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it's probably Bill's fault
I'm trying to debug a problem with my (home) file server. (Why do I have a file server other than my desktop machine? Because the machine was downgraded from its job of network hub after a failure that led us to just go buy a Linksys box, and Dani and I are geeks. Well, we actually do have a pile of shared data there, and this saves us from sharing drives on the "real" machines.)
So anyway, a while ago the monitor, or maybe graphics card, started to flake out. But it was only a file server, and the company that sold me the thing has since gone out of business (yes, the monitor was still under warranty, on paper), so I didn't work too hard to fix it. Then this past spring we got a power surge or one too many of those on-again-off-again power bounces, or something, and the machine became very ill. (My real machine has a UPS, but this one doesn't.) We brought in a better geek than either of us to try to revive it, and the eventual conclusion was that it was time to reinstall the OS. Ok, fine, it's a nuisance but it wouldn't be the first time.
Our geek suggested that as long as we were doing this anyway, we should upgrade the box from Win95 to Win98. This went against my gut instinct (you debug by changing exactly one thing at a time), but I talked myself into it. This was probably a mistake.
So we brought the machine back to life, though the monitor or graphics card is still funky. Fine, I said, I'll just install VNC, turn the monitor off or remove it entirely, and be done with it.
Now I have a mysterious behavior that I've never seen before. The VNC server starts automatically at boot; that's fine. I can use it remotely without problems. If, however, I turn the monitor off, then (1) VNC freezes (no further contact) and (2) turning it back on does not get me an image on said monitor. Once I turn the monitor off, in other words, the machine thinks it no longer has any video and it's not interested in getting it back.
I've never heard of a peripheral being able to affect the OS in this way, so I'm leaning toward it being the card's fault. But first, there are settings in Bill98 to explore.
I had already explicitly set the "power saver" options for the monitor to "always on", so that's not it. The display settings think it's a generic monitor; that sounds right. I tested the monitor theory by disconnecting and reconnecting the cable; everything is fine if I do that. (So it's tied to the monitor losing power, not losing connectivity.)
While I was writing this I was also conducting another experiment. I shut the machine down, turned the monitor off, and booted. When I was sure it was back up, I turned the monitor on. Voila, I have video. I turned the monitor off and back on. I still have video. (I also have a message reporting that "new hardware" was found, and it proceeds to "install" my "default monitor". I am not making this up.) I started a VNC client and cycled the monitor again; I still have VNC.
So, if I turn the monitor off and never turn it on again, except to directly talk to an already-running machine, everything will be fine. But if I boot the machine from the console and the monitor happens to be on (which is likely, if I'm at the console), then things are hosed.
Is that weird or what?
So anyway, a while ago the monitor, or maybe graphics card, started to flake out. But it was only a file server, and the company that sold me the thing has since gone out of business (yes, the monitor was still under warranty, on paper), so I didn't work too hard to fix it. Then this past spring we got a power surge or one too many of those on-again-off-again power bounces, or something, and the machine became very ill. (My real machine has a UPS, but this one doesn't.) We brought in a better geek than either of us to try to revive it, and the eventual conclusion was that it was time to reinstall the OS. Ok, fine, it's a nuisance but it wouldn't be the first time.
Our geek suggested that as long as we were doing this anyway, we should upgrade the box from Win95 to Win98. This went against my gut instinct (you debug by changing exactly one thing at a time), but I talked myself into it. This was probably a mistake.
So we brought the machine back to life, though the monitor or graphics card is still funky. Fine, I said, I'll just install VNC, turn the monitor off or remove it entirely, and be done with it.
Now I have a mysterious behavior that I've never seen before. The VNC server starts automatically at boot; that's fine. I can use it remotely without problems. If, however, I turn the monitor off, then (1) VNC freezes (no further contact) and (2) turning it back on does not get me an image on said monitor. Once I turn the monitor off, in other words, the machine thinks it no longer has any video and it's not interested in getting it back.
I've never heard of a peripheral being able to affect the OS in this way, so I'm leaning toward it being the card's fault. But first, there are settings in Bill98 to explore.
I had already explicitly set the "power saver" options for the monitor to "always on", so that's not it. The display settings think it's a generic monitor; that sounds right. I tested the monitor theory by disconnecting and reconnecting the cable; everything is fine if I do that. (So it's tied to the monitor losing power, not losing connectivity.)
While I was writing this I was also conducting another experiment. I shut the machine down, turned the monitor off, and booted. When I was sure it was back up, I turned the monitor on. Voila, I have video. I turned the monitor off and back on. I still have video. (I also have a message reporting that "new hardware" was found, and it proceeds to "install" my "default monitor". I am not making this up.) I started a VNC client and cycled the monitor again; I still have VNC.
So, if I turn the monitor off and never turn it on again, except to directly talk to an already-running machine, everything will be fine. But if I boot the machine from the console and the monitor happens to be on (which is likely, if I'm at the console), then things are hosed.
Is that weird or what?