Lenovo L192 ThinkVision Monitor 6920-AB1 Windows 7 Drivers

[goneglobal]

Hello there. My first post ever. I pride myself on being able to nut out most problems on my own, but this one has me baffled... I'd really appreciate some advice.

So... I bought a Lenovo L192 monitor second hand, thinking that the maximum 1440x900 pixels would easily compensate for the loss of my ancient Dell monitor (nothing so permanent as a temporary fix, right?).

And it did. So long as I was running Linux. Then the maximum resolution worked a treat. Out of the box. No config required.

Then I needed Windows 7, so I installed it (a major personal achievement I won't go into) and activated successfully - so it's legit, 100%, Windows 7 Ultimate, single licence, single use, no problems there.

Now, when the Windows 7 installs, it gives me three options for screen resolution, two of which work, the other not. When I installed the Vista drivers it gives me the first two options, and I lose the third (which didn't work anyway, so no great loss). The problem being that the max resolution available to me is 1024x768 either way.

Now, before I lose you altogether, I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried searching (and upgrading every official driver along the way from) the ibm website, this lenovo website, support.lenovo.com, microsoft, ati (who do the video card), I have googled till the cows come home, everything, but I just cannot get the maximum resolution out of this monitor on Windows 7...

Is this an XGA limitation thing (and if so, how do I fix it)? Is this a driver thing? Is it a video card thing? Is it a Windows 7 thing? Have I wasted time and money barking up the wrong tree and it just downright isn't possible?!

I find it hard to believe that 'upgrading' my OS could give me less support for my monitor rather than more. Is this the case here?

Thanks for reading this far,

Phil.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-65756.html

the max resolution is the 1440 x 900, what is the spec of the system that you are running the screen on? i.e what graphics card?

[goneglobal]

Thanks for the quick response!

I tried to insert a screenshot, but no dice...

So... From the Advanced settings window of the 'L192 Wide and Standard VGA Graphics Adapter Properties' sheet:

==================

Adapter Information

Chip Type:   ATI RADEON VE

DAC Type:    8 bit

Adapter string: VGA

Bios Information: 01.00

Total available graphics memory: 16 MB

Everything else: N/A

==================

Really Appreciate any help on this, it's been driving me wild!

Cheers,

Phil.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

this means that you haven't installed the driver software for your graphics card.

Which desktop is this, and what is the spec of the desktop?

[goneglobal]

Hmm. I tried installing the ATI drivers for Windows 7 64-bit, they don't seem to have taken then.

It's an IBM e-Series x-Server 226 (Model type 8488 - from memory).

Cheers!
Phil.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor · Accepted solution]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/Windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Hardware&p=ATI%20Ra...

according to the above, the graphics card is not supported in your windows 7, which is why you can't get a resolution above xga.

Maybe it is time to consider a graphics card upgrade in the server.

[goneglobal]

OK, so I got all excited then...

I went here:

http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-65438&brandind=5000008

Downloaded the .exe, flashed the BIOS, rebooted... And, nothing.

I can't find any new drivers searching online.

I'll try rolling back the driver and re-installing for the video card and the monitor...

Thanks for the tip! Am I on the right track here?

Thanks!
Phil.

[goneglobal]

Oh, OK, so it can't be done, then...

Saves me messing around with this any more...

Thanks for the tip, it saves me more brain ache, at any rate!

Cheers!

Phil.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

as said XGA is all you are going to get with the ATI 7000m graphics card you have in your server without specific driver support in windows 7.

There is no new drivers, these cards are 8 to 9 years old, there will be no drivers support for windows 7.

In a nutshell if you need more resolution than XGA in windows 7 try a new graphics card (more modern).