gfx card problem..

**pablo416** · July 3rd, 2004, 03:53 PM

well my computer's from MDG and i got it 2 years ago. It came with an integrated graphic card. Now that i want a better one, i opened my computer and found there was NO AGP slots. I only have 3 free pci slots. i've been looking for a decent (128 MB at least) graphic card for my pci slot. I realized hardly any stores have them! They either have the 64 mb ones or just none at all. I finally found the Stealth Radeon 9200se 128 for PCI. I installed it and then started my computer. I put in my monitor plug into the new graphic card but when i turned on the monitor, it didn't show anything!! So..i did the next best thing..i put the plug back into the original graphic card and it was working...so then i began to install the drivers from the cd they gave me. After 10 seconds into the install, my computer freezes up. What's going on?? I even tried the windows installation but that didn't work either cuz it couldn't find the drivers on the cd. Weird...

**alliercollins** · July 3rd, 2004, 04:03 PM

Did you uninstall your old graphics card before rebooting? I know you unplugged it, but if you don't uninstall it, it won't boot since the drivers for the old card are still there. I had a friend who had this problem while trying to put in a new geforce card. He left the drivers installed for his old one and it still thought that the card was there, so it wouldn't boot with the card actually there. I decided to fix it for him... I put the card back in, uninstalled the drivers for the card, shut it down, put in the new card, booted up, then installed the new card's drivers.

**hawkburn** · July 3rd, 2004, 04:26 PM

If you have drivers installed for 2 graphics cards, the cards conflict with each other and lock the system. This is also true with incompatible audio and video cards. I know you don't have 2 video cards, but since one is integrated into the motherboard, its going to use that one as default, so as allier said.. you must first disable it and then reboot.

**CCSDUDE** · July 3rd, 2004, 04:58 PM

Go into your BIOS and disable onboard graphics support. :)

Reboot with the ATI CD in your drive and let windows load, it should find an install everything for you if you're not running some old ass copy of 98.

If that still doesn't work...leave the bios onboard graphics disabled.. use find new hardware and hunt the drivers down on the ATI CD.

NEVER USE ATI'S INSTALL SOFTWARE! It's shit plain an simple...easier to just let windows pick an choose what drivers it needs rather then letting ATI choose how much macrovision enabled crap they can put on your system.

Oh yeah...and the obvious thing... Right Click > My Computer > Hardware > Disable the old graphics driver in Windows.

**pablo416** · July 3rd, 2004, 05:08 PM

does that solve the monitor problem too?? because when i plug the monitor into the new graphic card, it doesn't display anything.

**CCSDUDE** · July 3rd, 2004, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by pablo416

does that solve the monitor problem too?? because when i plug the monitor into the new graphic card, it doesn't display anything.

It should, basically the reason why your monitor isn't displaying anything is linked to the graphics card not being detected/having a conflict/ect.

Once you get your operating system detecting the card and the onboard graphics are shut down you should get an image.

If it keeps going amber (the LED on your monitor) it means it's in standby - not getting anything.

**pablo416** · July 3rd, 2004, 09:16 PM

the graphic card also came with this long black wire which has an input at each end. What's that for??

**alliercollins** · July 3rd, 2004, 09:36 PM

is it an svideo cable for tv output?

**evilmegaman** · July 3rd, 2004, 09:41 PM

Umm you were supposed to disable the main gfx stuff. But try using your normal graphics card, go into the bios, disable it, and enable the new gfx card.

**pablo416** · July 3rd, 2004, 09:56 PM

ok i disabled the integrated graphic card and uninstalled the drivers. Then I shut down the computer and put in the new graphic card. I turned the computer back on with the monitor plug in the new graphic card input but my monitor still won't show anything!! What am i doing wrong??

**CCSDUDE** · July 3rd, 2004, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by pablo416

ok i disabled the integrated graphic card and uninstalled the drivers. Then I shut down the computer and put in the new graphic card. I turned the computer back on with the monitor plug in the new graphic card input but my monitor still won't show anything!! What am i doing wrong??

Which PCI slot did you place the graphics card in? Place it in the first one right after all the motherboards inputs. (Top one in a tower case)

**pablo416** · July 4th, 2004, 12:24 AM

Originally Posted by CCSDUDE

Which PCI slot did you place the graphics card in? Place it in the first one right after all the motherboards inputs. (Top one in a tower case)

There are 4 slots. The first slot has the ethernet card in it so i put the graphic card in the 2nd slot. Should i replace the network card slot with the gfx card and put the network card in the 2nd slot??

**CCSDUDE** · July 4th, 2004, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by pablo416

There are 4 slots. The first slot has the ethernet card in it so i put the graphic card in the 2nd slot. Should i replace the network card slot with the gfx card and put the network card in the 2nd slot??

Give it a try, but leave the network card out the first time around. Makes it easier to pinpoint the problem. No use adding to the heap.. :)