Odd Display Issue...

[JoeBas]

... hey all.

Quick question for ya... I had to send my usual flat-screen monitor off to get warranty service, and it's gonna be gone for a couple of weeks. In the interim, I'm using my old, "boxy" monitor that I had from my previous system.

This is working fine... EXCEPT when I try to play CIV!!! Soon as the menu screen for PTW comes up, it goes haywire, with almost horizontal interference lines and pulsing light.

Anyone know what I can do about this?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

It sounds like civ3 trys to switch to either a screen resolution or a horizontal/vertical frequency that your old monitor can't cope with.
When you changed to your old monitor, did you change the "monitor" setting in the Windows display properties, so Windows knows that you're using a different monitor? (control panel>display>settings>advanced>monitor in win9x )

 

[JoeBas]

Nope, since I'm getting the regular monitor back in a few weeks, I didn't do that... I'm using XP. I tried changing the resolutions and such, but that didn't work... might have to "Dig a little deeper", as you suggested.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

It's probably not a resolution problem unless your old monitor is really old, and can't manage 1024*768. What's more likely is that Windows is using the wrong frequency settings (ie, the ones for your flat screen monitor)

What's the make and model of the monitor you're using now?

 

[JoeBas]

No, I'm running in 1024x768 just fine with everything else...

I'm not sure about the make/model of this temporary one, it's an old, boxy "Leo" generic monitor that I haven't used since I got the new system 2 years ago. I'm willing to be it's a driver issue, that the driver for the flat screen isn't quite kosher with this volvoesque boxy old clunk of junk monitor I have now... but I'm not sure where to even find a driver FOR this old monitor... and I don't want to screw things up for when the new one gets here.

I've done the XP "find drivers" thing, but it says it "can't find a better match than the one currently installed"...

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Windows doesn't need much to tell it how to use a monitor, there are no drivers as such just a few lines in an .inf file to give the accepable frequency range and max display size.

Here's an .inf file that contains a few Leo monitors (zipped so I could upload it)
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads3/Leo.zip

If you had Win9x, you would install this by going to :
control panel>display>settings>advanced>monitor>change>
select the radio button that starts "Display a list..." click on "Have Disk" then select this .inf file. (the model number of the monitor should be at the back)
If this doesn't help, there's still one more thing to try.

 

[JoeBas]

Thanks, CrazyEddie, but that option isn't there in XP... all you can do from that "monitor" screen is manually select the frequency... the only one this monitor works with is 60mhz, all the rest and you can't even see what you're doing...

I actually called the Firaxians last night, and invested the 30 minutes wading through the ENDLESS useless self-help menu choices (If you don't know what a computer is, press 1. If you're calling asking how to beat the Babylonians, press 2. If you've pirated a copy and want to register anyway, press 3. If you want us to explain to you how a spearman can beat a tank, press 4.)... anyway, he also said, as I thought it was, that it sounded like a display driver issue.

So, off I went and spent another 20 minutes or so finding & installing the EXACT correct display driver for this monitor. Reboot & try it, and zzzzzzap... nothing but interference.

The only thing I can figure is, that somewhere in the installation of Civ/PTW, the software "interrogated" my system to see what the correct frequency to use was... independent of the driver. And now that that has changed (this old monitor runs at 60mhz! ), the Civ software can't handle it.

Wondering if a complete uninstall/reinstall would be worth it.

[EDIT]: Nope, went and tried that, no dice. I'm beginning to think I'm doomed to play (NOOOO!!!!)... Colonization o), until I get my regular monitor back.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Well, theres's more things to try yet
The tech guy should have told you this, but just in case
If your monitor runs OK in 1024*768 in Windows but not in Civ, then you can add this line to civilization3.ini and ptw.ini

Refresh=60

You may have tried this already, it's in the civ3 readme.txt

 

[JoeBas]

AARRGGHH!!!!

All that work, and sho nuff, that did the trick... so simple!

Now, the big decision... back to Civving, or finish off the Aztecs and Incas in my Colonization game...

Thanks a lot!

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Tech support didn't mention this?
Sack him!

 

[JoeBas]

Well, he WAS leaving for home in 15 minutes...