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5987
August 10th, 2004 16:00
Yet another 2001FP DVI message (please help)
I have a small business client with about 15 users. One has a 2001FP monitor that keeps having problems with the DVI/EDID/Power Save problem. It's a Dimension with the nVidia card (I'd have to check the exact model) and the 2001FP is hooked to the DVI port.
Right after the initial install several months ago, the monitor had the stuck-in-power-save problem. We had installed the latest video drivers and the EDID recover floppy-disk fix, and everything seemed to be fine. A couple weeks ago, the monitor went blank (into power save mode) again, and the EDID floppy recovery fix worked, but the 2001FP kept going blank and into power save mode again a few minutes later. This happened most of the day until the client finally replaced the 2001FP with the smaller 15" Dell LCD monitor, also hooked through the DVI port, and it worked file for a while until it, too, had the problem. The EDID recovery fix seems to work longer on the 15", though.
Is there any permanent fix for this problem, or is the only solution to keep booting the EDID floppy when it happens? This is very disruptive for a business user to have to constantly reboot to fix a monitor stuck in power save mode, and it's making me very reluctant to ever recommend Dell hardware again in the future.
I find it hard to believe Dell would make and sell PCs, video cards, drivers, and monitors, all from the same store, that do not work and require constant troubleshooting and reboots just to make it through the day. We could probably hook the monitor to the VGA port, but not using the DVI port on a nice LCD monitor defeats one of the selling points of buying it in the first place. What good is the DVI port if you cannot use it?
Has the problem ever been 100% identified, and if so, what's the PERMANENT fix?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
ortleeb
575 Posts
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August 10th, 2004 17:00
Hello,
Dell's fix is here http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_monitor&message.id=33721 There's one for nVidia cards and one for ATi cards. The fix works most of the time. I have an ATi card and had the same problem with my 2001FP...I used the ATi fix and it cured it. In response to the rest of your post, this problem also occurs with other brand LCD's. There are threads in the ATi fanboy forum and probably in the nVidia fanboy forum about this issue. I don't believe that anyone has figured out exactly why it happens although I have a theory.
Best regards,
Tom
ortleeb
575 Posts
0
August 10th, 2004 19:00
There is no100% solution as the severity of the problem seems to vary from monitor to monitor, at least with ATi cards. In the research I've done, the problem seems to be more prevalent in "high-performance" panels...high res, low repsonse times. ViewSonic, Samsung, etc., all use the same 20.1" panel that Dell does and they experience the same problem. You hear more about it with the 2001FP simply b/c Dell sells more of them. I've had two 2001FP's - With the first, I had a severe "power save" issue which nothing would fix (e.g., Dell's fix, changing video drivers, etc.) and I returned the monitor. With the replacement, the problem was much less severe and the Dell fix cured it. Updating your client's video drivers and re-employing the Dell fix may do the trick for you.
Best of luck,
Tom
csorrows
2 Posts
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August 10th, 2004 19:00
Thanks for the reply, ortleeb - I remember seeing that same thread you posted a while ago, and was re-reading it again.
I distinctly remember us upgrading to the then-latest nVidia drivers and creating a DVI recover floppy, although the floppy I used was some other forum members' version off his own web site. I never got anything "official" from Dell. His floppy seemed to work okay, but of course now the problem has resurfaced and wasn't 100% fixed by that solution.
The nVidia drivers in Dell's original post in that thread point to version 56.72, but nVidia is now up to 61.77. I assume it's okay to load the latest 61.77 drivers, and not try to keep the older ones?
My gut feeling is that even if we upgrade to the latest nVidia drivers (again) and do the DVI recover (again) the problem is still going to happen later. Would it be worth it to beat Dell tech support over the head and try to get (or buy) a Rev 02 graphics card, or maybe even go out and buy an ATI card for that system, since it seems the ATI fix is a very simple checkbox option in their setup utility?
I'm just trying to come up with a solution for this client that does NOT involve having to hook the 2001FP to a VGA port (losing the capabilities of the DVI port) or endless DVI recover reboots.
Thanks for the help!