CompuServe Messages

I got my 8100/80av today and after ten grueling hours of frustration it's all finally working! I came up against a problem that I understand is very unusual but could possibly affect a very few other people who will attempt to use the Power Mac av machines with a 16" color monitor. Here's the scoop: I hooked up my 16" color monitor to the av monitor output (the one on the av card, not the HDI). And, I put an internal card in for my two-page display. When I booted up the two-page display came on and the 16" color monitor remained black. Nothing I tried was able to "wake up" the monitor. The monitor control panel saw it as a phantom monitor (greyed out) and the identification function would not label it. The 16" color monitor worked fine if I plugged it into my 840av so the monitor and cable were OK. Next step was I hooked up a 14" color monitor and the 14" color monitor worked fine. It was let's-go-crazy time. I called the computer store who first insisted I needed an adapter to hook it to the HDI but the way I read the color depth chart (properly as it turned out) that would only have given me 256 colors. I called some friends at Apple. They all, including those most in the know, insisted it should work on the VRAM av card with the 16" monitor in millions of colors. I called SOS-APPL. They finally figured out the problem. It seems that a very, very few av cards left the factory in an uninitialized state. Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket instead of a Power Mac today because I beat the odds and, as it turns out, got such a card. Tonight at 11:00 PM EST (and this is indicative of the usual fine service from SOS-APPL) they emailed me a new INIT. It's called in the form I have it the "!TYC" Extension but will probably be released as PowerMac Video or the like. I popped it into the System folder and the 16" color monitor came right online. I _hope_ we and other nets will have this INIT for electronic distribution soon. Meanwhile, if anyone has problems with bringing a monitor online with one of the Power Mac av machines — you are advised to call SOS-APPL immediately as they will immediately send to you the INIT that you will need. I sure hope this message may save someone else the ten hours full of joy I experienced. Well, it's all working. NOW I CAN HAVE FUN!!! — Neil Read action !