help with odd ATI/triplehead problem

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 19 Jul 2009, 00:31

Hi,
I've got a 4870X2 and DTH2G DE.
I have all the latest firmware and drivers.
I'm currently running Catalyst 9.6 (9.7 didn't work for me)
Vista 64 Ultimate

Under 9.6 I have 5040x1050 across 3 22' Samsung monitors and on the other port my 24' Dell. Didn't require any meddling with Powerstrip.

Here's the problem: I can't set my triplehead setup as the default monitor!
I know how to usually do it - go to Display settings and select the monitor you want, and then check the "This is my main monitor" box. But it is grayed out and I can't do it. Neither Powerdesk nor Catalyst Control will allow me to do it either. Neither will Untramon.

I'm a little lost at this point. Anyone have an idea?

PapaLes · Post by **PapaLes** » 19 Jul 2009, 03:24

I know it sucks but I think we should wait for the officilal release of both Cat 9.7 and the new Matrox firmware. It may save us all a lot of headaches.

thenjwaslike · Post by **thenjwaslike** » 19 Jul 2009, 03:28

yeah i 2nd that papales, all we can do is wait..

if the official cat 9.7 doesnt work with my 5040x1050 res then im selling my monitors lol

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 19 Jul 2009, 03:55

The new firmware has been out for a few days now.

That's why my ATI setup works at 59 Hz @ 5040x1050.

[email protected] · Post by **[email protected]** » 19 Jul 2009, 07:16

Switch physical port maybe?

OzHuski · Post by **OzHuski** » 19 Jul 2009, 13:08

Hi,
I've got a 4870X2 and DTH2G DE.
I have all the latest firmware and drivers.
I'm currently running Catalyst 9.6 (9.7 didn't work for me)
Vista 64 Ultimate

Under 9.6 I have 5040x1050 across 3 22' Samsung monitors and on the other port my 24' Dell. Didn't require any meddling with Powerstrip.

Here's the problem: I can't set my triplehead setup as the default monitor!
I know how to usually do it - go to Display settings and select the monitor you want, and then check the "This is my main monitor" box. But it is grayed out and I can't do it. Neither Powerdesk nor Catalyst Control will allow me to do it either. Neither will Untramon.

I'm a little lost at this point. Anyone have an idea?

Oh man I had the exact same issue when I updated my driver to 9.6 (was using 9.5). Nothing would let you change primary displays. You can still do it though. I had to use the CCC and I believe I had to clone the screen onto my 5040 display (Not extend), then swap it to the primary display and change your secondary monitor back to an extended display. Thats how I think I managed to do it.

At any rate play around with your settings in the CCC a bit - might take a few little tweaks here or there but you can still force it to change to your primary.

PapaLes · Post by **PapaLes** » 19 Jul 2009, 20:11

The new firmware has been out for a few days now.

That's why my ATI setup works at 59 Hz @ 5040x1050.

Oh yes! thank you for the heads up. It looks like it came out July 7th. It's working fine on my 28" I-INC monitors with a single ATI 4870 running Vista 64 Ultimate and ATI 9.6 driver only (I didn't get the full Catalyst)

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 19 Jul 2009, 22:38

Hmmm. I've noticed that the control box for powerdesk doesn't show up and that when I boot up with only the triple head set up connected it won't display video. I'm beginning to wonder if the current version of the software doesn't recognize the new firmware or something...

PapaLes · Post by **PapaLes** » 20 Jul 2009, 00:27

All is not as perfect as I first thought. Bezel management is a bit of a problem for me. The right screen works perfect but the left screen makes a sudden turn nearest the center screen. If I run the bezel management for the left screen to where it should be that screen begins to shrink on both sides. I will try switching monitors to see if it's a monitor thing but I really think it's some driver problem. Maybe the official Cat 9.7 will help also.(presently on 9.6) Also some games are freezing with no way to recoupe. Far Cry 2 and FSX are the two big ones. I am not yet discouraged though. I've seen some of the best gaming as far as looks goes and if I can get the freezes figured out I'll be happy. Trying to use DX10 may be part of the problem. Lot's more experimenting to do.

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 20 Jul 2009, 05:14

Switch physical port maybe?

Nope. Good idea though.

I've since noticed that the powerdesk icon dosen't show up in the task bar. I wonder if the new firmware causes the brick to not be recognized by Vista...

Do you guys see an entry for the Matrox TH2G DE in device manager? (other than the entry under monitors...)

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 20 Jul 2009, 05:39

Here is another strange strange symptom.

So, I can't set the triplehead setup as the default monitor. So I try removing the single main monitor input cable from my graphics card to see what it will do, eg if the triplehead setup will take over.

Well, the triplehead monitors all immediately turn that shade of light black they have when there's a signal but nothing is coming through. When I plug my single monitor back in, the triplehead setup comes back on line! (albeit at the wrong position and resolution)

OzHuski · Post by **OzHuski** » 20 Jul 2009, 12:56

Here is another strange strange symptom.

So, I can't set the triplehead setup as the default monitor. So I try removing the single main monitor input cable from my graphics card to see what it will do, eg if the triplehead setup will take over.

Well, the triplehead monitors all immediately turn that shade of light black they have when there's a signal but nothing is coming through. When I plug my single monitor back in, the triplehead setup comes back on line! (albeit at the wrong position and resolution)

If your read my post above you cant change the default monitor while its being extended onto your widescreen desktop.. You have to disable it, then clone + enable it, then switch to main monitor.

All has to be done in the CCC - this is normal. Same thing happened to me. As for removing the default main monitor, I didnt even bother trying it so cant comment if that is normal though.

Mark B · Post by **Mark B** » 20 Jul 2009, 17:35

Hi All,

If you are having any issues with the 9.7 beta, try reverting to the 9.5 release to go along with our new firmware and PD 2.05.

Catalyst 9.5 Actually contained the primary fixes for ATI compatibility w/TripleHead2Go already.

Catalyst 9.6 appears to have caused a regression in compatibility, which is why some users may have problems with 9.6, as well as with 9.7 beta.

Catalyst 9.7 is slated to have all the fixes re-enabled and all issues resolved (as I had mentioned in previous posts). However at this stage we are crossing our fingers since it is completely in ATI's court as to whether everything will be sorted out as planned.

I will provide more details as they become available.

-Mark

thenjwaslike · Post by **thenjwaslike** » 20 Jul 2009, 18:58

whoa it works now with my 4870x2 + acer x193w+ monitors but now my desktop isnt fully put, if i move my mouse to the right, the screen adjusts to the right, move it down, the screen moves down to see taskbar, up and left etc.

anyone know the command to fix this? so that my desktop shows everything instead of following the mouse accordingly??

thanks markb for the help tho, it works now with my "problem" categorized monitors

update*** its actually called panning? ahh its weird lol

PapaLes · Post by **PapaLes** » 20 Jul 2009, 22:49

I don't know anythig but it sounds like your res is bigger than your screen and you are panning. I don't know the fix. What is your native res per screen?

thenjwaslike · Post by **thenjwaslike** » 21 Jul 2009, 01:55

the native highest res per screen is 1680x1050 -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009127&Tpk=x193w%2b

but i did find something out, i guess on amd/ati forums someone stated that xp only supports panning and that vista doesnt support panning? i could be wrong, im gonna try it out this instant with vista/win7 64.

just checkin out the forums before i try it out incase theres another work around, i'll stay posted..

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 21 Jul 2009, 03:13

Hi All,

If you are having any issues with the 9.7 beta, try reverting to the 9.5 release to go along with our new firmware and PD 2.05.

Catalyst 9.5 Actually contained the primary fixes for ATI compatibility w/TripleHead2Go already.

Catalyst 9.6 appears to have caused a regression in compatibility, which is why some users may have problems with 9.6, as well as with 9.7 beta.

Catalyst 9.7 is slated to have all the fixes re-enabled and all issues resolved (as I had mentioned in previous posts). However at this stage we are crossing our fingers since it is completely in ATI's court as to whether everything will be sorted out as planned.

I will provide more details as they become available.

-Mark

Thanks for your time, Mark.

Anyhow, followed the advice and downgraded to 9.5. Same problem though, except in reverse (which is nice!). Now triplehead setup is default and I can't change my main monitor. I think it may just be because I physically switched heads earlier though. Basically I can't change the main monitor from head 1, whatever happens to be plugged in. And if I change it without reinstalling the software the computer won't understand and will continue acting as if the DDC or whatever was there before is still there.

Still don't see the Powerdesk Icon in the taskbar, etc... When 9.7 proper releases I'll be sure to post whether or not I still have issues. Apparently I'm not the only one with the default monitor problem.

9.5 doesn't seem to support 5040, but PD does. Sort of. Wizard won't work, etc etc etc. Good thing I'm resilient!

OzHuski · Post by **OzHuski** » 23 Jul 2009, 11:24

9.7 has been officially released. For those of you who havent gotten it yet give it a shot and see how you go. For me unfortunately it has resulted in my system not recognizing 5040x1050 again.

Edit: DOH! Spoke too soon.. Installing the TH2go firmware again and rebooting allowed it to setup 5040x1050 once more.

drgrube · Post by **drgrube** » 24 Jul 2009, 07:07

Well, 9.7 is installed, and it works at 5040 right away, which is great!

Unfortunately, I am still unable to set the default monitor from any control.

I'm going to mess with it some more later...

OzHuski · Post by **OzHuski** » 25 Jul 2009, 14:32

Well, 9.7 is installed, and it works at 5040 right away, which is great!

Unfortunately, I am still unable to set the default monitor from any control.

I'm going to mess with it some more later...

Dude, I still cant see you posted that you tried my solution.. Ive had this happen to me twice, once with 9.6 and 9.7. Both times I have had the same thing happen, both times within 2-3 minutes its been resolved.

As of a note: if you are actually using the new CCC and its new interface, you can actually just swap monitors. You dont have to set a primary or anything.. If your trying to use windows display settings instead of CCC you will never get it working, as it is always 100% greyed out in the default windows display..

Wish you luck bud. Cant offer more advice.

Widescreen Gaming Forum