Sync out of range during boot up

[RC]

The CMOS battery died. Ever since then I get a 'Sync out of range' on my monitor during then time the BIOS messages should be showing. This happens every time during boot up.
When windo$ XP starts, then everything is fine.
I cannot see to do anything in the BIOS.

What really drive me nuts is the LOUD audio message telling me the boot check is fine. I need to get in there and turn it back off.

I have a ASUS A7N8X mother board and ASUS Radeon 9200se/T128M graphics card. I'm thinking the BIOS is the problem, like the video defaulted to PAL

It's otherwise been running fine since 12/03

Any Ideas?

[RoyGBiv]

1. I'd guess BIOS too ...

I used to have that motherboard ... well, still do, but it's not in a working system at the moment. Had something similar. I discovered it when I plugged an old, old, OLD monitor into it once while doing something completely random, and the whole display was warped ... until Windows booted.

I never really tried to fix it, so I'm not sure what to suggest. I do remember a lot of settings that affected video in the BIOS, though.

Can you go into the BIOS at all, or is there no video period even if you start pressing whatever key your system uses to start the BIOS setup until Windows starts?

I'm guessing you have a LCD? Happen to have a CRT lying around anywhere you could plug into it if you can't see the BIOS screen?

Just thinkin' aloud.

[RC]

2. I have two monitors hooked up to it.. The analog has the sync out of range message

The digital output goes to a Samsung flat screen. I can see the BIOS on that, but can not read anything because it is way out of sync.

[BattyDem]

3. Change the monitor refresh rate

I've seen this problem once before and it happened because the refresh rate was set too low for the monitor. (The user had it set at 60Hz, but the recommended setting for the monitor was actually 75Hz.)

Have you recently changed your screen resolution? The analog monitor may not be able to handle a high screen resolution with a low refresh rate. Raising the refresh rate may solve your problem. Even if you haven't made any changes in the settings, the rate could have been thrown off by a driver update, a new video card, an additional monitor or a simple glitch. (When I changed my video card, it dropped my refresh rate. I didn't get the "sync" error message, but suddenly, my monitor screen had an annoying flicker! I raised the rate back up to where it was supposed to be and everything was fine.)

If you don't have the manual for your monitor, you may want to do a Google and find the monitor's recommended refresh rate for the screen resolution you're using. Or you can simply try different settings and see what happens, but that might take a bit of trial and error. :-)


You said you can see the normal screen when you get into XP, right? If not, then boot into Safe Mode before doing this:

Right-click the Desktop and select Properties.
Select the Settings tab.
Click the Advanced button, then select the Monitor tab.
Click the check box next to "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display." (If it's already marked, leave it alone.)
Choose a new refresh rate from the drop-down list.
Apply the change and reboot.

I hope it helps. :-)


edited: typo: :blush:

[RC]

4. I did some experimenting today.

This happens only when I have two monitors setup. If I select only one, either one and disconnect the other one, everything is fine.

And I did manage to get into the BIOS and reset what I needed to reset.