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MBP 15" Rev A [DVI-DVI External Monitor Mystery]


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Hey everyone, nice to post to ye. I've been browsing through the forums a bit here, and it seems the place is packed to the gills with experts, I'm hoping that you might be able to shed some light on a problem I've been having with my antique MBP. Sorry to start off with a problem, but there it is!

 

I recently got a nice shiny 24" monitor for my laptop and plugged it in. Wow, what a 1920x1200 difference to the 15" screen! Got the thing set up and working nicely, unplugged everything and moved it upstairs. Tried plugging it in again and nothing - the monitor said 'no input signal' and the mac couldn't detect it. The mac would blue screen for a sec when the cable was plugged in, the monitor changed from 'disconnected' to 'no input signal' and that was it.

 

I didn't despair at first, booting into XP to let Windows try its luck. Again, nothing. So I installed the Catalyst drivers (there's a mobility x1600 in this machine) and modded them, and still, the monitor stared at me blankly.

 

I found my pre-upgrade hard drive and booted into 10.4 (I've been running 10.5 for the past couple of months) and the display mocked me once more.

 

All these attempts were interspersed with PRAM resets and a couple of PMU resets.

 

At this point I'd exhausted all my options. Tried every driver I could (reasonably) get a hold of and 4 different set-ups.

 

Tried the monitor with a PB G4 - exact same symptoms. Aha, I thought, it's the cable/monitor. Unfortunately it works perfectly with a G5 Tower, so the cable and monitor are fine.

 

 

In a desperate, and somewhat misguided bid I bought a DVI Detective (stores a monitor's EDID and transmits it constantly to the computer) which just joined the MBP and monitor in laughing at my (monetary) expense.

 

I've been on to Apple about this, had my call escalated, the best they could suggest was "er.. have you tried turning the airport off?" - beyond that they whistled nonchalantly and pretended to have never heard about this issue before.

 

I've done a bit of research on this, it seems Apple has 'underclocked' the x1600s in these laptops, I don't know if that could be affecting it. ATI/AMD also recognizes some problems with the Radeon series in recognising DVI-DVI connections but doesn't specify any cause, solution, or ETA for a fix. Other people have also had this problem and it is usually unresolved, or if it is fixed, a DVI Detective is the tool for the job.

 

 

 

So, in a very rambling manner, what I'd like to ask the combined experience of this forum, especially those who have struggled to get a osx86 machine with an x1600 working, do you have any idea what might be causing this?!? It's a mystery to me (the only thing I can think is a low DDC voltage but.. I don't know, that can't be right!).

 

Or if you are nodding your head sagely, do you have any idea how to fix it, or a viable (high-res, low cost!) workaround?

 

I'm gonna keep fighting Apple on this one, but I don't honestly see that going anywhere! Mainly I just want my DVI out to work as advertised. The monitor has a VGA input as well, and I'll be testing that tomorrow night, once I can get my DVI-VGA adaptor, although I'm not holding my breath. Oh yeah, I've been outputting to a TV (s-video) for years with no problem using the optional adaptor.

 

Thanks, and sorry for such a long first post!

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