No Widescreen Resolutions Available???

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Hello all. I have a Powermac G4 AGP Graphics 450MHz, 768MB RAM, Tiger. I just bought a Westinghouse 19" Widescreen LCD (LCM-19w4) specifically because it had two inputs (DVI-D, VGA) so I could run my Xbox 360 and my Mac into the same monitor to save space. My Mac has an ATI Rage Pro 128 AGP graphics card, which I believe has one VGA output, and one DVI. I've never seen what an ADC output looks like, but the one on my card is white and fits a DVI-D cable into it, so I just assumed it's DVI. So when I opened my new monitor and ran the VGA output from the Mac to the monitor to test, it worked great and I was able to get a 1440 x 900 resolution. So then, I hooked up my Xbox 360 and it worked fine. When I hooked up my Mac to the DVI-D port, I was only able to get 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024 stretched resolutions. Do I need some sort of convertor or driver upgrade or something? Am I using the right cable (DVI-D)? My whole purpose for buying a monitor like this was to use both inputs and I don't want a stretched picture.
 

Gav


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I'm unable to answer your question, but I can confirm that if the DVI-D cable fits, then its the right cable. ADC & DVI are different shapes.

DVI-D should send a signal to your Mac giving the available resolutions, so why it isn't working is beyond me.

Try using a DVI-I cable instead if you have one?
 
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I'll have to buy a DVI-I cable to test it. I also look everywhere for any driver updates for the Rage 128 Pro Mac and I couldn't find anything.
 

bobtomay

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Found this same issue in multiple forums dating from '03 to '05. VGA works, but DVI does not display in full resolution with the Rage 128. This was true on the Mac as well as the PC counterpart.

None of them had a solution unless you consider upgrading your video card a solution. (Probably not a bad idea, you could upgrade that card substantially for well under $100 and maybe under $50.) Found one report of being able to support the 20" Apple display, but the poster noted the picture was not very good and he used the VGA instead.
 
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Good news bobtomay, even though it's bad news for me. I'm just glad someone else had this problem. I have been searching the last day or so looking for something and I couldn't find anything on this issue. Is there a VGA to DVI adapter I could buy that would fix this, or is my only option a graphics card upgrade? Where do you suggest I look to find an inexpensive upgrade to this AGP card? Also, on Ebay, I saw a Radeon card with a DVI-I output. Will my DVI-D cable connect with this to my DVI-D input on the monitor? I'm a little confused on the different types of DVI's out there and I want to make sure I get what I need.
 

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Yes you can get a VGA to DVI adapter. Should not be a hard to find item at Radio Shack or most electronics stores. And should be less than $20 (I've seen them for under $10).

On the video card replacement side, recommendations I found primarily suggested the ATI Radeon 8500 Mac Edition. They made a PCI and AGP version. Could not find one new with just a quick search, maybe could look on ebay or do some more googling. Anyone wanting more than $50 for this card is ripping you off IMHO. The last price I found for this card new on cached web pages was $39, but of course not stocked any longer. (If I remember correctly this card was around $150-200 when it was released, but if it costs you $200 for that video card today, it really is time to think about getting a new system. Amazing how far video cards have come in the last few years when comparing price point when you think about it.)
 
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Quick question before I go with the quick fix. Since my DVI output is flawed on my Powermac, if I were to buy a DVI to VGA convertor, could I put the convertor on my monitor? Most people put the convertor on their graphics card DVI output, then run the VGA cable to the VGA input on the monitor. But what I want to do is run my VGA output from my graphics card into the DVI input on my monitor with the DVI to VGA convertor on plugged into the monitor. Will that work okay? I don't see why not, but I wanted to check before I buy.
 

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Never done it that way, have a monitor I can try it on, I'll give it a try with my MBP and post back in a bit
oops can't try that with my MBP since it is DVI out, can try it on my PC though, I'll give it a shot on that

can't do it - all my adapters are dvi-i and the monitor is dvd-d
On reflection, am pretty sure I have used vga to dvi adapter on vga output and then used a dvi cable to a monitor, if it will work there don't know why it wouldn't work at the end of the vga cable instead

Just need to make sure you verify what adapter you need (male / female at each side), it's cheap enough at radio shack and if it doesn't work they should allow you to return it(if location near you is still carrying this - they have quit carrying as much of this type of hardware in many of their stores and you have to go online to get it, think circuit city would let you return it also)
 
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Thanks. Yeah I went into Radio Shack here and they didn't have any adapters like that. The only problem online is that they don't say whether they are DVI-I or DVI-D. Best Buy had a DVI-D adapter, but I already have one. I might as well just tough it out and buy a video card. I saw some on Ebay that were priced pretty good. I might as well just go that route.
 

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