Gateway 610x has flaky video.

[rowland]

Not mine, someone I'm trying to help out. He can't swap in another VGA
because there's no VGA output connector. (He's not lying. I looked it
up!)

But
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/TVMediaCenter/2900006/2800348sp3.shtml
says it uses an AGP video card. Could there perhaps be some way?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Paul]

Not mine, someone I'm trying to help out. He can't swap in another VGA
because there's no VGA output connector. (He's not lying. I looked it
up!)

But
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/TVMediaCenter/2900006/2800348sp3.shtml
says it uses an AGP video card. Could there perhaps be some way?

Thanks in advance.

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/TVMediaCenter/2900006/2900006nv.shtml

610XL, 610X, 610S, 610XL, 610S, 610X, 610XL

A manual:
http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Desktops/9524973.pdf

The thing is an all-in-one computer. If it has a video
subsystem, it could be on a separate module inside
the unit, but more likely the video chip could be soldered
to the main board. I found seven different model numbers,
and perhaps there are construction differences between them.

Actually, your web page said "AGP Graphics card: Custom ATI solution"
implying the thing is not an established standard. Which means
it cannot be replaced with an off-the-shelf unit.

Having worked on another brand, something similar to this,
in that case they were using the Northbridge built-in
graphics (865G), and there was no AGP slot. So your options
are limited. The unit has its "Svideo" output, but that
is almost useless for computer use. You won't be able to read
text, unless the font is very large.

If you look in Device Manager, or use a program like Everest,
you may get a better idea of what hardware is inside it. I
assume it is still working ?

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181 (Everest download)

The following device, provides a frame buffer via a USB port.
It is a USB to VGA adapter. With the speed of a USB port,
and the probable lack of hardware acceleration in this device,
this will likely have the performance of video from 20 years
ago. But it is an alternative if your screen is broken. Using
the warranty is also an alternative, if the problem is supported
by the warranty.

http://www.startech.com/Product/ItemFeatures.aspx?productid=USB2VGA&c=CA

Paul

 

[Mike T.]

Not mine, someone I'm trying to help out. He can't swap in another VGA
because there's no VGA output connector. (He's not lying. I looked it
up!)

But
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/TVMediaCenter/2900006/2800348sp3.shtml
says it uses an AGP video card. Could there perhaps be some way?

Thanks in advance.

What your friend owns is basically a non-portable notebook computer system.
The specs. I found state that the graphics are Radeon 9200 AGP with 128MB of
dedicated RAM (from memory, don't kill me if I got that wrong). Other
specs. I found state that this graphics solution is a custom ATI solution.
I read that as, "we used a notebook mainboard to pack a PC into the case of
an LCD monitor". Not a bad idea as long as it works OK. But how do you
repair it?

There is no good way to deal with faulty video on this unit, I'm afraid.
AGP refers to the bus used, NOT a graphics card expansion slot. I would be
shocked to discover that this 610X beast has an actual AGP graphics card
expansion slot. BUT WAIT! There's another problem. The specs. I found
state that the beast has a proprietary, ***160W*** power supply (yikes, I'm
surprised a P4 processor will even boot with that!). So even in the HIGHLY
UNLIKELY event that the graphics card could be replaced, you'd have to
somehow replace a non-replaceable power supply, as well!!! No video card
that's not built-into a mainboard (ie, notebook style) is going to run off
of a 160W power supply. Most AGP video cards specify 300W, MINIMUM, or
greater.

There's another fly in the ointment. As this is an all-in-one type of box,
the problem could be in the LCD display circuitry. So...the graphics card
you can't replace would require a new power supply which you can't replace,
only to discover that after you've jumped through all those hoops, you might
be back where you started. (shit!)

You've got two choices:
1) Assuming that the pc is out of warranty, you can pay gateway hundreds of
dollars to fix it. It can not be repaired by anybody who is not a gateway
authorized service center, due to all the proprietary parts used to build
the thing. I don't suggest you choose this route, as the repair cost would
likely GREATLY exceed the purchase price of a whole new computer system and
monitor with better specifications. Even if you get the problem diagnosed
(not fixed), the diagnosis alone would likely cost about half as much as a
whole new computer system plus monitor.

2) Buy a cheap PC and monitor to replace the whole thing. I've read of
some fantastic deals lately on Windows XP systems, because Vista was just
released.

Of course, all of what I write above could be wrong, and maybe there is an
easy fix that I've overlooked. I don't think so, though. -Dave