G4 +23" CD Not keeping resolution after reboot

Question

Heya folks I have a powerbook g4 and a cinema display 23".
I have been using the 2 of them together without problems, but I recently installed some of the apple service updates and after doing so I am having problems with with the external monitor.
In the past I was able to use a mirriored display and had full range of motion on the external monitor.
Now every time I boot up my external monitor screen gets compressed, and though both are set at 1280x800, the mouse goes side to side on the laptop display, but only about 3/4ths of the way on the external.
So now my mouse on the external display is out of snyc and when I click it, I have to click where it is on the laptop display, not the external.
I can fix this by going to the display setting control pannel and changing the resolution to any other size, then changing it back to 1280x800. Once I do this, everything works fine and the mouse can go from side to side in snyc with the laptop.
Unfortunately this only works until I reboot or shut down, every time I start over I have to do the same thing.
I have tried other resoultions on both the powerbook and the exernal monitor and have restarted with different settings on both both higher and lower resolutions, but I run into the same problem no matter what I do.
Any ideas on this? Very odd since it worked fine for months before these patches.
Chris

Answer 1

While I think the idea of following your steps to determine if the Sonnet is
overheating is a good one, your solution of leaving thee case open and running
a fan on the processor certainly is not. It is not only dangerous, but cooling systems in computers are designed to be closed systems, and leaving open the side will disrupt the cooling for every other part of the computer.
Also, notice in the original post that the system "is crashing more frequently" -
sounds like there was a problem before the Sonnet install. A fresh install sounds like it's needed in any case, and the investment in a new dvd drive for only $40 will be a worthwhile one even if the problem is the Sonnet card in the end. Drives that are 6 or 7 years old, even if they are working, are bound to be producing discs with more errors, and the firmware on a drive that old would recognize little of the current crop of blank discs. Even with an external burner, that machine needs a good internal burner because you can't boot externally. The original poster actually only needs to spend $20 on a cd only burner like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=20101000051036506652&name=CDBurner,
although a dvd burner would allow installation from a dvd.
Message was edited by: bicomputational
Message was edited by: bicomputational