CDsDontBurn

i'm having issues w/my card folks . i've been working on it basically ever since after i got the drivers installed.

and here's what i've done in order:
1. shut down my machine
2. take it outside to blow out all the dust
3. bring it back in, take out my x800
4. install the x1950
5. boot up into safe-mode
6. remove all ATI software (had CAT6.6 and CCC installed)
7. restart, and into regular windows mode
8. download CAT 7.3 suite (i forgot to do that before i shut down)
9. restart back up in safe mode
10. install CAT 7.3
11. got error while installing CAT 7.3 saying that some files were corrupted
12. restarted computer, went back into safe-mode
13. removed any CAT 7.3 driver files
14. installed CAT 7.2 driver (was already saved on my PC from a while ago)
15. booted back into regular windows mode (this is where the trouble started)
16. after the winXP splash screen, the screen goes black, but i can hear windows load up.
17. restart machine by pressing restart button on case
18. go back into safe mode
19. remove 7.2 driver
20. type this up

i'm going to use the driver disk that came w/the card and d/l CAT 7.3 again, and give CAT 7.2 again, and then try CAT 6.12.
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well, i have already gone ahead and installed windows on a seperate hard drive (74Gb raptor i'm using to replace my 36Gb raptor. windows is still installed on the 36Gb raptor as well, but is not connected), but now i'm having another issue . now the issue is that my machine won't finish booting into windows. after i formatted my machine, i installed the chipset, ethernet and sound drivers, restarted, and then my machine didn't finish loading up. when starting up, the windows start-up sound cut off and then my machine locked up and that was it

i'm going to reformat my machine again when i get hom from work tonight. if that doesn't work, imna slap my x800 back in and see what happens from there with the new HDD.

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Judas

erm

IMO the best way to do a new video card install is to:

1: Turn machine on with orginal card in it
2: start into normal windows and go into the control panel/add remove
3: Remove the CCC control panel DO NOT RESTART
4: Remove the Drivers DO NOT RESTART
5: Remove anything else ATI related EXCEPT the ATI Uninstaller Utility that is in the control panel and don't restart
6: Remove the ATI Uninstaller Utility (which will uninstall EVERY ATI as well)
7: Either Shutdown from there, OR Reboot into safe mode to make sure everything has removed properly and if you wish, run DriverCleaner to make sure everything is well cleaned up and then shut down.
8: After shutting down, Unplug the power and yank the old card out and put in the new one. (if cleaning is nessary, do so before putting the new card in)
9: Power on the system into normal windows, Download the 7.3 Catalyst Hotfix (or newer)
10: Install the Drivers
11: Reboot
12: Enjoy


IF after installing the new drivers something screwy happens, such as no video but audio works, Restart the computer again, but hit F8 a few times to bring up the windows startup option, and select VGA mode, this will keep the drivers in tact while allowing the VGA driver to take control first, adjust your Display settings such as resolution and frequency, make sure you APPLY them and then restart to see if you still end up with a blank screen.

Lastly, you'll want to let windows load, and it may take up to a minute OR 2 before your display will work as SmartGuart will be running some test due to using an AGP card.

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Dark Lord

for what its worth, i had a hell of a time installing the drivers and CCC on my xt. took me a couple of tries before they finaly installed. dman thing would just hang half way through.

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CDsDontBurn

your order is how i normally do a new gfx card install process, but i sometimes tend to forget to do a step in-between.

as for booting up into VGA mode, i'll give that a shot. i still have my original winXP installation running on my 36Gb raptor (unplugged), and then i'll also reinstall windows on my 74Gb raptor (currently plugged in) to fix the OS locking up on boot.

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CDsDontBurn

ok, i've formatted again just now, and i'm finishing up the driver installation process. after each driver installed, i restart my computer....the way it should be done .

i've disabled the USB controller from BIOS, so that still has yet to be found. ATM, i'm going to install my audio drivers to have sound...i know that those should be one of the last drivers to install, but i want to know if i'm still booting into windows and still not have a display after the display drivers have been installed.

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CDsDontBurn

so i've just installed the CAT 7.4s and .net 2.0 (after installing the drivers because i had forgotten that the CAT drivers require .net framework), and i still get no display, but i still hear windows load up

i'm starting to think it's my monitor and not my gfx card...

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Tipstaff

That's the thought I had too. It's quite possibly a sync issue. One step to try during the installation is to install the Plug and Play driver for your monitor before it reboots (if you can install it that is). Or, if you can at least bootup into safe mode, go in and remove the monitor driver, then reboot into normal mode.

Speaking of which, you may want to give NGOs latest drivers a try. Reason being is that during the installation it detects and installs the monitor driver (right after it installs the Primary driver infact). That would give you a chance to change things (such as resolution/hz) before rebooting.

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Dyre Straits

I've got a monitor here that I no longer will even try to use because it's so difficult to get anything on it unless it's in Safemode/740x480 and 60Hz. It's OLD!

An additional thing you might try is to remove all instances of monitors in the Device Manager. You might need to "Show Hidden Devices" in order to get them all. But, get them all removed and then reboot and let Windows redetect the monitor.

If you can borrow a monitor to check this out, it would be a big help, I'm sure.

Good luck!

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RaveneR

the reason why the XP splash screen has no problem showing up is because the splash screen itself is very low res, therefore you monitor dont have any problem supporting it, but as you get into the desktop itself, maybe by default the driver has set the resolution higher than your monitor can support, therefore it goes black? or maybe there's a manufacturer error in your monitor, where the software res limits are higher than the actual hardware can display?

CDsDontBurn

@ Tipsataff: i can boot up into safe mode no problem. i can boot into windows no problem also if i don't have any display drivers installed. one of my colleagues at work told me about a tool called "EDID" that can be found on Viewsonics website. Supposedly, after installing/running the tool it will let you know if it passes whatever test it's supposed to run. i d/led it and went to install it, but could not because i was in safe mode. i'll give those NGO drivers a shot. do they have a CAT 7.3 based driver out? i'm not sure.

@ Dyre: this monitor is a bit old, but not as old as yours . on my x800 it ran this monitor just fine at a resolution of 1280x1024 x 60Hz. I'll check out device manager for that monitor thing you're telling me about and see what it tells me, if anything. I was going to use my sister's monitor last night, but it was nearly midnight and i was tired, so i'll do it today if i get home early enough from work.

@ RaveneR: Whenever drivers are installed, regardless of them being ATI or NVIDIA, the default resolution of a driver upon booting up for the first time with the new driver installed will be 800x600 x 60Hz, which is a resolution that basically all monitors support unless it's like pre-1995 or something . and like i said earlier, my monitor supports a resolution upto 1280x1024 x 60Hz.

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Judas

CDs.... use the F8 key when starting windows to load load into normal windows with VGA mode... this should guarantee a display.... if VGA mode doesn't work, the display is hooped, OR the video card is.

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Tipstaff

They do, but I know there was an issue with them, and AGP cards (where it wasn't loading SmartGART). I can't remember if that was with 1.72 or 1.73 though.

One issue I ran into with Viewsonic was that for some odd reason their drivers reduced my available frequencies. In my case running the Plug and Play driver I can set my monitor to run at 1280x1024 at a max frequency of 75hz, which, btw, is the actual supported max frequency. If I install Viewsonics own driver, or the updated one off of Microsoft Update, I can only choose 60 and 70.

Last 2 things that just dawned on me: have you tried using either "Reduce DVI Frequency on High Resolution Displays", or "Alternative DVI Operation Mode" (under Display Panel Properties in the CCC, or in the Options tab of the old CP)? And also, when you uninstalled the old drivers, did you also uninstall ATI Tray Tools before installing the new drivers?

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Vampyromaniac

Have you tried VGA mode from the Safe mode boot menu? See if you get a display, and if you can adjust the res/refresh.

If your various PC's are networked, you could also let your PC boot normally, and then access it with Remote Desktop, and see if your graphics card is recognised correctly/check it in device manager, and poke around while it's in normal boot mode.

Alternatively, you could install VNC to get the actual console display without Remote Desktop emulation quirks. Or, you could remotely manage it like this, if you just wanna check the devices while it's in normal boot mode.

Of course try another monitor, and also check your System and Application Event Logs for errors (you can do in safe mode right after trying a normal boot.) Also do try Tipstaff's last paragraph, if possible.

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CDsDontBurn

@ Tipstaff: this is happening under the old install (36Gb Raptor) and the new install (74Gb Raptor) of windows (the other drive unplugged when the other drive is in use). in each instance, i can't get into windows under normal mode, but i can with safe mode. with the old install of windows (36Gb Raptor), i uninstalled everything ATI, and i even used DC Pro after uninstalling it to further remove any other files. The new install of windows (74Gb Raptor), well, i just installed windows, chipset drivers, then display drivers. after display drivers were installed, that's when the monitor went out.

@ Vampy/Judas: i haven't yet tried VGA mode. but like i said before, i can get into safe mode once whatever version of the driver has been installed. i'll try VGA mode.

BTW guys....i have tried my sister's monitor like 10min. ago, and that thing worked!!! so, at this point, i know it's a monitor issue now. although, i am running my monitor through a KVM switch....i didn't mention that part until now....i'll run it through w/o the KVM switch and see what happens. but if no dice, i guess i'll be forced to buy a new monitor sooner than expected. sadly, it still won't be easy for me to acquire one so soon .

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Vampyromaniac

Dude, if you just try VGA mode and it works, you can change the resolution and see if the native res works. If 800x600 is the only res that the monitor/KVM is having trouble with, then you don't have to buy a new monitor right? I'm guessing that card wouldn't need to run too many things at 800x600 ;)

I've seen this before at work. Fresh Windows install, first boot, no display. Booted into VGA mode, changed the res, problem solved. And our workbench monitors use KVM's, too.

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CDsDontBurn

alright. i JUST tried VGA mode. after changing the resolution to the native 1280x1024, same thing happened. black screen.

and it's not first boot. its booting after display driver installation.

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Judas

i have a feeling the kvm switch is a bust

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Vampyromaniac

Cool, did you also try Tipstaff's suggestions about the DVI options in the control panel? And how about without the KVM?

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CDsDontBurn

haven't tried the DVI thing that Tipstaff has suggested.

booting into windows still gives a black display, but windows still works fine. i need another monitor to try the CCC things that Tipstaff has suggested.

I just tried the monitor directly to the gfx card, and no go still .

i want to use my x1950pro damnit!!!!

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Dyre Straits

CDs, have you tried the TV OUT option yet? You should be able to set that up in Safemode so that it will be active when you get into Windows. Just a thought.

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CDsDontBurn

my TV doesn't have RGB or RCA....not even s-video

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Vampyromaniac

Bad times

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CDsDontBurn

alright, i'm back up on my main rig!!!

what did i do? i'm borrowing my sister's Samsung Syncmaster 710N until i get a monitor. it's currently being used on my KVM switch as well.

i just checked the driver, and i found that i only have the driver installed. imna install ATT instead of the CCC and see how that works. the latest version of ATT is from mid december right? that's the latest one i found at least.

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Dyre Straits

No, no! The latest one is version 1028. You can get it from the files at www.ngohq.com

Just click the above link then click on the Files option at the top of the page then go down to Tweakers and Overclockers. Have fun!

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CDsDontBurn

lol. don't have a heart attack dyre! lol.

i'll install it later today. i'm ready to go to sleep. thanks for the link though

my new 3Dmark06 score

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=1764324

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Dyre Straits

Not a bad score for that old ABIT IC7 and an AGP card.

Here's the link to my best on the Intel system:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=1332267

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CDsDontBurn

thanks . it's also a significant improvement over my x800's score. i was expecting a 3k to 3.5k score, but i was able to break 4k .

before i ran the benchmarks i was doing some OCing on the card. turns out the card's RAM, like many other x1950pros in AGP format, has horrendous OCing performance. If i would OC it even 3Mhz, the screen would go either white or black and the machine would be non-responsive. the GPU however, can OC a little bit. i was able to OC it ~15Mhz before the ATT OCing utility would detect minor artifacts.

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Dyre Straits

You might have better OC'ing success with the CPU and tightening the RAM latency settings.

Were you as surprised at the additional content and features between the X800 and the X1950 as I was at first? Quite a nice improvement there, too. Of course, SM 3.0 is the reason for a lot of the difference.

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CDsDontBurn

my OCZ ram isn't very good at OCing. the timings i have right now are as tight as they will get, even at 2.8v (my board's max as you already know). I could drop in my old corsair sticks (2x512Mb TCCD chips) which gave me 4Ghz (unstable - CPU limited) and 3.8Ghz (stable at 2.5-3-3-6, 2.8v 1T timing, 1.55v to CPU) to lessen the CPU bottleneck .

i haven't played any games yet . i want to finish playing Prey, but the game crashes to desktop giving me an error when i go to load any level. UT2K4 is too told to give me anything else aside from FPS increase. i guess i could give Dark Messiah a shot . yea, dark messiah! . but i'm currently backing it up as i'm going to install my new 74Gb raptor and put a fresh copy of windows on that .

after my windows install i'm going to do some 3Dmark05/06 benchmarking . and then probably reformat again after corrupting my windows install due to windows crashing all the time because of the high overclocks

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Dyre Straits

Gee, you have all the fun.

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