ATI Radeon TV out query

any advice on making this work? ATI Radeon 7000 (64 megs) vid card (AGP) with TV out connected by S video - composite (RCA) cable to my (older) VCR or TV gives no image. TV 'hums' but no sound either. this should work but doesn't. have tried various drivers, no go. BIOS settings correct. 1.9 Ghz Athlon XP 2600 processor on ASUS A7N8X-X mainboard (on-board sound) with scant 256 megs of memory and XP Pro. aaarrggghhh!

 

i believe to get image on the tv your desktop MUST be 640x480

 

Not Exactly True. (AGP & TV may be factor for accepted resolution)
Although 640x480 at 60hertz would be good place to start.
Make sure connection to TV is in the IN PORT, make sure is seated allway in, same with S video on PC. ( your video graphics card has S-video out, TV is composite/RCA type?? and your cable is S-video to RCA??)
Try to connect to Just TV.
Got another TV to try?
You said when you tryed TV it would only humm, what did you see on TV Screen?
Your tv does it have AUX channel set it to it, or channel 3 or 4 may have switch on back, or set it to same channel as when VCR works.
In control pannel/Display/Display properties/Settings tab, can you see monitors 1 & 2 ??
Once all is connected, turn on power to TV first, then Power up PC.

I have this set up for one of my Kids: A7N8X-X/ AMD XP 2400/ Nvida FX5200 connected to 17'' crt & 19" old tv via S-video from PC to RCA to TV (TV resolution 800x600 60 hertz and I can set resolution Higher) / 256mb DDR pc2100/ XP pro.
The TV connection only works when TV is set to AUX channel.
The TV is only used for games/movies /videos ( text quality from PC to TV is poor even at 640x480 "Nature of the Beast")
The rig works very well the kid loves it hes 17

One last thang you said have different Drivers, make sure what ever driver you use is the only drivers (video) you use.
Many make mistake of not removing all of old driver before installing new and thus having created driver problems.

 

ASUS/Sarge: you make some great points, thx. btw, the current driver does not support 640X480 res!? previous, newer driver did and I tried the 640X480 w/60 Hz setting, no go. rolled back then - removing the whole driver prior to installing another is a newbie error I haven't made in this case but worth mentioning 2x as many make it, hehe. may try it again but first I will try a TV with an Svid input and see. no aux on this box Ch 3 or 4 switch avail, will try both-VCR likes either, I think. yes, the connect is Svid cable from card to composite (adapter) for TV and yes I did a full INsertion (are mildly crude *winks* allowed here?). when I get a hum it is a blue screen (encouraging) on TV. AGP &TV may be a factor? details pls? will look into monitors 1 & 2 question...and double check everything, especially power up sequence-good hint there. interesting that the only real diff twixt your lucky-to-have-a-savvy-Dad kid's setup and mine is the video card and the AUX option, agreed? the Aux option is an obvious issue here. could try to connect the PC to the cable IN on the TV (some Svid to coax adapter rigs are out there) but I guess that would only help if that subs for the AUX option, any feedback there? also, did you have to fiddle with the BIOS on your setup? my defaults were/are A-OK I believe...finally, games/vids/movies is what I want, text on TVis a waste, aside from being real garbley. more soon, thx again for detailed reply. *aggradweeb*

 

Hey Dweeb2b!
Resoultions/Hertz = Monitors/TVs accepted resolutions/Hertz vary, same goes for CRTs/LCDs, your ordinary tvs will be lower, all depends from model to model.
? AGP cards/drivers for supported Res./Hertz May also vary.
In Display Properties/ Advanced tab under monitor Check box that says "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display.

Bios: Heres setting I change for my kids PC related to AGP
In Chipset Configuration= Graphics Aperture Size set to 64mb ( which is 1/2 of my AGP memory "my understanding should be set no more than 1/2 of what your AGP has?")
AGP performance control= Enabled
AGP Fast Write control= Enabled

PCI Configuration=
Primary VGA BIOS [AGP VGA Card]
Everything else related to AGP/Graphics is at Default settings!
Check out THIS BIOS GUIDE!:
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=1

For S-video adaptors and such, online is good place to look, or at local Walmart/Radio Shack.

I have another PC working on at the moment setting up for multimedia/Photo/Video editing, is Gigabyte MOBO/ XP2500 with ATI 9200SE doing CRT/TV set up, it too has S-Video out at moment Using ATI driver 6.14.10.6387
I have not connected TV yet (I need longer S-Video cable, pick up tomarrow)
In my display properties I can see both monitors (one will be TV) and I have set resoluiton/hertz for both even though I have not connected TV yet.
With out TV set My options for Resolution Lowest 640x480 Highest 2048x1536 and Hertz 60 to 200 Once TV is connected I will only display accepted settings with box checked as stated above!

If I think of any thing that might Help I'll post it.
Good Luck, let me Know if ya get things worked out.
Good luck

 

i had the same card as you and also struggled my ass off to get tv out . when you go to enable tv out is the connection established from ati control panel. also amke sure that your cables are good check the connections to see if the soldering is ok inside the connectors. another trick you can try is set all up with tv out enabled and reboot. let us know if you have this sorted out