4890 problem ? plese help.

[alus415]

I can't seem to find any help on this from my monitor or the card makers.


Basically I tried 2 different 4890's and they both make my Ultrasharp 2408WFP blink for 1 sec , my monitor shows me the DVI icon on the corne , it simply does it randomly, I pulled my CRT monitor and it doesn't do it there, I tried my old 8800gtx card and no problem with the monitor, it's only between thr 4890 and my Dell monitor,other people at Dell forums, ATI forums,etc are reporting the same thing, seems to me both ATI and Dell need to look at this.

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=112160&enterthread=y

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19257125.aspx


I'm hoping someone here can maybe help since this place seems to have more knowlegdable people, thx

 

[alus415]

Did you previously have an Nvidia card installed?

This sounds like an issue of you not properly removing your nvidia/ntune/rivatuner drivers and files and then installing catalyst control center.

Manually delete anything nvidia/ntune/rivatuner, then use a driver cleaner to removed anything nvidia.
Then reinstall catalyst 9.4

Well i just used CCleaner to remove the Nvidia drivers before i installed the Cat drivers, also on my other computer I did installed my 8800GTX to test it, then removed installed the 4890 tried a CRT monitor and no problems, this thing is only happening between the 4890 and my ultrasharp 2408wfp.

One thing though my ultrasharp doesnt have the problem nor has even given me any problems when i connect my old 8800gtx and a 4870 ( i borrowed from my friend) .

1. Dell monitor with any card other than 4890 = no problem.

2. 4890 with other monitor = no problem.

3. Tried 2 different card makers (MSI and Diamond 4890) with Dell monitor = problem.

4. Tried both cards (MSI and Diamond 4890) with a different monitor = no problem.

conclusion for me? problem between Dell monitor (unless other folks report same problem with different panels) and ATI 4890 but neither wants to claim there is a problem since i contacted both Dell and card makers.

 

[daedalus685]

First off, run driversweaper and make SURE no pesky nvidia drivers are left.

Second. This sounds to me like the monitor/gpu is detecting something on the hotswap connection. I.E. teh card or monitor is thinking it is time to switch to analog, then switches back to digital right away.

That monitor has SOO many inputs.. Are they all on individual lines or are some related? I.E. can you ahve an hdmi and dvi sourrce in the monitor at the same time and switch between them properly or do they appear in teh same category as "digital 1" for isntance.

I get the feeling that the monitor is looking for a signal on the wrong port on the same line for some reason..

 

[Stosh68]

I have the same problem with my Dell 2408 and ATI 4890 based videocards.

Unfortunately, all the suggestions here do not help. It is not an "old drivers" issue. I reloaded XP from scratch on a virgin hard drive, installed the new 9.4 drivers and still have the problem.

What else I have done:

* Tried multiple branded 4890 cards, Sapphire, MSI, Diamond and XFX...all exhibit the same problem.
* Replaced power supply.
* Replaced and tested PCIe power cables.
* Tested Dell models 2407wfp, 1907, 1905 and 2005wfp, all work fine with 4890 cards.
* Tested using several different DVI cables.
* Used both a 2408 and a 2407 with the 4890 in dual card mode, the 2407 works fine, 2408 does not.

My model of 2408 is firmware version A00. I'd be curious to know if the problem exists with other firmware version models of the 2408.

 

[enigmaxp]

I'm running on a Dell 2408WFP RevA01 and I'm experiencing the same issue too.

Went from a BFG 8800GT which ran without problems to a XFX4890 which experienced the symptoms described above.

Running with CCC9.4 and the latest ATI driver. Even tried reformatting to no avail. Doesn't matter whether it's in game or in windows, the screen blinks randomly at times.

 

[leon2006]

Any message/s on the screen when it blinks?

 

[yundesa]

I have a Ultrasharp 2408WFP A01 too with 4890 and it's blinking randomly.
Fresh install, tried it on Vista x64, windows 7 beta and window 2008.

 

[enigmaxp]

Any message/s on the screen when it blinks?

The monitor blinks as if it just lost the DVI signal and/or just switches resolution. The problem is that it happens randomly (e.g. you might be just surfing the web or in a game), whether the video card is being stressed or not.

 

[enigmaxp]

Hey guys,

I don't know if this helps..but I was able to find a beta of ati's 9.5 drivers. i've tested it for a couple hours and the blinking issue seems to have disappeared. Thought I'd just give you guys a heads up if you want to give it a try.

The ati driver is still kinda bugyy, it knocked me down to 640x480 from 1900x1200 and i had to reboot my computer twice after changing the res to keep to at 1900x1200. but so far so good.

 

[montyuk]

does that screen have a vga input you can test with?

 

[greyfang]

Using VGA with the LCD @1920x1200 60Hz and it's guaranteed to work as the VGA cable is capable of supporting even higher frequency.
The problem at hand is clearly a CVT-RB issue I've encountered in the past. Everything displays fine on the LCD via DVI (single-link) during bootup until it hits the Windows desktop and then the LCD starting blinking. Reducing resolution to 1600x1200 will get the image back due to bandwidth being bought into DVI spec. again.

I'd say if 9.4 is still having problem with either "Reduce DVI frequency on high resolution displays" or "Alternate DVI operational mode" tick boxes then the only options would to be use Cat 9.5 beta or Cat 9.3 for the time being.

Problem is, 9.3 isn't compatible with the 4890. I've been having troubles with my MSI 4890 as well. When I connect it to two monitors (viewsonic vx2035wm) at the same time, both monitors display during the post (in digital via DVI connections), but when the desktop comes up, only one monitor displays. The other monitor says, "No Signal - Digital". I called ATI and MSI and neither can explain why this is happening and both think it's either the drivers or the monitor.

Frustrating to say the least since ATI doesn't even know if their drivers work right. I know both monitors function because I used them on my old computer with a nVidia GS7800 (one connecting via analog cable to one monitor and one via DVI for digital diplay). Any thoughts? I have sent the card back for RMA and am hoping just to be able to buy an nVidia instead.
thanks....

**edit: as for the OP, I think your issue is closely related to the one I just posted about. I believe the drivers ATI wrote are messed up in some way. Check out this thread http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=96981&STARTPAGE=28&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear
and you'll see other with 4870s that are having monitor issues with the latest drivers. The 9.4 Catalyst caused my aforementioned problems, and on top of that, the drivers included in the MSI 4890 disk did not work for my Windows Home Premium 64-bit rig. Said the drivers were for an older version of Windows. I made sure to install the drivers from the bin64 file too.

 

[enigmaxp]

after additional testing, it looks like the problem is only marginally improved using the 9.5beta drivers. The issue is still there. Instead of blinking...the screen just blanks out for about half a second and returns. The driver also has an odd habit of dumping you down to 800x600 randomly sometimes. Going into CCC or Windows Display Control and changing it to 1900x1200 does not work. It requires a reboot.

Looks like we may still have to wait for ATI to come out with a fix, if ever.

greyfang: i'm also experiencing the same issue that you have where both i have two monitors hooked up to dvi, both show up at boot, but the other one does not come up after boot, no matter how you try to configure it in CCC. Kind of annoyed that my 8800GT worked perfectly fine and now the 4890 drivers seem to be a crapshoot.

 

[greyfang]

Good news: I am glad that others are experiencing similar (and in some cases, the exact same issue). This means there is a common link between our problems and it is not our motherboards, cpus, etc. It really appears to be a driver issue. It's very disappointing to see a company like ATI push out an update and even new video cards with these types of problems.

Bad news: It's likely the drivers! That's also the bad news because we don't know how long it'll take to fix the problem. The ATI guy I spoke to on the phone (for an hour and a half - troubleshooting) said the 9.5 drivers were likely not going to contain the fix for this due to them being far along in their development cycle. If this is really true that it won't be fixed until 9.6, then ATI has missed the boat. I am in the process of building a new computer and RMA'd my 4890 (sadly) and will likely now go back to nVidia for a GTX260 Core216 OC of some sort.

Does anyone else have 9.5beta experience or any other solution to fixing our display issues?

**enigmaxp: thanks for posting your update. It's a relief to have a good community to support our ideas and frustrations**

 

[greyfang]

When I connect it to two monitors (viewsonic vx2035wm) at the same time, both monitors display during the post (in digital via DVI connections), but when the desktop comes up, only one monitor displays. The other monitor says, "No Signal - Digital". I called ATI and MSI and neither can explain why this is happening and both think it's either the drivers or the monitor.

Yours is a different problem to what people are experiencing in this thread. On both monitors you use 1680x1050 which is unrelated to CVT-RB, proven by the fact one of your monitor still works. Just making sure, are you sure the 2nd monitor is set to active with the right res. and 60Hz in CCC? Or doe CCC not save the 2nd monitor's setting after reboot?

The OP of this thread has a 24" running 1920x1200 60Hz which requires CVT-RB over single-link DVI.

Good thoughts. However, I made sure from both the CCC and the Display Settings in Vista showed the monitors as active. Howeve, neither would ever get to working perfectly. Vista would show the 2nd monitor as not connected even when I extended the desktop to the 2nd monitor. In CCC, I tried activating it, but it would never turn on. Both resolutions were attempted to be set at 1680x1050 and at 60Hz. I then tried each monitor connected individually to my computer via DVI and each would work on their own. One time, my desktop showed as extended properly when I would connect the 2nd monitor via analog (from monitor to analog-to-dvi dongle). This would hold up until I checked it out in the display setttings at which point the 2nd monitor would shut off and say "no signal".

 

[enigmaxp]

Hmm...when its comes to the blinking, it's quite random. You might see it once in an hour, or twice. Sometimes you won't see any blinking for about 3 hours. Trying multiple variations of the two options to Reduce DVI signal freq and Alternative DVI Operational mode produce no difference in results. This happens after you boot into windows.

I would have to second the experiences of trying to get a second monitor to work. Vista detects that a monitor exists. It's just that when you try to add it to extend the desktop, the monitor never receives a signal. I believe one time i was able to get both monitors to replicate each other at the 1680x1050 resolution, but it was for only one boot.

I can definitely understand the frustration everyone is going through to get the card to work. Almost makes me wish I had stuck with my 8800gt.

 

[leon2006]

Wusy

Blinking & CVT-RB: I'm using a large screen and is limited to 1080P. I don't see this problem on my setup. It does not mean that the problem don't exist.

Is the screen setting has to do with this issue? Is this unique or prominent on resolution higher than 1080P?

Is this a workaround on LCD-Panel limitation using the DVI port? Is DVI prt bandwidth limited? Please clarify.

I'm asking so i can have information on the next purchase of PC _DISPLAY.

Thanks

Leon

 

[leon2006]

Wusy... Thanks

 

[enigmaxp]

Can't seem to get the resolution to hit 1:1 at 1600x1200. Pictures stays Scaled regardless of the option I choose

 

[greyfang]

As a quick follow-up, I the RMA was finally accepted and they're going to refund my money. The vendors tests yielded the same results. My advice: at the bare minimum, stay away from the MSI HD4890 if you have two monitors and a system similar to mine (see below). I don't think it was just a case of a messed up card. I opted instead for the EVGA Geforce GTX260 Core216 1257 Superclocked model. Not quite as powerful, but at least I hope the drivers EVGA provides and/or NVIDIA will work & display on two monitors. It's a sad state that such a potentially great card would fail in such a huge way.



=Specs=
Vista Home Premium 64-bit
6GB OCZ 1600 DDR3 RAM
Core i7 920
1TB HD
SB Audigy2
Foxconn Renaissance Mobo
EVGA Geforce GTX260 Core216 1257 Superclocked //soon//
700W Coolmax Modular PSU
Antec 900 Case

 

[enigmaxp]

Another update:

So I hunkered down and swapped my parents Dell 2209WA Ultrasharp with my Dell 2408WFP A01. The issues have all disappeared, and my parents do not experience the blinking issue with the Dell 2408WFP on their Nvidia 8800GT Card.

It's kind of a bummer, but now at least I have a functional setup running on the ATI 4890 card. I can only pray that ATI updates some new drivers that fix the issue.

 

[DELL-Chris-M]

I tested the Diamond HD 4890 on an XPS 600 with XP using the 9.5s on a 2408WFP and 2709W. I saw no blink outs. I also tested standby and hibernate. They all worked. Are all of your 2408s A01?

DELL-Chris M
Dell Community Desktop Liaison

 

[notoriousBRP]

I just built a computer running Windows 7 Ultimate RC (64-bit) using the Asus ATI Radeon 4890 and the Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP Rev A02 and I have also experienced the same blinking problem. It tends to be sporadic and I updated the ATI drivers with 9.5 and I still have the problem. I am thinking of returning the graphics card based on everyone's experience here. Let me know what graphics cards I could get to replace the 4890? maybe the 4870 x2? Let me know ASAP

 

[loregnum]

Just put together a new computer and I have this blinking/blackout issue.

Dell 2408WFP revision A02
XFX 4890 XXX card
cat 9.5 drivers
Windows 7

Annoying to the say the least and it'd be nice if whoever is "at fault" for this would get it fixed ASAP.

 

[nabla666]

Just put together a new computer and I have this blinking/blackout issue.

Dell 2408WFP revision A02
XFX 4890 XXX card
cat 9.5 drivers
Windows 7

Annoying to the say the least and it'd be nice if whoever is "at fault" for this would get it fixed ASAP.

If you check the bios database from techpowerup ( http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?page=1&architecture=&manufacturer=&model=HD+4890&interface=&memSize=0 ) the XFX bios available has the same compile date as my old sapphire bios. I compared the two and they only differ from 12 octets ( bytes) ( on 128 ko / kB ).
So I would think your bios is maybe part of the problem...
I think you should ask some support to XFX (like a new bios for example) or try the kamikaze method, like flashing the new bios Sapphire sent me (and which fixes my problem (but don't blame me if you screw your graphic card...)

 

[loregnum]

thanks nabla.

I'll get a ticket going to xfx and see what they say.