epia 800

[mkurza]

hi, first post here, didn't know exactly where this should go so I stuck it in general, if a mod reads it and decideds it fits better else where, feel free to throw it that way

anyways;

I have bought a epia 800-AG board but I am having the most damned time trying to get it to display out of the RCA port in the back

I've changed the jumper pin, and repeatly cycled through the bios for a "CRT+TV" function

i've read numerous help points and FAQ guides and they all say to change the option in the BIOS to CRT+TV and im damned sure it's not there.

I've updated my bios to the newest bin file out there (epia0207.bin) and nothing else seems to work. I bought this mobo to run on a TV and so far it looks like it's gonna be a waste of cash.

I even found this:
VIA EPIA M Mainboard BIOS 1.13.--Note:This BIOS needs working with below new VGA driver--Update new VGA BIOS. Support CRT+TV, LCD and...

Which is what I need (it sounds like) to get my option of CRT+TV video to appear in my BIOS, but it's a different version of BIOS nad wont load into my machine.

I am looking for any, and I stress any help/ideas welcome on this matter.

edit:
the board is a EPIA-800AG i don't know why I didnt include this in the first place.

[.Maleficus.]

Welcome to the forums!

How exactly did you update the BIOS? Did you flash it via a floppy, or what? If you didn't do that, I imagine that's what you'll need to do. Here's a guide on how to do that. (http://www.pcmech.com/show/bios/81/) I don't know if the guide applies to the board you have, but it should get you started anyways. Try that out and post back any successes or failures.

[mkurza]

thanks for the welcome :)

I followed this guide

http://freepctech.com/pc/001/006.shtml

which is more or less the same thing, summed up. I took the flash utility and the bin and put them on the C drive, and ran them out of dos after a bootup with the startup disk. The flash ultiity loaded up fine, as well as backed up the first bios i had and installed the newer one.(ie all the conformation said everything was okay and successful, no write errors or anything) plus my older bios that I backed up ended up on the C drive as well, so I don't imagine anything went wrong there.

Im starting to think the 800AG just doesnt have this option in the bios and hence i am screwed for running this on a TV. I'm trying to get a hold of a VIA representative, thier tech support is a bit ghetto (user based forums(as "official support mind you" or a email form, puke) I am using a mini-itx board. (EPIA-800AG)

im gonna soon grab a EPIA-M manual, and cut out the part that is different from my 800-AG. If only they made this option in the AG. I wouldnt have a headache :(

[.Maleficus.]

Are you using the only PCI slot? If not, you could go to Newegg and buy a $20 TV Tuner card. That may be a good option if you aren't using it.


Edit: Let me re-phrase that. Is it critical that you use it?

[mkurza]

im not using the pci slot at all, but I'm trying to fit this all into a old nintendo case (wishich is possible at the moment) but any type of tall PCI card would probably not fit for space req.

for a board that advertises TV out through RCA port, it should damn well do it.

here's what my bios looks like:

http://members.shaw.ca/ghostfacetagger/epia800.gif

here's what a "EPIA-M" model looks like:

http://members.shaw.ca/ghostfacetagger/epiam.gif

All I want is that damn CRT setting from the M series Bios to be in my AG bios and this would be alot easier. I'm also starting to think there's some kind of other config out there that will enable the port rather then the BIOS.

I have yet to speak to anyone that even owns a epia800 that didn't sell if before it started to work. :mad:

[.Maleficus.]

The screen from the "Epia-M" is a screen from within the AGP settings. You have that too. Go to the screen you were on, and go to AGP. If it does have TV Out, it will have the same type of setting in there. Sorry if you've already done that, but that's the best I can think of now.

[mkurza]

nope,
http://members.shaw.ca/ghostfacetagger/agp.jpg

that menu doesnt have any type of swappign for that matter

the only options that I can change in the bios that are video related are:

Video: EGA/VGA - CGA 40 - CGA 80 or MONO

and the TV type (NTSC or PAL) Dot type and over/underscan

all the other options are not related to video or else run off a "Enabled / Disabled" setting rather then a buncha different options

http://members.shaw.ca/ghostfacetagger/input.JPG

thats where in windows i need to setup the TV after all the drivers are in, but that damn TV box wont change. Ive even updated from windows 98se to windows XP with no change. :(

[.Maleficus.]

Yeah, in that case, I'd just suggest buying a TV Tuner card. I don't know much else that you can do. Sorry man, I wish I could have helped more.

[mkurza]

Thanks for the help, and im leaning towardsthe tuner card atm. Gonna have to build a custom case though, and say bye-bye to the NES i ripped apart :P

[.Maleficus.]

Check some of the cards on here. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380047+1148510222&name=Yes) Specifically the ones that take up half the width of a normal card. You can cut off the excess metal for mounting and possibly fit it in.

[Luke122]

I've seen similar results using the Tv output of my old laptop. The simple answer may be that the bios screen and pre-OS environment cannot be output to a tv, and that you may get no output at all from the tv-out until you get into an OS.

This might be the case here, and the monitor is only used for setup procedures. :D

[.Maleficus.]

One of the screens that was linked was a screen from within XP.

[mkurza]

yea, as Fic said i've got it on XP now and I had it on 98SE before

I talked to some guy wit hthe same board and he said that his swaps over to TV after re-booting, and my board just sits with a blank screen. Makes me think it's defect :\


gonna try a few easy fixes (pci tuner card or a VGA -> RCA cable)

thanks for the idea tho, I like how your thinking :up:

hopefully I can solve the problem, and post it for the world to know! :D

[mkurza]

my problem ended up being that any "A" series board does not feature TV out at all. Way to go, thanks for even putting it on my board to confuse the hell out of me.

[Luke122]

Whoops, sorry bout that... I missed the part about XP. Sorry to hear that your hardware isnt working for you. :(