parhelia not addressing two digital displays

[VJ]

Hello,

I have this annoying problem with my Parhelia. On the first output, I have a dvi display connected, on the second a projector using a dvi-hdmi dongle and hdmi cable. I'm running Windows Server2008 (fully updated, latest driver), and can't get the Matrox driver to address both displays.
The driver for Server2008 is an SE driver, so less functionality. Currently, it shows "single output"; when I set it to dual output, it states a reboot is necessary. After reboot, it still shows "single output"... If I swap monitors, I get an output on the projector (which tells me it is ok and the cable is ok).

By means of a test, I tried Windows 7 with the latest HF driver, and there it behaves the same. Once I got a partial success in that it addressed both displays, but the resolution was fixed at 800x600...
I've reinstalled Server 2008, to make sure there were no leftover driversettings, but it does not solve the problem. I also reseated the card but to no avail...

Any thoughts?

Jörg

[UtwigMU]

Just ditch Parhelia, it's a 7 years old card, and get somehting like Radeon HD3450 AGP with HDMI for 48 Euros. Also, why are you running 2k8 Server instead of plain Windows 7? Our developers like servers on their desktops but it's because of IIS limitations and because they develop for servers.

While at it, you can also ditch dual P4 Xeons and get some Core2Duo which will outperform them and consume less power.

Yes, I still have my Matrox collection (Millennium PCI is still in use in my 2003 SBS Server, the x16 slot is for RAID card) of cards and I sometimes ponder rebuilding them but it would be merely for hardware museum where my ZX Spectrum would also find place.

[VJ]

I had a brand new system, but it was damaged in transport. As a result, I have to make use of my old system in the mean time (I'm a bit reluctant to buy a new system here, as prices are more expensive). Consequently, I'm stuck with it. The dual Xeon was intended as a server, not as a desktop system, which is why it is running Server2008. I had Windows 7 on the damaged computer. I just want to get the most out of this computer.

So back to the Parhelia, I can address dvi+vgi, but dvi+dvi seems to exhibit some very weird behaviour (monitor not found => driver reverting back to single output). To be fair, I've never used dvi+dvi on this card before (always dvi+vga or dvi+vga+svideo), so I'm not sure it is a pure software problem. In Windows 7 I get the same behaviour. It stays with output B if I swap monitors...

[VJ]

No thoughts on the Parhelia issue?

Here is the rundown:
2 DVI monitors: Powerdesk SE has all multiple monitor modes greyed out...
1 DVI monitor (other connector empty): Powerdesk SE shows all options
1 DVI + 1 VGA: Powerdesk SE shows all dual monitor options
1 DVI + dual VGA cable: Powerdesk SE shows all options

So why would it fail with a DVI monitor on its second port ?
(I have never used DVI on that port in the past, so don't know if it worked before)

Jörg

[Fat Tone]

I would guess that the dvi->hdmi dongle is causing the problem, preventing detection of the projectors capabilities?. Can you prove this by attaching a pure dvi device?

How is the projector faring otherwise?

[VJ]

The dongle and projector work fine on the first DVI port, with windows listing all the supported modes. And when I then put my DVI monitor on the second port, the behaviour is similar... FWIW, the dongle is listed to have 24+1 pins (on the DVI side).

The project is great! During the brightest of the day its brightness (in eco mode) is too low to be comfortable, but the projector has some preset modes that make it much better to watch even in those conditions. The colours and black levels are worse then though, but because of the light it is not really noticable. In normal conditions, I put it in the mode "theater black 1", which optimizes colours and black levels for a darkened room; it however also has a mode "living room" which is then more useful. The amount of lens shift and zoom is amazing, you can see it in the manual, but when you see it for real it is just crazy. It is fairly quiet, although I'd guess it higher than the stated 22 db (but I have very sensitive hearing). It is quite big thoug, but I correctly anticipated its size. But don't expect one to "quickly take this projector to a different location". I can only see the full HD quality on still images, as my PC cannot handel full HD playback.

[VJ]

I'm beginning to suspect a bad connection on the Parhelia connector...

Yesterday, the projector (on that connector, with DVI-VGA dongle) gave out an errormessage that it was receiving an unsupported signal. It listed the signal is being over 400 Hz (horizontal). When I touched the dongle (pushed it up slightly), I got my image back (with a signal around 60 Hz).

So maybe pin-connections are broken...
If that is the case, there is not much to do but hope it doesn't get worse...

Jörg

[VJ]

I'm pretty sure it is hardware related... but I don't know what could have possible happend to the card to make it behave like this. Maybe it was like this from the start, as I never connected a DVI to the second port before. Stupid, I normally test all possible features of things I buy, to the point of it becoming ridiculous.

I'll swap the monitors (projector on first DVI port, monitor with VGA cable on second), and then set the monitor as primary display. It will put the startmenu on the monitor, but keep directX on the projector (media playback performance is better). Downside is that the whole boot up procedure is on the projector, luckily the logon screen is on the monitor.
I did notice that the VGA quality is not superb, so this makes me think even more it is a connector problem.

[VJ]

I'll swap the monitors (projector on first DVI port, monitor with VGA cable on second), and then set the monitor as primary display. It will put the startmenu on the monitor, but keep directX on the projector (media playback performance is better). Downside is that the whole boot up procedure is on the projector, luckily the logon screen is on the monitor.

Hmm... another downside is that not all software like this (they get confused about which is the primary and secondary monitor).

Maybe I should change videocards...
As far as I could find, an nVidia 8400GS or 9400GT should suffice, even on a PCI slot. This does open the door to using the card in a future system as physx card... I suspect mixing card is not a problem on a recent OS?

Then again, why bother on that system...


Jörg