My Sony Multiscan CPD-G420 suffered from the same brightness + retrace line problems. I did the "Image Restoration" fix prior reading this thread. Everything went back to normal and the color is vibrant as ever. However after reading this thread the solution of using "Color Return" or "Image Restoration" isn't recommended, so i guess i'm very lucky this time. =D Anyway good luck to others.
My Sony GDM-F500R looks a lot better after reprogramming the brightness with WinDAS, but I think I could use a little more Contrast. How do I increase the contrast with WinDAS??
I havent tried this myself and Im not sure If its the same on an F500R but on a GDM-FW900 model increasing the C_MAX_B_MAX value in windas will increase overall Contrast output, I've also read increasing the DRIVE_MAX value increases overall Contrast as well but im not sure which of the two is better to adjust.
couple quick questions, firstly my com port is working , using modem in it, which i have to remove toplug in my lead, do you need to have power to the monitor and does it need a video feed? thanks
getting cant communicate with monitor error, still working on it
thanks
You do need the monitor powered and receiving a signal (ie. not in any power saving mode). I have a cable which I've successfully used to modify the G2 value on two different monitors, an IBM P260 and an HP A7217A; I'm in Melbourne.
After getting a lead, i still get the error ...cant connect the monitor check the bus line and condition, ive tried changing the rx and tx wires with no help
i run dual view with 2 monitors to supply a signal to the monitor but when i connect the lead it just goes black and i get a yellow light is this corect?
i know that my com1 is working as its my modem port
im using a extension cable about 1 metre is that ok?( from the lead to pc)
ive picked the correct monitor, set the right port still nothing, any help please
Nothing immediately happens when I plug in the serial cable to the monitor, so I'm wondering if maybe you have it wired properly? What monitor are you using, maybe someone else on the list knows the correct pin out for you?
g500 sony with ground ,vcc,rx,tx
the wiring on the cable is 1 vcc 2 ground,3 data out, 4 data in 5 rts, 6 cts
ive changed it to pin 2 ground at top, pin 1 vcc, pin 3 data out, then pin 4 data in, not using last 2 pins, is this correct
thanks
No you won't see anything in device manager. Now with the wiring: You will need to tie the RTS/CTS together as we aren't using those, then your cable at the 4-pin end is: 1=GND, 2=VCC, 3=TX (PC Data Output), 4=RX (PC Data Input). So if you look at this logically, you can see that ground will match up from the cable to the monitor, as will the +5V (maybe you having these reversed is making the monitor blank when you plug it in, shorting GND and VCC is never A Good Idea). Then the TX pin from the PC will connect to the RX on the monitor, TX on the monitor back to RX on the PC.
thanks for that, got it working, i was putting the tx and rx around the wrong way to the lead, worked great thanks, g2 is now 120
thanks for everyone help on this, the resistor fix worked well, but windas fix is just that much better to work with
does anyone know what the other settings do, anyone experimented with them?
thanks
(edited the original message found in this topic cause it didn't worked,This way it will work)
Access to the service mode is as follows :
1) Turn the monitor off(powerbutton).
2) Push the menubutton holding it down, Power on the monitor.
3) Release the menubutton.
4) Push the menubutton again to acces servicemode.
The password is 7711
Many thanx to all posters..
I tried that and it just brought up the original menu and did not ask me to put in any password or give me any extra options for service mode. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the same on the Dell P1110 monitor
Hi all, I have been reading this thread now for a few days and decided to sign up =)
I have now installed Windas, made the cable and have it all working.
What I would like to know is if anyone with a Dell P992 that is fully functional could send me a copy of thier dat file. The monitor I have here was a mess when I recieved it. But thanks to this thread I have sorted most of it out. The main problem now seems to be the timings are all over the shop. They were all set to 128 (i asume the default) when I first got it.
Thanks in advance, and I am looking forward to being on the boards with you all.
I too have an issue with bright monitors (though nowhere near as severe as some in this thread), but I have a cable being shipped to me at the moment so I can fix that without too much hassle - I hope.
The question I have is regarded some faint vertical lines (not the two horizontal ones). They appear across the image as:
| || | | || | | || |
(Fantastic ascii art, I know).
Imagine the two || together are a thicker line. They are faint and run across the whole screen. They do this on two P991 monitors so it's not a specific thing. It's not too noticable except in when playing games, and then it gets annoying.
What causes this? Is it fixable?
The monitors look "OK" at 20 brightness, 90 contrast. I'm hoping playing with the G2 will allow me to get some better definition.
Hello, I'm a new User of a FW900. I got it to work, with windas. But ist not so good. The contrast is weak. I only changed G2 vom 113 to 90. ( befor the screen was very green and had green retrace lines)
Now my question: Can anyone send me his windas dat-file form a good FW900? So I can check it.
Thank you for your help.
FW900Fan
I'd just like to say thanks to P991 and all here who have contribited to help make this work. I ordered my cable off e-Bay and managed to get WINDAS to work but I have one question. When saving and uploading the .DAT file, is the monitor supposed to blank out temporarily? My Dell P1110 blanks out for approx. 15-30 seconds and was just wondering if this was normal.
...When saving and uploading the .DAT file, is the monitor supposed to blank out temporarily? My Dell P1110 blanks out for approx. 15-30 seconds and was just wondering if this was normal.
Hi,
normally yes, but you should use a computer with 2 monitors, or a second computer with a separat display.
If you are uploading the new .dat-file and the is an error, than you can't load up your old one.
I forgot to insert a "Blank" in the dat.file from changing G2 113 to 90.
If windas sends an error, screen will be blank until, you upload the old .dat-file.
FW900Fan
Thanks for confirming. I was able to reduce my G2 slightly. Mine was at 174 and I reduced it to 160 and it appears better with my brightness set at 40. Of course I still have to calibrate the monitor to see how it works out as my grey scales now appear to have a slight color cast in the lower values.
I tried playing around with some of the other features, but didn't want to venture too far until I know what each setting does. The user manual is pretty vague.
One strange thing I noticed is that with the cable attached to the monitor, I can see very faint scan lines appear whenever I use the OSD (I had planned on leaving the cable attached permanently for future use as it's such a PITA to wedge in that hole). Anyone ever notice this before? My cable is the one from e-Bay and when it arrived, two of the wires (black and white) were missing their labels, so I'm not completely sure which one is the ground (the others were labeled). I e-mailed the seller but have not heard back. I tried both as a GND and WINDAS works successfully either way, but it would be nice to know which is the true GND wire.
I have adjusted my G2 with WINDAS and my Dell P1110 is much improved. However, with a dark window overlaying a lighter background, the scan lines "bleed" over into the background causing a shadow effect in the lighter background. Any ideas?
My Sony Multiscan CPD-G420 suffered from the same brightness + retrace line problems. I did the "Image Restoration" fix prior reading this thread. Everything went back to normal and the color is vibrant as ever. However after reading this thread the solution of using "Color Return" or "Image Restoration" isn't recommended, so i guess i'm very lucky this time. =D Anyway good luck to others.
the G420 (19n3 chassis i think) has a notorious problem with the deflection processing unit (IC 420) it probably needs to be replaced. not something for the faint hearted. it would require DAS alignment also.
oops my bad. i was thinking G400. not G420. but it does answer questions for those with N3 based units (G400, G500, GDM-5510, GDM-5410 and a host of others) :headbange
I got lucky taking another look with a viewer in hex mode and figured out the difference that was causing the "save format different" error. Notepad was the editor I first tried to use to edit. I changed one byte, at 0x33e in the original file, from 0x34 to 0x30. For some inexplicable reason, notepad changed 4 other bytes in the file, 4 instances of x20 to 0x00, at 0x00F, 0x01F, 0x12F, and 0x13F. I fixed it using debug.
Now that I'm back to square one I have to figure out why dropping G2 doesn't help. This P991 is very blurry.
G2 changes brightness. this would cause a blurred picture. to adjust your focus. open the monitor up up adjust the two pots on the FBT. they control the focus. you dont even need DAS software to do this
I got lucky taking another look with a viewer in hex mode and figured out the difference that was causing the "save format different" error. Notepad was the editor I first tried to use to edit. I changed one byte, at 0x33e in the original file, from 0x34 to 0x30. For some inexplicable reason, notepad changed 4 other bytes in the file, 4 instances of x20 to 0x00, at 0x00F, 0x01F, 0x12F, and 0x13F. I fixed it using debug.
Now that I'm back to square one I have to figure out why dropping G2 doesn't help. This P991 is very blurry.
G2 changes brightness. this wouldn't cause a blurred picture. to adjust your focus. open the monitor up up adjust the two pots on the FBT. they control the focus. you dont even need DAS software to do this
Hi, I've been following this thread and performed the resistor mod on my Sony GDM-F500R and it has helped a lot. I have the ECS cable on order so when I get it I plan to put the 10Mohm resistor back in and use WinDAS to fix it up.
Couple question concerning this monitor though:
I used the Nokia Monitor Test software and found that my convergence at the very top cannot be corrected. I can get red in but blue is out or vice versa. Also the top seems to be arched up slightly in the middle (same for very bottom of monitor too) and I don't have a geometry adjustment for that.
Secondly, my GDM-F500R takes 4 to 5 minutes to display an image after it is powered up in the morning. It is totally black for up to 5 minutes, then, ever so faintly, the image starts to appear and then brightens up normally. It seems something is taking a VERY long time to warm up. If I power down the monitor breifly, then it will come back on in about 30 seconds, but if I power it down and let it totally cool, I'm back the the 5 minute wait time before the image even starts to appear.
Can anyone help with some answers? What to adjust or replace?
adjust nothing. replace entire monitor. long startup time sounds like a tired CRT. prohibitively expensiveand time consuming to fix, even for a DIYer
HI, new to group but excited I can find a fix to my bright retrace lines problem on my GDM-F500R. Downloaded all the WINDAS files and .dll's and can launch WINDAS and find my monitor and defeated the dongle thing, but.. when I first launch I get a stream of errors about Astro SG not used, communications error, and timing errors, before the WINDAS main window opens. Running XP. Want to buy the cable and continue, but not certain if this is a show stopper.
any inputs highly appreciated.
rgds
I have a P1130 made in oct 2001, is there any way to get to the connectors with out removing the case.I was thinking about cutting a hole in the case to get to them. i had surgery on both hands, carpal tunnel and dont have the hand strength anymore 40% loss. thanks for any replys
The hardest part when removing the case is taking out the screws, once those are out it should take minimal hand strength to get the rest off. Just unlock the tabs with a flathead and then the case will basically slide right off.
I wouldn't recommend cutting a hole unless you're absolutely sure where to make the cut.
STOP!! READ THIS FIRST IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS!! STOP!!
Most of the posts throughout this 29 page thread are useless to solving problems..read this first before you search elsewhere.
DO NOT use windows notepad to change any values. Windows notepad changes the format of the DAT file. This will cause your DAT File to become corrupt and not flash your monitor.
Use Programmer's Notepad.
get it here: http://www.pnotepad.org/download/ Just use the viewer in windas to find the value of your G2 and do a "find" within Pnotepad to locate the value..the first value you come to will be your G2 value (look at values around it for verification using windas viewer)
Also, this was the position of my P991 cables:
RXD towards back cover
TXD
VDC/VCC
GND towards monitor screen
another guy on here posted and had RXD and TXD mixed around for his P991 OR they are truly different. For mine, that's how it looked. Consider, as well, to get a hold of some needle nose pliers, because the pins on the cable I bought off ebay were very difficult to insert onto the service port of the monitor since all the pins on the cable were seperate(like a computer case's wiring going to a mobo). BTW, my service port on my P991 was on the left side. There was a door that you remove to access it. I thought it was in the rear of the monitor for some reason and tried taking the case off because I couldn't locate it, but soon realized I didn't have to FYI!
ALSO!!..You do not have your cables connected properly or something else is wrong if you keep getting the COM port error. Change the order of your cables, make sure your cable works, and make sure your COM port works. I used COM1/Manual within windas and it worked fine.
For the ASTRO program. When I tried setting up the astro program, for some reason my computer was missing the file it was talking about(The error about MS-DOS or whatever I don't remember, but u will if you're having this problem). It should have been in my system32 folder. I searched my computer, found the file somewhere else and put it in my system32 folder and it installed!
My monitor turned off for about 30 seconds to save a DAT file and took about 60 seconds to load a DAT File(Monitor will turn off whilst save/load and will come back on when finished). YOU CAN USE ANOTHER MONITOR at the same time you are adjusting the one you want to fix. The monitor you are fixing DOES NOT need to be connected to your computer..only through the COM port. Having 2 monitors can help you see the progress and what's going on with your setup, but not needed and IMO not recommended. Only reason I had 2 monitors was because I couldn't figure out WTF was going on.
ALSO, before even attempting this, make sure you have access to a computer/laptop with a serial port OR go buy a serial-to-usb connector. Check your mobo BEFORE you buy the cable. Most newer mobos do not have a serial port.
Go here: http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/
For instructions on patching and using windas. That is the site I used for most of my installation until I realized it needed to be updated. Hence this post I made!
Hope this helps anyone. If I would have known this info, I coulda saved myself 4 hours!!!!!!!
-afro
p.s. for anyone thinking of doing this, I highly recommend it! I set my G2 value down and my monitor does look brand new. I had a bad retrace problem where I could see all the retrace lines on my monitor. After G2 value was decreased, colors are more vibrant and NO more retrace lines, even when I get the monitor really bright.
Anyone know where the connector on a Sony GDM-F500R is?
Hi walter,
I've got the same monitor with the "too bright" problem as well. I'm now just waiting for the RS232<->TTL cable I bought from eBay. I've also downloaded Windas.
Opening the GDM-F500R is easy: Just remove four screws from the back and the back case comes off readily. No internal braces to defeat. The upper two screws have plastic covers that pops off using a small flat screwdriver.
Here are pictures:
The pins' labels (GND, STBY5V, RxD, TxD) I got from reading the screened labels on the other side of the circuit board. I am assuming the screened labels are correct; that the TxD and RxD are not reversed. We'll see...
Thanks, very much appreciated, hated to have to junk this monitor. I have WinDAS fully functional now and recognizing the monitor, have an interface cable on order, and as an EE should be able to survive this. Will I really need to do any file editing as in the earlier post?
thx and rgds
I've got the same monitor with the "too bright" problem as well. I'm now just waiting for the RS232<->TTL cable I bought from eBay. I've also downloaded Windas.
Opening the GDM-F500R is easy: Just remove four screws from the back and the back case comes off readily. No internal braces to defeat. The upper two screws have plastic covers that pops off using a small flat screwdriver.
Here are pictures:
The pins' labels (GND, STBY5V, RxD, TxD) I got from reading the screened labels on the other side of the circuit board. I am assuming the screened labels are correct; that the TxD and RxD are not reversed. We'll see...
Comments
My Sony Multiscan CPD-G420 suffered from the same brightness + retrace line problems. I did the "Image Restoration" fix prior reading this thread. Everything went back to normal and the color is vibrant as ever. However after reading this thread the solution of using "Color Return" or "Image Restoration" isn't recommended, so i guess i'm very lucky this time. =D Anyway good luck to others.
I havent tried this myself and Im not sure If its the same on an F500R but on a GDM-FW900 model increasing the C_MAX_B_MAX value in windas will increase overall Contrast output, I've also read increasing the DRIVE_MAX value increases overall Contrast as well but im not sure which of the two is better to adjust.
I got this info from the following threads:
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029487856&postcount=1695
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029842737&postcount=2089
first page of thread:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=952788
You do need the monitor powered and receiving a signal (ie. not in any power saving mode). I have a cable which I've successfully used to modify the G2 value on two different monitors, an IBM P260 and an HP A7217A; I'm in Melbourne.
i run dual view with 2 monitors to supply a signal to the monitor but when i connect the lead it just goes black and i get a yellow light is this corect?
i know that my com1 is working as its my modem port
im using a extension cable about 1 metre is that ok?( from the lead to pc)
ive picked the correct monitor, set the right port still nothing, any help please
the wiring on the cable is 1 vcc 2 ground,3 data out, 4 data in 5 rts, 6 cts
ive changed it to pin 2 ground at top, pin 1 vcc, pin 3 data out, then pin 4 data in, not using last 2 pins, is this correct
thanks
in device manage there is no conflicts all is ok
thanks
thanks for everyone help on this, the resistor fix worked well, but windas fix is just that much better to work with
does anyone know what the other settings do, anyone experimented with them?
thanks
I tried that and it just brought up the original menu and did not ask me to put in any password or give me any extra options for service mode. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the same on the Dell P1110 monitor
I have now installed Windas, made the cable and have it all working.
What I would like to know is if anyone with a Dell P992 that is fully functional could send me a copy of thier dat file. The monitor I have here was a mess when I recieved it. But thanks to this thread I have sorted most of it out. The main problem now seems to be the timings are all over the shop. They were all set to 128 (i asume the default) when I first got it.
Thanks in advance, and I am looking forward to being on the boards with you all.
The question I have is regarded some faint vertical lines (not the two horizontal ones). They appear across the image as: (Fantastic ascii art, I know).
Imagine the two || together are a thicker line. They are faint and run across the whole screen. They do this on two P991 monitors so it's not a specific thing. It's not too noticable except in when playing games, and then it gets annoying.
What causes this? Is it fixable?
The monitors look "OK" at 20 brightness, 90 contrast. I'm hoping playing with the G2 will allow me to get some better definition.
Now my question: Can anyone send me his windas dat-file form a good FW900? So I can check it.
Thank you for your help.
FW900Fan
normally yes, but you should use a computer with 2 monitors, or a second computer with a separat display.
If you are uploading the new .dat-file and the is an error, than you can't load up your old one.
I forgot to insert a "Blank" in the dat.file from changing G2 113 to 90.
If windas sends an error, screen will be blank until, you upload the old .dat-file.
FW900Fan
I tried playing around with some of the other features, but didn't want to venture too far until I know what each setting does. The user manual is pretty vague.
One strange thing I noticed is that with the cable attached to the monitor, I can see very faint scan lines appear whenever I use the OSD (I had planned on leaving the cable attached permanently for future use as it's such a PITA to wedge in that hole). Anyone ever notice this before? My cable is the one from e-Bay and when it arrived, two of the wires (black and white) were missing their labels, so I'm not completely sure which one is the ground (the others were labeled). I e-mailed the seller but have not heard back. I tried both as a GND and WINDAS works successfully either way, but it would be nice to know which is the true GND wire.
the G420 (19n3 chassis i think) has a notorious problem with the deflection processing unit (IC 420) it probably needs to be replaced. not something for the faint hearted. it would require DAS alignment also.
oops my bad. i was thinking G400. not G420. but it does answer questions for those with N3 based units (G400, G500, GDM-5510, GDM-5410 and a host of others) :headbange
G2 changes brightness. this would cause a blurred picture. to adjust your focus. open the monitor up up adjust the two pots on the FBT. they control the focus. you dont even need DAS software to do this
G2 changes brightness. this wouldn't cause a blurred picture. to adjust your focus. open the monitor up up adjust the two pots on the FBT. they control the focus. you dont even need DAS software to do this
adjust nothing. replace entire monitor. long startup time sounds like a tired CRT. prohibitively expensiveand time consuming to fix, even for a DIYer
any inputs highly appreciated.
rgds
I wouldn't recommend cutting a hole unless you're absolutely sure where to make the cut.
Most of the posts throughout this 29 page thread are useless to solving problems..read this first before you search elsewhere.
DO NOT use windows notepad to change any values. Windows notepad changes the format of the DAT file. This will cause your DAT File to become corrupt and not flash your monitor.
Use Programmer's Notepad.
get it here: http://www.pnotepad.org/download/ Just use the viewer in windas to find the value of your G2 and do a "find" within Pnotepad to locate the value..the first value you come to will be your G2 value (look at values around it for verification using windas viewer)
Also, this was the position of my P991 cables:
RXD towards back cover
TXD
VDC/VCC
GND towards monitor screen
another guy on here posted and had RXD and TXD mixed around for his P991 OR they are truly different. For mine, that's how it looked. Consider, as well, to get a hold of some needle nose pliers, because the pins on the cable I bought off ebay were very difficult to insert onto the service port of the monitor since all the pins on the cable were seperate(like a computer case's wiring going to a mobo). BTW, my service port on my P991 was on the left side. There was a door that you remove to access it. I thought it was in the rear of the monitor for some reason and tried taking the case off because I couldn't locate it, but soon realized I didn't have to FYI!
ALSO!!..You do not have your cables connected properly or something else is wrong if you keep getting the COM port error. Change the order of your cables, make sure your cable works, and make sure your COM port works. I used COM1/Manual within windas and it worked fine.
For the ASTRO program. When I tried setting up the astro program, for some reason my computer was missing the file it was talking about(The error about MS-DOS or whatever I don't remember, but u will if you're having this problem). It should have been in my system32 folder. I searched my computer, found the file somewhere else and put it in my system32 folder and it installed!
My monitor turned off for about 30 seconds to save a DAT file and took about 60 seconds to load a DAT File(Monitor will turn off whilst save/load and will come back on when finished). YOU CAN USE ANOTHER MONITOR at the same time you are adjusting the one you want to fix. The monitor you are fixing DOES NOT need to be connected to your computer..only through the COM port. Having 2 monitors can help you see the progress and what's going on with your setup, but not needed and IMO not recommended. Only reason I had 2 monitors was because I couldn't figure out WTF was going on.
ALSO, before even attempting this, make sure you have access to a computer/laptop with a serial port OR go buy a serial-to-usb connector. Check your mobo BEFORE you buy the cable. Most newer mobos do not have a serial port.
Go here: http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/
For instructions on patching and using windas. That is the site I used for most of my installation until I realized it needed to be updated. Hence this post I made!
Hope this helps anyone. If I would have known this info, I coulda saved myself 4 hours!!!!!!!
-afro
p.s. for anyone thinking of doing this, I highly recommend it! I set my G2 value down and my monitor does look brand new. I had a bad retrace problem where I could see all the retrace lines on my monitor. After G2 value was decreased, colors are more vibrant and NO more retrace lines, even when I get the monitor really bright.
Hi walter,
I've got the same monitor with the "too bright" problem as well. I'm now just waiting for the RS232<->TTL cable I bought from eBay. I've also downloaded Windas.
Opening the GDM-F500R is easy: Just remove four screws from the back and the back case comes off readily. No internal braces to defeat. The upper two screws have plastic covers that pops off using a small flat screwdriver.
Here are pictures:
The pins' labels (GND, STBY5V, RxD, TxD) I got from reading the screened labels on the other side of the circuit board. I am assuming the screened labels are correct; that the TxD and RxD are not reversed. We'll see...
Hotpoco
thx and rgds