Another "out of range" problem

[chesebrgr]

Hi,
I've installed Windows 7 on a fresh PC, an Asrock N68PV-GS mobo with onboard Geforce 7050 graphics. At the end of the installation I get the message which seems quite common, black screen with "Out of range".

The monitor was used for my old PC, running Windows XP, at 1280x1024 60hz. No problems whatsoever. So don't go saying my monitor is too cruddy or it can't support the resolution.

I've connected it to an LCD TV to complete the installation, that works fine right up to 1080p. So I put the resolution right down to 800x600 60Hz, and connect to the monitor... I really thought that would work, but no joy. Still "Out of range", even if I just swap the cables at 800x600 without rebooting the PC.

So I research it a bit, most common solution is to go to safe mode, update graphics card drivers. Done that, tried drivers from Windows Update and direct download from nvidia site. Still no joy. I go to safe mode (which works fine on the monitor), disable the graphics drivers and reboot. It boots up now, so I install the drivers and put it to 800x600 60Hz and reboot... and "Out of range". Funny thing is, in safe mode, I can pump it right up to 1280x1024 no problem, but booting in normal mode, "Out of range" even at 800x600 60Hz!

I've tried it with 3 monitors now, all of which run everything up to 1280x1024 on my old PC just fine. I get the same problem on all of them. I am somewhat of an expert, I've come across similar things many times before (usually when people switch from CRT to TFT), but they've always been fixed by booting to safe mode and turning the resolution or refresh rate down. I've searched many forums and tried everything I can find. Any ideas??

 

[Desslok]

I seem to remember a similar issue with those cards that you can try. Switch to 16 bit color, then install latest drivers from Nvidia site, then run Windows updates, check for "optional updates". After everything is running, then reboot and set it back to 32 bit color. Good luck.

 

[chesebrgr]

Yep tried 16-bit colour, it didn't help, still says "out of range"...

 

[Desslok]

Strange. And i assume you have downloaded the latest BIOS updates/mobo drivers for your board?

 

[chesebrgr]

Actually I haven't tried that, but the board is brand new. I can't believe they'd release a BIOS that doesn't work with any monitor at any resolution! I'll try it later but I very much doubt it'll help.

 

[Rik55]

Have you tried Booting up - F8 - VGA 680x480 Mode. This take you into normal Windows with the Minimum Resolution. Now you can try 1280x1024 via the nVidia control panel. If the resolution isn't available, create a custom res.

 

[chesebrgr]

Oh yes tried 640x480 mode, no joy. 640x480 is still apparently "Out of range".

 

[Rik55]

BIOS for motherboard added WIN7 support with version 2.0 11/20/2009. Check, just cos it's sold as a new board doesn't mean the BIOS is up to date. Also, are the nVidia drivers upto date. ie from nVidia and not Win7 built in drivers.

 

[chesebrgr]

2.0 is the latest BIOS, which is what it is already running.

I seem to have managed to work around the problem. I set up networking and installed VNC, and connected to it remotely. I was able to see what the screen was showing, even though the monitor was saying "Out of range"... and found that it has auto-detected the 17" LCD monitor, but for some inexplicable reason it had jumped the refresh rate up to 85Hz! No wonder it wasn't working. I turned it back down to 60Hz and the monitor came straight back on as normal.

So now my questions would be, why would it jump up to 85Hz when a new monitor is connected, and how can I stop it from ever doing that again? The PC is for my parents, who wouldn't know how to solve the issue if it happened again. Or is there a way to lock the resolution and refresh rate, so that they can't "accidentally" change it by button-pressing?