Help!

SuSE Pro 9.0
Most recent YOU updates
Compaq MV940 monitor

I'm finally getting frustrated.

All was fine with the display a few months ago. Then "all-of-a-sudden" the display started showing horizontal lines across the entire screen. It is especially visible when using a light colored background. With a plain white background and NO open windows the display is fine. The moment a window is opened, whether small or maximized, horizontal lines appear inside the window and outside the window, where any colors are displayed (text, window borders, graphics, etc.).

I have tried the following:

Within yast and sax:
adjustments to monitor (compaq mv940 and generic vesa)
adjustments to resolution
adjustments to color depth
reverting to stock nv card setting
3d enabled and not enabled

changing to old nvidia drivers
testing several different monitors
changing and removing speakers near computer (magnetics?)
monitor proximity to computer tower
changing location of computer and monitor within house and within another house.

Your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

MTIA

Bernd

Fine lines or something rather more ugly?

Fine lines are often to do with using interlaced output, but then that won't change with the presence of open windows on the screen. You can try cleaning the graphics card - I've seen cases of strange colour and line scrambing when a card has conductive dirt on it (cigarette tar is a common one as some people smoke while using their computers)

Also check for loose or dry solder joints - these have caused similar symptoms in my expirience, they're often on the through-hole components, mainly the actual VGA connector so if you're handy with a soldering iron then it should be easy to fix. If it's on a small SMT component or one of the chips then you're screwed.

Larger uglier lines are probably something to do with X. Do 3D (OpenGL) apps have the same problem? Fullscreen?

Hope this helps!

this doesnt seem like a software problem try a different monitor

sometimes when monitors just die they go berserk when ever displaying to much white or to much dark

The lines are more like shaded areas that run horizontally to the edges of the screen. They aren't randomly placed on the screen, they have to do with what's on the screen. The darker or the more dense an item, the darker the shading across the screen (i.e. a dark colored solid bar within a window will produce shading darker than light colored text). The shading extends beyond the borders of a window to span the entire screen.

In testing a 3d game, the game itself does not produce any shading, yet scores, or instructions, etc. do react the same as any other 2d items.

I have tried several other monitors with the same results.

I have not yet tried the suggestion of cleaning off the graphics card, but will do so and post the results.

Thanks,

Bernd

if you didnt say that bit about the games and that that happens on other monitors id say it was a monitor problem but this might have somethihng to do with refresh rates

try adjusting them and see what happens or if you have them look at your monitor instructions booklet and see what the monitor is rated for in refresh rates for different resolutions

I did clean the contacts of the graphics card with clean cloth. No change.

I'm afraid to just go in and tweak the refresh rates directly in XF86Config file. It states that the file is auto generated from Sax and not to alter it.

Here is info from monitor manufacturer and also the pertinent sections from XF86Config.

The monitor itself states that it is 83.5k horiz. and 77Hz vert. which is within monitor max specs.

Any other ideas?

Bernard
Monitor Technical data:

Compatibility: PC only
Display type: Color, multifrequency
Display size: 19 inches
Diagonal viewable screen size: 18 inches
Tube type: Flat square, short length
Dot/pixel pitch: 0.26 millimeters
Glass surface: Antiglare
Input signals: Sync TTL, 75 ohms +/- 3 percent, digital audio port, line input jack
Input connector/cable: 15-pin mini D-sub
Maximum noninterlaced resolution: 1,600 x 1,200
Maximum refresh rate: 85 Hz
Horizontal frequency: 31.5 to 85 kHz
Vertical frequency: 50 to 120 Hz

From XF86Config:

Section "Monitor"
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "CheckDesktopGeometry"
HorizSync 28-85
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "MV940 COLOR MONITOR"
Option "DPMS"
VendorName "COMPAQ"
VertRefresh 50-120
UseModes "Modes[0]"
EndSection