ATI Radeon 9200 AGP card stuck on 640 x 480

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ATI Radeon 9200 AGP card stuck on 640 x 480

I have a PowerMac G4 400Mhz AGP Graphics computer running OS 9.2.2. I've recently replaced the video card with an ATI Radeon 9200 AGP card. When I plug in a Dell VGA flat panel monitor, the only display mode available is 640 x 480. I've installed all the necessary ATI updates and drivers. All the extensions for this are enabled. I also tried replacing the dell monitor with a Samsung SyncMaster 173P monitor so that I could try plugging into the DVI port. Similar situation. It only allows a display mode of 1280 x 1024.

Any ideas as to why this is happening?

PowerMac G4 400Mhz AGP Graphics, Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Jan 29, 2008 8:27 PM

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Answer 1

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Jan 30, 2008 2:17 AM in response to Daryl Vogel

Hi-

The 9200 is a flashed card? I would assume that the card and OS 9 are compatible as far as the resolutions that you have.

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Answer 2

Daryl Vogel Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 30, 2008 7:20 AM in response to japamac

I'm sorry but what is meant by "flashed card"?

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Answer 3

Jan 30, 2008 2:27 PM in response to Daryl Vogel

A flashed video card is one that was made for PCs but has been reprogrammed ("flashed") with Mac firmware, to work in a Mac.

ATI only sells a PCI version of the 9200 for Mac, so your card is likely a flashed one.
These can work well if flashed correctly (I'm using one right now).

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Answer 4

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Jan 30, 2008 2:27 PM in response to Daryl Vogel

A flashed card is a PC version that has had the ROM replaced with Mac ROM- basically, it's a hacked card. Flashed cards are usually found through sources such as eBay....
Sometimes, the ROM is partial, causing limited performance, or, there are physical (hardware) limitations of the card.
Also, OS 9 has narrow graphics card support (compared to OS X), confined to Mac specific cards.

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Answer 5

Daryl Vogel Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 31, 2008 8:35 AM in response to japamac

Thanks for the help. Yes, I did get this through an ebay seller. Given that this card was flashed, maybe there is some issues with the card. I contacted the seller and after trying a number of steps, the last resort was to zap the PRAM. Did that and no change. So I'm sending it back to him.

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