GeForce4 Ti to HDMI TV

I have a slightly older XP Pro system that I recently hooked up to my
HDTV. The video card is an nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4800. In case you're
not familiar with this older card, it's an AGP slot dual-head DVI card.
I'm using a DVI-to-HDMI cable on the primary DVI socket. In case it
matters, the TV claims 1080i resolution.

I now have two problems. The first is that with this setup, I cannot
see the boot/POST display, and I need to because I need to change the
boot order in the BIOS so I can reinstall Windows.

The second came about as I was trying to deal with the first, I
downloaded the current drivers for this card, said drivers is in a
distribution dated in 2006. I ran the installer for it and the system
rebooted, so far so good except that still no bootup display.

So I went into the nVidia settings to see if there were any that
pertained to specifically using a TV as the display device. Along the
way, I declined to change the computer display resolution, and then I
found settings for the TV's display modes. It was set to 720p, and I
changed it to 1080i. When I told it to apply the settings, it told me
that the screen would flicker and that if I did not like how the
display looked, it would automatically revert in 15 seconds.

The screen never came back on after clicking OK to that, and 60 seconds
later it still had not reverted. Now I have no display at all on that
computer. The TV, when set to that HDMI input says there is no video
signal.

Now what?

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"You think that's good, wait until dessert." "Well now, wait a minute.
I didn't authorize dessert." (Mr. Garibaldi and Dr. Franklin, B5 "A
Distant Star")

I have a slightly older XP Pro system that I recently hooked up to my
HDTV. The video card is an nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4800. In case you're
not familiar with this older card, it's an AGP slot dual-head DVI card.
I'm using a DVI-to-HDMI cable on the primary DVI socket. In case it
matters, the TV claims 1080i resolution.

I now have two problems. The first is that with this setup, I cannot
see the boot/POST display, and I need to because I need to change the
boot order in the BIOS so I can reinstall Windows.
The screen never came back on after clicking OK to that, and 60 seconds
later it still had not reverted. Now I have no display at all on that
computer. The TV, when set to that HDMI input says there is no video
signal.

Now what?

This is kind of a confusing read. I'm not quite getting the order this was
done in, how the system was configured prior to this HDTV experiment,
whether or not you ever got any signal to display on to the TV, or what
reinstalling XP has to do with it.

It sounds like what you've done is forced an unsupported resolution from the
video card to the TV in it's current config. Likely the video card is
currently seeing the TV not as an HD 1080i monitor but as just a standard
monitor without the *.inf files installed that would have been supllied with
HD unit.
Presumably your XP box was working previously with a CRT or LCD? What
happens when you hook the DVI output of the card to this? The BIOS should
splash across the screen with just a plain DVI/VGA or DVI/DVI on the primary
output.

Presumably your XP box was working previously with a CRT or LCD? What
happens when you hook the DVI output of the card to this? The BIOS should
splash across the screen with just a plain DVI/VGA or DVI/DVI on the
primary output.

Forgot to add: When the BIOS splash and boot process shows, this would be
when you enter safe mode by hitting F8 every second or so when the Windows
progress bar starts across the bottom of the screen. Correct your driver
settings at this point. Make and model of HD TV? Your TV very likely is not
a plug and play device that XP will see automatically. As for 1080i output
from a Ti 4800 that I have no experience with.

Previously on alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia, Augustus said:

This is kind of a confusing read. I'm not quite getting the order this was
done in, how the system was configured prior to this HDTV experiment,
whether or not you ever got any signal to display on to the TV, or what
reinstalling XP has to do with it.

The system in question used to be my desktop machine. When I got the
HDTV, I dug the computer out from under the bookcase and plugged it in.
My intention was and is to use it as a low-rent media server in the
living room - play MP3s, videos, slideshows, etc. Once I got the
proper cables to plug it into my home theater, I did so and it worked
with two exceptions:

1: The system itself is old, so old that it came with XP Pro SP1. It's
been updated and patched, it's had a plethora of stuff, both work and
play related, installed and removed and changed around that the system
needs a wipe and reinstall from scratch in order to be properly useful
for its retasked intended purpose. Which leads me to number 2.

2: There is no video during boot. Once Windows boots to the logon
screen I get video but not before. In order to accomplish the
reinstall, I need that pre-logon video so I can get at the boot menu,
and into BIOS, as well as run the Windows XP installer off the install
CD.

In attempting to fix #2 with software I made things worse, and now I
have no video at all.

It sounds like what you've done is forced an unsupported resolution from the
video card to the TV in it's current config. Likely the video card is
currently seeing the TV not as an HD 1080i monitor but as just a standard
monitor without the *.inf files installed that would have been supllied with
HD unit.
Presumably your XP box was working previously with a CRT or LCD? What

Yes. When it was my desktop system, I had dual LCDs, one analog via a
DVI-to-analog adapter (primary socket) and one DVI monitor (secondary
socket).

happens when you hook the DVI output of the card to this? The BIOS should
splash across the screen with just a plain DVI/VGA or DVI/DVI on the primary
output.

I have no monitor I can hook up to it. The monitor setup on my desktop
system is physically enmeshed, I'd have to dismantle half of my actual
desktop setup to do that. Hardware wise, my best, certainly the most
convenient, thing to do is to get an analog monitor cable and use that
(the TV has an input for it). The reason I didn't do that before is
because I don't want to use an analog connection, I want to use the
digital connection to the TV in order to ensure the highest possible
video quality within my selected resolution.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"No wonder you have such an eccentric culture, none of your words have
their own meanings if you have to look up one word to understand
another. It never ends." (Amb. Delenn, B5 "And The Rock Cried Out, No
Hiding Place")

Previously on alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia, Augustus said:

Presumably your XP box was working previously with a CRT or LCD? What
happens when you hook the DVI output of the card to this? The BIOS should
splash across the screen with just a plain DVI/VGA or DVI/DVI on the
primary output.

Forgot to add: When the BIOS splash and boot process shows, this would be
when you enter safe mode by hitting F8 every second or so when the Windows
progress bar starts across the bottom of the screen. Correct your driver
settings at this point. Make and model of HD TV? Your TV very likely is not
a plug and play device that XP will see automatically. As for 1080i output
from a Ti 4800 that I have no experience with.

If I can get the pre-logon video (ie, boot/POST), I can reset
everything by doing the OS reinstall, which is what I was trying to do
in the first place.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"No wonder you have such an eccentric culture, none of your words have
their own meanings if you have to look up one word to understand
another. It never ends." (Amb. Delenn, B5 "And The Rock Cried Out, No
Hiding Place")

I have no monitor I can hook up to it. The monitor setup on my desktop
system is physically enmeshed, I'd have to dismantle half of my actual
desktop setup to do that. Hardware wise, my best, certainly the most
convenient, thing to do is to get an analog monitor cable and use that
(the TV has an input for it). The reason I didn't do that before is
because I don't want to use an analog connection, I want to use the
digital connection to the TV in order to ensure the highest possible
video quality within my selected resolution.

I'm thinking you're not going to be getting any signal with that setup
right now, analog or digital into the HDTV. Certainly try it, but don't be
too surprised if it's still blank. You're going to need a monitor to fix
this, one way or another.

* Jeffrey Kaplan:

I have a slightly older XP Pro system that I recently hooked up to my
HDTV. The video card is an nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4800. In case you're
not familiar with this older card, it's an AGP slot dual-head DVI card.
I'm using a DVI-to-HDMI cable on the primary DVI socket. In case it
matters, the TV claims 1080i resolution.

This means your TV supports only interlaced 1080.

I now have two problems. The first is that with this setup, I cannot
see the boot/POST display, and I need to because I need to change the
boot order in the BIOS so I can reinstall Windows.

This one is probably because the TV doesn't support the standard VGA
mode that is used for BIOS display.

The second came about as I was trying to deal with the first, I
downloaded the current drivers for this card, said drivers is in a
distribution dated in 2006. I ran the installer for it and the system
rebooted, so far so good except that still no bootup display.

Since drivers only affect the operating system which gets loaded *after*
the POST phase it's obvious that it doesn't help with the BIOS display
issue.

So I went into the nVidia settings to see if there were any that
pertained to specifically using a TV as the display device. Along the
way, I declined to change the computer display resolution, and then I
found settings for the TV's display modes. It was set to 720p, and I
changed it to 1080i. When I told it to apply the settings, it told me
that the screen would flicker and that if I did not like how the
display looked, it would automatically revert in 15 seconds.

Are you sure you set it to 1080*i* and not 1080*p*?

The screen never came back on after clicking OK to that, and 60 seconds
later it still had not reverted. Now I have no display at all on that
computer. The TV, when set to that HDMI input says there is no video
signal.

Now what?

Connect a real monitor (no TV set), press F8 during boot to get into
safe mode and reset resolution to 720p.

Benjamin

Previously on alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia, Augustus said:

I'm thinking you're not going to be getting any signal with that setup
right now, analog or digital into the HDTV. Certainly try it, but don't be
too surprised if it's still blank. You're going to need a monitor to fix
this, one way or another.

I very much hope you're wrong on that... I'll find out tonight, after
I get a VGA cable.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"No wonder you have such an eccentric culture, none of your words have
their own meanings if you have to look up one word to understand
another. It never ends." (Amb. Delenn, B5 "And The Rock Cried Out, No
Hiding Place")

Previously on alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia, Benjamin Gawert said:

I'm using a DVI-to-HDMI cable on the primary DVI socket. In case it
matters, the TV claims 1080i resolution.
This means your TV supports only interlaced 1080.

Which is the TV output I set the card to use, just before it went dark.

I now have two problems. The first is that with this setup, I cannot
see the boot/POST display, and I need to because I need to change the
boot order in the BIOS so I can reinstall Windows.

This one is probably because the TV doesn't support the standard VGA
mode that is used for BIOS display.

There is a VGA socket, maybe that one will do it.

Since drivers only affect the operating system which gets loaded *after*
the POST phase it's obvious that it doesn't help with the BIOS display
issue.

I have seen stranger things happen. I was hoping that it could set
something in the hardware. It was a long shot, but I figured I had
nothing to lose by trying. Apparently, I was wrong on that.

found settings for the TV's display modes. It was set to 720p, and I
changed it to 1080i. When I told it to apply the settings, it told me
that the screen would flicker and that if I did not like how the
display looked, it would automatically revert in 15 seconds.
Are you sure you set it to 1080*i* and not 1080*p*?

Yes.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"No wonder you have such an eccentric culture, none of your words have
their own meanings if you have to look up one word to understand
another. It never ends." (Amb. Delenn, B5 "And The Rock Cried Out, No
Hiding Place")

That older video card is not capable of what you are trying to do. Time to
upgrade to newer video card technology.

--
--DaveW


"Jeffrey Kaplan" wrote in message
news
I have a slightly older XP Pro system that I recently hooked up to my
HDTV. The video card is an nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4800. In case you're
not familiar with this older card, it's an AGP slot dual-head DVI card.
I'm using a DVI-to-HDMI cable on the primary DVI socket. In case it
matters, the TV claims 1080i resolution.

I now have two problems. The first is that with this setup, I cannot
see the boot/POST display, and I need to because I need to change the
boot order in the BIOS so I can reinstall Windows.

The second came about as I was trying to deal with the first, I
downloaded the current drivers for this card, said drivers is in a
distribution dated in 2006. I ran the installer for it and the system
rebooted, so far so good except that still no bootup display.

So I went into the nVidia settings to see if there were any that
pertained to specifically using a TV as the display device. Along the
way, I declined to change the computer display resolution, and then I
found settings for the TV's display modes. It was set to 720p, and I
changed it to 1080i. When I told it to apply the settings, it told me
that the screen would flicker and that if I did not like how the
display looked, it would automatically revert in 15 seconds.

The screen never came back on after clicking OK to that, and 60 seconds
later it still had not reverted. Now I have no display at all on that
computer. The TV, when set to that HDMI input says there is no video
signal.

Now what?

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"You think that's good, wait until dessert." "Well now, wait a minute.
I didn't authorize dessert." (Mr. Garibaldi and Dr. Franklin, B5 "A
Distant Star")