*BSD News Article 86663


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From: j@uriah.heep.sax.de (J Wunsch)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: Color Display?
Date: 11 Jan 1997 00:15:47 GMT
Organization: Private BSD site, Dresden
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"Sam Carpenter" <carps@calweb.com> wrote:

> I have just installed FreeBSD and everything is working fine.  But, I am
> working in a monochrome display mode and I would like to switch to color. 
> How do I switch from monochrome to color?  

1.) Buy a color monitor. :-)
2.) Convince your BIOS to start it in color mode.

Unfortunately, you've chosen PeeCee, so you're living in a world of
crap.  While earlier mainboards usually had a jumper to set the
primary display mode between mono and color, and later BIOSes at least
had an option for this, some `modern' BIOS/board combinations have
neither.  Yet, during a reset the video card drops both sync pulses,
and of course, your green-line powersaving monitor instantly believes
his master and thinks he needs to go down to save power (as if it
couldn't have waited a second or two with this).  Now, your video card
is back at life, fires off the sync pulses, and probes the monitor ID
pins.  Since the monitor isn't that fast on waking up (who the heck is
fast on this? :), the ID pins are still void, and your super-duper 32
million color graphics card `thinks' there is a monochrome monitor
only, and enters monochrome compatibility mode.

I've noticed that behaviour for example on HP Netservers.  Really a
high-end PeeCee, but it simply sucks in this respect.  9 out of 10
reboots left the card in mono mode.

-- 
cheers, J"org

joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de -- http://www.sax.de/~joerg/ -- NIC: JW11-RIPE
Never trust an operating system you don't have sources for. ;-)