Rage-128 32MB AGP problem

[Tegger®]

I've run out of ideas.

I have a system with the VIA 693A chipset, Windows98 SE and the above
"built-by-ATI" card.

The ATI site gives me the files WMER1284137192 and W98R1284126277 to use to
load the driver for this card. The second file is specifically intended for
the VIA Apollo chipset

The Web site says these drivers are suitable for any Rage 128-based card.
However, neither file actually gives the description "Rage 128 32MB AGP",
which is what the part number says it is (P/N 1025-63000-00W1). The board
has the number 109-51900-31, and this number is NOT whited-out. ATI logos
abound.

I _do_ get "Rage 128 Pro 4XL", but this one does not work. I've tried other
descriptions (Rage Fury, etc...), other generations of files, other drivers
from other vendors, and even looked on the Win98 CD itself. No success at
all. Little yellow exclamation mark next to the icon in Device Manager and
little else.

When I let the installation program do the install iteslf, it keeps telling
me that no compatible cards exist in my system. When I do it manually
through Device Manager, I get the yellow exclamation mark and 640x480, 4-
bit resolution.

And yes, each new driver install was preceded by removal of the old driver.

This site:
http://wwwb.pconline.com.cn/pchardware/tpylab/graphics/0106/06ati_1.htm
shows the identical card in my system. The upper of the two sets of
pictures shows precisely my card to the very last detail. However, the site
is calling it an ATI Xpert2000. Xpert2000 drivers do not work with it, as
I've tried several of them too.

I have _got_ to be missing something simple here, but have no idea what it
is. Anybody with more ideas than me?

 

[T Thome]

It's a 3rd party card, not built by ATI (aka BBA).

http://www.ati.com/support/identify/cardver.html

The P/N for BBA cards will not have alpha numerics in the sequence, so you
need to dig a bit further...

http://www.ati.com/support/identify/sysinfo.html

is one tool you can use, read the info there...

Since it is an OEM card, you need to find out who made it, or who it was
made for... then you should be able to track down some drivers from there...

one caveat, there's quite a few old Mac based Rage 128 AGP cards out there,
mostly cast aways from the first generation Mac G4 AGP boxes and they look
just like the PC version (eg they do not have apple sticker on them), and
they look just like the card on the site you mentioned below

Good luck!

Tim

 

[BigJim]

you could this it may or may not work, uninstall the via 4 in 1 drivers,
then unzip you video driver to a clean folder the name doesn't matter.
Uninstall the video card and reboot,
when the systems comes up and builds a data base for the video it should
state that new hardware device found, namely the video card. When it asks
about installing, point it to the folder where you unzipped the drives. Let
it install them. You can then reinstall the via 4 in 1 drivers if you need
them. The 128 rage family drivers should work from ati.

 

[Tegger®]

It's a 3rd party card, not built by ATI (aka BBA).

http://www.ati.com/support/identify/cardver.html

I found that. I also found the ATI utilities file. Since I was getting
nowhere, I decided to punch in that part number anyway and was surprised
when it did not simply tell me it was a "Partner" card.

Extensive Googling revealed nothing under the part number or a porion of
it. Unfortunately, ATI relies entirely on its "Partners" to provided
drivers and support info for "Powered by" cards. Their list of Partners is
long, and a lot of digging through them one-by-one last night came up
fruitless. Some of the sites seem to ditch their older drivers quickly.

http://www.ati.com/support/identify/sysinfo.html

is one tool you can use, read the info there...

This only works if the correct driver is installed and the card is working
correctly. If the card is using the wrong driver or has problems, the indfo
returned ewill be incomplete. I also found the downloadable ATI utility for
the same purpose. Al I can find of use is that the Device ID is 5247, that
the Vendor ID is 1002, and that the Subsystem ID is 0008. Al other fileds
are blank or unavaliable.

Since it is an OEM card, you need to find out who made it, or who it
was made for... then you should be able to track down some drivers
from there...

Sure wish there were an FCC # on it.

one caveat, there's quite a few old Mac based Rage 128 AGP cards out
there, mostly cast aways from the first generation Mac G4 AGP boxes
and they look just like the PC version (eg they do not have apple
sticker on them), and they look just like the card on the site you
mentioned below

Hmmm... I have no idea where the card came from. It was in the current
machine and had never operated correctly since the current owners got it.
It had been installed as a Rage Fury.

Thanks. I Must return the machine this morning so I just threw in an old
PCI Mach64 VT. It will work fine for them. I'll just keep the AGP until I
can find what (if anything) makes it work.

 

[Tegger®]

It's a 3rd party card, not built by ATI (aka BBA).

http://www.ati.com/support/identify/cardver.html

An update:

I returned the computer and had a discussion with the customer. Suddenly
somebody remembered where the pouch was that had all the documentation and
CDs that came with the system. They had the whole shot, even the original
Win98SE CD.

All the docs and CDs matched the hardware in the machine and all
peripherals atached to it. The CD for the video card was there as well.
It's an ATI, not a 3rd party. The driver gave me the same error as one
other new driver from ATI (not the incompatibility error, something about a
registry subkey).

I temporarily installed the card in a newer WinXP system to see if I could
get it to see the card, but it too could not load a driver other than a
standard one.

My guess right now is that the card has gone bad.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Rick]

Hi:

If I remember correctly your card can have a few possibilities (several
versions were made). Any Rage 128 "non pro" driver selection should work
though. The expert 2000 card was a Rage 128 with a reduced PCB. It is easily
distinguished because it was a half height L shaped card. The Rage Fury is
also a Rage 128 card with different clock speeds but works with Rage 128
drivers.

It is possible that some mainboard BIOS selections (the older chipsets) can
mask your video card from being detected or working properly. Here are some
of the old recommended solutions:
1) Don't share an IRQ with the video card is possible,
2) Enable "VGA IRQ" if the BIOS has it,
3) Try different AGP Aperture sizes,
4) Disable video BIOS shadowing, and
5) Disable "detect floppy drive at boot".

Also, if your version of video card has the "enable VGA IRQ" jumper on it,
make sure it is in the enabled position.

Good luck, Rick