went to BIOS, there FSB was 166, I could not select it.

The problem was still there.

So again I went to play with resolution settings.

In Display properties, I tried to maximize the resolution of the 2nd monitor, but the slider pointer kept coming back to 1360x768.

So I selected first monitor and again changed to resolution to a lower level and then increased to 1680x1050.

Suddenly I am getting the maximum resolution again.

Monitor OSD shows 64.6kHZ 60Hz PN 1680x1050.

Windows is showing that I have 1.83 GHz CPU.

I have no idea what is going on. I am afraid that if I restart...I may loose my resolution. It has already happened once in last 7 days, I got my resolution back and then lost it upon restart next day.

I don't go into BIOS. Last time I added a HD was over 2-3 years ago.

I appreciate your help.

What should I do? I still have two monitors.

Perhaps something is not right in my BIOS. I can log-in to Sysopt via laptop and post my BIOS settings here.

[Rocketmech]

To add to Bill's suggestion, try using the Expert mode and set the CPU ratio @ 11 and the FSB @ 166. And also be sure to select Save and Exit (F10) when finished or the changes won't take effect.
When you restart check the POST screen, see how the cpu is listed , ex. XP 2500+ , 11 x 166 = 1.83 (or 1883)Ghz ? Also, is the memory speed listed correctly as well ? ex. 266 , 333, 400 DDR ?

[bka1967]

Greetings again Experts!

I am back. The problem is back again today. Windows shows me a CPU of 1.09 GHz (memory is 992 mb, since I have 1 GB)

I am thinking that the problem is with CPU running at slow speed.

Here are my BIOS settings:

SoftMenu III Setup

CPU Internal frequency 1100 MHz (100x11.0)
CPU Operatiing Speed 2500+...........I can select this option
External Clock 166 MHz
Multiplier Factor x 11.0
CPU FSB/DRAM ratio Auto......... I can select this
CPU Interface Enabled............. I can select this

The other are Power/Voltage....System default and other non-selectable

I don't know why I am getting lower CPU speed recently. Is it time to change CMOS battery?

Thanks and regards

[BipolarBill]

The CPU clock should match the external clock. They should be "synchronized".

166x11=1826MHz (1.83GHz)

That's what the 2500+ should run at.

Look carefully at settings and sync your internal clock and memory.

[bka1967]

The Windows Clock and Internal (BIOS) Clock are synchronized (almost).

I don't know how to sync memory.

I took some pictures of my BIOS settings (and posting for 1st time, hope it works)

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052335.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052336.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052337.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052338.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052339.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052340.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/P8052342.jpg

Thanks for your quick reply and help

PS: Well, after posting this message, I thought I should check the CPU speed since I restarted it 2 times. It is now @ 1.83. So I did my previous trick and I back at highest resolution. I don't know what is going on

[BipolarBill]

Try setting the CPU operating speed manually to 1.83GHz.

Ah! Set the CPU FSB/DRAM Ratio to 1:1. That is the sync setting.

[bka1967]

Try setting the CPU operating speed manually to 1.83GHz.

Sir

Did you see my message after my edit? I can only select few things in the SoftMenu? I would appreciate little more help. I built this PC back in 2004 with your recommendation and it has served me without any problems until now.

Regards.

[BipolarBill]

Read my last post again. I edited it.

[Rocketmech]

Something is not right here, Bill. His settings look correct as shown for both the cpu and mem , and regardless if the cpu/mem is sync'd , the cpu should be recognized as a AMD Athlon XP in the Softmenu lll Setup , but its not.

[BipolarBill]

The main clue that things are not right is the picture that shows "Unknown CPU type". If he sets the ratio at 1:1 and the external clock at 166, that will change to AMD Barton 2500+.

[Train]

There are motherboards, that when the is a bad shutdown, it will revert the BIOS back to the DEFAULT settings.
Just follow BipolarBills instructions to get back to where you want it to be. ASUS has been the main culprit so far.