Display native resolution on new lcd

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Good morning,

I am trying to install a new Acer X203H LCD monitor on my Dell SX280 Desktop and have it display its native resolution of 1600x900 @ 60hz. So far I have only been able to utilize Static Display Modes (currently 1280x1024) Can someone please break it down for me "Kindergarten Style" because I am really losing faith in the term PnP. I have included the following info below:

1. My System Info

2. The troubleshooting steps I have tried and the results

3. Any system diagnostic reports I could find

A) Monitor Query from MonInfo

B) Display Adapter Diagnostic from PowerStrip

4) Links to relevant support articles on the Web

5) A list of possible trouble spots.

Sorry for the information overload but there are few things more annoying than a post that says "Help, Please" and "I am trying to connect my monitor" 🙂

1) System Info

Dell SX280 SFF

Windows XP Pro

Integrated Graphics Chipset: 82915G/GV/910GL Express

Current Graphics Chip Driver: v.6.14.10.4543

Monitor: Acer X203H

Monitor Driver: Acer 1.0.0.0

Display Driver: ialmrnt5.dll, v.6.14.10.4543

PC-Monitor Connection: DVI-I (PC) to DVI-D (Cable) to DVI-I (Monitor)

2) Troubleshooting steps (and results) so far:

1. Attempted to install updated display adapter drivers from Intel (Denied, said use Dell's instead)

2. Installed updated display adapters from Dell (No change)

3. Installed Acer Driver v 1.0.0.0 for LCD (No change)

4. Installed Entech's PowerStrip and attempted to select res from Predefined list (After sys restart, res is never available)

5. Used Entech's PowerStrip to "Write Custom Monitor File" (Updating driver with file has no effect)

6. Used Entech's PowerStrip to force "Read Data Directly From Monitor" (DDC Communication Failed Error)

7. Installed MonInfo to ensure EDID was being returned

8. Power down and re-connect monitor (No change)

9. Contact MS support (Referred to Intel after standard TroubleShooting measures. Very helpful)

10. Contact Intel Support (Referred to email only support, will be emailing this doc to them)

11. Contact Dell Support (Told monitor may not be compatible with PC)

12. Contact Acer Support (Currently working through email to perform standard troubleshooting)

3) Diagnostic Reports:

A) Monitor Query from MonInfo

B) Adapter Diagnostic from PowerStrip

A) Monitor Query from MonInfo

Monitor

Model name............... X203H Manufacturer............. Acer Plug and Play ID......... ACR0073 Serial number............ LEV0C0074010 Manufacture date......... 2009, ISO week 16 ------------------------- EDID revision............ 1.3 Input signal type........ Digital Color bit depth.......... Undefined Display type............. RGB color Screen size.............. 440 x 250 mm (19.9 in) Power management......... Standby, Suspend, Active off/sleep Extension blocs.......... None ------------------------- DDC/CI................... Supported MCCS revison............. 2.0 Display technology....... TFT Controller............... Mstar Firmware revision........ 1.0 Firmware flags........... 0x78 Active power on time..... Not supported Current frequency........ 64.10kHz, 60.10Hz

Color characteristics

Default color space...... Non-sRGB Display gamma............ 2.20 Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.640 - Ry 0.329 Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.300 - Gy 0.600 Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.150 - By 0.060 White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329 Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics

Horizontal scan range.... 31-80kHz Vertical scan range...... 55-75Hz Video bandwidth.......... 120MHz CVT standard............. Not supported GTF standard............. Not supported Additional descriptors... None Preferred timing......... Yes Native/preferred timing.. 1600x900p at 60Hz (16:9)  Modeline............... "1600x900" 118.250 1600 1688 1856 2112 900 903 908 934 -hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported

720 x 400p at 70Hz - IBM VGA 640 x 480p at 60Hz - IBM VGA 640 x 480p at 67Hz - Apple Mac II 640 x 480p at 72Hz - VESA 640 x 480p at 75Hz - VESA 800 x 600p at 56Hz - VESA 800 x 600p at 60Hz - VESA 800 x 600p at 72Hz - VESA 800 x 600p at 75Hz - VESA 832 x 624p at 75Hz - Apple Mac II 1024 x 768p at 60Hz - VESA 1024 x 768p at 70Hz - VESA 1024 x 768p at 75Hz - VESA 1280 x 1024p at 75Hz - VESA 1152 x 870p at 75Hz - Apple Mac II 1152 x 864p at 75Hz - VESA STD 1280 x 960p at...

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Hi,

To be honest i'm no expert. But have you reinstalled the OS? i say this because of what you said at the end about the Device manager. I would think it is def worth installing teh OS again. If you do, make sure u install the drivers in this order = Chipset>audio>video>lan>everything else.

When you installe dthe new screen did you uninstall any drivers there were for the previous screen?

I had a quick look at the dattasheets and wqhat not, i couldn't see any obvious reason for them not to work....

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Update

After reading through this post on http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/user-community-for-visual-computing/topic/56423/ Custom Resolutions for Intel Graphics I downloaded and ran DTDCalculator from Clever Technologies. I used the Modeline field from MonInfo Query to fill in the fields on the DTD Calc and recieved the following DTD:

31,2E,40,00,62,84,22,30,58,A8,35,00,BB,F9,10,00,00,1C (Commas added later)

I downloaded the latest driver from Intel's SIte which is

Driver Revision: PV 14.25.50

* Package: 31983** Graphics: 6.14.10.4764* HDMI Audio: 5.10.0.1026

I located the igxp32.inf file and made the following changes:

1. I set the TotalDTDCount flag from "0" to "5" ( I chose 5 because there were already DTD_1 through DTD_4 already filled in and DTD_5 seemed blank, like a placeholder)

2. In the DTD_5 field (which was all '00' values) I eneterd the DTD that I got from running DTDCalc plus added commas and 37, 01

When I was done the line looked like this:

HKR,, DTD_5,%REG_BINARY%, 31,2E,40,00,62,84,22,30,58,A8,35,00,BB,F9,10,00,00,1C,37,01 ;1900x600@60....Non-interlaced

3. Saved the file

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Update and a question

So here's where I am,

I need to know how to force a driver "Self-Extractor Program" to use a specific .INF File. I have two "Driver Installers" for the current Intel Drivers. One is from Intel's site and is .Zip and the other is from Dell's and is a Self-extractor. Since Dell's is "wrapped" inside an installer program, I cannot get to the .INF file to edit it. Intel's file is Zipped, and I was able to locate the .INF file and edit it.

When I try to install Intel's version of the driver it complains that it is not designed for the system and that I need to use the specific driver provided by the manufacturer (Dell).

If I could get the Dell installer to point at my edited .INF file instead of it's own, I think I might be a little closer to a resolution. Then again I might be more screwed than ever before!

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Some minor progress but some troubles also , I used the Device Manager to manually update the driver for the display adapter and pointed it right at the igxp32.INF file. The good news is I now have many more resolutions options displayed in the Display Properties slider bar. The bad news is none of them are 1600x900 and none of them seem to work. Additionally, on sys restart there seems to be some important things missing. I am getting warning messages regarding unsigned software and missing files. I am probably going to do a system recovery and rollback these changes.