I'm an idiot

Road-Kill · 06-17-2003, 11:40 PM

LCD's, TFT's, etc are not my strong point. Can someone please tell me what composite video is?

I have a Radeon 7000 in my system. I purchased a 5.6" TFT-LCD that I am trying to use in the system. I get absolutely nothing on the screen when I connect it to the RCA jack on my Radeon card.

I have tested the Radeon card's RCA jack by plugging it into my TV, and it works fine. I've also tested the screen by plugging it into the RCA video-out on an old DVD player. That works fine also.

When I have the screen plugged into the Radeon, I don't see any characters (even while booting before windows initializes). I've messed with refresh rates, resolutions, etc., but no luck. I have the latest ATI control panel installed, and when I look at the displays in the control panel, it doesn't even see the screen plugged into the RCA jack.

The Screen is a MA Audio (MA 2256) that I bought from Fry's Electronics for $140.00.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

ODYSSEY · 06-17-2003, 11:55 PM

frodobaggins · 06-18-2003, 01:13 AM

try this and tell us what happens, if this works, we can give you a definitive answer.

plug the radeons rca out into your tv and get it working on the tv, then unplug it from the tv and into your lcd. See if the lcd works then.

Road-Kill · 06-18-2003, 03:09 AM

I'm not worthy!!

When I boot the system with the TV plugged in, then remove the RCA cable and plug it into the LCD, it works!

I'll go buy the resistor tomorrow. Thanks for the good information!

By the way, frodobaggins, it's way too wierd that you're from Ruston, LA. My Great, Great, Great Grandfather (Robert E. Russ) founded that town. Too bad someone along the way gambled all the money away, cause now I'm broke.

frodobaggins · 06-18-2003, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Road-Kill
By the way, frodobaggins, it's way too wierd that you're from Ruston, LA. My Great, Great, Great Grandfather (Robert E. Russ) founded that town.

That's cool

samc · 06-18-2003, 10:04 PM

yeah try the TV thing and see if your tv-out works. I mean you goto your settings and click the TV Icon right?

I know on the EPIA's you have to actually boost with a video screen on for the video out to work.

Road-Kill · 06-19-2003, 01:18 AM

OK. Bad News.

I couldn't find a 75 ohm resistor, so I soldered 5 15 ohm (1/2 watt, 5% tolerance) resistors together. I checked the resistance on my multimeter, and it's right at 77 ohms.

I spliced into the RCA cable, soldered one end of the "resistor string" to the shield, and the other end to the center wire. So, now I essentially have 77 ohms of resistance between the center wire and the shield.

When I tried to boot the system, I get exactly the same thing. No output on the LCD. I tried to plug it into my TV (with the resistors still attached), and it works fine. After the system starts to boot with the video output on my TV, I unplug it from the TV and plug it back into the LCD, and it works.

The video card is still not seeing the LCD (even with the 77 ohms).

Any ideas?

Thanks.

frodobaggins · 06-19-2003, 02:44 AM

That's strange, check your connections again

Road-Kill · 06-19-2003, 10:53 PM

Woo Hoo!!

It finally works. The problem was a bad resistor I bought from Radio Shack. I noticed that the resistance would change when I moved it around. Must be a loose lead or something.

Thanks for all the help!! This is the best f#%*ing place on earth!!

frodobaggins · 06-20-2003, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Road-Kill
Thanks for all the help!! This is the best f#%*ing place on earth!!

You damn right !