What it sound like is that for some reason you Mac is not correctly reading the monitor sense information at start-up. First, you are powering on the Monitor first, then the computer, right? Second, does your clock keep time when the computer is shut down. If not, you need a new PRAM battery. The next thing I would suggest would be to download 'Tech Tool Lite' (the free version) and run a PRAM Zap. If that does not work, I would suggest replacing the PRAM battery anyway. Beyond that, I might suggest purchasing a monitor adapter that has switches on it so you can set the sense codes being supplied to the computer to match your monitor's capabilities.
>Hi, > >Did you ever find a solution for the 8600/monitor/restart >thing? > >My 8600 does the same thing, have to restart after every cold >boot to get the monitors to work. > >It's been like that ever since I bought it, earlier this year. > >I don't have the monitor powered from the Mac, though. > >I've tried different monitors, 2 monitors, only 1 monitor; >multiscan, non-multi-scan; different configurations as far as >who gets startupscreen/menubar; ...... >(and a bunch of other important diagnostic stuff which I had >to delete because the List bounced my first email telling me >that the message was 10K which is too long so I snipped out a >couple of paragraphs, possibly important details I dunno). > >With no PCI cards installed and only one monitor hooked up, >cold-starts seem to hang - even when shift-starting with >extensions off - and you just get a black screen - have to >restart, then it works ok. Same with totally reinstalled >System software. > >However, with a PCI graphics cards installed and two monitors >hooked up to the Mac, then whichever screen is hooked up to >the PCI card comes up black (and unavailable - can't even move >the cursor to it, like you normally would) at cold start, >while the other monitor shows up normally - but again, after >restart, everything works fine. This happens regardless of >monitor software configurations (startup screen, etc), or >which monitor is hooked to what. > >I wanted to see what the differences were between cold start >and restart, with the *two* monitors (which even on cold >starts allow me one functioning screen so I can run some >diagnostics). I ran an older app called Tattletech, and one of >the most noticeable differences, and I don't have any idea >what this means or how to interpret it, is that at cold-start >it says, for the one monitor that it sees on built-in video: > > - Sync = Horizontal Disabled, Vertical Disabled, > Red, TriState > >Whereas a minute later at re-start it says, this time for >*both* monitors - one from PCI card, one on built-in video: > > - Sync = Horizontal Disabled, Composite Disabled, > Blue, Green, Red, TriState > >Further, even though all monitors and OS's that I've tried >with this Mac will still quite happily show a normal-looking >picture on the PCI-card monitor regardless of whether the PCI >card software is installed or not - it would seem that the >only thing the software does is give you acceleration and 3D >stuff and all that - nevertheless, even *with* the correct >software properly installed, another TattleTech item correctly >identifies the ATI card in the PCI slot as far as Name, Model, >Revision, Device ID, etc., for both coldstarts and re-starts, >but then it diverges: > > At cold-start At re-start > Driver#=[Unknown] Driver#=-52 > >I don't see how that could be a software problem, since >ordinarily (as mentioned above) any monitor hooked to it will >ordinarily work even without any ATI stuff in the System >folder or anywhere else. That PCI card worked fine on a >different Mac, either with software or without, and of >course even with *no* PCI cards at all installed, this Mac >still messes up the monitor at cold-start. >** However, I don't necessarily believe everything that >TattleTech says - I've noticed, with other stuff, that it gets >things wrong sometimes, so its reports may not be entirely >reliable. > >Why does this Mac have trouble accessing the above PCI info at >cold-starts and what controls the exchange of PCI data - >motherboard/ROM/OS/what? Did some previous owner static-zap >it or something? (not me, I'm careful about that) > >Another bizarre clue: >My 8600's behavior is dependent on the ambient temperature >or how long it's been since the Mac was last run. If the Mac >is still warm (having been run within the last hour or 2), >then everything works fine at cold-start, but after it's >cooled off for more than a few hours or overnight, then it >acts up on cold-boot, and requires the start/restart >sequence. Also, during some of the rare warm days (70- >degrees plus) here last summer, it would sometimes >(but not always) start up ok even it had been shut off for a >long period of time. For what it's worth, the Mac's power >strip is *always* on - I never shut that off. So it's always >got power to it, even when not running, as do the monitors. > >** I'm quite certain that it's absolutely *not* faulty >monitors - I've heard about the solder-joints and stuff in >certain monitors, but I've tried three different monitors with >this 8600 (2 multiscans and 1 antique non-multiscan), and >hooking them up in different configurations shows that the >monitors are in good working order. Also, none of them require >adapters or anything. > >I'm beginning to suspect some sort of electrical-component >deterioration or something else wrong in there. I keep >thinking, oddly, of those little dealies - I forget what >they're called (wild unsubstantiated guessing follows) - maybe >capacitors? those things that are supposed to hold a charge >for a while? if one of those was in early stages of failure, >would it take it longer to get "charged up" to where it would >work right? maybe just the brief time that it takes to first >do a cold-start and then hit Restart might be enough time for >it to get warmed up or charged up or whatever, and function >correctly? Also, and this is just more total guessing, but >maybe it's like they hold a charge longer at warmer temps >(like with batteries) which would explain how come my Mac had >slightly less cold-start/monitor problems during those few >warm days last summer. I don't know. That could be all wrong. > >My 8600 seems to not be getting any worse (yet) and my >workaround is just to leave it run all the time and only >restart when I need to switch startup drives. Less >annoying than playing the start/restart game. > >Haven't replaced the VRAM or L2 cache, yet. Maybe that would >help. Might do that (as finances allow). Right now, I've >pretty much gotten used to the damn thing - at least it >was cheap, and it's still a better machine than my old >Mac was. > >- Jamie Marie with the mysterious 8600 (200 MHz 604e) > >---------- Original message ---------- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 16:24:52 EST >Subject: Monitor and 8600, PLUS Sonnet Tempo Trio, and Video > > <snip> >> the 8600 would boot, but the monitor would never come up. >> I had to do a quick power off, then on. When I switched >> everything, now the 7600 powers up the 14" like it used >> to do the 20"er and I have to do the On/Off/On thing with >> the 8600 and the 20"er. Do 8600 models somehow get too far >> into the boot process before the monitor has time to get >> up and running? > <snip> >> Curiously though, I see that the Video part of the report >> shows TWO Built-in display cards > <snip> > > > > > >. > > >__________________________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos >http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 > >-- >PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | > -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > >PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; >Send list messages to: <mailto:pci-powermacs@;mail.maclaunch.com> >To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:pci-powermacs-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> >For digest mode, email: <mailto:pci-powermacs-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> >Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lowendmac.com> >Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > >--------------------------------------------------------------- >>The Think Different Store >http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com >--------------------------------------------------------------- -- -- Mr. PopMan - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - "Does anybody want to play a game of pinball?" 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