AVGA3000: Windows desktop 'stuck' in invalid resolution

[Jefferson]

I have an arcadevga3000 running to an std rez arcade monitor.

In the windows tray, the little galaga bug lets me select different resolutions running up to 1024 i think.  There are certain resolutions that 'freak out' the monitor (screw it up so that no Vhold adjust fixes it) and theres a high pitched whine.  The picture is SO screwed up that I cant find the avga logo and set it to something else! this has happened to me before and it just ended up with me stabbing around blindly for an hour til i got it.

So is there a reset or something I can do to make it start at 640x480 (worked really nice)? or disable the resolutions that freak it out? (800x600 is what screwed me up) Windows starts up in this new crappy resolution I cant work in.

And another thing! Isn't arcade VGA supposed to ENABLE all these things? It supposedly runs all those listed rez's in mame right? so why is it a problem in windows?

[Jefferson]

To make matters worse, the way my pc is shaped, the dvi/svga out on the arcadevga is blocked. only the monitor out is accessible... waaaaaa!

[SailorSat]

On boot hit F8 and select "VGA mode". Windows should come up in 640x480 and let you choose resolutions again.

[Jefferson]

Thx sailor,

weirdly enough, after a *cringe* hard shutdown, I attempted an lcd monitor hookup to fix the rez. no dice (see my last post.) and then I plugged the arcade monitor back in... and its working..? at 800x600 by the looks of it (its the entire field of view in windows just about)

the whole reason I played with it in the first place was because my 640x480 wouldnt let me see enough 'window' to finish downloading SF4 on steam!  So while 800x600 is working, I started the DL.  Ugh. 

Makes me think something went wrong in AVGA installation though... you ARE supposed to be able to select all of the resolutions from the galaga bee in windows correct?  Also, I swear one time the BIOS screen came up UNscrambled for me.  The monitor generally is scrambled with a high pitched whine during the bios and first 10 seconds of startup but ONE TIME it came up clear.  Kinda like how this 800x600 is somehow now usable after restarting?  And normally freaks out if I select it from the galaga bee?

[Kevin Mullins]

And another thing! Isn't arcade VGA supposed to ENABLE all these things? It supposedly runs all those listed rez's in mame right? so why is it a problem in windows?

... you ARE supposed to be able to select all of the resolutions from the galaga bee in windows correct? 

All those settings are indeed "enabled", but.....

Seems like the thing you are forgetting is that you can only use resolutions that your monitor is actually CAPABLE of using. So by starting with knowing what make/model monitor you have and what resolution it is capable of displaying will save a whole lot of headache. 800x600 is probably pushing it on a standard resolution monitor. 640x480 is probably about tops.

[Jefferson]

Thanks Kevin

I have a WG model #25K7131 (horiz), AVGA3000 and I-PAC4. Running XP.

In the AVGA literature they say that there are only 4 windows modes available (640x288, 640x480, *800x600* and 1024 autopan.)  I'm fine with having rez's I can't select cause everything looks great emulated (maybe with a little vhold tweak). Its just weird to me that 800x600 would work sometimes and not others?

[lilshawn]

i have a monitor that supports 800x600 but when fed an 800x600 signal from a db15 vga output it says out of range. plugging it into a VGA/DVI adapter and plugging it into the DVI port works fine. 


whatever

[Jefferson]

UPDATES: 

Something even crazier is happening. I turned on my cab and just got a high pitched whine and white screen.  When I touch keyboard buttons I start getting those hard beep sounds.  I'm not even getting the Maximus arcade startup sounds thru the speakers.  The good news is the power button still acts as a safe shutdown.  Does this mean the PC isnt initializing my video card? Or is something wrong with my arcade monitor now? 

I took out the Arcade VGA and plugged my trusty LCD monitor into the OLD video out on my PC, and it boots up fine. So not all is lost. I thought that if I set it to 640x480 and restarted it thru the arcade monitor, I'd be back on track, but no.

I'm desperate just to get back on the beaten path now!

[Jefferson]

Alright, after much help from Andy I've got a new card and I'm back to the orig problem of it being stuck on a weird resolution that my arcade monitor cant display (also, the LCD port is blocked by my comp's casing)

I can start it in VGA mode but am unable to access the 'galaga bug' options from there.

Other than blindingly stabbing in the dark on the invalid rez for the galaga bug, is there a way to 'hard reset' to 640x480?  by reinstalling drivers maybe?

I can use my LCD screen thru the onboard video but again, I'm unable to affect changes in the AVGA 3000.  Could I uninstall the drivers from there using the utility on the AVGA installation page and do a whole reinstall?

[Jefferson]

SOLVED

I used my onboard video card to uninstall the ATI drives, shut it down, rebooted with the arcade monitor and I got picture! Installed the drivers from ultimarcs website now I'm back in business!

(hope there werent any peripheral deletions like AVRES or anything...)

First things first.  Hotkey a safe resolution for my baby.  What a nightmare.

Thanks everyone and a huge thanks to Andy.