Strange Dual Display Problem

NovaScotian

NovaScotian

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Machine: B&W G3 ziffed to G4 running Panther fully updated. Dual CRT displays, the master (with the menu bar) on the built-in Rage 128 and the other on a Villagetronic MPDD Pro PCI card.

Problem: After repairing permissions or optimizing, the machine will not restart in Panther. The display on the Rage 128 immediately begins a five-second on-off cycle and the restart hangs there. The other screen lights, but nothing appears.

One Solution: Since I can't always get the machine to start up in 9.2.2 by holding down the option key, I must use an OS 9.2 CD and hold down the C key. As soon as that starts (normally, showing both screens), I change the startup disk to Panther and all is well - a perfect start with both screens. When I select 9.2.2 as the startup disk, that works too.

A maybe: In my old Beige G3, I could fix Rage 128 problems by starting with Cmd-Opt-O-F down, then init-nvram, set-defaults, and reset-all. Don't know if this works and conservatively haven't tried it on the B&W. Zapping PRAM doesn't help.

Suggestions?
 
Are you running Panther as an upgrade from previous OSX or clean install? I have always run into issues of one kind or another by upgrading. Too many gremlins left behind.
 
Have you tried switching the positions of the cards with respect to which PCI slot they're in? I'm assuming you have the Rage 128 in the 66Mhz slot and the Villagetronic in an adjacent 33MHz slot... try swapping them: Villagetronic in the 66MHz, Rage 128 in the 33MHz.
 
As I recall (a long time ago) it was an upgrade so I wouldn't have to reload all of my applications. I haven't had this problem before and it began just after I ran a set of cleanup operations that included prebinding. Your theory then is that somehow I've got a Jaguar artifact left over that has recently been bound in place of the Panther version? Wish I knew what to look for.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Have you tried switching the positions of the cards with respect to which PCI slot they're in? I'm assuming you have the Rage 128 in the 66Mhz slot and the Villagetronic in an adjacent 33MHz slot... try swapping them: Villagetronic in the 66MHz, Rage 128 in the 33MHz.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried this, no. The Rage 128 is exactly where Apple put it - I've never had occasion to move it. I don't understand why this should work, though.
 
I don't fully understand why it would work either, but then again we don't exactly understand why the problems are happening in the first place. By switching cards, we can determine whether or not the problem lies with one of the cards being in a certain PCI slot... conflicts with PCI cards are not unheard of... uncommon, yes, but entirely possible.

If the problem persists after a switch of the video cards, I would suggest trying to operate the computer with only one card installed in a single-monitor setup (physically remove the 2nd card) and see if the problem still happens to make sure it is the dual-monitor setup that's causing the problems. Try the Rage 128 at first, then remove it and try with the Villagetronic.

Let us know what transpires!
 
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