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Windows 98 denies resolution


umulig

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Hey users.

Im new to this forum, hope u guys can help anyway.

I have an old IBM Thinkpad (370C), with Western Digital gfx chip, and VGA display 640x480, 256 colours.

When I boot up Windows, the '98SE boot screen is at 256 colours !

But at desktop I get an error message complaining about faulty resolution, and from here it'll ONLY do 640x480, 16 colours.

I've fiddled around with WD drivers, Win98SE reinstall (on top on the old one), and so on, but have not been able to fix it. Also "removed" both dispaly and adapter driver, only to let windows find same drivers again.

(I have no portable CD drive anymore, so a clean install is out'a the question) :rolleyes:

Anyone got an idea?!?

Just ask, if you need more information! Thanks in advance.

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why is a re-install out of the question? You mentioned you performed a

re-install over the old one ... are you saying that the Win98se install files are on the hard drive somwhere? Because if they are you *can* re-install. Rename win.com to win.bak and then run setup ...

Edited by soporific
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why is a re-install out of the question? You mentioned you performed a

re-install over the old one

Yeah. Using MS network, the cd was in my other computer.
... are you saying that the Win98se install files are on the hard drive somwhere? Because if they are you *can* re-install. Rename win.com to win.bak and then run setup ...

No, the install files are not there.

They might JUST fit on the last 150 MB out of the 500 MB harddrive.. but will it make any difference from installing over network? (As I did that last night - and the error is still there).

I was wondering if I have to delete posts in registry / win.ini / Config.sys or something, as my screen shows 8 bit mode on startup - but not at desktop.

Edited by umulig
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Damit...

Reinstalled Windows 98SE from scratch.

Same problem; Windows will show both "boot screen" and "close screen" in 8 bit.. but desktop will only run in 4 bit, claiming that ".. theres a problem with my video card, or the my hardware might not be able to run the selected resolution".

Any suggestions are more than welcome. :-(

Edited by umulig
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Damit...

Reinstalled Windows 98SE from scratch.

Same problem; Windows will show both "boot screen" and "close screen" in 8 bit.. but desktop will only run in 4 bit, claiming that ".. theres a problem with my video card, or the my hardware might not be able to run the selected resolution".

Any suggestions are more than welcome. :-(

The boot and close screens are 8 bit colour, but they are using an old VGA resolution of 320x200. If you want to open up the higher resolutions and colour depths on the desktop you will have to locate a display driver for that western digital whatever. I had no idea western digital ever made graphics adapters....

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Damit...

Reinstalled Windows 98SE from scratch.

Same problem; Windows will show both "boot screen" and "close screen" in 8 bit.. but desktop will only run in 4 bit, claiming that ".. theres a problem with my video card, or the my hardware might not be able to run the selected resolution".

Any suggestions are more than welcome. :-(

The boot and close screens are 8 bit colour, but they are using an old VGA resolution of 320x200. If you want to open up the higher resolutions and colour depths on the desktop you will have to locate a display driver for that western digital whatever. I had no idea western digital ever made graphics adapters....

Well, display driver IS there, its the native Western Digital driver for Windows 98SE, wd.drv / wd.dll .

Theres no other display driver from WD.

Problem is that I know for sure (from board forum and more) that my IBM C370 is capable of doing 640x400 in 8 bit - but apparently wont go there, and I've got a feeling I have to edit in either Reg database / wd.inf of some config file.

(In Windows 95 one would have to run some IBM small configuration tool to get Win95 to use VESA (?), witch would get 640,400,8. But I tried that, program wont work on Win98.)

Any ideas?

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Go into device manager and expand "Display adapters" and tell me what you see. Are there two devices listed, or only one?

Display adapters >> Western Digital (eg only one) >> Driver: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WD.DRV >> C:\WINDOWS\WD.VXD >> C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\vmm32.vxd (vdd.vxd) + vmm32(vflat.vxd)

Thanks for taking interest, Smokee. :}

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Search the web for the latest drivers. I know from experience that video drivers on windows 98 can be at blame for low resolutions and color depth. I also know that for some reason on win98, if the OS detects that you have only a "default monitor" and nothing else, that CAN limit your resolution (though IDK about color depth.) This happened to me when win98 wouldn't recognize the monitor type. The highest resolution it would go was 640x480. So, I decided to trick the OS, by changing the monitor type in display settings to a Dell M770, which is on my other computer, and it worked. This may sound sort of irrelevent, but it may help.

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Found a Wester Digital (Paradise & Phillips) driver on www.driversguide.com.

You need to join the site (free) and then cut/paste the following:

http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?a...b&jmd=and&fzz=b

Hope this helps.

p.s. Laptops reqire the "Monitor" section to be set 800x600 or 1024x768, whatever your screen runs at, also set refresh to 60.

Bigbrit

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Hi

Check out IBM's support site for drivers and possible solutions

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss...ge=IBM+ThinkPad

Unfortunately IBM ended support for Thinkpad 370C long ago. And back then, support was only for Windows 95, as I recall.

Search the web for the latest drivers. I know from experience that video drivers on windows 98 can be at blame for low resolutions and color depth. I also know that for some reason on win98, if the OS detects that you have only a "default monitor" and nothing else, that CAN limit your resolution (though IDK about color depth.) This happened to me when win98 wouldn't recognize the monitor type. The highest resolution it would go was 640x480. So, I decided to trick the OS, by changing the monitor type in display settings to a Dell M770, which is on my other computer, and it worked. This may sound sort of irrelevent, but it may help.

Unfortunately there are apparently no other drivers available, than the two Windows 98 SE native drivers for Western Digital - one's just WD.. the other one is WD '512K'.

My TP 370C got 1MB of display ram, by the way. :huh:

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Found a Wester Digital (Paradise & Phillips) driver on www.driversguide.com.

You need to join the site (free) and then cut/paste the following:

http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?a...b&jmd=and&fzz=b

Hope this helps.

p.s. Laptops reqire the "Monitor" section to be set 800x600 or 1024x768, whatever your screen runs at, also set refresh to 60.

Bigbrit

Driverguide:

USERNAME: drivers & PASSWORD: all still works, without signing up. ;-)

Anyway, the driver you suggest is for a Philips PCI card?!

I'll try it anyway, as Ive got nothing to loose, and let you know. EDIT: Did not work.

TP370C laptop screen would never go any further than 640x400, 8 bit, by the way.

Thanks for helping out, BB.

Edited by umulig
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Driverguide:

USERNAME: drivers & PASSWORD: all still works, without signing up. ;-)

For the last 4+ years, USERNAME temp & PASSWORD: 512 also still work despite their site having been redone twice. Was their old temporary assignment if you claim to have lost your pass. Was initially to be used during the time while you waited for them to get back to you regarding your lost pass.

Edited by Chozo4
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Hmm..

Found out something about VESA drivers, especially here.

This applies for Win 95, but I'll give it at try for Win 98 also, as symtoms seem to bee the same - Thinkpad 370C's got VESA bus.

The site also contains info for manufactures of vidoecards, other than my Western Digital.

EDIT: This board also gives relevant information.

Edited by umulig
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