2-3 seconds high pitched noise on CRT while booting on ATOM-15 moded card

[R-Typer]

Hello Im a long time user, and not a first time trouble maker.

Since CRT Emudriver 16.2 is no longer supported in GM 0.228 (I get ACCESS VIOLATION errors) I decided to move forth to newer drivers.

I uninstalled 16.2 CRT Emudriver by its corresponding Setup.exe file and it uninstalled perfectly. Then I restarted my PC and then I installed: CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 15 (Adrenalin 18.5.1) for Windows 7/8 64-bits

All went fine. I installed custom resolutions via VMMaker and everything seemed just fine. GM 0.228 works perfectly now and no more ACCESS VIOLATION errors.

But, now each time Windows restarts and boots just the few 2-3 seconds before the Windows desktop will show, my Sony CRT emitts high pitched noise from its speakers and green OSD (AVS1) numbers and letters distort with some flickering on the screen. This takes just 2-3 seconds and then when Windows wallpapper is displayed it stops. PC works perfectly fine after that. This happens each time Windows is restarted.

I also tried CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 15 (Crimson 16.2.1) for Windows 7/8/10 64-bits and unfortunately it also exibited exactly the same behaviour as 18.5.1 driver.

My ATI Radeon 7850 is ATOM-15 moded and never before exibited such problems. Im guesing something is driving 31khz signal into my Sony CRT at that specific 2-3 second time interval at windows boot up. I would say it is during the Login time as I dont see Login screen anymore. Immediately after the flickering the Windows desktop is shown properly.

Btw, I can see and enter motherboard BIOS settings and see the windows boot up progress bar so ATOM-15 is clearly doing its job and should protect my CRT from dangerous video signals.

My PC is:
Core2Duo 4.27ghz
Sapphire Radeon 7850 ATOM-15 moded and connected to Sony CRT with RGB Scart cable
4GB Ram
Windows 7 x64

Many thanks for any help in advance!


P.S
I should also mention that ATOM-15 I used to mod video BIOS is v1.1 Does that make difference?

P.S.S
Im definitely sure that CRT syncs off during Windows user Login sequence. At the time boot screen ends and the Login begins. And after 2-3 seconds of autologin it properly shows Windows Desktop with icons and stuff.
I connected my SVGA crt monitor hoping that it will show me what is happening during the boot but it didn't show a thing. not even a flicker. It just says 15.7khz signal during the whole time and nothing else.

[Zebidee]

There are things you can do to disable the GUI boot and login screens. Not sure if can do 100% but worth looking at.

Check the Hiding Windows 7 tutorial:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,148050.0.html

[R-Typer]

There are things you can do to disable the GUI boot and login screens. Not sure if can do 100% but worth looking at.

Check the Hiding Windows 7 tutorial:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,148050.0.html

thanks for the reply. unfortunately these suggestions are for modifying and hacking the windows 7 for it to be more suitable for use in a mame cabinet.

i have removed my password which i have been using with microsoft autologon utility and the flickering and noise pitch from tv speakers are still present. i believe this is a driver issue since it has worked with crt emudriver 16.2 perfectly.

[Zebidee]

There are things you can do to disable the GUI boot and login screens. Not sure if can do 100% but worth looking at.

Check the Hiding Windows 7 tutorial:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,148050.0.html

thanks for the reply. unfortunately these suggestions are for modifying and hacking the windows 7 for it to be more suitable for use in a mame cabinet.

i have removed my password which i have been using with microsoft autologon utility and the flickering and noise pitch from tv speakers are still present. i believe this is a driver issue since it has worked with crt emudriver 16.2 perfectly.

Your issue seems related to windows trying to show something at 31khz+ during boot.  That guide helps you to minimise or eliminate such things like splash and welcome screens too, so worth a look even if you aren't using a cabinet.

Issue has arisen since re-installing CRTEMU drivers, but that doesn't mean the drivers are at fault. You re-installed original CRTEMU driver you were using and yet the problem persists? This means you can't assume CRTEMU is causing the problem, it may be something unrelated Windows decided to throw up when you were changing drivers.

If all else fails: you're not using a cabinet you can always delay turning on the TV until windows boots.

[Osirus23]

.

[Zebidee]

Yeah, I've found this behavior on multiple setups I've done. Even with ATOM-15 and CRT Emudriver installed the Windows loading screen displays at 31 kHz.

For reasons like this, buttersoft has been tinkering with a small VGA-VGA dongle that would pass only 15khz sync, and creates composite sync from separate H&V. A spinoff of another project VGA-SCART by gambaman.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,164416.msg1732182.html#msg1732182

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,160869.0.html

[R-Typer]

Thank you guys for all the info! You have been of immense help! 

You are right Zebidee, I can turn on the PC first and wait for it to boot and then turn on the TV later.

Following the tutorial you sent me I have managed to reduce the flickering at windows boot up to just 1 second. It was 2-3 seconds before. So it's a success of some sort.

Still Im not satisfied how this works and gonna Restore previous windows 7 from my Acronis Backups I frequently make. Ill just stick to now obsolete 12.6 driver and groovymame 0.227 and that will be the end of tinkering with this machine.


Btw, what I thought was noise pitch from the TV speakers was actually TV's internal electronics screeching.

[Calamity]

Still Im not satisfied how this works and gonna Restore previous windows 7 from my Acronis Backups I frequently make. Ill just stick to now obsolete 12.6 driver and groovymame 0.227 and that will be the end of tinkering with this machine.

It's sad the hear that, though I understand.

I don't think the sync issue is something to worry about, anyway. I think I notice it here too but never bothered. It also happened with some version back in XP iirc.

The problem is likely caused by slow gpu driver initialization. There's an instant where the correct timings are not applied. Are you using super resolutions or normal ones? Having a long list of modes also makes initialization slower.

[R-Typer]

Hi Calamity!

I have plenty of modes in my list. Lots of Retroarch modes and Amiga, C64 and so on. I guess there is about 40 of them. I also use Static mode for my emulator resolutions. MAME is set to dynamic of course.

[Calamity]

Not that many, but anyway.

[R-Typer]

Hey guys! Just to let you know I fixed my problem!!!!

First I installed new windows 7 from scratch and I tried both 16.2.1 and 18.5.1 beta15 drivers and it worked exactly the same as my current windows 7 installation. It had those 2-3 seconds of nasty Sony CRT 31khz video signal electronics zapping while booting.

So, then I finnaly tried Windows 10 2004 just for the lulz and KA-BOOM!!! The new drivers just worked... Now the transition from booting screen to windows desktop is now perfectly smooth without any electronics zapping sounds and screen flickering.

I spent a whole day setting up my emulators in Windows 10 in fear that they may not work but I didnt find a single emulator that I use that didnt work.

Of course I had a Fast Startup enabled automatically in Windows 10 and nasty time trying to figure out what is going wrong with my setup. Then I disabled Fast Startup and the bugs went away.

Is there a tutorial on how to properly setup Windows 10 with CRT Emudriver? I missed it in my search if there is any.

Speedwise Windows 10 feels faster than Windows 7. It boots faster, executes Retroarch faster, PCSX2 emulator works faster and finally the most important thing: GroovyMAME works perfectly!!!

Only time using Windows 10 will show me if there are compatibility problems of any sort.

[Calamity]

Excellent info, R-Typer!

We don't have a Windows 10 guide for CRT Emudriver because it's most the same as with Windows 7. There were some annoyances to care about like disabling the game bar iirc, but not sure if it still applies. Also, probably Directx 9.0c needs to be installed too.