Windows 7 Native Resolution Wont Stick

[Joey916]

Hello,

I have a new (to me) Gateway DX4710 (x64) that I no more than took out of the box and installed WIN 7. Everything went fairly well, except I can't get the native resolution to "stick". When I finally get the system to recognize my correct monitor through a series of uninstalling drivers and installing updates, it will only work as long as I don't shut down or reboot. At that point it goes to a Generic PnP Monitor and even though the device manager says the correct monitor, it won't give me the choices for the resolution or the monitor I have in the resolution settings.

Here's a pictorial of what things look like:

At first, I get this for my resolution settings....

It will either say this, or Generic Pnp Monitor

When I go to select my native resolution which should be 1440x900, it's not an available choice.

When I go to the drivers for the monitor the correct Compaq WF1907 is installed. Uninstalling it and also uninstalling the generic one and then reinstalling the WF1907 drives doesn't usually make any difference. (I say usually, because after fooling around with it, I can sometimes... sometimes get it to work, but more on that later.)

So one of the few times I was working on this, I happen to notice that I had some windows updates that were ready to be installed. As usual, I was looking them over and one was an actual update for my monitor!!! I installed it and as I had seen just a few other times, the native resolution was correct. I actually thought MS had finally got something right!

Here is what it looks like when it correctly recognizes the monitor and allows me to pick the resolution (native or otherwise) that works best for this monitor.

But alas, even with the update from MS (or maybe HP Compaq just sent it to MS, I don't know) if I reboot the system, the native resolution and monitor availability goes poof! No longer and option. It reverts back to the first image I posted and I have to start the whole process over, and hope I get lucky...

As I stated earlier, sometimes if I hold my tongue just right, uninstall the drivers, uninstall the generic monitor, log in as admin, log out, stand on my head, say beetlejuice three times..... it will suddenly and with no rhyme or reason, let me choose the native resolution. But if I forget... and reboot... DOOOHHHHH!!!!! It's gone again. No specific order of events seem to bring the correct resolution choices back. And since my native resolution settings are not included in the generic or VGA, I can only get close to a correct setting, which is really annoying.... Things just look off enough that it pisses me off knowing I could be looking at things correctly, if the settings would just stay put.

Any clues as to what might cause this? I have a KVM, but hooking up the monitor directly still does the same thing.

 

[Mitchell_A]

I would check for the LATEST driver updates to your video card and monitor.
Sorry I can't find a direct Compaq driver set but go here
Link Removed - Invalid URL
It will guide you through troubleshooting steps which should provide you updated drivers.
Cheers

 

[reghakr]

Are you using Nvidia driver?

Did you try to go directly to Gateway for drivers?

Could you please fill in your computer specs in the UserCP link at the top left hand side of the page.

Then click Edit Your Details.

This freeware program will give you all the information you will need:

SIV (System Information Viewer) 4.03

 

[Mitchell_A]

Also, I'm assuming you did a clean install?

 

[reghakr]

Also, I'm assuming you did a clean install?

I sure hope so

 

[Joey916]

Mitchell_A
No more recent drivers than what I already have for both the monitor and the display drivers. As with a lot of other things, there are no WIN 7 specific drivers so I am loading the Vista x64 ones.
And as far as a clean install, I assume you are referring to the operating system, and yes I did.

[FONT=&quot]reghakr[/FONT]

Are you using Nvidia driver?

No

Did you try to go directly to Gateway for drivers?

Yes, but they don’t have anything that I don’t already have.

Could you please fill in your computer specs in the UserCP link at the top left hand side of the page.

[FONT=&quot]Done and a quick snapshot below.

[/FONT]

 

[reghakr]

Could you please fill in your computer specs in the UserCP link at the top left hand side of the page.

Then click Edit Your Details.

This freeware program will give you all the information you will need:

SIV (System Information Viewer) 4.03

 

[Joey916]

Could you please fill in your computer specs in the UserCP link at the top left hand side of the page.

Then click Edit Your Details.

This freeware program will give you all the information you will need:

SIV (System Information Viewer) 4.03

Perhaps you should look again. I did that after the first time you asked me too. And all the info is also in my post.

Thanks

 

[Tepid]

Ok.

First... and formost..... never,, ever,,, use drivers off MS Updates. It's a nice service when it works,, but most of the time, the driver updates just don't. So, all other updates are fine, but skip the driver updates completely.


Second... Get the video drivers here

Also....

You have an Intel G33 Motherboard so it is probably (and this is just a guess) the DG33PR

You will need to look at the board itself for any model numbers,,, you can then go to Intel's website and get all the drivers for it direct from them, rather than Gateway's mutilated, Frankenstein drivers.

Go here
Choose Desktop Boards
Intel 3 Series
Then choose the model number to the right.

Install all needed drivers,.....
But also,,,, Make sure you install the Chipset drivers.

 

[Joey916]

Well, thanks for all the advice folks, but none of the above worked.

I ended up finding that the issue was related to the KVM switch. A direct connection works fine, but connected through the KVM does not. Search for switch drivers came up empty.

It's still a WIN 7 issue in my opinion. I have a ubuntu box, a XP box and a vista box all hooked up to the switch and they all work famously, but the WIN 7 box refuses to recognize the monitor when going through the switch.

Sucks, but that's what I am left with.

Thanks again.

 

[reghakr]

Sorry, but feel free to contact us again if you have any issues.

 

[Tepid]

I would like to respond to this....

It's still a WIN 7 issue in my opinion. I have a ubuntu box, a XP box and a vista box all hooked up to the switch and they all work famously, but the WIN 7 box refuses to recognize the monitor when going through the switch.

While it is a specific Win7 issue, I would not call this a win7 bug outright. It is just not compatible. Win7 is different from all other OS's including Vista (slightly). MS could possibly tweak something to make it work, or maybe you can, (if you can find it). I have a couple year old Belkin KVM that works without issue.

Please keep in mind that Win7 may require some new hardware/software. Older stuff may not be compatible due to the way Win7 works.

 

[Joey916]

Tepid:

While what you say is true, it still shows a basic flaw with an otherwise good system. I agree that MS can't prepare for all instances of legacy hardware. But we're not talking about an obscure dot matrix printer or instrument device that needs specific drivers to operate correctly. We're talking about a driverless pass-through device that works just fine without drivers on every other system. It's old hardware, but so is my PS2 mouse. What next? My USB hub won't work because it's 5 years old? Not buying it. Certain basic features should work regardless. The excuse that it's old or legacy is just a cop-out.

Adding a premium sound system to a car and then telling me I can no longer use the power steering because it's old hardware is pure bunk. That's the difference between Vista and WIN 7. Maybe instead of developing flashy bells and whistles that really don't create a more efficient OS, they should have spent more time on making things "work".

 

[Tepid]

The excuse that it's old or legacy is just a cop-out.

not really, it is more likely the design of the hardware and how it accesses the system. This would be the manufacturer of the device in questions problem and not MS.

spent more time on making things "work".

They did, chalk it up to complaints about security. Many of the underlying changes are purely security related, and how windows works with software. The largest majority of software/hardware that have problems with 7 are those that did not stick to MS guidelines. They went around certain things to avoid certain things (they didn't agree with or didn't know, wnat to know or care) and that breaks things under a standard user on any system, not just 7.

Keep in mind,, unlike XP, out of the box, you are not a full admin on your system.
This was a major change from XP. Things were also tightened up in 7. And all the hardware/software vendors are well aware of these changes and they are now falling into line, as they should have under XP, but XP gave them the freedom to do what they wanted, even if it was the wrong thing to do, they could and they did. Not under 7, they can't get away with that anymore.

Unfortunately, there are still vendors out there telling people to disable UAC (yes, I know the controversy) to run their improperly coded software. That should be a big no no these days.