I have a 1600x1200 LCD monitor with a 4 port KVM switch. It's part of
my garage workstation system. The main computer is a QuickSilver. The
computer that prompted the KVM switch is a 386 system running Debian /
Linux. Today I was adding a Sawtooth which I'm going to try Ubuntu on.
But as I was working on things that fourth port kept beckoning me
(Computers expand to fill all available ports be they KVM switches,
network switches or just AC outlets).
Well... right above the other computers are two Mac IIsis and an LC.
One of the IIsis is my second ever Mac and an old favorite. My first
thought was that it needs sync-on-green which almost always means an old
Apple 640x480 monitor with a DA-15 connector. But I thought, what the
heck maybe while they were putting so many features into this monitor
they tacked on sync-on-green. I plugged a Apple-VGA video adapter into
the computer and plugged the "V" of the KVM switch into that.
I hit the button. Nothing. Checked the power cord, not plugged in. I
plugged it in and hit the button. Got the good old chord. Waited...
got a funny grey pattern on the screen. I hit the auto button (normally
it's used to automatically align the image horizontally and vertically
on the LCD screen). It switched to the familiar gray screen with a
happy Mac in the middle. A while later (longer than I'm now use to) the
desktop slowly started to appear. Part of that was I hadn't hooked up a
network cable and Timbuktu was futzing around. Eventually it all came up.
First off, 640x480 video on a 1600x1200 display is a lot like standing
real close to a mosaic image. More trees, less forest.
I tried it out a little. Internet Explorer once it launched tried to
handle www.google.com. It complained about a script not running. It
didn't display an image for the upcoming Winter Olympics, even after I
clicked on the icon.
I ultimately selected the option on the monitor to display it at !:1.
640x480 is a small area on that screen.
Bottom line is, if you have an old Mac that needs sync-on-green, try it
out on a modern monitor, it might work. At some point I'm going to try
the other LCDs I have. Depending on the results, I may have a couple of
CRTs making their way to the local recycler.
Might be kind of cool to have a IIsi sitting there with a 15" LCD
monitor attached to it... working.
--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
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