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Win XP - Gateway FPD2485W vs. DELL Optiplex GX270 no max resolution
Dear Windows byteheads,
I am having obstinate problems trying to get Win XP SP3 on a Dell Optiplex
GX270 containing a Dell-provided Silicon Image 8x AGP card to put out the
maximum screen resolution (1920 x 1200) to a 24" Gateway FPD2485W. Win XP
identifies it as Plug and Play Monitor, but with a DVI-D cable the max
selectable resolution is 1600 x 1200 (which displays in a distorted
horizontally elongated manner) and with a VGA cable the max working
selectable resolution is 1680 x 1050. (With VGA cable, I see 1920 x 1200
available as well, but will only let me choose 75 Hz whereas my monitor
wants 60 Hz and can't support 75 Hz. Selecting 1920 x 1200 makes the
monitor blank out and pop up a warning about wrong frequency. If I check
the "hide unsupported modes" box then I don't see 1920 x 1200 at all.)
It is NOT a hardware limitation: I can boot to Linux Kubuntu Hardy Heron on
the same system, and with either DVI-D or VGA cable, Linux immediately
recognizes the screen as 1920 x 1200 at 60 Hz and it displays nicely.
I've installed the latest 82865G video drivers from Dell (Intel Extreme
Graphics 2). Intel has archived only an older version of these drivers,
which I've also tried. Neither version seems to alleviate the problem.
Gateway's web site has no video driver support for this monitor. (Gateway
does offer a display tuning application, which in vain attempts to set the
computer to optimal display resolution, i.e. 1920 x 1200 at 60 Hz.)
I've tried monkeying around with the contents of C:\WINDOWS\INF\monitor.inf
(after backing up the original) to put in higher resolutions for the Plug
and Play monitor, but I am not totally sure that I've got everything right
in the data field formats. Nor do I know how the Gateway monitor identifies
itself to Windows so I could try to create a dedicated monitor*.inf entry
for the Gateway. (Older Gateway monitors are present in one of the
monitor*.inf files.)
The BIOS is set to allow 8 MB preallocated to video memory. This according
to Intel should be enough to allow the OS to boot up as 1600 x 1200 at 60 Hz
at 32 bits without requesting more video memory. The BIOS does not offer me
anything higher than 8 MB. It is the latest BIOS update for this machine
available from Dell. The machine itself has 1.5 gigabytes of DDR memory
installed.
If I didn't have a dedicated Windows proprietary application that I had to
run there, I would say pshaw on Windows and go with Linux so I could use my
expensive screen. But I require Windows for my application, and the
application really wants AGP with DVI-D -- it says VGA will load down the
computer too much.
Any ideas how to get any further than this, O wise ones of the web? Thank
you very mucho in advance-o.
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