No fishies

[murc777]

Originally posted by Kruzin
No, I run the reef demo with my desktop at 32bit all the time.
You just need to be sure the refresh rate set in the demo matches the refresh rate at that same res/color depth in powerdesk.

Kruzin,

I meant the IG3 demo. You must sitch to 16 bit color for running this demo. The fish demo runs also with 32 bit with no problems here.

[AlexK]

I've managed to (sort of) recreate the problem. I uninstalled the CD drivers, and installed the downloaded ones (228?).

I then immediately ran the reef demo and it ran.

However, I then tried selecting the options that I had done before in Powerdesk (eg, set up my TV for DVDMax, activate gigacolor etc), then tried to run the fishies again and got the error message.

Kruzin, When I first tried to run the reef demo, I had Display Settings at 1024x768x32x85, and tried the reef demo in the same. I suppose the problem may have something to do with the fact that Windows is reluctant to run at 85hz at 1024. The monitor is perfectly capable of it, but sometimes it doesn't appear in the display properties as an available option. Similarly, I had a phase on Saturday when it wouldnt allow me to select 1024x768x32 in any refresh rate (and it didn't appear as an available option in "list modes").

[Ryu Connor]

I get the impression that your install of 2000 has some duplicate hardware profiles of monitors. It almost sounds as if you are going from the proper monitor profile (e.g. Plug and Play Monitor) to default monitor.

I've seen this work from time to time so I'd give it a shot.

Go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Hardware -> Uninstall or Unplug -> Uninstall -> Check mark show hidden devices.

Clear out all the monitor profiles and then reset.

Side note: If you see duplicates of other hardware in the list remove them (e.g. your CD-ROM twice). Also there is always one "? Unknown Device" in that Add/Remove Hardware list. Do not remove it. You will not like what it does. If you have more than one "? Unknown Device" it's best not to touch any of them.

The Add/Remove Hardware panel is not the most well thought out tool. Leave Control Panel open as you will have to enter the Add/Remove Hardware panel after the removal of every device and you may only remove one device at a time.

The tool does its job well, though whoever designed how the interface operates should be slapped.

Once you are back into Windows after having removed all the monitor profiles you should find that display properties correctly indentifies your monitors (e.g. Plug and Play monitors). Make sure your monitors are configured as you desire them in Powerdesk and then try the demo again.

Also make sure that your monitors are turned on before you boot into Windows 2000. If you wait to turn on your monitor until after Windows 2000 has made it to the logon screen (or straight to the desktop if you have auto logon enabled) then Windows will install the default monitor profile in place of your correct monitor profile.

This is of course just a hunch and may not be related to the correct issue. There are a number of other possible items that could create your difficulty.

[AlexK]

Cheers Ryu, I'll try that tonight.

[SteveC]

Originally posted by AlexK
I've managed to (sort of) recreate the problem. I uninstalled the CD drivers, and installed the downloaded ones (228?).

I then immediately ran the reef demo and it ran.

However, I then tried selecting the options that I had done before in Powerdesk (eg, set up my TV for DVDMax, activate gigacolor etc), then tried to run the fishies again and got the error message.

Kruzin, When I first tried to run the reef demo, I had Display Settings at 1024x768x32x85, and tried the reef demo in the same. I suppose the problem may have something to do with the fact that Windows is reluctant to run at 85hz at 1024. The monitor is perfectly capable of it, but sometimes it doesn't appear in the display properties as an available option. Similarly, I had a phase on Saturday when it wouldnt allow me to select 1024x768x32 in any refresh rate (and it didn't appear as an available option in "list modes").

Alex - ignore the Windows refresh rate panel, from now on, ONLY use Powerdesk's refresh rate options. You shouldn't have a problem then.