Mac OS 9 stuck on an unsupported resolution

[LloydLynx]

I made a big mistake, I changed the display resolution via the control strip, then misclicked on an unsupported resolution. Now I'm kinda stuck, there is no image on the screen so I have no way to change the resolution back to something normal. The only way to get an image is to start the computer with another monitor, then swap the VGA cable to the monitor I want to use, but if I restart the computer it will just go back to the old resolution like I never fooled around with the other monitor. I really have no idea of what to do, please give me any ideas.

[Bombastinator]

Oh wow macos9.
 

that’s some old old stuff.  PowerPCg3 stuff.   I used to sysop that.  I was a much younger man though.  Thin for one thing. More hair.  It’s been too long for me   I forget how resolution is stored.  It’s somewhere though.  

 

the standard move with macos9 was a reboot generally fixed most ills.  I take it that’s not working here?

[Ashleyyyy]

what Mac and display config are you using?

[LloydLynx]

29 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Oh wow macos9.
 

that’s some old old stuff.  PowerPCg3 stuff.   I used to sysop that.  I was a much younger man though.  Thin for one thing. More hair.  It’s been too long for me   I forget how resolution is stored.  It’s somewhere though.  

 

the standard move with macos9 was a reboot generally fixed most ills.  I take it that’s not working here?

Yea, a reboot don't help one bit because the monitor is broadcasting the wrong resolution options and it gets stuck on some unsupported config.

 

19 minutes ago, Twilight said:

what Mac and display config are you using?

Power Mac G4 AGP with the VGA/DVI rage fury, monitor is HP pavilion f70.

 

I also have it dual booted with Mac OS Tiger, though I almost never play around in there, in case that can help.

[Ashleyyyy]

2 minutes ago, TheJooomes said:

Power Mac G4 AGP with the VGA/DVI rage fury, monitor is HP pavilion f70.

 

I also have it dual booted with Mac OS Tiger, though I almost never play around in there, in case that can help.

nice. i happen to have an iMac G3 running OS9 but mine is old enough not to have a video out on it so i can't test stuff for you sadly. 

[Bombastinator]

If you start the computer with the other monitor but use it, can you access the control strip?  Changing it via that same method to a resolution both monitors can run even if it’s not one you particularly like would allow you to get your preferred monitor back at which point you could change it again to the resolution on the monitor you like that you do like.  
 

if that thing has a ball mouse on it I would suggest cleaning the thing before performing this.  You don’t need any more bumps and misclicks.

[LloydLynx]

22 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

If you start the computer with the other monitor but use it, can you access the control strip?  Changing it via that same method to a resolution both monitors can run even if it’s not one you particularly like would allow you to get your preferred monitor back at which point you could change it again to the resolution on the monitor you like that you do like.  
 

if that thing has a ball mouse on it I would suggest cleaning the thing before performing this.  You don’t need any more bumps and misclicks.

Nope, didn't work. I used the second monitor to change the resolution via the control strip to the native resolution of the primary monitor, the rebooted with the primary monitor connected and got the black screen again. I think it's remembering which monitors have which resolution set, so when it boots with the primary monitor it tries to set it to the incompatible resolution.

 

Oh yea, it's an optical mouse, but it's more the fault of my beaten up work bench.

[LloydLynx]

Just figured it out. You pretty much disable extensions and leave monitor settings active, do that in extension manager. This thread is where I found the solution: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7539873
 

I was dumb as disabled all extensions without taking note of which ones are disabled by default, so I just enabled them all and hoped nothing broke. Don't make my mistake and make sure to write down which ones are disabled by default.