monitor signal

cermak · 08-11-2007, 11:56 AM

I have a very similar problem to this.

I was building a new PC. I bought everything online from newegg, and it arrived after a few days. I was putting it together, and everything worked fine untill I installed the video card drivers. The instant I did that, BAM! Lights out for my monitor. I rebooted thinking, ok, no big deal. As soon as it goes past the loading screen the monitor shuts itself off again. It says "No signal: Analog signal out ..sleep.." It still works fine in vga mode or sleep mode. If I uninstall the drivers it also works fine.

After reading about it for several days I found a site that said the drivers might be putting out too high a resoulution on refresh rate for my monitor, and that causes it to deactivate. I tried lowering the refresh rate and resolution in VGA mode. I tried every combination I could think of. Finally I said "ok, ill just try a different monitor." I used my brother's monitor, a newer monitor, and it works great. When I tried hotswitching (hotswitching is where your computer is still on, but you change the video cable to a new monitor (at least I think thats what it is)) to my old monitor, it worked, but it would stop running after a reboot. I eventually just bought a new monitor, which also works. In that sense, I fixed the problem.

Everything is still going well with the new monitor, but I have a perfectly good older monitor just sitting on my floor. I decided to try dual monitors, as maybe with my new monitor as primary the second one will begin to work. It didnt work, but it gave me an important clue. When I put the nvidia drivers into dualview mode, it shows me 2 displays in the toolbar. One says "geforce 8600 gt (display 1 - analog)". The other says "geforce 8600 gt (display 2 - digital)". This should not be. They are both vga monitors im using with dvi to vga adapters. Perhaps the reason it never worked is it always tried to send a digital signal to my older one. What I want it to do is send an analog signal to both of my monitors.

My question is this: How do I force the nvidia drivers to use an analog signal? There doesnt seem to be any option to switch it within the driver software itself.

Im using windows XP sp2 with the latest nvidia drivers (16.18). I also have the latest motherboard drivers.

**pharoah** · 08-12-2007, 03:43 PM

what is the older monitor make model etc?ive seen something similar happen with an hdtv a driver change fixed it.

cermak · 08-12-2007, 11:13 PM

The monitor is made by SVA, the model number is VR-15a.

As for drivers, ive tried several versions of the nvidia drivers, as well as the nvidia omega drivers. None of them worked. I have also tried finding a firmware update or driver for my monitor, but there doesnt seem to be any.

cermak · 08-15-2007, 11:43 PM

Ok, I found how to fix this problem.

The problem lay in my monitors EDID. Apparently the company that made it (SVA) didnt do a very good job, and messed up part of the EDID. Whats an EDID you ask? Its the part of a monitor that tells the computer what kind of monitor it is. It aids in the plug an play process. Without it, all the computer can see is "Analog Monitor".

The EDID was saying that it was a digital monitor, when it was actually analog. My graphics card was just following orders when it sent the digital signal, which the monitor then couldnt read. Its not really nvidias fault, other than that they didnt put a "ignore edid" option on their drivers.

I attempted to overwrite the edid using a program I found on the net. This probably would of worked, but unfortunatly my monitor was write protected.

My next idea was to open up my monitor and look around inside for jumpers or something to unprotect it. (NOTE: Opening a monitor is a good way to destroy it if you dont know what your doing. Ive also heard you can electrocute yourself on the capacitors inside.)

There were jumpers, but they only controlled the baud rate or something. All I know is when I messed with them it wouldnt turn on any more. I put the jumpers back the way I found them and it worked again, although still not with my new pc.

While poking around inside however, I noticed a very conspicuous looking chip. It looks like this:

This chip is, apparently, my edid. Its also the only one that is "easily" removible. I am putting easily in quote because i needed two hands, pliers, and still managed to bend like half the pins. Fortunatly i didnt break any pins, so I just bent them back in place.

After removal of it, it seems to work just fine now. It has no edid at all, which means my comp cant tell what kind of monitor it is. Thats ok, cause it just loads generic drivers that seem to work just fine. My dual monitor desktop rules like crazy. Its like 3 feet wide.

I hope this helps anyone who was dumb enough to buy a SVA monitor (like me). Just remember, opening your monitor is risky buisness. I damaged my EDID chip, and I still consider myself lucky. Also thanks to those who tried to help.

08-11-2007, 11:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
cermak Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP2	monitor signal I have a very similar problem to this. I was building a new PC. I bought everything online from newegg, and it arrived after a few days. I was putting it together, and everything worked fine untill I installed the video card drivers. The instant I did that, BAM! Lights out for my monitor. I rebooted thinking, ok, no big deal. As soon as it goes past the loading screen the monitor shuts itself off again. It says "No signal: Analog signal out ..sleep.." It still works fine in vga mode or sleep mode. If I uninstall the drivers it also works fine. After reading about it for several days I found a site that said the drivers might be putting out too high a resoulution on refresh rate for my monitor, and that causes it to deactivate. I tried lowering the refresh rate and resolution in VGA mode. I tried every combination I could think of. Finally I said "ok, ill just try a different monitor." I used my brother's monitor, a newer monitor, and it works great. When I tried hotswitching (hotswitching is where your computer is still on, but you change the video cable to a new monitor (at least I think thats what it is)) to my old monitor, it worked, but it would stop running after a reboot. I eventually just bought a new monitor, which also works. In that sense, I fixed the problem. Everything is still going well with the new monitor, but I have a perfectly good older monitor just sitting on my floor. I decided to try dual monitors, as maybe with my new monitor as primary the second one will begin to work. It didnt work, but it gave me an important clue. When I put the nvidia drivers into dualview mode, it shows me 2 displays in the toolbar. One says "geforce 8600 gt (display 1 - analog)". The other says "geforce 8600 gt (display 2 - digital)". This should not be. They are both vga monitors im using with dvi to vga adapters. Perhaps the reason it never worked is it always tried to send a digital signal to my older one. What I want it to do is send an analog signal to both of my monitors. My question is this: How do I force the nvidia drivers to use an analog signal? There doesnt seem to be any option to switch it within the driver software itself. Im using windows XP sp2 with the latest nvidia drivers (16.18). I also have the latest motherboard drivers.

08-12-2007, 03:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
pharoah TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,188 OS: vista business edition My System	Re: monitor signal what is the older monitor make model etc?ive seen something similar happen with an hdtv a driver change fixed it. __________________ Follow These Steps First Power Supply Selection Posting System Specs Oblivion Tweak Guide Video Drivers& Information TSF folding at home team 85015

08-12-2007, 11:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
cermak Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP2	Re: monitor signal The monitor is made by SVA, the model number is VR-15a. As for drivers, ive tried several versions of the nvidia drivers, as well as the nvidia omega drivers. None of them worked. I have also tried finding a firmware update or driver for my monitor, but there doesnt seem to be any.

08-15-2007, 11:43 PM	#4 (permalink)
cermak Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP2	Re: monitor signal Ok, I found how to fix this problem. The problem lay in my monitors EDID. Apparently the company that made it (SVA) didnt do a very good job, and messed up part of the EDID. Whats an EDID you ask? Its the part of a monitor that tells the computer what kind of monitor it is. It aids in the plug an play process. Without it, all the computer can see is "Analog Monitor". The EDID was saying that it was a digital monitor, when it was actually analog. My graphics card was just following orders when it sent the digital signal, which the monitor then couldnt read. Its not really nvidias fault, other than that they didnt put a "ignore edid" option on their drivers. I attempted to overwrite the edid using a program I found on the net. This probably would of worked, but unfortunatly my monitor was write protected. My next idea was to open up my monitor and look around inside for jumpers or something to unprotect it. (NOTE: Opening a monitor is a good way to destroy it if you dont know what your doing. Ive also heard you can electrocute yourself on the capacitors inside.) There were jumpers, but they only controlled the baud rate or something. All I know is when I messed with them it wouldnt turn on any more. I put the jumpers back the way I found them and it worked again, although still not with my new pc. While poking around inside however, I noticed a very conspicuous looking chip. It looks like this: This chip is, apparently, my edid. Its also the only one that is "easily" removible. I am putting easily in quote because i needed two hands, pliers, and still managed to bend like half the pins. Fortunatly i didnt break any pins, so I just bent them back in place. After removal of it, it seems to work just fine now. It has no edid at all, which means my comp cant tell what kind of monitor it is. Thats ok, cause it just loads generic drivers that seem to work just fine. My dual monitor desktop rules like crazy. Its like 3 feet wide. I hope this helps anyone who was dumb enough to buy a SVA monitor (like me). Just remember, opening your monitor is risky buisness. I damaged my EDID chip, and I still consider myself lucky. Also thanks to those who tried to help.