Out of Timing?

[Tasslehoff]

Hi,

Recently, my computer has started to occasionally change the resolution (randomly) to 800X600, which shouldn't be a problem. However, when I change it back to my normal setting, I find I can no longer open Civ. When I click to open, the screen goes black as normal, but then instead of the opening 2k screen, the screen stays black, and says, in white letters:

OUT OF TIMING
V:96 Hz
H: 77.9 kHz

This has happened twice in the past week, in which I was able (by randomly messing around) to get Civ working again, but then it happened again today, and I can't find any settings that work.

I've tried all the Hz variations on 1024X768, and find that either the same screen pops up when I try to open Civ, or it pops up before I do anything.

Anybody got a way to fix this? Or even an idea about what it is?

 

[AlanH]

No idea. We're a little short of essential information here. What sort of Mac are you running, and what versions of OS and Civ3?

 

[Tasslehoff]

Mac Mini, Civ3 Conquests, OS 10.3.9.

 

[AlanH]

Mac Mini doesn't narrow it down much. It could be a G4 or one of two Intel CPUs.

The 96 Hz vertical (refresh) rate sounds excessive, if real. The highest option in my Display panel is 75 Hz. What are your System Preferences/Display settings, and what sort of display do you have? If the setting is changing randomly it sounds as if your system software (or maybe hardware) is broken.

 

[Tasslehoff]

PowerPC G4.

My display settings are (currently) 1024 X 768, 75 Hz. What do you mean, "what sort of display?" System preferences says "VGA Display," is that it?

Another detail: Sometimes, as I try to escape the black screen, the H number changes to H: 48.7

 

[AlanH]

I was asking what sort of display you have connected to your Mac Mini - is it a flat screen or CRT, and what size? The message you are seeing is generated by the display hardware, and the display is trying to tell you that it is receiving VGA sync signals that are outside its valid range of frequencies. Therefore, if the display is reporting correctly, the Mac Mini hardware is sending invalid signals to it, and it may indicate that the Mac's display card has failed.

 

[Tasslehoff]

Let's see... Flat-screen LCD TV monitor, 15 inches.

 

[AlanH]

It isn't specified, but I would guess it can't handle over 80 Hz refresh rate.

If you have another screen you can try then that would establish whether the problem is with the screen or the Mac. Sounds likely to be the Mac to me. When you run Civ3 it tries to change the display settings to run the opening movie, and that seems to be throwing the Mac hardware into a spin. have you tried running the game in a window instead of full screen?

 

[Tasslehoff]

I've never figured out how to do that, whenever I run my game, it's full screen and I can't use other applications until I quit Civ.

 

[AlanH]

Hold down the Command key (the one with an Apple on it) as you double click Civ3 Complete. You will get a dialog box where you can select the screen resolution, and whether to run full screen or windowed.

 

[Tasslehoff]

Opening it in a window works! Thanks!

However, there's still the issue of resolutions changing randomly. It happened twice today, when I turned on the monitor. D'you know what's happening?