Assistance with switching to thousands of colors

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Last night, I installed Oregon Trail (5th Edition) on my MacBook 13". I attempted to play it but got and got this message:
messagek.jpg

Ergo, I opened up System Preferences then clicked on Displays. I can change my display from 1280x800 to 640x480 with ease. The problem I am having is that I cannot change my displays' colors from millions to thousands. I've searched through multiple forums dedicated to Apple products and haven't found a solution to my problem. Here is a screenshot of how the drop-down menu for Colors in the Display tab looks:
dropdownmenu.jpg

The only idea that I can think of, that can explain why I don't have the option of switching to thousands of colors, is that I replaced my hard drive about two weeks ago. I reinstalled my Mac OS X (Leopard) software discs that came with my MacBook 13". I also have done a lot of software updating since then. Could my replaced hard drive be the source of the problem or could it be something else? If it is something else, what is it? Is there anything I can do to get my display to use thousands of colors?
 

pigoo3

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Is there anything I can do to get my display to use thousands of colors?

The option to be able to switch from millions of colors to some other color "depth" (thousands, 256, 16, black & white) was eliminated/removed with newer versions of the OS and/or newer computer models.

If you don't have the option to change to "thousands of colors" on your computer...I do not believe that there is a way around it...other than to have an even older 2nd Macintosh computer model than your MacBook (such as a G4 or G5 based computer running an older version of the Mac OS).

- Nick
 
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I know a person who bought a brand new MacBook a year after I bought mine and they have the option to switch to thousands of colors. Their MacBook is the same version of MacBook has mine is. The thing I find odd is that my friend's MacBook is newer than mine. Shouldn't my friend's MacBook only be able to view millions of colors like mine?
 

pigoo3

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I know a person who bought a brand new MacBook a year after I bought mine and they have the option to switch to thousands of colors. Their MacBook is the same version of MacBook has mine is. The thing I find odd is that my friend's MacBook is newer than mine. Shouldn't my friend's MacBook only be able to view millions of colors like mine?

I have a 2007 MacBook Pro...and my wife has a 2008 MacBook (both running OS 10.6 Snow Leopard). Not only can we not switch color depth (millions to thousands)...we don't even have the drop-down menu for "Color" and "Refresh Rate".

- What model MacBook do you have?
- What model MacBook does your friend have?
- What OS version are each of you running?

(remember if they look the same, that does not mean that they are the same)

The bottom line is...if you don't have the option to change to thousands of colors...then it can't be done. I'm absolutely sure that both of these MacBooks aren't exactly the same (different models and/or running different OS versions).

- Nick
 
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starsintheskies
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Early 2008 MacBook, 13.3/2.4GHz/2x1GB/Originally 160GB Upgraded to 250GB/SD-DL
I have the Early 2008 MacBook (Configurations before I replaced my hard-drive [I upgraded to a 250GB SATA HardDrive]: 13.3"/D2.4G/2x1GB/160/SD-DL originally ) and she has the Early 2009 MacBook (Configurations: 13.3"/D2.0G/2x1GB/120/SD-DL).

She and I both are running Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a).
 
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starsintheskies
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You are correct in saying that they aren't exactly the same. I did some research in her and my System Profilers and discovered (In the Graphics/Displays section) that she has a a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Chipset model and I have a GMA X3100 chipset model. Is this what is allowing her to use thousand of colors and not me?
 

chscag

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Possibly. The GMA X3100 is an Intel integrated GPU which borrows memory from the system. But then, so is the nVidia 9400M an integrated GPU which borrows memory from the system. The difference may be the drivers that each uses.
 
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Thank you both for your help.
 

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