SGI1600SW/multilink just not working right
Benjamin Goldsteen
work. I originally had it (well three) connected to a Dell OptiPlex
GX300 with a RIVA TNT2-based card. This card is supposed to be able to
do 1600x1024 but whenver I put it in that mode, the screen narrowed (to
what one would expect from 1280x1024 --1280x960 works isn't crisp).
That was with nVIDIA's 6.31 drivers. I also tried SGI's drivers and
nVIDIA's more recent 6.50 drivers. The latter freezes the machine
whenever I change into 1600x1024 mode.
The basic response from SGI is that the Dell card isn't supported and
they directed me to an ELSA card that is no longer shipping. I noticed
that SGI's drivers specifically mention the GeForce2 GTS and so I bought
an ELSA card based on that chip. Same problem. This setup works no
better than the TNT2 card that came with the Dell (although I supposed
it is faster...)
We're also having trouble making the multilink work with a PowerMac G4
with an ATI Rage Pro running MacOS 9.04. This wasn't mentioned as a
supported solution, but I would think it would work. The native
resolution on Apple's 22" CinimaDisplay is 1600x1024. However, whenver
we try the 1600SW/multilink combo on the Mac, the only offered
resolutions are 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. Using a 3rd-party
utility, we are able to get the Mac to offer 1280x960 and 1280x1024 but
still not 1600x1024.
The reports from a 3rd-party utility that probes the monitor are
unusual:
Standard Timings: 640x480@60Hz, 800x600@60Hz, 1024x768@60Hz
Additional Timings: 640x480@60Hz, 800x600@60Hz, 1024x768@60Hz,
1280x960@60Hz, 1280x1024@60Hz
Detailed Timing:
Pixel Clock...108mhz
H.Active......1600 pixels
H.blanking....104 pixels
V.Active.....1024 pixels
V.Blanking....32 pixels
....
We just bought four of these 1600SW/multilink combos and we would like
to make them work.
Michael Buss
Benjamin Goldsteen <Benjamin....@physbio.mssm.edu> wrote:
> We're also having trouble making the multilink work with a PowerMac G4
> with an ATI Rage Pro running MacOS 9.04. This wasn't mentioned as a
> supported solution, but I would think it would work. The native
> resolution on Apple's 22" CinimaDisplay is 1600x1024. However, whenver
> we try the 1600SW/multilink combo on the Mac, the only offered
> resolutions are 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. Using a 3rd-party
> utility, we are able to get the Mac to offer 1280x960 and 1280x1024 but
> still not 1600x1024.
I have a G4 and had the exact same problem UNTIL I upgraded to 9.1.
Voila, everything worked perfectly. Best of luck.
Ben Drago
<3AA2B57E...@physbio.mssm.edu>:
I know I've posted this a dozen times before, but start at:
http://www.sgi.com/flatpanel/superwide_savvy.html
>I am having a lot of trouble making the SGI 1600SW/multilink combo
>work. I originally had it (well three) connected to a Dell OptiPlex
>GX300 with a RIVA TNT2-based card. This card is supposed to be able to
>do 1600x1024 but whenver I put it in that mode, the screen narrowed (to
>what one would expect from 1280x1024 --1280x960 works isn't crisp).
Other customers report that these cards work well with the right drivers
and BIOS updates:
SGI V3, VR3, VR7
GeForce256/Quadro
GeForce2 Ultra
Matrox G400
The GeForce2 GTS cards will NOT work over the DVI port. Refer to the page
above for explanations.
>That was with nVIDIA's 6.31 drivers. I also tried SGI's drivers and
>nVIDIA's more recent 6.50 drivers. The latter freezes the machine
>whenever I change into 1600x1024 mode.
This will not work with the 6.31 drivers. You need either the 5.36/5.38 or
the 6.49/6.50 drivers.
>The basic response from SGI is that the Dell card isn't supported and
>they directed me to an ELSA card that is no longer shipping. I noticed
>that SGI's drivers specifically mention the GeForce2 GTS and so I bought
>an ELSA card based on that chip. Same problem. This setup works no
>better than the TNT2 card that came with the Dell (although I supposed
>it is faster...)
This should work via the analog port with the right drivers and BIOS.
>We're also having trouble making the multilink work with a PowerMac G4
>with an ATI Rage Pro running MacOS 9.04.
The web page above says upgrade to MacOS 9.1.
Cheers,
Ben
Benjamin Goldsteen
> Benjamin....@physbio.mssm.edu (Benjamin Goldsteen) wrote in
> <3AA2B57E...@physbio.mssm.edu>:
>
> I know I've posted this a dozen times before, but start at:
>
> http://www.sgi.com/flatpanel/superwide_savvy.html
Thanks -- I looked at this some time ago and it didn't appear to be updated
regularly. I see now that I was mistaken.
However, I do find one thing confusing. The table on the opening page says
that Windows2000 support is "pending", but in the page for the ELSA card, the
"SuperWide Savvy" drivers say that Windows2000 is supported.
> Other customers report that these cards work well with the right drivers
> and BIOS updates:
>
> SGI V3, VR3, VR7
>
> GeForce256/Quadro
> GeForce2 Ultra
> Matrox G400
>
> The GeForce2 GTS cards will NOT work over the DVI port. Refer to the page
> above for explanations.
My card doesn't have the DVI port so I am just using the analog port. I
couldn't find the explanation on the web page above, though.
Unless I am mistaken, the SGI Vpro cards wouldn't be an option because they
are always bundled with an SGI system. In this case, we're upgrading existing
systems that are used mainly for 2D tasks. Perhaps I should have considered
the G400 since it is slightly less expensive than the GeForce2 GTS. I thought
the NV-based cards would work better since that is the company you partnered
with.
Assuming that I didn't want to spring for the GeForce2 Ultra, would you
recommend the ELSA Erazor X2 (GeForce256-based), the ELSA Gladiac GeForce2
GTS, or the Matrox G400 (is the G450 an option? The G400 no longer seems to be
available)? We're not doing high-end 3D with these systems so I can't justify
the $. I would prefer to go with an NV-based card simply to keep the number
of configurations down at our site.
I'll try installing a new BIOS on the Gladiac2 GTS that we have. I didn't
realize this was an issue.
Thanks!
Ben Drago
>> The GeForce2 GTS cards will NOT work over the DVI port. Refer to the
>> page above for explanations.
>
>My card doesn't have the DVI port so I am just using the analog port. I
>couldn't find the explanation on the web page above, though.
You have to click on the FAQ link of a card that has a DVI port, such as
the Hercules GeForce2 GTS:
http://www.sgi.com/flatpanel/superwide_hercules_faq.html
Q: How do I use my Hercules 3D Prophet II GTS card with the Silicon
Graphics MultiLink Adapter in digital mode?
A: Currently the 3D Prophet II GTS card is only partially functional in
digital mode. With the latest BIOS/drivers available from Hercules, you can
use Silicon Graphics MultiLink in digital mode to drive 640x480, 800x600,
and 1024x768 resolutions. SGI is working with Hercules to provide card-
specific SuperWide Savvy compliant software drivers. Check the SGI Website
for updates.
>Assuming that I didn't want to spring for the GeForce2 Ultra, would you
>recommend the ELSA Erazor X2 (GeForce256-based), the ELSA Gladiac
>GeForce2 GTS, or the Matrox G400 (is the G450 an option? The G400 no
>longer seems to be available)? We're not doing high-end 3D with these
>systems so I can't justify the $. I would prefer to go with an NV-based
>card simply to keep the number of configurations down at our site.
Of the cards above, I would go with the G400 w/ DVI daughter card, or the
Hercules 3D Prophet DDR-DVI (GeForce256 chipset), which you can order
direct from Hercules at:
http://shop.guillemot.com/cgi-bin/hercules.storefront/
Cheers,
Ben
Alexis Cousein
> Ben Drago wrote:
>
>
>> Benjamin....@physbio.mssm.edu (Benjamin Goldsteen) wrote in
>> <3AA2B57E...@physbio.mssm.edu>:
>>
>> I know I've posted this a dozen times before, but start at:
>>
>> http://www.sgi.com/flatpanel/superwide_savvy.html
>
>
> Thanks -- I looked at this some time ago and it didn't appear to be updated
> regularly. I see now that I was mistaken.
>
Not really - the drivers always tend to do more than what that page says
-- there *is* some lag. It isn't updated what *I*'d call regularly
(though the flatpanel group is trying to remedy that situation), but
more than what you expected, apparently ;).
--
Alexis Cousein Senior Systems Engineer
SGI Belgium and Luxemburg a...@brussels.sgi.com
Alexis Cousein
> This will not work with the 6.31 drivers. You need either the 5.36/5.38 or
> the 6.49/6.50 drivers.
>
6.50 also has broken 1600SW stuff (and NVidia knows it) -- you need more
recent drivers still (I've seen the problems disappear from IIRC 6.72 or
6.88).
Benjamin Goldsteen
> >>
> >> http://www.sgi.com/flatpanel/superwide_savvy.html
> >
> >
> > Thanks -- I looked at this some time ago and it didn't appear to be updated
> > regularly. I see now that I was mistaken.
> >
>
> Not really - the drivers always tend to do more than what that page says
> -- there *is* some lag. It isn't updated what *I*'d call regularly
> (though the flatpanel group is trying to remedy that situation), but
> more than what you expected, apparently ;).
In this case, the web page seems to say that what I want to do won't work
yet, but the driver say it will. However, my experience has been that the
web page is correct about it not working.
I haven't tried installing SGI's BIOS for the video card, but I've heard
reports from others that it didn't work. I am going to try myself anyway,
but if this doesn't work I am going to be a bit disappointed. I bought
this card because it was specifically mentioned in SGI's drivers for
Windows2000.
Alexis Cousein
> In this case, the web page seems to say that what I want to do won't work
> yet, but the driver say it will. However, my experience has been that the
> web page is correct about it not working.
>
Not my experience -- but I have cards with digital outputs. For analog
outputs on NVidia boards, you *really* need a driver that's more recent
than the 6.50 driver in some cases I've seen -- perhaps
www.driverguide.com has it.