0

Here are the steps I took:

  1. Installed Windows 7 on a Mac mini using Boot Camp
  2. Installed Apple’s Boot Camp tools on Windows 7
  3. Rebooted.

Now, when I start the Mac mini, I get the “Windows Starting...” screen. After that, the monitor (Packard Bell L15K) goes black, and shows me its own message:

MODE NOT SUPPORTED
H:63.9KHZ V:59.9KHZ

It worked fine before I installed Apple’s Boot Camp tools, and I can start up Windows successfully in Safe Mode, so I assume something must have gone wrong with the graphics driver they installed.

The monitor is conected to the Mac mini using a VGA-to-MiniDisplayPort adapter, so I’m not sure if that’s buggering up Windows 7’s ability to detect what settings it should use for the monitor.

What I don’t know is how I can change the display settings of Windows to work when I can’t start up except in Safe Mode.

5
  • likely "bootcamp tools" (which is imo a bloated package of which only a couple of things are really needed) installed a video driver that is not ok for your system. Try uninstalling it in safe mode, or roll-back to a state before you installed with system restore.
    – stijn
    Sep 28, 2011 at 18:06
  • 1
    On the contrary, I'd suggest changing your monitor 'driver' to something very generic like "Generic Plug and Play Monitor". Very weird behavior. Sep 28, 2011 at 21:01
  • @Doc: that seems to have done it, cheers. Sep 28, 2011 at 22:28
  • Not sure if JoeBop’s entry on this page describes this issue. Dec 24, 2011 at 23:12
  • I tried uninstalling all Nvidia software, then manually downloading the drivers for the Mac mini’s graphics card (which, according to apple-history.com, is the GeForce 320M) from geforce.com and installing them. After installation, I still got MODE NOT SUPPORTED, but this time with H:64.2KHZ V:60.2HZ underneath. I guess these drivers have different default settings. Dec 25, 2011 at 0:29

1 Answer 1

0

As per @Doc’s comment on the question, I changed back to the driver that Windows initially used:

  1. Started Windows in Safe Mode.
  2. Went to Control Panel > Device Manager.
  3. Right-clicked the only entry under “Display adapters”, and clicked on “Properties”.
  4. In the “Driver” tab, clicked on “Roll Back Driver”.

This switched it back to “Standard VGA Graphics Adapter”, which seems to work fine.

I later tried the “Update Driver” button to see if Windows would install a different driver, but I got the same results as Boot Camp tools.

I guess the default settings that the driver applies aren’t supported by the monitor. Bit frustrating not being able to change the settings though — surely the driver has some settings that the monitor would support.

5
  • That wasn't really my suggestion. My suggestion was to leave the Boot Camp Video driver and change your MONITOR's driver. I've had stupid crap like that happen before when Windows has tried to use some product-specific driver for a monitor - when a generic display driver cuts it.. Though I haven't yet had that fun on Windows 7. Sep 28, 2011 at 22:46
  • @Doc afaik bootcamp does not install monitor drivers, only video card drivers.
    – stijn
    Sep 29, 2011 at 7:42
  • @Doc: ah, I see your point. Oddly enough though, it does seem to be the graphics card driver that causes the issue — when I roll it back, the monitor supports the display settings, and when I update it, the monitor doesn’t. Sep 29, 2011 at 9:54
  • ... well, nevermind. I still would suggest trying what I said, because I've witnessed this sort of thing before.. But whatever. PS - I don't think it's something out of Boot Camp, I think it's something strictly with Windows - though, I could be mistaken. Sep 29, 2011 at 14:10
  • @Doc: sure, when Windows updates the graphics card driver itself, the problem still occurs, so I imagine the issue is with the driver, not Boot Camp. Sep 29, 2011 at 14:37

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .