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Jim D. 2005-05-25 12:00
Hi,
I've got a Radeon 9250 PC card installed in my HP Evo P4 1.4. I've yanked out the AGP card, so the PCI card is the only video card in the box.
I've got version 6.14.10.6525 of the Catylst drivers, and the current version of Hydravision (3.25.?006, I think?).
Mostly, everything is fine. I'm running an expanded desktop of 2304 X 864 on 2 19" Sony monitors. Looks real pretty. :)
But . . .
Inside applications that span the desktop, things ain't quite so nice. I use a lot of Bible study software, which works great stretched across two monitors, with lots of windows open. But there are typically a lot of "mouseover" windows that pop up, too. And for these, if they're anywhere near the logical "center" of the desktop, they stretch across both monitors. Makes them really hard to read.
I've got individual application settings enabled in Hydravision, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Is the problem that, as far as W2K is concerned, I've got one huge monitor? On the Settings tab, the Display shows as "(Multiple Monitors) on RADEON 9250."
I've read some threads here that talk about the problems with dual-head video cards under windows 2000, but I'm not clear on what the workarounds are. Is there a way to get this card to run in true W2K multiple monitor mode?
Thanks,
Jim D.
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Tantalus 2005-05-25 13:02
>>I've read some threads here that talk about the problems with dual-head video cards under windows 2000, but I'm not clear on what the workarounds are. Is there a way to get this card to run in true W2K multiple monitor mode?
actually, the behavior you describe is the norm when running an expanded (single) desktop. the default behavior of windows will open popups and child windows at the center of the desktop which means it will span across both displays.
i haven't looked at ati's hydravision in quite some time but look to see if there is a setting that forces new windows to the same screen as the mouse. matrox's powerdesk and nvidia's nview support this feature...just a question as to whether ati has this feature.
personally, i dislike running an expanded desktop. imo, the way windows launches parent & child windows in spanned mode, makes it counter-intiutive to use in many cases.
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Jim D. 2005-05-25 14:27
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Yes, that's exactly the problem. But it's not something I'm choosing to do. Since Windows doesn't see both monitors individually, I don't have any choice if I want to leverage both monitors.
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Yes, Hydravision does in fact support this - the problem is, it doesn't work. At least, it doesn't work for these "mouseover" windows.
Am I mistaken in my understanding that finding a way for W2K to see both monitors and let it handle things will solve my problem?
Or, more relevant to this forum, will installing UltraMon get me any relief?
Thanks,
Jim D.
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Tantalus 2005-05-26 00:46
>>Yes, that's exactly the problem. But it's not something I'm choosing to do. Since Windows doesn't see both monitors individually, I don't have any choice if I want to leverage both monitors.
how exactly (what steps) did you install the drivers?
win2000 has a design peculiarity w/multi-display support which treats many multi-output video cards as a single, spanned desktop when you install the video driver. there is a very specific series of steps you need to follow if you want to run independent (separate) desktops on each display. if you don't follow these steps then you will find that the only display option is a spanned desktop and any independent desktop options are greyed out.
the matrox g-series were notorious for this persnicketiness and it sounds like your card is probably the same. note, w2k's display flaw was corrected in xp so you won't ever have this problem with xp. nonetheless, w2k still remains my preferred desktop OS.
ok...here are the general steps that need to be followed:
1. download the proper ati driver from ati or use your cd supplied w/the card (the former is preferred). unzip or unpack the files to a temp folder...DO NOT run setup.exe. the idea is you want to have the driver files ready but not to run the actual setup just yet.
2. uninstall your video card drivers via control panel or vendor supplied uninstall.
3. reboot the machine, windows will detect the card again. you must manually load the video driver by pointing it to the temp folder you created. after the install is over, reboot. make sure all your other displays are powered on.
4) adjust your display settings on #1 display to your desired resolution and color depth. DO NOT configure or activate any displays other than #1.
5) after #4 is completed, run the setup.exe in the temp folder. follow the prompts til completion. reboot and go into display properties and adjust your display settings for the additional displays.
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Tantalus 2005-05-26 00:52
oh...and no, ultramon won't help with the problem of the popup windows being centered.
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Jim D. 2005-05-29 03:55
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, no success on this end. I worked through your directions, and then when that didn't work, I tried some variations on the theme. :)
I know there's got to be a way to do this, short of upgrading to XP, but I haven't figured it out yet.
The closest I was able to get was by physically disconnecting the 2nd monitor, and then initially installing the driver the way you suggested. At least with that method, I got Windows to recognize that it was only connected to one monitor. But as soon as I reconnected the 2nd monitor and rebooted, the "Settings" tab switched over to "multiple monitors".
Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thanks,
Jim D.
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