ATI Video Card / HP prietary problem

[DigitalDWR]

ok here is the problem(s).

I installed my ATI Radeon 64 mb DDR video card into my P3 900 HP Pre built system. i had it installed at comp usa

Problem 1:

When i am playing a video game I.E. ( Tribes 2, War Craft 3, Max Payne) the screen will go black, and i can still hear what is happening in the game for a short amount of time. i lose control of the game, and eventualy hear a loop of the previous 5 seconds of sound before the lock up. This only seems to happen in games that have Hard Ware texture and Lighting. but it has happened in others. the time it takes for this to happen varies in games also.

Problem 2:

When i am just useing my computer. I.E. ( Surfing, Messageing, Image editing), all of a sudden nothing i move my mouse over will respond. and any action on the screen freezes but i can still move my mouse, and hear music if its being played. then maybe 30 seconds to a minute later my computer locks up completely. BUT, if i am on my Instant messanger when the computer locks up, i can go to my brothers computer and it still says that i am online. like my computer is still operating but i have no control over it because it has locked up.

Now i have downloaded every driver update for all my hard ware. and i have called the manufacturer, and gone through a run around with comp usa. i cant think of anything else to do.

more specific computer specs.

P4 900
512 megs of ram
Sound Blaster gamer
ATI all in wonder AGP 64 mb ddr
cd burner
dvd player


please some one give me some advice, i donot have alot of money to buy new, or have it taken to comp usa for a 60 dollar fix. i donot know how to etner the BIOS screen on a windows ME machine also. so please email me with any help you can give me [email protected]

thank you so much

 

[Jtoast]

1) I don't email replies as this is a public forum and I feel that posting may help others with the same problem.


2) This is CompUSA's problem. If it worked before they installed it and it doenst now, then they did an improper install.


3) that said, what OS are you running?

4) boot into safe mode and look in your device manager and see what display adapters are running....post them.


5) what version of directx are you runnning?...newest is 9.

 

[DigitalDWR]

Ok left the email addy incase i didnt come back for a while to check it out.


1. Windows ME
2. DX 8.1

3. ok i looked under device manager here is what it said about my video card

Radeon 7200

ASIC Type Radeon
ASIC ID 5144
Bus Type AGP 1X, AGP 2X, AGP 4X

BIOS Ver. 001.001.000.053
BIOS Part N 113-70702-100
Bios Date 2000/07/13

Memory Size 64 MB
Memory type DDR SGRAM / SDRAM

Driver File ATI2DRAG.DRV
Releaze Ver. 7.76-020815b-005728C-ATI

::multi media::

Deconder Type Rage Theater
Video Stand. MTSC


also i want to ad that when i took it back to comp usa, they replaced the card so they say and it still had the same problem... this problem has been going on for more then a year now. so when i did take it back to them a 3rd time theysaid there was nothing they could do.... oh and IM on my AIM if its easier to ask me questions there =D i need all thehelp i can get

 

[Jtoast]

1) run dxdiag and save the information to your desktop (button near the bottom).

open the file and scroll down to the "inactive display drivers" section.

is anything there?

also check inactive sound

if so thats the issue. need to delete those.

2) boot into your bios. are you set on 4x agp?..if not what are you set on?...what is your agp aperture size set at?( generally should be at half your physical ram)

3) did you have anything else changed when you did the video card (add more memory, etc)?

4) how hot is your computer running?....overheating can cause these effects.

im at work now but that gives you something to check. ill try back later on my lunch hour..hehe

 

[DigitalDWR]

i can do all that but boot into bios, nothing i have tried has worked with windows ME

 

[DigitalDWR]

Ok before i delete anything.. here is what it said under inactive display drivers


------------------------------------
Inactive Display Entries in Registry
------------------------------------
Card name: NVIDIA Vanta (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce DDR (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA Vanta (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA Vanta (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce DDR (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv

which looks like my on board Video card. i need to delete those, how do i do that.

and there were no inactive sound drivers.

the over heating thing.. im not sure, my dad thought that was the rblem and installed another fan. but that didnt work ehter...
and yes i added memory at the same time to my computer when i had it up graded.

 

[Jtoast]

looks like you have several different driver versions loading at once. this can easily cause your problem.


1) go to add/remove programs and remove all references to nvidia, ati, video driver, anything like that you see.

2) go to start/run type "msconfig" and go to startup. uncheck anything that looks like a video driver


3)boot into safe mode(will NOT work in regular mode) and go to device manager. delete ALL entries under display devices if you are actually in safe mode you should see more than one...if you dont, then delete that one.

4) you will need to find a way into your bios. try F1, F2, F10 etc until you figure out which key lets you in....it will usually say "press xxxx to enter setup" where xxxx is the key to press during the post sequence.

5) once in, see if there is a setting to disable the onboard video. if not, check your motherboard/motherboard manual for a jumper.


once you get these drivers cleared out, it will most likely solve your problem.


another way to do it if you dont see anything in safe mode is to run a search for the driver names (nv*.drv) and delete anything you find.

then reboot and see what happens.


good luck and keep me posted.


EDIT:

If you clear those out and still have the problem, try removing the new stick of ram and seeing if the problem goes away. A bad ram chip causes all kinds of strange problems.

Reinstalling DirectX may help also.

 

[DigitalDWR]

here is where i am so far.


i looked up the nvidia file and deleted it. and restarted the computer.



then i ran the DXconfig thing....


now it cant find my direct 3D and 3d draw. but it doesnt seem to be affecting anything cause i have beening playing tribes 2 for about 2 hours and no lock up... i will try also what you have posted. but i am just waiting to see how long this lasts and what kind of problems i run into.

and i have reinstalled DX 8.1

 

[DigitalDWR]

and just as i finished posting i had a lock up... *sigh* ok trying what you posted now

 

[DigitalDWR]

OK here is where i am at so far.


I figured out how to get into Bios, i went through some options and didnt notice anything out of the ordinary other then one thing.

i forget what the option was called but it had my video card set as a PCI device, when its an AGP card. so i changed it to AGP.


al so i went and uninstalled the Nvidia drivers that the add/remove programs found. now im not sure why i ddint see those there before, but if i had i would have deleted them long ago.



so far, whether it by cowincidence (sp) or not my computer hasnt froze during a game session, but it is still doing the lock up thing. so i will definitly keep you posted

 

[Jtoast]

may have had 2 seperate problems.

1) conflict with drivers causing game lockups
2) problem causing other random lockups.


resave the dxdiag file and see if all the inactive display drivers are gone. if they are you have probably fixed the first problem.


the second problem could be a couple of things


1) heat
2) bad/incompatable stick of ram
3) bad/underpowered power supply


to test 1)....see if your bios has a temp monitor (probably does). If so, let your computer run for a while to get to the operating temp then boot into your bios and see what it says under cpu temp. post the temp. another way to test it is to open the box and place a good sized fan so that it blows into the case. if it solves the problem, its probably heat related and you may want to replace your fan/heatsink combo or add more fans, etc.


for 2) if you have more than one stick of ram, run with one then switch them out. does the problem seem to follow one stick?...if only one stick in the box you may need to borrow one (or buy one and return it if it doesnt solve the problem).

for 3...no way to test unless you are good with tools such as a multimeter but it should be at least 300W. if its a 250W ps it is a likely cause of the problem.

 

[DigitalDWR]

Ok i have tried EVErYTHING but checking the on board video card jumper. i dont know alot about hard ware, so it looks lke i am going to take it to comp usa.

also, i wanted to know if i was supose to delete the non- nvidia drivers when i was in safe mode. because the when i check the hard ware profiles and under display drivers it only showed my ati 7200 driver. also, i deleted everything i found when i searched for the NV*.drv.

so other then that i cant think of anything else.

im still haveing lock ups and they sreen is still going black

 

[Jtoast]

Then it could be a defective video card.


it could also be bad/incompatible ram, (remember it was installed at the same time) or a problem with your powersupply.


you are back to trial and error.

I would do the troubleshooting steps I outlined on my previous post that started with "may have had 2 problems"

 

[DigitalDWR]

I ran DXDiag again, and it still says i have inactive display drivers in my registery

Inactive Display Entries in Registry
------------------------------------
Card name: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA Vanta (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce DDR (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (HP)
Driver: nvdisp.drv


so what ever i deleted got rid of some but not all of them.

how would i get rid of those if i cant find them when i search for it .

 

[Jtoast]

boot into safe mode and see if you have 2 display adapters in your device manager.

If you do, then try the "disable in this hardware profile" option instead of deleting for the onboard adapter.