stuck at 640x480 resolution

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stuck at 640x480 resolution

Hello all.

I've replaced the hard drive on a 1GHz eMac. After the upgrade, the screen resolution gets set to 640x480. This is the only setting in the Displays system preferences.

During power up, the screen if fully grey (all the way to the edges) with the grey apple logo, but once the OS (10.4) starts up, the resolution is set to 640x480 and I get a small window in the middle of the screen.

I've checked that the video cable is connected securely to the mother board.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

eMac, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Dec 30, 2006 12:08 AM

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Answer 1

JMVP

Level 6

16,851 points

Dec 30, 2006 12:24 PM in response to eMac304

eMac304,

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!

The fixed 640x480 pixel resolution indicates that you installed the OS on the HD using a model-specific non-retail grey-label OS X Install disc that's not the one that came with that eMac model, or that you used a retail black label OS X Install disc that predates the Mac. Since the 1.0 GHz eMac shipped with OS X 10.2.x, the 10.4.8 shown in your profile suggests the hard drive was initialized and the OS installed on a different Mac. Either way, the OS on the HD is missing the necessary ATI video drivers for the eMac.

Easiest fix is to reinstall the OS (either a clean install or an Archive&Install will do) using either the OS X Install disc that came with the eMac and then update as necessary, or a full retail Tiger OS X disc.

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Answer 2

eMac304 Author

Level 1

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Jan 1, 2007 9:39 AM in response to JMVP

Hello JMVP. Thank you for the quick response.

The fixed 640x480 pixel resolution indicates that you
installed the OS on the HD using a model-specific
non-retail grey-label OS X Install disc that's not
the one that came with that eMac model, or that you
used a retail black label OS X Install disc that
predates the Mac. Since the 1.0 GHz eMac shipped with
OS X 10.2.x, the 10.4.8 shown in your profile
suggests the hard drive was initialized and the OS
installed on a different Mac. Either way, the OS on
the HD is missing the necessary ATI video drivers for
the eMac.

I installed the retail 10.2 which seems to have started the problems. I then tried to install 10.4, but the installer for 10.4 was running in the 640x480 screen which made the selection buttons for the installer not accessible.

I had to run the 10.2 installer, reformat the drive, and then run the 10.4 installer.

Any idea why the 10.4 installer still used 640x480?

Easiest fix is to reinstall the OS (either a clean
install or an Archive&Install will do) using either
the OS X Install disc that came with the eMac and
then update as necessary, or a full retail Tiger OS X
disc.

Thank you for your help.

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Answer 3

JMVP

Level 6

16,851 points

Jan 1, 2007 8:00 PM in response to eMac304

Not sure, but perhaps the 10.4 Installer thought you had 640x480 set as the display resolution? I'd be curious to know if inserting the 10.4 disc, restarting while resetting PRAM to reset the default resolution, then immediately booting from the 10.4 Install disc, would show normal resolution using the drivers on the retail 10.4 disc.

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Answer 4

eMac304 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 2, 2007 11:01 AM in response to JMVP

I did reset PRAM a number of times, but not with the 10.4 disk in. I checked the open boot setting for the screen and they were set for 1024x768. So I'm not sure why things defaulted to 640x480.

Things are working now.

Thanks again for your help.

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