Power Desk and refresh rates

[MadCat]

Let me just ask one thing...why did Matrox have to take a perfectly good thing like Win98's refresh rate selector and completely screw it up ?!? Certainly, the ability to select ANY refersh rate is nice if you need the precision, but some people use MANY resolutions and MANY different refresh rates...I dont have time to setup all these damn settings. And of course, even though my Visionmaster Pro 410 can do 120hz at 800x600, Matrox Power Desk automatically reset all those wonderful refresh rates under the adapter tab, so now refresh rates at all resolutions are 85hz or less...bulls*it. And of course, Matrox Power Dunce is INCAPABLE of reading the stupid monitor INF file and building a configuration file from that (the de-facto standard for telling windoze what your monitor is capable of...why is it so hard for Matrox to use this?). And this wouldnt be so bad if the configs that come with Power Drool werent for TWO YEAR OLD MONITORS!!!

</endRant>

Sorry if that was a little overbearing, but this is just stupid. You would think that a company like matrox would be smart enough not to break perfectly good, widely accepted windoze features without providing a compatible equivalant. I cant name many companies that bother with "extra" controls for the refresh rate, resolution and color depth because windoze display properties ALREADY DOES ALL THAT. Its the same reason ISPs dont bother with their own dialup software like that did in win 3.1...because dial-up networking works fine.

</endExtendedRant>

Ok, all I want to know is this:
-IS there a way to get Power Drunk to realise that my monitor INF REALLY WORKS, and maybe write a config file for it???

or

-does matrox update their "already configured" monitor list for later monitors, and where can I download it?

Thanks

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[paul]

remove matrox startup software from the 'system configuration' utility. It's not necessary for 2d or 3d

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k6-3 450 @500 - tyan 1590s bios 1.16 - wdac310100 - g200 mill sgram w/8mb upgrade & bios 2.6-20 PD 5.41 (DISABLED) - AGP1x (NOT MY CHOICE) - 128MB 10ns sdram - sblive value 2.1 - 3com 3c905b-tx - cable access (28.8k for emergencies) - win98SE
dx7 - V3 steering wheel/pedals - MS sidewinder PRO

[MadCat]

Could you elaborate on your suggestion? Ive tried stopping PowerDesk from loading during startup using Startup Manager, but once I go to display properties, its still there, and QuickTweak loads automatically. I don't think I understand your suggestion, and would appreciate some clarification.

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[Phoenix]

1- PowerDesk will NOT mess up with your windows monitor if you don't enable it manually. If something is screwed up, first disable the Matrox monitor stuff (by using the checkbox in the monitor page). If your setup is still screwed up, it's not PowerDesk's fault.

2- The windows refresh rate list is a combination of the windows INF file associated with your monitor (which only lists horizontal and vertical refresh rate ranges along with the monitor's max resolution) and the "default" VESA timings reported by the display adapter.

Windows does a very dumb interpolation between the INF's max resolution and maximum H and V refreshes to determine what is the maximum refresh rate usable at a specific resolution. By the way, this stupid interpolation screws up every time when you use a wide screen monitor like the Sony W900.

In short, the 85Hz max refresh you get can come from a) your monitor INF, b) the DDC information coming from your monitor via the plug-n-play mechanism or c) a limited list of VESA timings reported by the display driver.

If everything looks right but you still get a max refresh of 85Hz, I suggest you USE that monitor page to simply configurre only the mode you use. If you do that, only this mode will be overriden by the Matrox monitor stuff and all the other modes will use the standard windows mechanism for refresh rate determination.

Phoenix.

[Kruzin]

Hey Pheonix - Good to see you around again these days. Missed yer input for a while there

MadCat- Just because your monitor is capable of 120Hz does not mean that is what the manufacturer specifies as the "preffered" rate. My monitor is also capable of 120Hz+, but they wrote their monitor INF to specify 85Hz. They also list this in their manual as the "optimal" refresh rate. So 65,75,85 Hz are the only options given to me in the default Windows monitor options. Always has been this way for me.

So, as Pheonix suggested, I tweak out the 6 or so modes I use. Takes 10 minutes. I think it's worth the time, and hardly woth bitching about, concidering the flexiblity PD offers you with these options.

[MadCat]

Thanks for your feedback Phoenix, but I finally gave up on bypassing PowerDesk and just configured my own refresh rates. I realize that manufacturers place a recommended refresh rate for each resolution thats well below maximum. But what ticked me off is that all other video cards I have owned have not attempted to treat me like im stupid. This is the first video card I have used that limited my selection of refresh rates to recommended settings, and I personally dont like it. Is there a settings option buried somewhere in PowerDesk that I missed to enable all my refresh rates?

Hey Kruzin, I agree, 85hz or less is much better for your monitor, and I usually run my monitor at 85hz. But currently im stuck in a 'weird' situation: theres a strong electromagnetic field in the room with my computer. What does this have to do with refresh rates? Well, the result is, at refresh rates above 60hz and below 100hz, the image on the screen is, well, jumpy. Its a minute change in position, but incredibly annoying, especially when youre reading text. Hence the reason I was going stark raving mad when I was writing my original post...

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[paul]

Madcat, how many feet are you from the power lines? Is your pc next to your monitor? Try a UPS.

OK, the program "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSINFO\MSINFO32.EXE"
shows alot of info on your pc. It's in 'system tools' on your start menu. Choose the 'tools' menu and then 'system configuration utility' after starting that prg and goto startup tab and uncheck matrox powerdesk along with anything else you dont need

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k6-3 450 @500 - tyan 1590s bios 1.16 - wdac310100 - g200 mill sgram w/8mb upgrade & bios 2.6-20 PD 5.41 (DISABLED) - AGP1x (NOT MY CHOICE) - 128MB 10ns sdram - sblive value 3.0 - 4 Boston Acoustics A40's - 3com 3c905b-tx - cable access (28.8k for emergencies) - win98SE
dx7 - V3 steering wheel/pedals - MS sidewinder PRO

[Phoenix]

MadCat, you're saying other display adpaters don't push you back to 85Hz. From what I know, there are only two possible reasons:

a) They list more "default" refresh rates in their refresh list - so Windows can find a higher refresh still under the monitor's INF max refresh. This is the most likely.

b) They don't respect Microsoft rules for refresh rate determination. If they do this, they would have big MS on their back to "fix" this for their next certification driver. This is not very likely since this requirement has been there since good old Win95.

Like I said above, the most likely case is a), with a possible solution being to add more "default" refresh rates to the internal driver table. The official Matrox policy about this is to stick with approved VESA timings, with minimal variations to account for hardware limitations. I don't have the actual refresh list used at hand, but I can surely take a look after the holidays.

Phoenix

[MadCat]

Phoenix, Paul: thanks for the info, I used Startup Manager to do the same thing. Now that I have powerstrip load automatically, I dont need to use Display Properties, so power Desk is never loaded.

Oh, about the power lines Paul, that was my first consideration: my house is nowhere near high voltage trunk lines, but my location is somewhere near where the power lines come into the house. The thing is, it cant be the power lines...

This is what I know:
the problem came out of nowhere last summer. I have operated a computer in this room before last summer and DURING last summer, and the problem appeared halfway through the summer with no warning (therefore, its probably not the power lines, which havnt changed position or operating load). I have 2 other computers within 10 feet of the room, and moving the computer to other rooms in the house results in no interference, so its localized. There are 3 RF/TV towers less than a mile away, but like I said, its localized. Its quite possible the problem is caused by something we installed...the house was under renovation that summer. My prime suspect is the mini-dish satellite system we installed during that time. We installed the 2 to 4 way splitter in the attic above this room, and most cables run around this room.

--- of course, I have not ruled out other sources. The house is 105 years old....plus somebody supposely comitted suicide in this room, so a supernatural EM field is a possibility I considered (no joke). Probably woke some old ghostie up with all the renovation...

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[Alec]

Hi, Topcat and people, I don´t mean to interrupt, I just wanted to say that "Power Drool" and "Power Drunk" made me laugh my pants off!

Cheerio

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