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JimB 2003-06-17 14:16
I have a PIII 933MHz w/512MB RAM and an ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP graphics card w/2-17" monitors attached (one via the ATI-supplied DVI-to-VGA dongle). The O/S is WinXP Pro SP1 and the video drivers are the latest from ATI; Catalyst v03.4 (6.14.10.6343, package: 7.88-030430m-008946C). I do NOT have Hydravision, Ultramon, PowerStrip or other software like that installed. The monitor attached to the VGA-out is the Primary and the DVI-to-VGA has the Secondary. To enable multiple monitors I just used the standard windows software/setup: "Use this device as the primary monitor" and "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor". The ATI software is also configured the same way. The primary monitor also has the taskbar.
This setup has worked fine, no problems of any kind until I decided to move my taskbar to the second monitor. The taskbar moved & works fine on the second monitor until I reboot. After rebooting, the second monitor is now the primary and vice versa. Both the settings tab of the Display properties and the ATI control panel Displays tab show the primary and secondary monitors being swapped. To get back to my primary monitor being the primary monitor, I have to go into ATI's software, displays tab and change the monitor numbers there. I cannot change the "Use this device as the primary monitor" checkbox as it is greyed-out. Then it's the way I want.
Why are the monitors swapping when I move the taskbar? That's the only change I made to my system. I haven't installed or uninstalled anything. If that's a "Windows Thing" (I can't find ANYWHERE that confirms that) would either Hydravision or Ultramon (or combination) solve the problem? I don't want to have to adjust display properties everytime I start the system (and I shouldn't have to either!).
Any help/assistance/advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Take care!
Jim
"Guam: Where America's Day Begins!"
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fargis 2003-06-19 00:32
Jim, i can safely say that is not a "Windows thing", at least, not in my experience anyway (just tried it now to confirm). Although i have to say, i have absolutely no experience with ATI video cards. So it could be possible it's an ATI-driver-related issue? Not sure.
Ultramon allows you to easily set which monitor is primary. Can't remember where the option is within Ultramon exactly, but it is definitely there; i'm sure you'll have no trouble finding it.
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JimB 2003-06-26 11:17
Thanks for the reply!
I don't think it's in the driver, since the ATI driver has the same capability as Ultramon to set a primary monitor. Even with both windows and ATI setting the monitor to primary it'll switch on reboot if I move the taskbar.
I'd try Ultramon but I'm concerned about a conflict or problems with 3 pieces of software trying to control the same thing (windows, ATI, Ultramon). Does Ultramon conflict or work well with the latest ATI drivers?
Thanks again!
Take care!
Jim
"Guam: Where America's Day Begins!"
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