ATI Display Profiles

[CowMan]

I've had this problem with my video card ever since the first Catalyst drivers came out and even thought it was supposed to be fixed around version 2.3 or so, I've come to accept it. What happens is that whenever I install new drivers for my Radeon 8500LE 128, the system detects it as a YPbPr screen and will give me nothing but a black screen upon the restart following the installation of my drivers.
What I have to do to get it to work is:
1: Borrow another monitor, usually from a friend
2: Start up the computer with the borrowed monitor attatched
3: Switch monitors once Windows has loaded sucessfully.
4: Save that display profile in the "Displays" tab in the ATI Advanced Settings
5: Bind a hotkey to that setup
6: When windows starts up the next time, it won't be a black screen, but it will be in 640x480, horribly off center, oh, and GREEN.
7: When I hit the hotkey I bound the setting to it will revert to the specified resolution and I have to use PowerStrip to lock the refresh rate at 85Hz.

I'm getting a new hard drive this weekened and totally redoing windows. My question is: How do I transfer the hotkeyed display profile I've worked to hard to fix to this new hard drive. Is it possible? Or do I have to go through that whole process again?
Believe me, if I could have gotten a new video card by now, I would have. And I'm saving up right now.

 

[ecar016]

It may not be the fact that you have an old video care but more the fact that your monitor is old and does not conform to plug and play.

What monitor is it and perhaps you need to install the correct INF for it.

EC


<font color=red> Quantum Computers! - very interesting </font color=red>

 

[pauldh]

Yeah, sounds to me you need to save for a monitor. The Radeon 8500le if working, is still a decent card. I have bought used 17" monitors from garage sales for as little as $20, and refurbs for $35 (market pro shows). If you can afford a new one better yet. But I agree sounds like the monitor isn't plug and play, or that the wrong drivers were loaded at one time.

I once sold a system to someone and I couldn't find Win XP drivers for their monitor, so i left it as a Plug and play. Well, they had a family member who came over and decided to load up drivers for that brand monitor instead of the exact monitor. Well, upon reboot... no image on screen once windows started to load. They said that the monitor went bad. But, The monitor was and still is fine, but the drivers were screwing it up.

Have you tried safe mode?

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9500 Pro, Santa Cruz, Antec 1000AMG, TruePower 430watt

 

[CowMan]

Well, that's the odd thing. I've had this monitor since the summer of '02 so I know it works fine with plug and play. My friends have tried their systems on it and not had any problems. I used to have a Voodoo3 2000 and never had a problem with the monitor then, nor did I have any problem with my 8500LE before the Catalyst drivers. It worked fine on the original drivers and still does but there's no way I'm using the pre-catalyst drivers with this thing. ATI has acknowledged that there's a problem with monitor compatability and the 8500 series, but like I said, they claim to have addressed and fixed the problem around Catalyst 2.3 or so. Of course when I actually wrote their customer service department all I got was a computerized response telling me what I already know and not helping at all.