Need help installing an AGP grpahics card :/

R

Rodoni

New Member
Hi guys,

Im new to building up computers and joined this forum to start learning :). I picked up some radeon graphics cards for cheap to put one in my current computer.

Heres my computer specs:
XP Pro SP3
3.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
Board: SpringdaleG
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 05/03/2004
1gb ram Pc3500
PS is 350W
Intel(R) 82865G Graphics Controller [Display adapter]
Samsung SyncMaster [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n H9NXC29191, December 2004)
Hauppauge WinTV 878/9 WDM Aux Driver


I bolded my integrated video stuff. (obviously ha)

Now, on to my issue. I uninstalled my current video drivers, turn the computer off, and correctly (as far as I know) installed the radeon pro x1300 256mb graphics card. I plugged my monitor into the card and start to power the computer up. The computer turns on, the monitor stays black (but the monitor's green light blinks) and sometimes if I hit the power button on the computer it will turn off, but most times I have to hold it in order for it to turn off.

I have the drivers downloaded but not installed. I cant install them without the card in because the drivers cant find the card (obviously). And the monitor wont show anything with the card installed so I can install the drivers that way..

I hope I have given enough info to get a solution, but if not, please tell me what you need.

Thanks Guys

-Alex
 
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Dont know if they all did, but some had the little floppy power connector you had to plug in. On the top back corner. Just a thought.
img_2175_1815_detail.jpg
 
Well if it's there you should plug it in... although i have never seen a card that uses a floppy power connector! all i have seen use the standard 4 pin molex connection.

plug your monitor into the card, and boot up. wait for it and see if it goes into windows and if you can see anything.

In your BIOS, set the main graphics adapter to AGP, that should solve that black screen on startup.
 
That is my exact card. There is that floppy power thing. I'll try and plug it in and see what happens.

I've read a few things and I keep seeing the phrase BIOS...what exactly is it? I'll boot it up and leave it on for awhile to see if anything pops up. If nothing happens, how do I set the main graphics to agp?
 
Well, on my IBM machine, it was in the page that had all the options for the integreated GPU. just keep looking until you find it.

is your computer by any chance an IBM netvista desktop?
 
linkin93 said:
Well, on my IBM machine, it was in the page that had all the options for the integreated GPU. just keep looking until you find it.

is your computer by any chance an IBM netvista desktop?
Click to expand...

No, it was a store bought machine made by a local chain. It was origionally bought in 2002 for around $1200 by my friends grandparents. Long story short, he aquired it and I bought it from him. I have the original reciept and papers.

It has a small chasis/case but I figure it's something I can learn on for now.
 
Make sure that you have the card installed correctly. If you have the manual even better if not a google search should yield instructions on it.

Put your monitor on the integrated vid port. Boot up the computer. Right as it goes to post press the DEL key several times (or the F1 key). If you caught it right you should go into the BIOS.

In the BIOS look for Advanced chipset or integrated peripherals. (depends on the BIOS you may have to search around a bit to find this)

What you want to change is PRIMARY DISPLAY. It will have a couple of choices, usually either onboard or AGP/PCI (depending on BIOS/board design).

Select AGP.

Save and exit.

You can now put your monitor on the AGP card and it should come up. Install the drivers for that card and re-boot...
 
I don't have the manual but I can look on google.

What I tried just now (wish I saw the abov post beforehand :/) was I uninstalled integrated drivers, powered off, went into bios and changed from 128 to 256 and disabled something (something below the 256 can't remember what), powered off, installed agp card and still nothing. But sinced I changed from 128-256 my monitor is still black with the agp uninstalled :/

is there a way to get into bios, or have bios show up in the state that it's in?

EDIT: I looked in my book, and I changed the aperture from 128-256 and disabled "on-chip VGA" I also looked in my book to find "primary display", I don't seem to have one :/
 
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On alot of boards it's better to leave the aperture set to 64. They say higher than 128 can cause problems. You'll probably need to rest the CMOS. Pull the battery out of 5 to 15 mins. if you don't know how to reset it using the jumpers. Then try to start your pc back up again "without" the video card. After that you'll need to follow Schw32m's instructions and go into the bios to change the primary display over to agp. And like it was said before, don't forget to plug in the floppy power connector if it requires one.
 
Rodoni said:
EDIT: I looked in my book, and I changed the aperture from 128-256 and disabled "on-chip VGA" I also looked in my book to find "primary display", I don't seem to have one :/
Click to expand...

so now you basically have no display at all. correct? and you took the agp card out as well?
 
^ correct. I tried to blindly change everything back by counting the choices in my book but it didn't seem to work.

Like I said earlier the aperture was already set on 128.

Another thing I noticed, does anyone run this cars with a 350w or under psu? I found some specs of the card online an it says it needs either a 420w or 480w. (can't remember what I read)
 
Rodoni said:
^ correct. I tried to blindly change everything back by counting the choices in my book but it didn't seem to work.

Like I said earlier the aperture was already set on 128.

Another thing I noticed, does anyone run this cars with a 350w or under psu? I found some specs of the card online an it says it needs either a 420w or 480w. (can't remember what I read)
Click to expand...

To correct the problem and at least get the system operational again you will have to remove the card. Clear the CMOS to get the default settings back and start over..

MB Manual will explain the procedure. You'll probably get a checksum error on the initial boot up (you'll have to go back into the BIOS and reset the clock). After that make sure that all the drivers are in place for the onboard and get the systems stable again.

After that I'm not sure about the card.. if you don't have the minimum requirements to run the card on that system then no matter what you do it isn't going to run or if it does it won't run like it should.
 
Like said above. Remove the card, reset the bios/cmos. Reboot and delete the cards drivers and reinstall the onboard drivers. As far as the card, it sounds like you got a bum card or your power supply cant power it.
 
Got the system working again. Thanks for the help guys. As far as power supplies go, what company do you guys reccommend?
 
i know the card isnt a bum card because I was having the same exact issue with a 128mb radeon card I had...I just read some specs on the 256mb one I have and it says a 350w PSU (which is what I have) is fine. Still cant get the damn thing to work.

I tried to install the drivers first, but I can only find the catalyst software and that wont install without the card being plugged in..
 
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