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No Red Colour on Monitor [solved: Don't Buy LG]


ColinM
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Mdk 10.1 OE, sole OS, on a new desktop, default settings.

 

Monitor is a 17@ LG Studioworks 700s CRT.

 

I've had Mdk installed and working fine for weeks, then all of a sudden all the red disappears from my monitor. Switch the system off for an hour, and the red came back, only to vanish after 30 minutes.

 

Now there's no red at all from boot up. Tapping the box makes no difference.

 

As a test, I plugged the monitor into my win98 machine and it was the same, no red.

 

So I assumed it was a dodgy monitor. Still under warranty, so I returned it, and got a *brand new one*.

 

I tested the new one in the shop, it was fine.

Return home, connect it up to the Linux machine, and NO red colour! Agghh!

 

Tried the new monitor on the Win box: no red colour, there either. Weird.

 

Double checked cables, and connections, all seem OK. No broken pins etc.

 

Somebody thought it might be my local electricity supply dipping, but this seems unlikely since I can use another Fujitsu monitor on the Win box and it HAS red colour.

 

So I tried fiddling the Linux bios settings to get the failsafe defaults, and now I can't even boot the Linux machine, half way through the boot I get the black console screen asking for my local host login, but what do I type to get it to the GUI? I'm new to Linux.

 

The VGA card hasn't failed in the Win machine because it shows red with my old Fujitsu monitor. And it seems very unlikely that my new Linux machine would also have a damaged VGA card at the same time.

 

Can anyone help me:

 

A) Get past the Linux console display at boot. (I can feintly see the blue mdk.10.1 desktop beneath the console interface.)

 

B) Get the red colour to display on my new monitor on both my Linux and my Win machine.

 

Ta!

 

Colin

Edited by ColinM
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Type

startx

to get the gui going.

 

So you've got this colour problem with two different machines running two different OS's and it's happened on two different monitors.

 

It must be you! :P

 

You must be sucking up all the red in your world!

Have you been feeling a bit blue lately?

Or green with envy perhaps? :cheeky:

 

Sorry for crap joke, but I can't figure that one out at all! :screwy:

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Great, I need serious help and I get a loopie.

 

Well, at least the startx command got rid of the console, and brought up the GUI.

 

Please could somebody help me sort through this logically.

 

Why did the red colour disappear, and how do I get it back?

 

The basic recap.

 

Mdk 10.1 OE working fine for weeks, sole OS. New desktop.

 

Red colour vanishes from the monitor, I assume it's a monitor fault because when I hook it to my Win 98 box, it has no red there either.

 

So I get a brand new monitor, and that too has no red on the linux box, and no red on the Win box. (The monitor is fine, it showed red in the shop, so it must be something weird on both my Win and Mdk boxes.

 

Now, when I dig out my ancient 15: Fujitsu monitor, and plug it into my Win box, it shows red OK. So the Win box VGA card is not the problem.

 

Help please...

 

Ta!

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What gives if you put the old monitor on the new linux machine?

 

My guess would still be the monitor. Tha fact that it was good in the shop doesn't mean a thing. I went good after you unplugged it for half an hour too. Perhaps the ride in the car jolted it some so it worked (for a time) in the shop.

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What gives if you put the old monitor on the new linux machine?

 

My guess would still be the monitor. Tha fact that it was good in the shop doesn't mean a thing. I went good after you unplugged it for half an hour too. Perhaps the ride in the car jolted it some so it worked (for a time) in the shop.

 

Thanks Devries (brave chap, after my last query here...)

 

I went to the shop and replaced the first LG monitor (still under warranty), I tried a brand new one (same model) in the shop before I brought it home, and that worked fine in the shop, so I'm certain the monitor is not the cause of the loss of red colour.

 

As well as my brand new LG monitor, I have an old 15" Fujitsu which shows red colour fine on my Win box. I've just plugged my Linux box into it and fired it up.

 

It begins to boot, and you can tell the red componant IS present, the OKs are green instead of a kind of yellow , and the failed ethonet word is bright red.

 

BUT... it won't boot completely and stalls with a black screen. If I then press Ctrl, Alt, Del, I get some text which I can't copy and paste here because it won't boot, but it basically says, a user lib file wouldn't load, and I then type shutdown now, and it shuts down. Tried three times.

 

But the interesting point is there's clearly red colour showing of the Fujitsu monitor with the Linux box.

 

While waiting for your help, I've tried fiddling in the Bios Setup: PNP/PCI Config, I tried enabling 'Reset Configuration Data' and re-started the system. (Still no red) That should've cleared out any erroneous Plug and Play settings stored in the Bios memory. Then I disabled Reset Config Data' and restarted hoping the hardware would be detected afresh. But still no red.

 

Previously, I also tried enabling both the 'Load Fail Safe Defaults' options and restarted.

Still no joy.

 

So I've painstakingly reset everything in the Bios Setup according to the manual to defaults. and restarted.

Still no red.

 

The Videocard is incorperated on the ECS Motherboard L4S5MG3 microATX

and it is listed as: SiS650/651/740 GUI 2d/ 3d Accelerator in HardDrake.

 

My particular monitor LG Studioworks 700s is not specifically listed in HardDrake's selection.

I tried the nearest LG Studioworks55, but reverted to the Generic 1028 X 75Hz setting which I have been using successfully for months.

 

I've triple checked cables and connections, and plug fuse. All OK.

 

I'd like to nail this logically, if you could help...

 

Ta!

 

Colin

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It's the monitor. You got another broken one. That's the only explanation that I can think of that makes any sense at all. There's no way any operating system would start _sending_ a signal with all the reds taken out, and you've seen the problem on two video cards. Even though you've had two monitors, it's the only answer that makes sense. Get 'em to swap it again.

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Both of the monitors are LGs, right?

Same model of LGs too?

 

Now, with all the pricing cuts all electronic stuffs are receiving nowadays, it is possible that LG is using low quality components for that particular model. So the same component is busted (in this case, the red gun or components controlling that red gun).

 

I still remember buying a used 17 inch monitor for 400 dollars. Nowadays, they cost less than 150 dollars brand new. Some costs less than 100 dollars even.

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Does the RGB cable come with the monitor? Not a separate component? I didn't read the thread too carefully but either the monitor, cable, or video board is most likely (especially the video board). Alternatively, is there any possible magnetic radiation from nearby that may be going on and off and affecting your display? (far shot I know). Seems unlikely its the linux distro. But try Knoppix and see if it still does red..

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Thank you Adam, I appreciate your reply, but I really don't think it is the monitor itself.

 

I tested the new LG in the shop on the exact same computer system as mine, (except the shop used WinXP, and I use Mdk). It showed red in the shop, but not at home plugged into my box.

 

The chances of getting two faulty monitors with exactly the same fault are remote.

It's a round trip of 4 hours by bus to the shop, not a quick trot to the Mall. And I don't think the shop folks will accept the problem is the new monitor when they plug it into their similar computer, and it shows red. (I jus' 'know' it would.)

 

The original LG monitor worked fine on my Mdk box for months. I didn't touch the setup, and over two days, the red flipped out. Not had it back since.

 

Could it be more to do with the particular power requirements of this monitor?

My old 15" Fujitsu may not be so demanding.

 

 

Does the RGB cable come with the monitor? Not a separate component? I didn't read the thread too carefully but either the monitor, cable, or video board is most likely (especially the video board). Alternatively, is there any possible magnetic radiation from nearby that may be going on and off and affecting your display? (far shot I know). Seems unlikely its the linux distro. But try Knoppix and see if it still does red..

 

Yes the Signal cable is sealed to the new monitor, so all that is new. New plug and pins.

 

I suspect it's the video board, but I don't know how to test it. And when I pugged the old Fujitsu monitor into the Mdk. box it did show red, though refused to boot up fully.

 

Magnetic radiation:

 

This is interesting.

 

When I moved in to my house, I put the 'puter desk near the mains power fuse box and auto-cut out, which is high up on my wall.

 

The Monitor had a blue shadow, so I moved my desk a few feet away, and the monitor image was fine.

 

Just in case that had anything to do with it. I've sited my new monitor even further away from the house power input. It has no effect on the Fujitsu monitor.

 

I also live about 80-100 metres from a large Microwave pylon used for telecommunications. Easy to blame that for everything from headaches, to the cat having fits etc...

 

If it is that, why has it worked fine for months, and why is my Fujitsu still working OK?

 

Another thought: We do have blackouts about once a week when they shut the grid down because of thunderstorms. It's possible the recent quality of the power supply is insufficient to keep the LG monitor happy.

 

I could test this by taking the new monitor to a friends, and trying it on his Win set up.

 

But how do I use the Mdk diagnostic tools to test the Videocard built into the motherboard. In HardDrake, I see the SiS card listed, and after highlighting it, click 'run config', and that seems OK. Is there any other diagnostic test I can run, so we can specifically locate the source of the problem?

 

I appreciate your help greatly.

 

I've had to revert to my old Win Box to keep updating my site.

 

Colin

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interestingly, I have an LG monitor myself; model T710BH. This one is a replacement. After I'd had the original for two months, guess what happened? Yup - some kind of colour malfunction and it died. Basically, everything was permanently green. The replacement's been OK so far, but I'm suspecting crappy LG quality control more and more here. It's perfectly possible for the monitor to be working in the shop and bust by the time you get it home...

 

Power requirements? Well, monitors don't need a HUGE amount of juice and presumably you have it plugged straight into an outlet, so I doubt it...

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interestingly, I have an LG monitor myself; model T710BH. This one is a replacement. After I'd had the original for two months, guess what happened? Yup - some kind of colour malfunction and it died. Basically, everything was permanently green. The replacement's been OK so far, but I'm suspecting crappy LG quality control more and more here. It's perfectly possible for the monitor to be working in the shop and bust by the time you get it home...

 

Power requirements? Well, monitors don't need a HUGE amount of juice and presumably you have it plugged straight into an outlet, so I doubt it...

 

My apologies to you Sir.

 

I just took the new LG monitor to my friends cybercafe, a mile away, (so not microwave interference, or duff power supply) and, you were right. No red. It IS the monitor!

 

Two LG Studioworks 700s' with the exact same fault. One worked for 6 months, the other for half a day: then no red colour.

 

New out of the box: Pathetic.

 

I'm just about to email the Computer Manufacturer to ask the MD to arrange for me to swap it yet again.

 

If he doesn't believe me, I'll point him to this thread.

 

My mate in the cybercafe, was not surprised, he'd had trouble with his LG, and avoids buying them.

 

Thank you for your help again.

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Just for completeness:

 

The shop replaced the monitor again without batting an eyelid.

 

Got it home and it works fine. Nice to see some red in this thread at last!

 

So for those considering buying an LG monitor, note that this is my third new LG in six months. The previous two had the same fault off the production line.

 

Nuff sed.

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