suezeh@comcast

Hi - I have a nice flat panel monitor (Gateway) that won't plug in to my mom's computer - someone told me I needed to get her a different video card. She has a two year old e-machine - how do I know what type of card to get and how much ram it would need? She won't be playing any games - just need to be able to hook up the monitor. Apparently the Gateway prongs are different.

Help is appreciated.

Thanks

elf

I don't think gateway has different connections to their monitors...

Chances are you just have a monitor with a dvi connector instead of a vga.

You'd probably need something along the lines of THIS which should run you about $5

suezeh@comcast

Oh my Elf! Could it really be that simple???? I wrote e-machines for my mom and here's what they responded.

"Thank you for contacting eMachines.

I see that you want to know the type of video card compatible to your T1840 eMachines computer.

I understand your concern and I am more than willing to provide you with relevant information.

The ImperialGL motherboard installed on your system does not have an AGP slow, however, it has three PCI slots (Version 2.1) for this type of upgrade. With this regard, you may need to ensure that the video card you are going to purchase is a PCI card type.

Please be guided that eMachines cannot recommend any third party upgrades. There are simply too many types of third party upgrades for eMachines or any computer company to test in their systems, so they can then recommend them to their customers.

Moreover, for as long as your computer complies with the minimum requirements to support the video card, it should work. Usually, one should consider the PCI slot speed, power supply, recommended processor, Operating System, memory and optical drive for driver installation. In addition, any changes or upgrades to the original configuration of the system are done so at the sole risk of you the end user."

So do you still think all I need is the adapter you suggested? Mom would be soooo happy to have that flat panel and not have to take her puter in to get the card put in.

thanks so much for your help!

elf

Well I can't say for certain, as I don't know what the connector looks like. However, I know from all the parts I've ever seen/used, there have been 2 connections. VGA and DVI. I imagine the flat panel monitor is a DVI connector, which looks about like this.


and your integrated video probably supports VGA, which looks like this.


The cable coming from the monitor should look like the opposite of the first picture (male and female), and the connector on the computer, should be the opposite of the second picture. If it looks like they would fit then that would be the correct adaptor. BestBuy and CompUSA don't sell this adaptor, so you would most likely need to shop online, unless there is a small computer store near you (I found them for $15 at a place here, but then for $4 online so its your perogative).

Just make sure you get the female dvi to male vga adaptor like THIS ONE $7.00, but just check to make sure the cables would connect correctly.

slightly more detailed picture attached

Attached Images

CA-DVI-F.jpg (18.8 KB, 2 views)

suezeh@comcast

Elf -

Sorry it took so long but wanted to wait until I got that adaptor from Newegg. That was the right adaptor as I was able to plug the Gateway monitor into mom's computer however, I get a black screen.

There is power - just no picture. So looks like I probably will need to that that card - do you know what kind that is and how much ram? She won't be playing any games so just don't need a really high dollar one. Is this something that will be easy to self install?

Thanks

Sue

elf

Well if she isn't going to be playing games or editing video, then something like THIS should be fine.

Installing video cards is extremely easy you can read up on How to Install A Video Card

suezeh@comcast

Well - I'm off the buy your recommendation - I will be in touch as soon as we get it and install it. I sure appreciate all of your help! You guys are great!

When I said she doesn't play games - I meant action, etc. She does play the solitaire and freecell, etc. Will this card still work for those kind of games?

Thanks
Sue

elf

That card will work fine, as long as she isn't doing anything graphic intensive (like action games or video editing)

suezeh@comcast

Hi Elf -

Well I'm bummed. We got that video card and installed it but it didn't seem to work. Windows XP didn't seem to recognize the new card. After rebooting, we kept getting the following error:

"IPMON32.exe. Failed to initialize properly (OXC0000142)"
C\windows\system32\Isass.exe (not sure if that was an isass.exe or lsass.exe

It also told us not enough resources to display desktop. We installed the driver but that didn't help. Tried to doubleclick on "find new hardware" icon but upon double-clicking, it still never opened. We took the card back out then puter seemed to operate normally.

Do you have any idea what may have gone wrong or what we need to do?

Thanks
Sue

elf

Well first of all it was Lsass (just so you know its not important). When would it would it get the error? If you plugged the monitor into the card and booted how far would it get before it got an error? It is highley likely all you needed to do was boot into VGA mode and install drivers before booting. However more work may have needed to be done in the BIOS. If you plan on getting the card back I can go into more depth. Otherwise you can read up on How to install a video card (down near the bottom it will say "tips from users" and a user goes into depth on bios settings).

suezeh@comcast

I got the error during the reboot. Seems to have come up fairly quickly. Never got to any of the desktop icons, system tray, etc. Should the new monitor be plugged in to the new slot upon rebooting? (that's what we did, just don't know if that was right) I had to plug in the old monitor so I could see the screen while installing software, etc. Can 2 monitors be plugged in at the same time? If I do go in to chnage the bios (sounds scary) - when will the new monitor kick in, etc.?

I went ot the bios screen you linked me to but it didn't really say what to change.

I'll wait on your response before I try it again. Thanks so much!

Sue

elf

You should plug the monitor into the new card. There is an item in your BIOS (don't worry about messing up bios too much, they made it just about foolproof, because it can always be reset to the default) that will say something like "init first display" (which should be set to "pci").

but if it made it to windows before crashing (even if it didn't load any icons) then the problem doesn't lie with the card or bios, but rather with drivers. In which case you should boot into VGA mode and then install new drivers.

Do you still have the card? or do you want some detailed instructions anyway for future reference?

suezeh@comcast

Oh yes, I still have the card. I'll go back over there and try it again when she's gone so she doesn't have a heart attack. :-) Mom got all nervous when all that happened but I am determined to make it work - if you don't give up on me. :-)

Yes, windows started up - but how do I make it start it in the VGA mode? (sorry, i don't know all these things.)

Thanks for your patience and determination!

Sue

elf

Alright, I'll see about typing this all out in detail.
1). Download the newest drivers for you card from HERE, but don't run them. Instead just leave the file on your desktop so you can get to it easily.
2). Turn off the computer, and install the card (do the same thing you did last time).
3). When you get it all ready, plug the monitor into the new card, and start the computer.
4). While the computer boots tap F8, and it should give you a little menu with options like "safe mode" "safe mode with networking" and there should be one that says "enable VGA mode"
5). Select the "enable VGA mode" (if that option doesn't show up for whatever reason, just start safe mode with networking).
6). It shouldn't create the error since it won't be loading any video drivers. If it starts up fine (it will be bad graphics at first like 5 colors or something ridiculous like that) run that file you downloaded in step #1.
7). It will probably prompt you to restart, do that, and let it boot back up.

If all goes well it should start right up. If it gives the error again let me know and I'll see what I can find.

suezeh@comcast

Finally got another chance to try it again. I did you what told me to do however, it never started up in the safe mode - i kept tapping F8 but it jst kept right on starting up like it always does. I never got to the VGA mode. Several times it locked up and her current monitor screen showed weird colors - kept having to trun it off then back on (reboot).

If I ever did get it to go past that point - I got that same error I mentioned earlier (ocx or something like that).

I got into windows and the control panel but system but extremely slow when I tried opening anything up, etc. Never got to to the new monitor tho.

Guess I'll have to give up unless you have any other advise for me to try.

Thanks so much!

elf

Did you just keep tapping it? Not when windows is loading but from the very beginning right as you turn on the power? I'm almost 100% sure this is a standard on all windows installations so if it didn't work you probably didn't hit it at the right time.

suezeh@comcast

I'll try it again over the weekend when I can get over there. I'll let you know.

Thanks Elf!

Sue

TakumiKai

To run the BIOS in her computer she's gonna have to tap delete I believe. That's the standard on most computers... If your not talking about BIOS then I'm screwed or have the wrong interpretation. If I have either or then just disregard this post.

Tak.

elf

Yea bios is the delete key, but if you tap F8 it will give you options regarding safe mode and vga mode.

TakumiKai

Oh... So I am screwed. lol. By the way... My laptop after loading up Windows XP just has a blank screen. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. Whenever it has the blank screen nothing works so I reboot it. I get that Safe Mode and Recent Settings Menu Screen. I don't know what's happening. Do you have a problem like that or ever seen something like that or is it just a virus? Oh yeah... It's been hapening ever since I formatted the Hard Drive...