G400 Max + RR (sound but no picture!)

[Stephen]

I have just upgraded from my G200 to a G400 Max card. Using the G200 with my RR was fine however now with the G400 I have one major problem.

1. When I load up PC-VCR and try to use the TV tuner all I get is sound! The picture is sometimes green but usually black. this occurs on other programs like Ulead and Premiere

Things I done,

1. Tried all the different versions of drivers.
2. Tried altering the screen resolution.
3. Tried Uninstalling and reinstalling!
4. Tried moving the RR to different PCI solts
5. The [quick connect] program loads and shows the black TV window.
6. The display properties display the following :

[duel head (built in)]
[matrox rainbow runner G-series]
[MJPEG encoder/decoder (add-on]
[TV tuner (add-on)]


to cut it short I have spent ages tring to get this RR to work properly!

My current system specs:

P3 500
128Mb ram
Abit BE6 v2
Aopen Full Tower (300W) case

Hope someone can help

***[Happy New Year to you all!]***

[nigelrowlan]

ummh

i've spent 4 days trying to get an RRG working with anything. After 3 operating systems, 2 m/boards, dozens of drivers and combinations I changed the m/board again and it worked first time under win95. So i'm stuck with this new P3-500.

under NT i just get a nice dark green screen, if I take the G400 out and put the G200 back in it works using 4.22 drivers and VT 1.23. I've given up, maybe try again when I can get win2k, but I don't expect it to work then either.

Interesting to do a search on this site for the word "green". I've been an engineer all my adult life, and in my opinion this hardware is unreliable and VERY buggy.

[Stephen]

FYI,

The Matrox technical support told me that the problem is a corrupt bios within the G400. So I've sent it back and hope to receive a new one in the next few days.

[Boul]

Ah, the classic abit -Aopen power supply problem.

You do have an Aopen power supply, yes? If so, that may very well be your problem. Consensus here is you need at least 0.5A at
-5V to get a RR-G working well with an abit board.(0.5A at -12V might also be good.) Chances are your Aopen PS is supplying only 0.3A at -5V. Mine is. If you can try to swap your PS for a unit with the correct amperage (I found el cheapo PS with the correct specs, and they seem to work fine...)

Odds are changing the card will do nothing...

I know, it sucks.

BTW I have contacted Aopen to know why they produce substandard power supplies and to ask them if there is a way to tweak their 300W PS (yeah, I know, fat chance...)

Keep you posted

[Stephen]

FYI

I have received my replacement G400 and guess what, I beat the odds, IT WORKS!

I now have a clear picture aswell as sound within the PC-VCR app.