Video problems

[Kanawa]

Hi Scuzzy
I am having problems with my monitor.
The image kind of shakes or flikkers lightly...It is not constant but it gets really annoying.
Do I still need to have those old drivers with the new version of the game or can I download the latest ...

V.C. ATI Radeon 9250 256 MB DDR

Kanawa

[Skuzzy]

Monitor shake is not normally caused by the video card.  However, for that video card you should use the 4.12 Catalyst drivers.  I doubt it will cure monitor shake as that is usually a sign of severe interference from a nearby electrical source, bad monitor cable (poor connection), monitor type not defined (uses Plug-n-Play monitor), or the monitor is about to go out.

[Ohio43]

Hey skuz..she may possibly have the monitor at a a weird Hz setting?
Make sure your, to start anyways, by checking to see if you have your monitor set to 60 Hz.  If that solves the problem..then you know you can bump it up to the higest allowable Hz refresh rate your monitor and card combo can handle.  But, then again, you say its not constant, so its probably not the prob

[Skuzzy]

That is why I asked if the monitor type was showing as Plug-n-Play.  It means the INF files for the monitor are not loaded so the refresh rate could be wrong, among other things.

[Kanawa]

Can you explain "It means the INF files for the monitor are not loaded2 and how to fix it?

[StarOfAfrica2]

Go to your device manager.  I'm not sure what OS  you have, Win98 or WinXP, but either one its not much different.  

Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and select "Properties".  In Win98, simply select "Device manager".  In WinXP, select "Hardware", and then click on the button that says "Device Manager".

Go to "Monitors" and expand the tree (click on the + sign out to the left or double click the word "Monitors").  If you see "Plug N Play Monitor" then you do not have the proper drivers loaded for your monitor.  This could be either because you never installed them, its an older monitor that doesnt have XP drivers, or it simply lost them at some point.  If the selection shows a monitor, but it doesnt match the monitor you have, again you might not have the right drivers loaded.

[Kanawa]

Hi Star
Thank you for your reply.
Did all that and everything seems allright..its shows my Samsung Syncmaster 997DF as it should.
Cant figure out what's wrong and monitor is just a couple months old....weird and really annoying.


Kanawa

[StarOfAfrica2]

Do you have any electronic devices radios, etc. operating near the monitor (besides the computer of course)?  I have 6 computers setup in my office here at work, most of the time they work fine.  But when my guards call in on the radios, if I forget and leave a radio near a monitor, the monitor goes crazy with the flickering and jumping.  Even something so simple as cables crossing over each other could cause it.  If you have ruled out drivers, rule out EMI by pulling your monitor cable free of any entanglements and see if it helps.  You could just have a bad monitor.  The good news is, if its new, you should be able to take it back without worry.

[Kanawa]

I'll check that out too...I just had a new cable modem installed and also a wireless keyboard and mouse...could those cause interference?

[StarOfAfrica2]

I wouldnt think so, but who knows?  Do you have a standard keyboard and mouse to hookup and see if the problem goes away?

Every potential problem you can eliminate brings you one step closer to narrowing your search down to the right item.

[Skuzzy]

Wireless keyboards can be a problem for DirectX.

[Kanawa]

ok...and if wireless devices can be a prob with directx can it be fixed?

[Skuzzy]

Not actually.  The problem occurs whenever you have to use a keyboard driver, other than the one suplied with Windows.

Some of the third party keyboard drivers have very poor DirectX support.

[Kanawa]

My keybord is from Microsoft...

[Skuzzy]

Make sure you have the latest drivers for that keyboard then as Microsoft has had many problems with them in DirectX games.