Eyefinity Black Screen Issue

I have used three monitors under XP for years (using two video cards) but when I bought this (HP XW8200) workstation I decided to give Eyefinity a run so I could do it with only one card.

This machine presented some challenges, I wanted to do Eyefinity 6 but my Adaptec RAID controller blocked me from using a double bay card. I did some research & found that XFX had begun making a single slot Eyefinity 5 card (the 5770), so after some digging, I got one. I wanted the capability of 5 monitors, but currently am only using 3 so I ordered three Accell brand mini displayport to DVI (active) adapters, & am sure I have the right ones because I got the part number from XFX support.

I use two widescreen monitors (a 24", a 21", both Viewsonic), and a 20" 4x3 white box monitor (but that uses Viewsonic parts, as I learned when I had to recap the power supply). I am not sure how to describe the symptoms I have because it is not real consistent, but sometimes the computer will have already ran most of the POST screen before any of the monitors display (& POST takes a long time on this machine because of having to boot the RAID kernel). But ALL the time, after the computer boots and finishes with the "Starting Windows" screen, I get a black screen that appears on all three screens in lieu of the logon screen.

If I let it sit there awhile, apparently Eyefinity "finds" my primary monitor, & I can log in, and from there it is perfect. Also, when Windows turns my monitors off after a period of activity, I get the same thing. I can wiggle the mouse and the secondary monitors wake up, but the primary one is still black & am unable to log in.

There are no machine BIOS upgrades available, and I honestly am not sure about BIOS updates for the card. I am pretty sure that my cabling is ok, since once I am in Windows it works great.

Based on some forum threads I have looked at, I suspect that this XFX card does not like Viewsonic monitors, or at least certain models of them. I am planning on buying three new monitors very soon, but I have decided on HP ZR24W's & after what seems like a box of stuff every day from Newegg, I can't swing it this month so I was hoping for a workaround.

If anybody can shed some light on this, that would be awesome.

Thanks,

Jameson

PS- I have a ticket in with XFX support as well, but they have not responded as of yet. Will post if they have any useful information.

I didn't see this in your post, but did you go threw the CCC and set up your monitors accordingly using the Eyefinity software.

Well... I have spent some time playing with this & it seems that the trick is the frequency at which the monitor is driven. So long as you can drive it at 67, 72, or 75 Hertz, it works, & seems to work fine. Of course, the frequency is tied to resolution, so I can't get anywhere close to 1080p where it needs to be since all the higher resolutions are locked to 60 hz or lower.

Immediately prior to installing the 5770 card, I had a 5550 in there that worked fine with a DVI connection, but the 5550 had actual DVI connections rather than the mini displayport connectors that this unit has. I have already swapped the cables & the adapters with no change.

I have thought about trying to edit the driver file or the EDID data to allow me to try to run this monitor at 67hz, but that is a band-aid since it works at 60hz with the other card. I suppose I could get a VGA adapter & use it that way, but I would really rather understand the problem & fix it rather than to keep buying parts.

These viewsonics are about to be retired in favor of some HP ZR24W's (that support displayport natively) but it would be nice to not be handicapped until they get here sometime next month.

If anyone has any suggestions that will help, I would love to hear it.

Thanks,

Jameson

At the present, I am just running an extended desktop. I am planning on buying three new monitors (with native displayport connectors to avoid all this), but in the meantime I am trying to make my existing monitors all work (as they always have) as an extended desktop.

I am using the Accell B087B-006B active minidisplayport to DVI-D adapters (x 3).

I have actually got this ironed out with exception of one monitor, the VX2433WM, which will not run unless the frequency is increased to 67 HZ or more, or possibly is a byproduct of reducing the resolution to very low levels, I am not sure. I have tried different drivers to no avail, but also have no display in POST ( on this monitor only) so I think the problem is more of a hardware compatibility issue than anything.

I have contacted XFX support, & they want me to try a passive adapter (which I do not have) to see if it is some sort of compatibility issue with the adapter & monitor. I just had this discussion yesterday with them, but they are supposed to be sending me one to try. This card (the single slot XFX 5770) does not come with any adapters at all, so when I bought them I got all active ones per their recommendation from tech support... apparently that is not always the way to go with certain hardware.

Anyway, I hope this will work, but if not I am going to go ahead & pick up an HP ZR24W, which is what I want to have all the way around eventually.