Ok, now normally I wouldn’t ask a tech-support type question on a message board such as this one, but I’ve emailed tech support for Microsoft and ATI and neither has replied. I’ve also looked at the FAQs and things. Besides, I trust the replies I get here more anyhow. I’m going to do the sensible thing and give as much information as possible up front instead of being cryptic. Pardon the long post.
Here’s the deal: I’ve recently installed an ATI Xpert 128 video card on my computer. The computer is a Compaq 5447 (I think - I’m not at home). The card is PCI, 16MB SDRAM. I’ve been having problems with the computer locking up. It doesn’t appear to follow any particular pattern. The mouse freezes, and I can’t Ctrl-Alt-Del my way into an End-Task type solution. I’ve d/led the most recent drivers for the video card and installed them. Compounding this problem is the fact that sometimes my devices (namely my monitor, but on one occassion, my printer port) are re-detected in the bootup and reinstalled, apparently they dropped out of the system configuration entirely, because they don’t appear to be installed twice.
In the meantime, I’ve come up with some potential problems.
The SiS530 on-board video “card” is still installed. I can’t remove it properly, because Win98 can be set up for multiple displays. Right now, I’ve just got it disabled. Dunno if that’s causing any problems. Any help in this area would be appreciated.
Also, when I run the System Properties program, it lists about 30 drivers for the ATI card, two of which are listed as not currently installed. This isn’t the system-settings hardware list (I haven’t got the card installed 30 times :)), but rather the diagnostic tool under the Accessories/System Tools folder. I’m not on that system currently, so I can’t tell you the exact drivers that are listed as not installed, except that one is ‘oem***.bin’ (can’t remember the *** part).
If these drivers are being a problem, how do I enable them? And if they’re not, I’m certainly open to suggestions on things to do.
Thanks for any assistance. Sorry about the terribly long post.
Ok boot into Safe Mode by holding down I beleive F8 then right click on my computer, click on properties then click on the Device Manager tab. Click on the + next to Video Adapters and then you want to remove each one listed. If you see something listed twice remove it twice. Don’t reboot until you have removed everything from under the Video Adapter section. While you are there you may want to look at the other areas and see if it shows duplicate hardware. If so remove both dupes. When you are done, reboot and it will find your hardware again. It should automaticly use the drivers on your system and everything should be fine.
It’s F5 on my comp to boot into safe mode, for some reason. I’ve uninstalled the monitor and video card(s) numerous times. Hasn’t changed anything, unfortunately.
I might try again, though… can’t really hurt, can it?
This may not solve the problem, but it can certainly help to work around it:
Right Click on My Computer and choose Properties.
Click on the Tab for Performance.
At the bottom, in the middle, click on the Graphics button.
This will bring up the Advanced Graphics Settings window where ther is a slider control for Hardware Acceleration. Try reducing this by one notch, then OK and on each window and reboot.
Repeat the process untill you get more stable operation. I had to run a video card that I recently removed from my system at a lower setting to avoid problems, whereas the newer video card I replaced it with is stable at the highest performance setting.
In the mean time, you may want to experiment with different versions of the driver of you can find them. The latest version is not always the best version for all applications.
I have the exact same problem. I have a Compaq 5304, exact same video card, disabled the onboard graphics card in safe mode and on the motherboard, still get lock-ups. I believe the problem is the card is overheating. I am not familiar with your particular model Compaq, but mine came with no cooling fans except on the cpu itself. I believe the ATI card is overheating, as the lock ups seem to usually occur after using the computer for 1+ hours. I bought a cooling fan that lies directly on the graphics cards, but have not yet installed it. Also bought a regular cooling fan, that I have sitting inside the unit right now, providing some air circulation. I will you know if the extra cooling fan does the trick, I will also try reducing the graphics preformance, as suggested by Meephead. Good luck.
" This will bring up the Advanced Graphics Settings window"
ATI cards MUST be set to full acceleration to work. Mine does, says so in the manual.
Seems likeyou guys got some heat, try opening the case & using a big fan on it & see if that works, if so, youll need to put in some more fans. Also you should NOT have the onboard video active, just in case.
You do know that w98 has a bootlog you can set to record to a file so you can see whats happening when its booting, right?
I don’t think it’s the card overheating… sometimes it’ll lock up right after booting up - the card shouldn’t be too hot at that point in time, should it? Also, if it is the card overheating, it’s been doing admirably upon occassion -I’ve been playing Ultima IX: Ascension, and it’s never locked up while playing, even though that’s a very graphics-intensive game. I’ll have to cut back before I completely slag the card.
This has been going great so far… any further suggestions?
The ATI cards have a specific problem with the ALI AGP chipset. In my experience, the latest ATI drivers pay valuable lip service to the problem, but fail to deliver. Similarly, the ALI drivers also fail to solve the problem entirely. If your motherboard uses the ALI chipset, you need to do some serious tinkering.
I solved my problems with a BIOS flash, but not before I had to sweat bullets and do a hot-swap with the BIOS chip because the first attempt failed. That is not for the squeamish, but hey, they weren’t my computers.
This is particularly true when the motherboard is a Super Socket 7 with the AMD K6 series chips. I don’t think Compaq did the tango with the K6 for exactly that reason, but it is worth checking. If you can find specific specifications of the computer, particularly the motherboard it uses, it would be a great help.
If your computer is a K6, i’ll be happy to talk you through the process. Have a lot of beer, a lot of patience, and a lot of courage on tap.
Ok. First of all, the ALI AGP chipset? Does that have to do with the video card being AGP? If so, that shouldn’t be an issue, because the card’s PCI. I’ve got the option of trading my ATI Xpert 128 for a Diamond Monster Fusion 16mb PCI card… does that card conflict as well, Sofa King? I emailed the Compaq support people, and their brilliant (although very polite) response was that my BIOS cannot be flashed. They outlined measures I’d already taken, so that’s a dead end, it appears.
Barring the Monster Fusion, does a Voodoo3 card have the same chipset? I’m a chipset moron, so please be kind.
And I believe the motherboard does have a Super Socket 7 chipset. It’s an AMD K6-2 3D processor. How do I tell if it’s an ALI chipset?
I’m just trying to get my game to run while NOT making the computer as unstable as all get out. I appreciate all the help and patience.
I don’t know much about all of what is going on with your computer, but I’m pretty sure that the ATI card should almost definitely NOT be the same as a Voodoo 3.
I’m going to do the sensible thing and give as much information as possible up front instead of being cryptic. Pardon the long post.