Solution to configuring multiple monitors on FireGL 8800

[syllopsium]

There have already been a few threads about the lack of multimonitor support with the FireGL 8800. Instead of two seperate monitors the display properties only shows (Multiple Monitors) and allows cloning on the second monitor.

The solution to this on XP (or using the XP drivers on Windows 2003 upwards) is to edit the registry changing DisableDualView in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Services\ati2mtag\Device0 to zero. It may be necessary to change this value elsewhere in this registry if this does not work by itself.

Reboot and the problem will be fixed. DualView was added to the display driver architecture in XP, so if the problem also exists on Windows 2000 this is unlikely to help.

Hope this helps any future FireGL 8800 users, although it's a bit of an old card now! Also, just in case it helps others, repeating other posts on this message board - the Schneider Digital 8.083.1 drivers are different than the ati.com 8.083.1 drivers (OpenGL just doesn't work on the ati.com drivers).

My FireGL 8800 has been a bit temperamental (occasionally reports 64MB memory, 256MB bus width on startup. Then again, I am running a 440GX board with only 2x AGP). I believe the HP 1.15A BIOS may have made this more stable. The IBM/Schneider 1.17 BIOS might have slightly better RAM timings and be clocked a bit higher, but that's no use if it impacts stability.

It's also possible to hack later driver releases than 8.083.1 onto the 8800 if you edit the .INF files.. I'm not aware of any particular advantage of doing this, though, so have stuck to 8.083.1.

PK

[Akumajo]

The HP 1.15A BIOS that I have in my FireGL 8800 gives you a nice 275Mhz core, 300Mhz memory timing that is extremely stable as I have ran specviewperf7 back in early 2005 with the 2004 drivers on a PIII 1Ghz VC820 mobo with 512MB of PC 600 RDRAM and I was even able to play Doom III even though that game was supposed to need a higher cpu, the only time it became a slide show was if I went god mode and cheated to get a bunch of enemies on screen.

Anyways I think what is holding you back is that motherboard.

I switched my FireGL 8800 into an OR840 workstation mobo from Intel and dual PIII 1Ghz that I already had, I am considering selling my memory to get PC 800 RDRAM but at the current time the card works great with the surprise Schneider Digital drivers that I was not even aware existed and worked until a couple of days weeks ago.

I have also tested the FGL 8800 with my Athlon XP 3200+ and with the 2004 drivers I used to use, the card gave me a 9898 3dMark 2001se score over the 7436 or so score I used to get on the PIII, so I think since they are more affordable, its probably better that you get a dual channel RDRAM or DDR-SDRAM Intel motherboard or workstation board for either a single northwood P4 over 3Ghz or dual Zeons at whatever speed you get lucky to find since you will at least greatly benefit from the AGP4x stability a more modern mobo can give you.

[syllopsium]

The HP 1.15A BIOS that I have in my FireGL 8800 gives you a nice 275Mhz core, 300Mhz memory timing that is extremely stable [...]

Anyways I think what is holding you back is that motherboard.
[...] you will at least greatly benefit from the AGP4x stability a more modern mobo can give you.

Possibly. My FGL is clocked to 250/290 and I was sure I was running the 1.15A BIOS (properties reveal p/n 113-90604-107 version 001.007.008.000). Since I changed it I've not had a single misreporting of memory size; however I have had occasional failures to complete w2k3 boot, a hang and a blank area on the screen. It might be the AGP, but I'm guessing at the card and have another on the way in order to test it (they're only 35quid new, now!). I never had these problems with the previous G400 MAX - admittedly, the spec of that is considerably below the FGL.

I'll upgrade the system to something fancy later in the year (probably a dual dual core system), and use something of FireGL class.

P

[Akumajo]

however I have had occasional failures to complete w2k3 boot, a hang and a blank area on the screen. It might be the AGP, but I'm guessing at the card and have another on the way in order to test it (they're only 35quid new, now!). I never had these problems with the previous G400 MAX - admittedly, the spec of that is considerably below the FGL.

I also own a Matrox G400 Max 32MB AGP card however I retired that card once I got the GeForce 6800gt and sent the FGL to a dual proc pIII setup.

The G400 Max is FAR below, beneath the FireGL 8800 128MB, it seems to me that you don't know what your card is capable of but I will tell you this, all of the G400 Max were really shipped as AGP 2X cards, thats why it worked so well with your system, I found in the old Matrox fan forums a way to awaken or hard solder mod the G400 Max to AGP 4X and I did it and the card worked pretty much the same however it was much more compatible with newer motherboards like P4 mobos I tested the card in.

The reason the G400 Max was AGP 2X at retail was because even though it was an internal AGP4X, Intel's AGP 4X motherboards like the i820 (I also own the VC820) were not available at the time circa late 1999, if history were to have changed and they would have had those mobos ready maybe things would be different.

I'll upgrade the system to something fancy later in the year (probably a dual dual core system), and use something of FireGL class.

What country are you in? do you have an Ebay account, you should go to Ebay and hunt for a nice P4 DDR mobo since DDR is very affordable these days and get at least a 2.8Ghz or 3.4Ghz intel P4 you will not spend that much money, I am guessing at least 100 or so for the proc, and less than 50 or 40 for the mobo, but you can also get a P4 S478 mobo made by ASROCK since their bios support is very nice and current so you should spend less than 250 US currency for a value system because you do not need any of the current crazy stuff, unless you get an AGP Opteron mobo and proc but that will cost you fancy.

[syllopsium]

The G400 Max is FAR below, beneath the FireGL 8800 128MB, it seems to me that you don't know what your card is capable of but I will tell you this, all of the G400 Max were really shipped as AGP 2X cards,

I'm familiar with what the FireGL 8800 is capable of. The G400 MAX actually shipped in multiple configurations - later revisions supported AGP 4X properly.

I don't want to upgrade to a 2-3GHz P4 because that takes away money from a proper upgrade and isn't multi processor (I'll grant you the Pentium D 805 is remarkably cost effective if you can find it)

In any case I solved the stability problems (it's a long story involving a dead SATA controller, a new motherboard (all of a tenner off ebay for a dual processor SCSI 440BX board) and a different FireGL 8800). I think the actual solution was adding the auxiliary power connector to the board - the standard ATX connector is not enough.

The Dualview registry modifications worked fine when I reinstalled the system (it may also be necessary to set DALRULE_NOCRTANDDFPONSAMECONTROLLER to 1, DALRULE_ONEDISPLAYBOOTDEFAULT to 0 and DisableLCD to 0 in some cases).