|
Post Reply
Alex 2006-02-28 02:58
My system:
Pentium 4 2.4GHz,1meg Ram, Gigabyte P4 Titan mother bd(GA-SINXP1394 with SIS655 Chipset)
Video cards:
Apollo Blade Monster Xabre 400 AGP video card (5.13.1.3070 driver)
All-In-Wonder 128 PCI video card (5.13.1.3279 driver and MMC 7.2 for TV)
S3 Trio64V2/DX PCI
Matrox Millenium G450 dual-head AGP.
I have the bios set so the PCI boots first. The AIW TV function will not work if it is not the primary display/video card. If you have multiple PCI video cards it has to be the first one or the one closest to the AGP slot.
With Windows XP Pro I was unable to get the TV tuner to work with the second video card being the Xabre 400 AGP enabled.. With the Xabre enabled Both monitors would work but the ATI Multimedia Center (MMC) TV program the picture was black. The audio for the TV channels was there but there was no video. If shut down the TV program, disabled the second monitor, and restart the TV program the TV function work fine. As soon as you enable the second display the TV goes black.
I removed Windows XP and installed Windows 2000. With both displays enabled (AIW and Xabre) both monitors work fine and the TV function also works.
I installed a S3 Trio64V2/DX PCI video card. I get and error code 10 on that card and the TV function doesn’t work at all. If I swap the positions of the All-In-Wonder with the S3, all 3 monitors work both the TV is black but you can hear the audio.
I removed both the Xabre 400 AGP and the S3 Trio PCI and installed a Matrox G450 dual-head AGP. With Windows 2000 and Windows XP the AIW is display #1 and the Matrox is display #2 and #3. When the Matrox display #2 is enabled both monitors work and the TV functionality works. With the Matrox display #2 and #3 the TV is black but you can hear the audio. However, If you disable the Matrox #3 monitor and start the TV program befor you enable the #3 monitor the TV will work. It is however unstable. You can not switch the TV between the explorer toolbar window and the regular TV window from your desk top. You will lose the TV picture altogether but you will still hear the audio with no way to close it out.
My conclusion is:
1. AIW must to be primary for TV functionality to work. (card will work as secondary but without TV)
2. Not all Video cards will work as secondary cards. (S3 Trio for example)
3. Matrox works as secondary in both Windows 2K and XP
4. Xabre works as secondary in only Windows 2K
5. I had to remove my best card (Xabre 400 128MB) and install the Matrox G450 That I payed total price of $16.98 on ebay in order to get 3 monitors and TV to work using the AIW.
6. ATI support sucks and is no help what so ever. I will never buy an All-In-Wonder card again.
|
ECarlson 2006-03-01 10:32
Thanks for the info. I always recommend that people buy a separate TV card instead of an AIW, especially if they want to run multiple video cards.
- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
|
Deam 2006-03-01 12:11
This is because MMC sucks for multi monitor use. IN fact, if you get the new MMC, at least from my experience, it will not even let you drag the TV window outside of the main monitor. (Better than it crashing yoru computer as the old versions did).
|
Post Reply
|
