Is my IBM P72 17" monitor dying?
Ant
waiting for Red Hat Linux 7.2 to boot up. While I was napping, Linux
idled at the console screen for me to login. The monitor was supposed to
go to suspend mode and then sleep (after 90 minutes). When I came back,
the screen was still in text mode. I thought it was a glitch.
I logged in and startx'ed. I noticed everything was darker and blurrier
(I had hard time typing this post). I pressed the OSD menu button, but I
noticed many things wrong. It had Japanese fonts at the main menu and I
never did set Japanese fonts. I tried to control brightness and
contrast, but I got a key icon. I never did set the lock! I tried to
unlock, but that menu was messed up too. Also, it was in French (e.g.,
Non ... Oui ... Verrou Reglages), icons were misaligned, and box border
was broken. I was unable to move my highlight to unlock.
I tried to reset the monitor settings, but it failed. According to the
monitor manual, it doesn't reset the lock issue. I tried to hook up to
an old Compaq Armada 1585DMT laptop to see if it was a computer hardware
issue. I saw the same problems. I ran the monitor's internal diagnostic
program with the computer turned off. The colors and brightness were
correct.
I only had this monitor since January 1999. Isn't this too early for my
monitor to start failing? I never had issues with it. I love this
monitor, and I am upset that I am having problems now. Do I need to buy
a new monitor? I don't plan to get it fixed (already over my warranty I
believe) if it is indeed broken.
Thank you in advance.
--
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John Gill
the + button to increase contrast, the bar would get smaller and there
would be less contrast. Pressing the "-" button turned on Degauss. Most
functions were all messed up.
I finally replaced the EEPROM (an 8 pin IC) with one that I had
programmed with all binary zeros. After that, it worked OK.
I had to make some minor adjustments with the controls, but the
functions worked OK now.
Hope this helps...
John
DO NOT SPAM Me
Which EEPROM did you replace, i.e. on your Video card, Motherboard, or
Monitor? What did you really mean to program your EEPROM with all binary
zeros? Did you mean to erase it?
Ant
John, that sounds pretty crazy. Does that mean a fuse caused it? I guess
I need to replace my monitor. How old was your monitor? My last analog
monitor lasted like six years compared to this monitor's three years.
FYI: After turning the monitor off for 3.5 hours, the monitor is still
broken. I was hoping it would be working after cooling off. :(
--
"Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what
we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over
-- `conquered', if you will -- by a master race of giant space ants.
It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume
the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain,
there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one,
welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a
trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to...
toil in their underground sugar caves." --Kent Brockman in The Simpsons'
Deep Space Homer (1F13) episode.
Eric P. McCoy
Ant <phi...@earthlink.netANT> writes:
> I accidently fell asleep (took a nap) away from the computer while
> waiting for Red Hat Linux 7.2 to boot up. While I was napping, Linux
> idled at the console screen for me to login. The monitor was supposed
> to go to suspend mode and then sleep (after 90 minutes). When I came
> back, the screen was still in text mode. I thought it was a glitch.
> I logged in and startx'ed. I noticed everything was darker and
> blurrier (I had hard time typing this post). I pressed the OSD menu
> button, but I noticed many things wrong. It had Japanese fonts at the
> main menu and I never did set Japanese fonts. I tried to control
> brightness and contrast, but I got a key icon. I never did set the
> lock! I tried to unlock, but that menu was messed up too. Also, it was
> in French (e.g., Non ... Oui ... Verrou Reglages), icons were
> misaligned, and box border was broken. I was unable to move my
> highlight to unlock.
OK, some _slightly_ good news: I have a P72 6556 monitor as well, and
I too got this problem once. In my case, it just happened
spontaneously in a mode switch when I was starting to play a game. I
naturally play most FPS games with my gamma really high (>3.0) so I
can see even in total darkness, but after the mode switch, I could
barely see anything at all. This has happened twice.
The first time, I did basically what you did (panic). I wasn't able
to fix it for about 15 minutes. I eventually gave up, shutdown my
computer, and did something else for a few hours. When I came back,
the monitor was working fine again.
The second time, a little wiser, I immediately shut off the monitor,
unplugged it, and let it sit for a minute or two. When I plugged it
back in everything was back to normal (and it still had saved all the
correct settings).
The reason this is only slightly good is that I still don't know what
caused the problem. The two incidents for me happened about a month
apart, and nothing since the second (about 6 months ago). The only
thing I can think of is that I was running my monitor on an extension
cable at the time, which I eventually discarded because it caused
ghosting on the screen. Perhaps there was something wrong with the
cable?
Well, even if my monitor craps out today, it was still one of the best
buys of my life. It's lasted me for over 4 years in an industry where
1 or 2 is par for the course, and it has the same crystal-clear
picture quality now that it did the day I bought it.
I hope something in that rambling diatribe helps you. Feel free to
let me know via email if you find out anything conclusive.
--
Eric McCoy (reverse "ten.xoc@mpe", mail to "ctr2sprt" is filtered)
"Last I checked, it wasn't the power cord for the Clue Generator that
was sticking up your ass." - John Novak, rasfwrj
klync
I once purchased a used monitor, and coundn't run it at full resolution (I think it was 1024x768) until I got a new video card months later. When I did, I went to reconfigure X, and couldn't get it to plug and play properly (XFree-3.x), so I had to write the modelines manually. I eventually got it to work, but I think the refresh rate was a bit too high. It always ran pretty hot.
Also, I never used a true suspend mode with it, only screen blanking. Eventually, it went kaput. I'm not sure if that's because it was clocked too high, or just messed up from the time I bought it. (I still got my money's worth out of it, though). Now, if I was to have problems auto-configuring X (I use RH7.2 as well), I'd do a lot of research on what rates the card/monitor can handle before running at a high resolution. With a 17", I'd think 75Hz might be the top refresh rate.
klync
-0=0-
You know, the Communists had it all wrong. The best way to manage society is through central planning of Consumption! - Dr. Awktagon
Vladimir Florinski
> Well, even if my monitor craps out today, it was still one of the best
> buys of my life. It's lasted me for over 4 years in an industry where 1
> or 2 is par for the course, and it has the same crystal-clear picture
> quality now that it did the day I bought it.
I have a Viewsonic 17 minitor, purchased in 1994 and still working very
well today. It is now attached to the secondary machine, but the sharpness
is superior to any modern display I have (but then it cost me twice what
the average 21" is these days).
--
Vladimir
Ant
>>waiting for Red Hat Linux 7.2 to boot up. While I was napping, Linux
>>idled at the console screen for me to login. The monitor was supposed
>>to go to suspend mode and then sleep (after 90 minutes). When I came
>>back, the screen was still in text mode. I thought it was a glitch.
>>I logged in and startx'ed. I noticed everything was darker and
>>blurrier (I had hard time typing this post). I pressed the OSD menu
>>button, but I noticed many things wrong. It had Japanese fonts at the
>>main menu and I never did set Japanese fonts. I tried to control
>>brightness and contrast, but I got a key icon. I never did set the
>>lock! I tried to unlock, but that menu was messed up too. Also, it was
>>in French (e.g., Non ... Oui ... Verrou Reglages), icons were
>>misaligned, and box border was broken. I was unable to move my
>>highlight to unlock.
>
>
> OK, some _slightly_ good news: I have a P72 6556 monitor as well, and
> I too got this problem once. In my case, it just happened
> spontaneously in a mode switch when I was starting to play a game. I
> naturally play most FPS games with my gamma really high (>3.0) so I
> can see even in total darkness, but after the mode switch, I could
> barely see anything at all. This has happened twice.
Yeah, the same model I have.
> The first time, I did basically what you did (panic). I wasn't able
> to fix it for about 15 minutes. I eventually gave up, shutdown my
> computer, and did something else for a few hours. When I came back,
> the monitor was working fine again.
I did that too while going out for church, lunch, and shopping (about
four hours). I came home, and it was still like that. :( I think it was
really busted.
> The second time, a little wiser, I immediately shut off the monitor,
> unplugged it, and let it sit for a minute or two. When I plugged it
> back in everything was back to normal (and it still had saved all the
> correct settings).
I did that too!
> The reason this is only slightly good is that I still don't know what
> caused the problem. The two incidents for me happened about a month
> apart, and nothing since the second (about 6 months ago). The only
> thing I can think of is that I was running my monitor on an extension
> cable at the time, which I eventually discarded because it caused
> ghosting on the screen. Perhaps there was something wrong with the
> cable?
Ah, I tried hooking up to the computer directly without the KVM and
other monitor cables. Same thing happened. Either the monitor's cable is
bad or the EEPROM that someone noted is busted. Or maybe something else.
> Well, even if my monitor craps out today, it was still one of the best
> buys of my life. It's lasted me for over 4 years in an industry where
> 1 or 2 is par for the course, and it has the same crystal-clear
> picture quality now that it did the day I bought it.
I agree!!! I bought a new Samsung SyncMaster 763MB and I am not that
happy with it. I was in a hurry to get another 17" flatscreen and
computers.com was down for me to find reviews. :( I hope I will get used
to this one. I still love the IBM P72 one.
> I hope something in that rambling diatribe helps you. Feel free to
> let me know via email if you find out anything conclusive.
Thanks, but I don't think it will happen. I am going to give the monitor
to Salvation Army. I doubt I can fix it easily. I don't want to send it
to IBM for a fix. My warranty expired long time ago. :(
--
"Thanks for giving me the courage to eat all those ants." --unknown
Simon Matthews
Hah! My monitor was purchased in 1991 -- it still works well. It was a
cheapo monitor at the time I bought it, but here I am 11 years later still
using it (now I have said this, it will probably blow up on my within the
week)
>
>
Ant
wrote:
> On Sun, 7 Jul 2002, Vladimir Florinski wrote:
Heh, I have an 14" monitor (OptiQuest 1000s) but I can't stand it! It's
blurry. In 1998 before I got the IBM monitor, I used it daily. I
couldn't stand it after using a nice ViewSonic (not my favorite brand)
19" at work. Ugh!
--
"No, I'd prefer a cooler WITHOUT an ant-door, thank you..." --unknown
Eric P. McCoy
> I have a Viewsonic 17 minitor, purchased in 1994 and still working very
> well today. It is now attached to the secondary machine, but the sharpness
> is superior to any modern display I have (but then it cost me twice what
> the average 21" is these days).
Same here. Mine was $500 about 4 years ago, which was about twice
what most 17" monitors cost at the time.
John Gill
I replaced the one in the monitor. It was an 8 pin IC with a number like
24C04 on it. I purchased an EEPROM programmer from a company called
Electronics Kits (on the WEB) for about $15 plus $5 for shipping.
I repair monitors as a part time job, so I wanted a programmer anyway.
I actually stored binary zeros into the EEPROM. I guess you could
call it erasing it. I had saved the old EEPROM contents to disk before
reprogramming it. That way I could restore the old contents if desired.
I do not know what the contents of a new EEPROM IC are if you just buy one
from a store or on the WEB. Most of them sell for about $2.00 new.
You have to un-solder the old EEPROM from the monitor main board and
then insert it in the programmer socket to reprogram it.
John
Ant
Hmm, this sound complex. I guess new monitor purchase was a good move.
--
"A centipede is an ant made to government specs." --unknown