Linux can't display video on my Princeton EO14 monitor

newbiesforever · 03-07-2007, 02:03 PM

Because the cable on my old CRT monitor broke, I had to use a different monitor, also CRT. Linux is unable to display video of any kind with it by the time it loads the KDE desktop--not MEPIS, my normal distro, and not Knoppix, which I also tried. I can see the monitor is not receiving anything from the CPU, because the light goes from green to orange. Does anyone have any advice?
The monitor is a Princeton model EO14, "ultra" VGA, built in May '96. Looking at the adapter information (in Windows, because I can't get into Linux) it says:
-Chip type: Trident Blade 3D/ProMedia
-DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
-Memory size: 8 MB
-Adapter string: Trident Video Accelerator
-BIOS information: 1.07 (DC)(01.00)

If any other information is needed, I can try to find it. And don't bother telling me to buy a better monitor; I would go back to Windows first, and I refuse to buy a new monitor when the current one isn't broken.

trashbird1240 · 03-08-2007, 09:48 AM

Can you clarify this for me? What do you mean by "by the time...?" Does the bootup framebuffer come up? Can you get anything to display from a LiveCD or anything? Is the monitor plugged in?

If you're using different distro LiveCDs, the problem may be with the monitor. Try PCLinuxOS, it has a broad range of hardware compatibility, as does Knoppix.

Joel

mepnoob2005 · 03-08-2007, 10:16 AM

What version of MEPIS are you talking about. The newer versions have a lot of options at the boot stage to pick from if you have video trouble. Maybe you should get a newer version or re-set your resolution to 800x600 by pressing the f3 key when you first boot the live cd.

newbiesforever · 03-08-2007, 10:46 PM

I believe mine is 3.4 or thereabouts. Certainly 3.x.

mepnoob2005 · 03-09-2007, 01:52 AM

Could be a good time to try the new 6.5 Rc1. It has some great options when you first boot. You may need to choose 'small' or one of the other options for display trouble.

If you do try 6.5 Rc1 then be sure to hit the f3 key before you decide which part of grub to boot to. Then you can set your screen resolution. If you wait til you are booted up then the text may be way too small. If you forget and have booted into the wrong resolution just reboot before you install. Hit the f3 key before you pick from the grub screen. Set the resolution. Hope this helps a bit.