Summary: Monitor Problems

From: Paul Emerson (paul@gta.com)
Date: Tue Aug 10 1993 - 11:52:29 CDT


Thanks to:

David.Joseph@UK.Sun.COM (David Joseph - Sun UK)
hbreeder@nl.oracle.com (Harald van Breederode)
twhitely@tr1072.to.ford.com (Ted Whitely)
pjc@denver.ssds.COM (Pat Cain (Denver))
djh@hobbes.rational.com (Doris Harrington)
myk@artel.com (Mike Steadman)
met@adaptec (Met Cirit X2242)
macelis@neb.com (Dana Macelis-Roberts Lab)
glenn@uniq.com.au (Glenn Satchell - Uniq Professional Services)

Orignal Question:
>
>
> Hi all. I'm sure someone has seen this problem before.
>
> I am having some problems with my CG3/16" Color monitor
> combination. A few weeks ago I after I return from a business
> trip I turned on my monitor and found that the screen was
> oscillatinglate horizontally (it seemed every scanline
> independently). It got so bad that I had to exit OW, (which was a
> task in itself). I shut down the system and checked the cables,
> power connections, and the frame buffer. These actions had no
> effect. I gave up in disgust and turned off the monitor. I came
> back a few hours later and all was fine. Now about 3 weeks later
> the same thing is happening again, but this time things aren't
> getting better, (in fact it is worse).
>
> Is this the frame buffer (CG3)?

Problem/Solution:

1. Bad CG3 board due to the crystal
2. Bad monitor; heat related
3. Possible bad system board

My conclusions:

1. It's not a heat related monitor problem, because the monitor was off for
   a week and when switched on the problem was apparent.

2. Could be crystal on CG3, but searching SunSolve references CG6 crystal
   problems, but not CG3. It could be the same problem but the serial numbers
   and crystal ids are not listed for CG3.

3. Could be heat problem inside IPC. Hey its Florida in the summer and perhaps
   too much equipment running in my office.

4. It's gone away again. And I have deadlines to meet, next time it happens
   I will try a card swap.

Summaries:

Sounds like a bad crystal on the cgthree.......

--
I think the framebuffer is the problem. The first generation(s) CG3
framebuffer had some trouble with unstable crystals, which causes
unstable video.
--
I have had this problem before and I had the same exact configuration.  I had the motherboard and the frame buffer replaced
and the problems went away.  I would try have the frame buffer replaced first to see if the problems go away.  If
the problem persists, then try a new motherboard with the framebuffer.  You can also see if the memory is seated
properly.  If not, that can pose a problem also.
--

it's the monitor. when a certain component gets too hot, it loses its ability to do its job. we have a similar experience with several of our older monitors. your choices are to repair it, or turn it off when not needed. --

A similar thing happened at my site. In our case it was the frame buffer. If you have a spare monitor and/or frame buffer, try swapping the parts. But I'd bet on the frame buffer.

------- We have an IPC here that experienced the same problem. Solution: replace the frame buffer. Apparently it is a problem with a particular hardware rev of the CG3 card.

You could try swapping monitors to make sure, but every time I've seen those symptoms, it turned out to be the frame buffer card. --- You need to replace your CG3 card. I had the same problem, I got both the monitor and the card replaced. -- One time when we had oscillating horizontal lines, it was solved by moving our disk boxes and their cables so they don't touch the monitor or its cables.

On another machine however, the oscillations came first, then the white started to come in as purple on the monitor! Eventually this led to ordering a new 13W3 cable for the monitor. ------ Sounds like a monitor problem to me, suggest that you get it repaired or replaced. It could be a heat senditive fault, maybe try blowing hot air into the monitor and see if the fault develops. Tha fact that it worked ok after you switched it off (thus allowing it to cool down) suggests this is the problem.

Thanks,

Paul -- Paul Emerson | Global Technology Associates, Inc. Email: paul@gta.com | 7198 Harbor Heights Circle CIS: 72355,171 | Orlando, FL 32835 AOL: PAULE56 | Tel 407-296-3636 FAX 407-295-1954



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