Just built new NF7-S system but problem with AGP card

P

Paul

Hi all,

I'm stumped by this one.

I have just built the following system:

Abit NF7-S
Athlon XP 3200+
2*512 Crucial 512MB DDR400
Maxtor Diamondmax 9 120GB HDD
Geforce4 Ti4200 64MB

I have successfully installed Windows 98 SE and all Abit mobo drivers etc.
from Abit CD that came with mobo.

The problem I have is that, when I install the correct drivers for the
graphics card and restart windows, I end up with a black screen with a
flashing cursor in the top left hand corner.

It is only when I restart in safe mode and remove the Geforce4 drivers that
I am able to do a successful boot back into windows (16 colours, low res).

I tried another graphics card (Geforce2) that I have that works fine in
another system (Abit KT7) and I get exactly the same problem when the
correct drivers are picked up by Win98 SE.

Can anyone set me on the correct path to try and diagnose this further?

Tearing my hair out,

Paul.
 
D

Dave C.

Paul said:
Hi all,

I'm stumped by this one.

I have just built the following system:

Abit NF7-S
Athlon XP 3200+
2*512 Crucial 512MB DDR400
Maxtor Diamondmax 9 120GB HDD
Geforce4 Ti4200 64MB

I have successfully installed Windows 98 SE and all Abit mobo drivers etc.
from Abit CD that came with mobo.

The problem I have is that, when I install the correct drivers for the
graphics card and restart windows, I end up with a black screen with a
flashing cursor in the top left hand corner.

It is only when I restart in safe mode and remove the Geforce4 drivers
that
I am able to do a successful boot back into windows (16 colours, low res).

I tried another graphics card (Geforce2) that I have that works fine in
another system (Abit KT7) and I get exactly the same problem when the
correct drivers are picked up by Win98 SE.

Can anyone set me on the correct path to try and diagnose this further?

Tearing my hair out,

Paul.

Unplug the computer. Clear CMOS settings. On first power up, hit del to
enter BIOS setup screen and load optimized defaults. Save and exit. As
windows is loading, hit F8 to start in Safe mode. In Safe Mode, Install the
latest Windows 98SE drivers from whoever manufactured the video card, NOT
from nvidia. -Dave
 
P

Paul

Thanks Dave,

I have the CD from the manufacturer (Gainward) which I have used to install
the card so far.

I will try again using your instructions.

How do I get "Safe Mode" to see my CD drive to do this?

Thanks a lot,

Paul.
 
D

Dave C.

Paul said:
Thanks Dave,

I have the CD from the manufacturer (Gainward) which I have used to
install
the card so far.

I will try again using your instructions.

How do I get "Safe Mode" to see my CD drive to do this?

Thanks a lot,

Paul.

Oh!!! Thanks for the good belly laugh. :)

Ummmmm . . . first thing you (not you specifically, but generally meaning
EVERYBODY) should do when buying new hardware is destroy any CD that comes
with it. See, by the time the CD is pressed, those drivers are several
generations PAST hopelessly obsolete. Before you try my suggestions,
download the latest driver for your card from the Gainward web site and put
the file on your desktop or somewhere handy. Just be sure the driver you
pick is for your SPECIFIC model number. -Dave
 
C

Conor

Unplug the computer. Clear CMOS settings. On first power up, hit del to
enter BIOS setup screen and load optimized defaults. Save and exit. As
windows is loading, hit F8 to start in Safe mode. In Safe Mode, Install the
latest Windows 98SE drivers from whoever manufactured the video card, NOT
from nvidia. -Dave
WRONG
 
C

Conor

Paul said:
Hi all,

I'm stumped by this one.

I have just built the following system:

Abit NF7-S
Athlon XP 3200+
2*512 Crucial 512MB DDR400
Maxtor Diamondmax 9 120GB HDD
Geforce4 Ti4200 64MB

I have successfully installed Windows 98 SE and all Abit mobo drivers etc.
from Abit CD that came with mobo.

The problem I have is that, when I install the correct drivers for the
graphics card and restart windows, I end up with a black screen with a
flashing cursor in the top left hand corner.

It is only when I restart in safe mode and remove the Geforce4 drivers that
I am able to do a successful boot back into windows (16 colours, low res).

I tried another graphics card (Geforce2) that I have that works fine in
another system (Abit KT7) and I get exactly the same problem when the
correct drivers are picked up by Win98 SE.

Can anyone set me on the correct path to try and diagnose this further?
Yep...

You're hitting the problem with Win98SE and a system with >512MB RAM.
THe graphics card drivers is a red herring.

You need to start in Safe Mode and with notepad edit c:\windows
\system.ini
Go to the [vcache] section and enter the following line:

MaxFileCache=524288

so it looks like:

[vcache]
MaxFileCache=524288

(Capital letters exactly as above)

...hten restart.
 
J

Jon Danniken

Paul said:
I have successfully installed Windows 98 SE and all Abit mobo drivers etc.
from Abit CD that came with mobo.

The problem I have is that, when I install the correct drivers for the
graphics card and restart windows, I end up with a black screen with a
flashing cursor in the top left hand corner.

It is only when I restart in safe mode and remove the Geforce4 drivers that
I am able to do a successful boot back into windows (16 colours, low res).

I tried another graphics card (Geforce2) that I have that works fine in
another system (Abit KT7) and I get exactly the same problem when the
correct drivers are picked up by Win98 SE.

Can anyone set me on the correct path to try and diagnose this further?

Make sure you fully uninstall the old video card's drivers, first in Add/Remove
programs, then reboot in safe mode and use DriverCleaner3; then reboot and install
your video card drivers with the correct application from nVidia.

Jon
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top