C4DAO

I'm using Windows XP - not exactly sure what "level" it's at, but it's definately NOT upgraded to SP2.

As mentioned in my previous post - I was getting "over range" as soon as the PC started to boot (i.e total blank screen...no bios displayed) - now I'm getting just a blank screen!!

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moleman

what motherboard are you using? you maybe able to clear the cmos settings. or someone who is using the same bios can tell you the keystrokes needed to set it to fail-safe or default settings.

C4DAO

Not sure to be honest with you.

The carputer was bought from Ebay, and it was listed as an EPIA VIA Mk12000 (1.2gig), but when I booted it up the processor speed registers in the bios as 1.5gig ???

EDIT: Thinking about it..I have a "C7" processor?

moleman

ok, so F6 is for fail-safe defaults and F7 is for optimized defaults. This will only work if something in the bios is setting the resolution to high. Just turn on the computer, and keep hitting delete until you hear it beep every time you push it. Then press F6 or F7 then Y then enter, and hope for the best. If that doesn't work you can try substituting left then down two or three times for F6 or F7.

Hope this helps, sorry it took so long. I was having some trouble with my own computer. Almost threw it through a wall, but it's all better now.

C4DAO

Good to hear your computer is fixed - it's incredibly frustrating when they dont work!

I posted a new thread about my new problem in General Discussion - I tried briefly to get into the BIOS but it didn't "recognise" any key presses (I.E DEL key to interupt boot) and continued to boot before getting to a SATA bios screen and hanging.

I'm thinking maybe the USB keyboard I was using may not be recognised on booting - so I'm gonna try a PS/2 one if I can get my hands on one!

moleman

yeah, only ps/2 keyboards work while booting.

Hessian

Any solutions to this problem?

I have the VIA EPIA CN13000G.

I tried the CN700_220001m_XP_noTVLargeFont.zip_Logod.zip driver from viaarena but it went into 'no signal' before the driver even finished install.

I'll try the other drivers this weekend.

There are no monitors to select from on the display options. Anyone know how to get more listed/installed there?

moleman

Sorry, I am a little confused. What monitors in what list?

As to solutions, if you can get it to work for a while you may have some luck by changing the cmos battery. To get you up and running, make sure monitor is set to CRT in your bios. Then try booting into VGA mode and then uninstalling the S3 vga drivers. Do NOT reinstall them if prompted while still in VGA mode, also do not let the computer optimize your display(or whatever it calls it) while in VGA mode. Now restart the computer let it go back into windows xp. You can't stop it from installing the S3 drivers in full xp, but that's ok. wait until it is finished, then right click on the little yellow box in the taskbar that says S3 and tell it not to run at start up. Make sure you do this before the computer restarts (it will want to restart after installing the drivers). Once the S3 utility(yellow box) is disabled restart your computer. It should boot up into windows fine. Oh, you may have to do this initially with another monitor, if that is the case you want to put the computer into hibernation, after getting everything working, and swap the monitors while it is in hibernation, otherwise you may have to start all over again.

This fix only worked for me for about a week or two, and then I would have to fix it all over again. It started happening with more frequency which leads me to believe that the problem was my cmos battery was dead, and anytime the computer lost power the bios reset. I finally got fed up with it and installed a pci video card I had laying around and everything works fine. It looks better too.

Oh if you have wifi on your computer install vnc whenever you get it up and running. That way if it acts up you should be able to fire up tight vnc and fix the s3 utility from the comfort of your home, rather than have to drag a monitor out to your hot car.

If this doesn't fix your problem, then there may be something else causing the issue.

Hope this helps.

Hessian

Thanks for the input. I was talking about the list of monitor inf configurations.

I removed my pc from the car and went back to the bench. I was using a version of Tiny XP Beast that was causing issues in other areas, so I did a clean install of XP pro. This has fixed the problems on the bench, so hopefully it will stay fixed when I move back into the car.

I also noticed that the S3 app on the toolbar should be set to CRT and LCD for the screen to work.

moleman

I would disable that s3 utility. In my car it would change the output to TV anytime I booted it up with the lilliput attached. The strange thing was nothing was coming out of the svideo output. Like I said, I just got fed up and popped another card in it.

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