How to enable TV output on 600x with WinXP

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paulchr · #1 Post by **paulchr** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:39 am

I recently purchased/repaired a 600X/650Mhz (2645-9FU) with WinXP and am having trouble enabling the TV output. I tried clicking the TV icon in the IBM configuration utility and nothing happens. Also tried fiddling with screen resolution and color depths with no luck... I don't know if I'm having a hardware or driver problem. Is anyone able to enable TV out with WinXP and if so provide some hints on how it's done? Thanks!

760XL
770 (x2)
600X

paulchr · #2 Post by **paulchr** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:32 pm

**shrug** guess it's never been tried by anyone else before

JHEM · #3 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:38 pm

Connect the TV before turning on the 600X.

Then you should be able to select the TV in the display properties.

You need to set the resolution to 800X600 or less.

Regards,

James

whizkid · #4 Post by **whizkid** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:54 pm

I guess you didn't really try very hard. **shrug**

Here's what I did on my 600X running XP Pro and the latest driver from IBM.

Set your Color Quality to 16 bit. Click on Advanced, click the NeoMagic tab. The TV checkbox is then enabled. Once you turn that on (and click Apply), you have TV output.

I've read that other drivers (not from IBM) will allow a dual display on a 600X. Even IBM's driver did it for Win98, so the hardware is capable. I don't know if one can have dual display with the TV output.

JHEM · #5 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 11:36 pm

SMACK (Sound of James slapping forehead!)

I completely forgot about reducing the color BIT depth.

Thanks for the reminder Chris.

Regards,

James

paulchr · #6 Post by **paulchr** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:43 am

Thanks all. I really DID do the legwork to try all this, and several more times after reading this thread. WinXP came pre-installed on this machine and it looks like a clean install w/o any apps, etc. I was planning on a new installation once the hardware is stable with new mini-PCI WLAN antenna, slot-loader DVD burner, etc. Meanwhile, I might have a hardware problem or a rogue video driver. I think the TV-out cable is OK as I get a brief flash of horizontal lines on the telly right after turning on the 600x. Is there something in Device Manager that indicates a TV-out module is installed? Something unique compared to the 600x model w/o TV-out. Is there a specific WinXP video driver? The driver matrix has a download for a Win2K video driver but WinXP is described as having video support in the OS. Also, will TV-out work under Linux?

JHEM · #7 Post by **JHEM** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:47 am

If you didn't have a TV-Out module installed, there wouldn't be a connector on the right side of the machine.

The connector is integral with the module.

Regards,

James

whizkid · #8 Post by **whizkid** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:56 am

Hmm. 2645-9FU is a US model. Telly sounds British. Could this be an NTSC/PAL issue? That may be something to look into.

Bring up dsplay properties. Click Settings, Advanced, NeoMagic, Advanced Settings, TV Options. There's a selection for NTSC or PAL. It could be wrong. I see my driver allows me to set S-Video output, but the 600X won't do that.

I have version 5.39.00 of the video driver installed. It's dated 1/10/2000 and says it's provided by NeoMagic Corporation. I don't remember if it came with XPPro or if I download the driver.

paulchr · #9 Post by **paulchr** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:53 am

[quote="whizkid"]Hmm. 2645-9FU is a US model. Telly sounds British. Could this be an NTSC/PAL issue? That may be something to look into. /quote]

Nope, I'm in CT! I just got tired of using "TV" so many times in the same paragraph but the NTSC/PAL thoughts are good ones. Thanks for the driver/version info and I'll check it out when I get home.

Yes, I have the TV-out module. It's piggy-backed onto the mobo in the lower RH corner and I was wondering if it's recognized as a seperate Plug-and-Play device in Device Manager or Multimedia Codecs. This would give me an idea of what the probelm is -- if a healthy 600X with TV-out has something in device manager/codecs that I don't then I might suspect a bad TV-out module.

Cheers!
Chris

paulchr · #10 Post by **paulchr** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:23 am

Gave this another try over the weekend and... it works! But only with the Win2K video driver downloaded from IBM. I did a clean install of XP and the native XP drivers don't even give a NeoMagic tab in the Advanced display properties. So I did a brute-force installation of the Win2K drivers -- wish IBM updated their driver matrix info... Anyway, the TV-out quality is the best I've seen from a computer. Interesting that both RCA and SVHS outputs are supported (and individually selectable in the NeoMagic properties) where I think the cable specified for the 600x only has a RCA output so I ended up buying that particular one. Then I tried the RCA/SVHS combo cable from my 770 which fit perfectly and the SVHS gives a noticeably better picture. Only the 770 outputs both RCA and SVHS signals simultaneously.

JHEM · #11 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:03 am

Paul,

IBM has used the same basic TV out cable since the 760 series, just under different part numbers. The part number for the 600 series machines is 05K2821 and it's still available from IBM parts for $18.

They all are combination composite (RCA) video and S-VHS units.

Regards,

James

whizkid · #12 Post by **whizkid** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:56 am

The part that came with my 600X is labelled IBM P/N 05K2820 FRU P/N 05K2821 and is RCA only. One end connects to the 600X and the other has a female RCA connector. There is no S-video connector.

paulchr · #13 Post by **paulchr** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:14 pm

whizkid wrote:The part that came with my 600X is labelled IBM P/N 05K2820 FRU P/N 05K2821 and is RCA only. One end connects to the 600X and the other has a female RCA connector. There is no S-video connector.

Bingo! I also bought the 05K2821 cable per IBM info that it's for a 600 series

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.ws ... WIK-3ZVLSQ

and it only has a RCA composite video connector. The IBM ThinkPad Personal Systems Reference also reads that the 600 ships with a RCA jack cable.

The 770 has the 85G1897 cable specified

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.ws ... FAN-3TRTM7

and it has both RCA and S-Video connectors. The IBM PSR also reads that the 770 comes with a composite and S-Video cable. This was the same cable used on the 760/765 deluxe ThinkPads. No way to tell from reading IBM info that the 600 and 760/765/770 series cables are interchangeable, I only learned after looking at the 770 and 600 side-by-side and trying.

I made use of the 05K2821 RCA jack for connecting the 770 AC-3 output to my stereo.

bmassing520 · #14 Post by **bmassing520** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:19 pm

I just registered so I can say Thank You! to those of you who helped me work through this problem. When I went to the IBM support site, they said that not being able to use Video-Out with WinXP was a "permanent limitation." I was [censored]. Why should it work with crappy Win98 but not XP? the hardware is still there isn't it?

Anyway, I installed the Win2K driver as was suggested, and it works! Which just goes to prove that the user community knows a lot more than IBM.

Power to the people!!

Thanks to this great forum!

Bob (ex-IBM guy)

How to enable TV output on 600x with WinXP

How to enable TV output on 600x with WinXP

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