Display device not proper

On most systems, the CMOS has an STANDARD CMOS SETUP page (where the drives are listed, time, date); there should be a line that says VIDEO: from here you can select: EGA/VGA, MONO, CGA 40, CGA 80.  Hopefully this is an option on your motherboard.

yes ryans i have tried all of these settings and each time it changes back to cga 80.  and i get the same error.
i save the settings but i get the same error.
i am not sure what is wrong.

How old is your motherboard?

It may be that your CMOS battery has given up.  this would mean that you cannot save your settings and they will default to the original ones on power-down.

Cheers - MorFF

What video card are you using? Any idea what you may have done,
installed or changed that coincided with the problem`s appear-
ance? I would try and confirm what video card drivers are being
loaded...can you get more updated drivers? A driver problem could
cause the symptons you are having. BTW, "CGA"?? How OLD is this
thing??

I think you will find that your problem is caused by the motheroard's configuration.
Check documentation for how to configure it for a color monitor instead of mono. (this is usually done with a jumper setting)
Let me know if you need more.
Regards,
Ralph

Since you are receiving the "display device not proper" error when you start up your system; this suggests a hardware issue.  During the boot up, no drivers are able to load until the config.sys & autoexec.bat are read.  From what you described, the problem occurs during the POST DIAGNOSTICS.  Suggestions would be: check for settings (possible conflict) of the video card (some old ones have jumpers or switches for IRQ, I/O address, frequency) change the video card; change the motherboard; possible BIOS upgrade for the motherboard.

**Right from power up, the motherboard & video card are not communicating properly. ***

on the back of the video card there is a switch.  with 6 switches that can be pressed up or down.  i'm sure you guys know what i mean.  like on the back of a modem to change the com port settings.  i've tried to change them but it seems to change the text on the screen.  it is really not a serious problem but i would just like to have a smooth bootup.  instead of pressing F1 to continue.  everything works fine after i press F1.

Did you try my suggestion?
The problem is ocurring as a result of the self check at boot-up.
Before ANY software is loaded!
There should be a color/mono setting on that motherboard somewhere.  In many cases, I have seen it labeled as JP-1.

Ralph

thanks for the help guys
but i solved it myself
i set the primary display setting in the cmos to NOT INSTALLED
and now it works just fine.
i didn't anything would be outputted to the screen so i never tried that before.
thanks again.

flicky,
I suggest you find the real cause of your original problem before depending on such a "solution".
Regards,
Ralph

flicky,
Cancel/delete this question so no point are taken from you.

Actually flicky the answer/comment given by ryans was to modify the CMOS sooo he may deserve at least 'partial' credit for helping to solve your problem.

IMHO
John C. Cook

Hey, Flicky, I agree with John. When an expert suggests a solution that results in finding a solution, you've used that expert's knowledge to solve the problem. You didn't solve it yourself if your solution was based on ryans' analysis of the problem.

Colleen