3dfx Archive - Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4

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Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4
18.06.06 at 06:25:23

Ok, here's my latest problem. I got a Windows 98se loaded onto a machine that had a Voodoo4 AGP in it. Windows "sees" the Monitors under Device Manager as a Gateway EV900 (it's actually a EV910 so close enough). The lastest 1.04 WHQL certified voodoo4 drivers, on the other hand, sees as the Display: (unknown monitor) on voodoo4 4500 AGP.

The problem: I only get 2 resolution selections in the Screan area of the Settings tab in the Display Properties. They are 640x480 (left-most side of slider) and 800x600 (right-most side of slider). 3dfx tools won't let me have any higher resolutions. It will give me 16-bit and 32-bit color. But no 1024x768 res or higher.

Adapter refresh rates are also locked between 2 choices: adapter default and optimal.

The color choices are good enough but the res and refresh is too low. Does anyone know how I can get 1024x768 @ 85Hz on a windows 98 se machine with a voodoo4 AGP and 1.04 3dfx drivers?

I should mention that the monitor will do at least 1280x1024 @ 120Hz and that I already tried uninstalling and reg-wiping/driver cleaning the 3dfx drivers as well as rebooting with various color depths (16, 256, 16-bit, 32-bit). Nothing I've done seems to work thus far.

Thanks for any wisdom, even if it's just advice to give-up.

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Blank Redge YaBB Newbies Offline Huh? Posts: 9	Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4 Reply #1 - 18.06.06 at 08:13:19 Something else: The [Monitor] tab does !!!NOT!!! exist in the Advanced window of the Display Properties. I think if it did it could help solve the problem but I don't know how to make that tab appear.
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Blank Redge YaBB Newbies Offline Huh? Posts: 9	Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4 Reply #2 - 18.06.06 at 08:34:55 How interesting, almost exact same symptom: http://www.sharkyforums.com/archive/index.php/t-63205.html Except: I have a P4 2.0 GHz with Intel 845G chipset (onboard VGA disabled), I'm using a V4, and I haven't tried replacing motherboards yet...
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elfuego Senior Member Offline Searching for V5 6k... Posts: 420 Aachen, Deutschland Gender:	Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4 Reply #3 - 18.06.06 at 11:23:22 You could try to force the "unknown monitor" to use the driver you have. Open System Manager, right click on the "unknown monitor" and then update driver. Select "manualy choose the driver" and then find your monitor. Or reinstall the driver for the card. Try some third party driver. 3dfxHQ or amigamerlin.
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FalconFly YaBB Administrator Offline 3dfx Archivist Posts: 2445 5335N 00745E Gender:	Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4 Reply #4 - 18.06.06 at 11:50:25 Yep, any Monitor Driver can be installed via the Device Manager (that's how I usually do it). After that is done (and there's no other malfunction in the OS preventing the chosen .inf to be accepted), it's working as advertised.
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Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4
Reply #5 - 18.06.06 at 12:15:06

Nope, tried that already (the forcing unknown monitor route). That's why windows 98 already has the EV900 monitor that I manually selected previously as the display but the 3dfx driver only "sees" an unknown monitor.

So windows has no problem "accepting" monitors. It's just that somehow that information is not getting to the 3dfx driver/card.

To verify I removed the 3dfx drivers, 3dfx tools, and finally the Voodoo4 AGP card and just enabled the 845 onboard video. On boot-up windows 98 "DETECTED" a plug and play monitor and assigned the plug and play driver, detected a new display adapter and asked for a video driver (I assigned it the Standard Display Adapter (VGA)), and then on the next re-start the [Monitor] tab was visible in the Display Properties-->Advanced window. I could change monitors in either Device Manager or Display Properties and the changes would track and follow each other.

So next I disabled the 845 onboard video, put in the voodoo4 AGP card and on boot-up assigned the V4 the Standard Display Adapter (VGA) driver and restarted. Again the [Monitor] tab disappeared. Monitor changes could be made in Device Manager but the change would not follow to the Display Properties. And since there is no [Monitor] tab in Display Properties, attempting changes there was impossible.

Not sure what this tells me other than Windows 98 can have a [Monitor] tab and that monitor assignments and changes can be made and work with the video driver and video hardware for the machine I'm working on. I just haven't been able to do this yet with this Voodoo4 card and latest 3dfx drivers on this machine.

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akula65

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Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4
Reply #6 - 18.06.06 at 13:54:39

You might want to consult Item 18 (I have an onboard video card and I'm having problems getting my Voodoo3 to take over as the primary video card) in the Voodoo5 FAQ on FalconFly's site:

http://www.falconfly.de/info/faq-v5500.html

Notice that the FAQ mistakenly refers to "Voodoo3", but the suggestions apply equally well to Voodoo3/4/5.

I once installed a Voodoo4 4500 into an HP desktop machine with an Intel i810 chipset and Windows ME. The only way I could get the Voodoo4 to work was to follow the suggestion to disable the onboard video device in the hardware profile (I disabled it in ALL profiles). The PCI/AGP BIOS setting suggestion may also be helpful.

As I recall, you were stuck with Default Monitor as the monitor driver when the Voodoo4 was in VGA Mode after initial installation. You then had to increase resolution or color bit value in order to trigger activation of the 3dfx drivers, and I can't remember whether the operating system forced you to reboot immediately to make the changes effective or if it happened the next time you rebooted. In any event, when that reboot happens, you should see Windows "discover" a new monitor during Hardware Detection. The Default Monitor driver was replaced with the Plug and Play Monitor driver, and only after this happened could you see the proper resolutions and color possibilities for the Voodoo4 and the correct refresh rates for the monitor.

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« Last Edit: 18.06.06 at 14:06:05 by akula65 »

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Re: Windows 98se (unknown monitor) on voodoo4
Reply #7 - 19.06.06 at 08:08:08

Solved!

To re-cap, these were my problems:

a) unable to change monitor type
b) unable to change refresh rate
c) only 640x480 and 800x600 resolution choices were available in display property settings using any 3dfx driver for the Voodoo4 (original or 3rd party)
d) no [Monitor] tab in the Display Properties --> [Settings] tab --> Advanced

This was my solution:

1) Remove Voodoo4 AGP card
2) Enter BIOS setup and enable Intel 845G onboard VGA display adapter
3) Reinstall Windows 98se
4) Run Intel INF driver installation for the 845G chipset (reboot as necessary)
5) Do NOT install Intel video adapter drivers
6) Change monitor type to Plug-and-Play monitor
7) Ensure display properties are set to 16 colors and 640x480 resolution
8) Ensure desired Voodoo4 drivers are unzipped in a folder and ready to install
9) Shut down Windows 98 and power-off system
10) Install Voodoo4 AGP card
11) Enter BIOS setup and disable Intel 845G onboard VGA
12) Boot into Windows and allow it to install the Intel 845 Processor to AGP controller (point to CABROOT folder if windows asks)
13) Do not assign driver to the new display (Voodoo4) when windows prompts (hit [CANCEL] button)
14) Run setup.exe of Voodoo4 driver package, reboot
15) Do not assign driver to the new display (Voodoo4) when windows prompts (hit [CANCEL] button)
16) Allow Voodoo4 driver package to finish installing , reboot
17) When windows prompts for location of Voodoo4 drivers assign it to driver folder, reboot
18) Verify "Plug-and-Play Monitor on Voodoo4 4500 AGP" shows in page of the [Settings] tab of the Display Properties
19) Verify [Monitor] tab exists in the Advanced properties
20) Change monitor type, color depth, resolution, and refresh rate as desired (up to 32-bit, 1600x1200, 100Hz for me! No more problems!!!)

What led me to re-installing Win98 was Fatty’s Oct 2000 post in the Sharky Forums where he states: "Win98se installation goes just fine until it's first "real" boot. It then locks hard one time and one time only." This was the exact same problem I also had during the initial Windows 98 installation using the Voodoo4 AGP card as the only display adapter. Since he also had the similar symptoms to my problem I felt windows might have had a serious hiccup during the install with that mysterious hard lock, and that a re-installation of windows without using the Voodoo4 card could help make things better if the drivers and hardware could be made to work in an orderly manner. It seems this process did achieve that. Thanks for all you help.

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