CRT Monitor Problem

[Ollie]

Hello I hope someone can help me I have a problem with a CRT monitor,
19" SyncMaster 957DF. The problem is that over the last couple of
weeks I have noticed the screen is beginning to fray/wobble/go wavy at
the edges, the whole screen is actually a little wobbly and if you are
looking at text it kinda blurs slightly, to cap this off the pc which
I use as a kind of server for a network crashed, when I looked at it
the CRT was frozen on its screensaver with about 10 very fine red
vertical lines going down it, it couldnt be recovered by the usual
means of task manager so I just turned the pc off and rebooted and it
was fine again but still with the wobbly text and edges. The wobble
isnt severe and the pixels only move about 1mm but its enough to make
your eyes go a bit cross eyed and I am worried it will get worse
especially as it made the pc crash too, someone told me the pc crashed
a week or so ago too so thats twice now. Does anyone have any ideas on
whats happening, is my monitor which is about 5 years old about to
kick the bucket or has my graphics card gone loopy? I would test the
pc out on another monitor but all my others are TFT/LCD so im not sure
that would really help with the diagnosis. Also the monitor is
connected by VGA and by USB, I have no idea why it needs both, could
it be something to do with this aspect maybe? Any help will be much
appreciated.
Kind regards
Ollie

p.s. I have checked all connections and also used a different usb port
to no avail.

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

Hello I hope someone can help me I have a problem with a CRT monitor,
19" SyncMaster 957DF. The problem is that over the last couple of
weeks I have noticed the screen is beginning to fray/wobble/go wavy at
the edges, the whole screen is actually a little wobbly and if you are
looking at text it kinda blurs slightly, to cap this off the pc which
I use as a kind of server for a network crashed, when I looked at it
the CRT was frozen on its screensaver with about 10 very fine red
vertical lines going down it, it couldnt be recovered by the usual
means of task manager so I just turned the pc off and rebooted and it
was fine again but still with the wobbly text and edges. The wobble
isnt severe and the pixels only move about 1mm but its enough to make
your eyes go a bit cross eyed and I am worried it will get worse
especially as it made the pc crash too, someone told me the pc crashed
a week or so ago too so thats twice now. Does anyone have any ideas on
whats happening, is my monitor which is about 5 years old about to
kick the bucket or has my graphics card gone loopy? I would test the
pc out on another monitor but all my others are TFT/LCD so im not sure
that would really help with the diagnosis. Also the monitor is
connected by VGA and by USB, I have no idea why it needs both, could
it be something to do with this aspect maybe? Any help will be much
appreciated.
Kind regards
Ollie

p.s. I have checked all connections and also used a different usb port
to no avail.

Monitors are sometimes affected by the magnetic field from other devices,
such as a second monitor, UPS, or motorized device like a desk fan. Turn
off everything not necessary for the operation of the affected computer,
including any desk lights, and see if the monitor stabilizes. Sometimes
just separating the monitor from the computer a little farther can clear
things up as well, especially if the computer case is weak in the shielding
department.

A FAQ on the Samsong web page about your monitor went like this:
Question
Image is not stable and may appear to vibrate
Answer
Check that the display resolution and frequency from your PC or video board
is an available model for your monitor. On your computer check : Control
Panel, Display Settings.

Possibly one of Window's seemingly continuous updates changed the sync
frequency of your driver.

 

[Ollie]

Hi GBM thanks for your advice although it cant be the windows updates
as I have them turned off and my CRT is on the desk while the tower is
on the floor along with the power supplies. Also the pc crashed again
about 10 minutes after writing my initial post, again on the
screensaver with the red lines, Ive turned the screensaver off for the
time being. I also have no power driven items near my CRT, the only
thing I have near to it are a couple of speakers that have always been
there and they are always turned off at the controller speaker anyway.
Perhaps the monitor is just in its death throws? The driver idea was a
good one, although I cant find my CRT model on the samsung site, Ill
try again perhaps Ive just missed it somehow.

 

[RIAA]

Hi GBM thanks for your advice although it cant be the windows updates
as I have them turned off and my CRT is on the desk while the tower is
on the floor along with the power supplies. Also the pc crashed again
about 10 minutes after writing my initial post, again on the
screensaver with the red lines, Ive turned the screensaver off for the
time being. I also have no power driven items near my CRT, the only
thing I have near to it are a couple of speakers that have always been
there and they are always turned off at the controller speaker anyway.
Perhaps the monitor is just in its death throws? The driver idea was a
good one, although I cant find my CRT model on the samsung site, Ill
try again perhaps Ive just missed it somehow.

Could be a failing PSU or video card, that would explain the crashes.
Also run memtest and check the seating on your memory and video card.

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

Hi GBM thanks for your advice although it cant be the windows updates
as I have them turned off and my CRT is on the desk while the tower is
on the floor along with the power supplies. Also the pc crashed again
about 10 minutes after writing my initial post, again on the
screensaver with the red lines, Ive turned the screensaver off for the
time being. I also have no power driven items near my CRT, the only
thing I have near to it are a couple of speakers that have always been
there and they are always turned off at the controller speaker anyway.
Perhaps the monitor is just in its death throws? The driver idea was a
good one, although I cant find my CRT model on the samsung site, Ill
try again perhaps Ive just missed it somehow.

I agree with RIAA that it could be memory or power supply related as well.
With the crashing PC I'd lean more with something PC related rather than the
monitor itself. Power Supply/Memory/Drivers, and possibly check to see that
both the computer and the monitor are plugged into the same power strip.
Don't have one going to a UPS and the other direct to the outlet. I have
seen power ground loops cause problems as you describe as well.

Here is the URL for links to the Samsung drivers. Mind the long URL's that
wrap on the screen for most monitors.
Win 95/98/ME Updated : 2003-08-28 =
http://www.samsung.com/download/Fil...typecode=203&model=957DF&filetype=DR&language

Win 2000 Updated : 2003-08-28 =
http://org.downloadcenter.samsung.c...0030828142133218_20020118043420_sm957df2k.zip

Win XP Updated : 2003-08-28 =
http://org.downloadcenter.samsung.c...20030828142133218_20020118043420_957df_XP.zip

Win 98/ME/2K/XP Updated : 2003-12-23 =
http://org.downloadcenter.samsung.c...VPath=DR/200312/20031223160726937_SM957DF.zip

PDF User Manual in English =
http://org.downloadcenter.samsung.c...0030916094301281_BH59-00356B-02eng-AN19IS.pdf

I see that they list two different ones that might work using XP and all
show a different byte count on their web page so your guess is as good as
mine but if I had to guess, I'd try the last one. Newest date and it looks
like they rolled all of them up into one version but still left the
individual ones available as well.

Another thought is to get a hold of one of the Linux CD boot disks and see
if the monitor is stable when booting Linux directly from the CD. If it is
then the it's a Windows driver or some other Windows related problem, if not
then it's hardware problem of some kind provided you choose the same monitor
resolution.

 

[Ollie]

Hi guys thanks for the great advice I hadnt even considered the power
supply being the problem, or memory for that matter, I'll take all
your advice and fiddle around with it and see what results I get and
then report back my findings, fingers crossed its not my pc although
if its my crt its still gonna cost me, sigh, i wonder if its too late
to amend my letter to santa?

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

Hi guys thanks for the great advice I hadnt even considered the power
supply being the problem, or memory for that matter, I'll take all
your advice and fiddle around with it and see what results I get and
then report back my findings, fingers crossed its not my pc although
if its my crt its still gonna cost me, sigh, i wonder if its too late
to amend my letter to santa?

I don't think it's the PC PSU. It could be the graphics card because
I have a cheapo that made wiggle worms slowly climb up the picture
until I changed its capacitors, but sometimes just changing the
refresh rate or other timing parameters (a new graphics driver may
also do that) can help.

CRT monitors can also develop bad capacitors in the horizontal and
vertical sections, and the www.repairfaq.org has a lot of information
about repair. But don't overlook bad solder joints.

Can you take a walk through your neighborhood and find another CRT
monitor? They're so abundant where I live that I pass on anything
smaller than 19".

 

[DaveW]

Well, as you correctly deduced, either your monitor or your video card is
failing. The only way to determine which is the culprit is to replace
either one of them (which ever is more convenient) and see if that fixes it.
You really don't have any other options, other than taking it into a shop.

 

[CBFalconer]

Hi guys thanks for the great advice I hadnt even considered the
power supply being the problem, or memory for that matter, I'll
take all your advice and fiddle around with it and see what
results I get and then report back my findings, fingers crossed
its not my pc although if its my crt its still gonna cost me,
sigh, i wonder if its too late to amend my letter to santa?

If you want to post a followup via groups.google.com, ensure
you quote enough for the article to make sense. Google is only
an interface to Usenet; it's not Usenet itself. Don't assume
your readers can, or ever will, see any previous articles.
More details at: <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/>

 

[kony]

I don't think it's the PC PSU. It could be the graphics card because
I have a cheapo that made wiggle worms slowly climb up the picture
until I changed its capacitors, but sometimes just changing the
refresh rate or other timing parameters (a new graphics driver may
also do that) can help.

CRT monitors can also develop bad capacitors in the horizontal and
vertical sections, and the www.repairfaq.org has a lot of information
about repair. But don't overlook bad solder joints.

Can you take a walk through your neighborhood and find another CRT
monitor? They're so abundant where I live that I pass on anything
smaller than 19".

I had an aging 19" that was giving the screen the wigglies
at about 1mm movement as soon as the room ambient temp went
down as the winter season approached. Temporarily replacing
it with an LCD, after playing around with the cable
positioning and refresh rates, showed it was the monitor
itself. With mine the tube was getting darker year after
year and it isn't worthwhile to me to try to repair it at
this point as I was already planning on replacing it - just
needed the extra push.

 

[Ollie]

Hi Guys, right ive tried the metest86+ and all is well with the
memory. I tried switching the pc onto a tft and it gave me the same
wobble I was getting on the CRT so looks like the crt is fine too thus
ruling out the driver. When running the lunux boot disc it was hard to
tell if it was wobbling as its only a basic sreen, I imagine it was
though as Im using the screen at the moment and its ok albeit a little
wobbly, its crashed a few times today already though. Both the pc and
the crt are plugged into the same strip and if it was to do with a
power loop then the problem would have been corrected on the other
tft. So does that just leave the graphics card, or dare I mention it,
my processor or motherboard? Sigh... this problem isnt looking good
for the poor ol pc, a dud crt seems great now in comparison (

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

Hi Guys, right ive tried the metest86+ and all is well with the
memory. I tried switching the pc onto a tft and it gave me the same
wobble I was getting on the CRT so looks like the crt is fine too thus
ruling out the driver. When running the lunux boot disc it was hard to
tell if it was wobbling as its only a basic sreen, I imagine it was
though as Im using the screen at the moment and its ok albeit a little
wobbly, its crashed a few times today already though. Both the pc and
the crt are plugged into the same strip and if it was to do with a
power loop then the problem would have been corrected on the other
tft. So does that just leave the graphics card, or dare I mention it,
my processor or motherboard? Sigh... this problem isnt looking good
for the poor ol pc, a dud crt seems great now in comparison (

Any chance your computer motherboard has a built in video output that you
can try in place of the graphics card?

It don't sound like a CPU but anything is possible. Used computer shops in
my area usually have older video cards that can be had for minimal price or
a visit to the local dump might turn up a chassis with a card that can be
tried. If it was me I would be trying another video card before giving up
on the motherboard or CPU.

I'm out of ideas at this time. Possibly the others still have a few...

 

[kony]

Hi Guys, right ive tried the metest86+ and all is well with the
memory. I tried switching the pc onto a tft and it gave me the same
wobble I was getting on the CRT so looks like the crt is fine too thus
ruling out the driver. When running the lunux boot disc it was hard to
tell if it was wobbling as its only a basic sreen, I imagine it was
though as Im using the screen at the moment and its ok albeit a little
wobbly, its crashed a few times today already though. Both the pc and
the crt are plugged into the same strip and if it was to do with a
power loop then the problem would have been corrected on the other
tft. So does that just leave the graphics card, or dare I mention it,
my processor or motherboard? Sigh... this problem isnt looking good
for the poor ol pc, a dud crt seems great now in comparison (

Come to think of it, I do now recall one time that I had a
power supply that caused such a problem. I don't recall all
the particulars, but it was a very low powered system due to
integrated everything, a Via C3 processor, and only a
compact flash card used instead of a hard drive for OS and
files. It put a very, very low load on the 12V rail and
this caused quite a bit of instability, easily resolved by
plugging in a couple hard drives. In my case the PSU worked
fine powering another system but this particular system
didn't provide enough load.

I don't mean to suggest your system is causing the same
problem, but rather than poor power can cause this. It
shouldn't be the CPU, not as likely to be the motherboard as
the video card or power supply.

You might start with a concise list of the major system
components including make and models, including make, model,
and current ratings per voltage for the power supply.

 

[Calab]

Any chance that you have a fluorescent light at your workspace?

 

[Ollie]

Hi Guys, nope no fluorescent light and it looks like I'll have to try
and swap over my card to see what happens as a couple of you
suggested, at least it will rule that out, sods law though I gave away
an old graphics card only two weeks ago! Argh, typical sod or Murphy
spitting in my eye again. I'll nick one out of another desktop and see
what occurs, if it is that it wont be too expensive as I only use the
desktop in question as a kinda of server anyway and it doesn't really
need a high quality card for it, might be able to grab something good
on eBay for 10 or 20 quid. If its not the card I'll go back to your
suggestion kony of the power supply, not sure how much they cost but
shouldnt be too much hopefully, what am I bet though I'll end up
replacing everything but the faulty part!

 

[Ollie]

Ok now im confused, ive switched graphics cards and the wobble has
stopped, yey! However unless my eyes decieve me the size of my screen
pixel area keeps changing, it was atcually doing this before but I
failed to mention this earlier, apologies, however now the new cards
in the wobble has stopped but the screen pixel space or whatever its
called is changing size I cant atcually see it changing but one moment
it feels the whole screen and the next it has about a 4 or 6mm black
border around it, weird. Perhaps my graphics card failure has
coincided with a crt failure? Sheesh im confused, perhaps I should
just junk the whole unit, wow diagnosing faults is a right pain in the
whatsit! Before when I had it on the tft it didnt change size, hmmm,
thus again reindicating a crt failure, man two failures at once what
are the chances, i suppose the machine is old but its a bit of a
bummer if thats the case.

 

[Ollie]

Ok now im confused, ive switched graphics cards and the wobble has
stopped, yey! However unless my eyes decieve me the size of my screen
pixel area keeps changing, it was atcually doing this before but I
failed to mention this earlier, apologies, however now the new cards
in the wobble has stopped but the screen pixel space or whatever its
called is changing size I cant atcually see it changing but one moment
it feels the whole screen and the next it has about a 4 or 6mm black
border around it, weird. Perhaps my graphics card failure has
coincided with a crt failure? Sheesh im confused, perhaps I should
just junk the whole unit, wow diagnosing faults is a right pain in the
whatsit! Before when I had it on the tft it didnt change size, hmmm,
thus again reindicating a crt failure, man two failures at once what
are the chances, i suppose the machine is old but its a bit of a
bummer if thats the case.

 

[Ollie]

Ok now im confused, ive switched graphics cards and the wobble has
stopped, yey! However unless my eyes decieve me the size of my screen
pixel area keeps changing, it was atcually doing this before but I
failed to mention this earlier, apologies, however now the new cards
in the wobble has stopped but the screen pixel space or whatever its
called is changing size I cant atcually see it changing but one moment
it feels the whole screen and the next it has about a 4 or 6mm black
border around it, weird. Perhaps my graphics card failure has
coincided with a crt failure? Sheesh im confused, perhaps I should
just junk the whole unit, wow diagnosing faults is a right pain in the
whatsit! Before when I had it on the tft it didnt change size, hmmm,
thus again reindicating a crt failure, man two failures at once what
are the chances, i suppose the machine is old but its a bit of a
bummer if thats the case.

 

[Ollie]

Unless it is actually the driver which I thought id eliminated but
perhaps not again, right ill sort that out next...

 

[Ollie]

Unless it is actually the driver which I thought id eliminated but
perhaps not again, right ill sort that out next...