New Graphics Card Installation Somehow Incorrect | Forums

[wstrohm]

nanoukmetal,

Thanks for that. Found the info on page 4... not sure what to do with it, but at least now know how to get at it!

[nanoukmetal]

Originally posted by wstrohm:
....Found the info on page 4... not sure what to do with it, but at least now know how to get at it!

Print this previous post from Heimdall, read it a few times and give it a go... click here

Btw, have you considered upgrading to a bigger power supply ?

Yours is a 350 watts and Heimdall recommanded a minimum of 400 watts for/with your new graphic card. Your could ask a technician to install a new power supply and to check the bug with your new graphic card at the same time.

(me wonder if wstrohm is going to post a "dxdiag" report)

[wstrohm]

(me wonder if wstrohm is going to post a "dxdiag" report)

Um, all my messages to this forum are from my Mac. To post wife's computer's DXDiag report here I would have to run it on the FM7540, copy it, then somehow transfer it (by e-mail?) to my Mac, and then send it here. Either that or wife would have to join this forum, which she doesn't want to do.

[Heimdall_G]

Let's table posting a DxDiag report for the moment. But I'm puzzled by your wife's not wanting to join the Forums. Are we somehow nasty or otherwise objectionable??!

Note that, while other vendors recommend a minimum 400-watt power supply for the HD 4650 chipset, Diamond specifies a 300-watt minimum for your video card (under Detailed Specifications, "System Requirements"). So, in that regard, you're OK, but eventually installing a higher-wattage power supply couldn't hurt!

However, Diamond also specifies a minimum 1024 MB of system RAM.


Questions:

1. Did you do a Safe Mode install of the AMD/ATI Win XP driver "hotfix" package as detailed in suggestions 2, 3, and 4, above? If so, did you experience any problems while doing so?

2. Do you have at least 1024 MB of system Random Access Memory (RAM) installed? Fry's OEM RAM for this PC is only 512 MB.


What to do with the BIOS? Where is the main BIOS menu, and how do you get there?
-- a. By "main BIOS menu", I mean the first page of the BIOS, which is what you see when you press DEL during bootup to access the BIOS setup utility.
-- b. According to the Fry's PC FM7540 web page, you have an ECS 865G-M micro-ATX motherboard.
----- 1. BIOS details start on page 18 of the ECS 865G-M manual.
----- 2. Use the Arrow keys to navigate on a BIOS page, then press Enter to select a sub-page or a line item. Press ESC to reverse a selection. Or, if you have an active mouse cursor, use it.
-- c. On the "Advanced Chipset Features" BIOS page (manual page 23):
----- 1. You'll see a line item for Init Display First (PCI Slot). If this option is not selected, select it by pressing Enter.
----- 2. You'll also see an On-chip VGA line item. Select "Disabled".
----- 3. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE BIOS!
-- d. Press F10 to save your changes, and reboot.
-- e. Start Uru as per "in general" items 2 through 5, above.

[wstrohm]

Are we somehow nasty or otherwise objectionable??!

Of course not; it's just that her policy is not to join anything on the Internet.

However, Diamond also specifies a minimum 1024 MB of system RAM.

As I wrote in my first post, the RAM has been upgraded to 2 GB; we had previously replaced the two 256 MB sticks with two 1 GB 'Patriot' sticks, which work fine. Computer recognizes 2 GB RAM.

Answers to your most recent questions:

1. No. First thing we did was to read the Diamond Quick Start Guide for the new AGP card, starting with page 8 ("Disable Onboard Video"). If you have access to that document, you will see that step 4 says "Left click the plus symbol next to Display Adapters." When we did steps 1-3, which opened Device Manager, we observed there was NO folder titled "Display Adapters." Therefore step 5, which instructed us to select "Disable in this hardware profile" could not be done, since the folder in which it should have been contained did not exist. So at that point we installed (for the first time) the ATI AGP card and the 11-6 Catalyst Hotfix. There our problems began. There is no mention of the "Add/Remove Programs" procedure in the Diamond manual. However, wife's son said to go there and "Remove" the "Intel Extreme" line item. So we did that, and it did disappear. Then we reinstalled the 11-6 Catalyst software. At some point in all this, a "Display Adapters" folder appeared in Device Manager, which contained an ATI file. However, Windows refused to start and gave us the choice of using "last good settings" or "Start Windows normally." Neither is useful.

I find all this very confusing. First of all, the ONLY connection to the monitor is the new DVI connection from the ATI Radeon board. Yet Windows starts with the "last good settings" selection and the monitor display is fine, even though the ATI software is not enabled. If it IS enabled, Windows won't start properly. Why does the new Radeon card drive the monitor if its software isn't enabled?

2. Yes, see above.

3. Refer to my last message. May still be possible if wife will consent.

Thank you much for the detailed procedure for using the BIOS 'menu' and for the link to the ECS 865G-M manual. I will have a look at that.

[Heimdall_G]

The fact that Uru played properly before installation of the new Radeon card isn't of any great significance in terms of the new card and associated problems.

Q. Why does the new Radeon card drive the monitor if its software isn't enabled?
A. If an active video device does not have its specific driver set installed, Windows installs a default driver to at least allow the device to function. However, the default driver has only minimal capabilities; for example, video resolution is usually limited to 640x480.

The AMD/ATI driver package clearly isn't being recognized properly by Windows, "all ATI dialog boxes during and after installation say that installation was successful and that the new hardware is ready to use" aside. This could be due to:
-- a. Windows itself having a problem of some sort.
-- b. Your BIOS not being properly set up.
-- c. The driver package actually not installing properly from normal Windows (or being installed properly, like from Safe Mode).
-- d. Your new video card being defective.
-- e. Your power supply being defective and not supplying the proper voltage/amperage to the video card.


NOTE: My suggestions are put forth as a cohesive whole, and you're therefore best advised to do them as shown and in the order shown. Do NOT "pick and choose"!

So, unless a DxDiag report is forthcoming, let's give this one...last...try.

Suggestions, to take care of the above "could be due to" items:

1. Windows itself may have a problem of some sort. Carry out all seven of the steps under Overall Windows and Hard Disk Tune-up in Uru: Clean Boot Install/Re-install With Win XP.

2. Your BIOS isn't properly set up.
-- a. BIOS details start on page 18 of the ECS 865G-M manual.
-- b. Use the Arrow keys to navigate on a BIOS page, then press Enter to select a sub-page or a line item. Press ESC to reverse a selection. Or, if you have an active mouse cursor, use it.
-- c. On the "Advanced Chipset Features" BIOS page (manual page 23):
----- 1. You'll see a line item for Init Display First (PCI Slot). If this option is not selected, use the up/down arrow keys to highlight it, then press Enter.
----- 2. You'll also see an On-chip VGA line item. Select "Disabled".
----- 3. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE BIOS!
-- d. Press F10 to save your changes.
----- 1. Reboot, and again access the BIOS to verify that the changes have taken effect.
----- 2. Reboot into Safe Mode.

3. The driver package actually didn't install properly from normal Windows.
-- a. Enter Safe Mode by immediately and repeatedly (about once/second) pressing F8 during the bootup sequence.
-- b. Remove the existing AMD/ATI drivers, etc., before re-installing anything. See GPU-57: How to uninstall pre-existing graphics card drivers from a Microsoft Windows based system, under <span class="ev_code_GREEN">How to uninstall pre-existing drivers in a Windows XP / Windows 2000 based system</span>.
----- 1. You may not find "ATI - Software Uninstall Utility" in Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs listing. If not, remove "ATI Control Panel" and "ATI Display Driver".
----- 2. When removals are complete, reboot into Safe Mode.
-- c. Using Start > Run, run 11-6_agp-hotfix_xp32_dd_ccc.exe to install the various ATI drivers and software. Accept the install defaults whenever possible.
-- d. When installation is complete, reboot into normal Windows.
----- 1. During bootup, Windows should find new hardware (your HD 4650 chipset) and install the drivers for it. If Windows wants to install drivers for the onboard Intel video chipset, cancel out of that effort.
----- 2. Access the Catalyst Control Panel, and set up your video as appropriate.
----- 3. Check Device Manager under "Display Adapters", and disable your onboard Intel chipset if it shows up.
-- e. Reboot, and start Uru as per "in general" items 2 through 5, above.

4. Your new video card is defective. This is a distinct possibility, especially if you bought the card from a less-than-reputable source. (Re-shrink-wrapping somebody's defective return, and selling it as new, is a favorite tactic in some arenas!) To net out this possibility, either try the video card in another computer or exchange it for another card.

5. Your power supply is defective and not supplying the proper voltage/amperage to the video card. This is rather low on the list of possibilities, but Fry's isn't exactly known for their top-of-the-line components! The best way to net out this possibility is to install a new (and higher wattage) power supply. But again, this is rather low on the list of possibilities.

Heimdall
Semper ubi sub ubi

[wstrohm]

Heimdall G,

Thanks once again for your continued support. For some crazy reason, the display on my Mac G5 has suddenly decided to be corrupt... spontaneously. We will be working wife's problem per your cookbook, though. Will reply when we have done the steps you suggested.

[wstrohm]

Well... the HD4650 (from Fry's) may be bad. It was a return, repackaged by Fry's with Fry's warranty, so we are replacing it with a GeForce 6200 AGP card ordered online. Fry's had only the one Radeon HD4650 AGP card, so we can't just exchange it. We will try again with the 6200... not received yet. We appreciate all your help, but it seems the card is just bad. Will report back here, whether or not the new GeForce card installs correctly.

Meanwhile and off-topic, my G5's ATI Radeon X800 XT AGP card has gone bad too, after 3 years; after tearing apart my G5 (even took out the logic board) and doing a close visual inspection of everything) the artifacts covering half my screen remain. So I ordered a replacement card online... $199 used (yikes). Anything for the Mac seems way more than the same thing for the PC. Sorry for ranting, but I'm looking through 'dirty glass' to see anything in the application windows, including this message.

[Heimdall_G]

Could it be that we've just defined "reputable"...?

In times past, I shopped quite a good bit at my local Fry's. But after a couple of resoundingly *BAD* experiences, it's ABF (Anybody But Fry's) for me!

[wstrohm]

Our local Fry's is about 6 minutes from our house, and we have used it many times. Carole's computer has worked well since 2004, and I have bought peripheral computer stuff from them as well. No problems with their return policy as I recall.

Carole's new GeForce 6200 arrived just a few minutes ago... we will pick up that task tomorrow morning.