Cant play any Games! New Vid Card..

Im not exactly sure if this is a Hardware or Software problem so I chose to post here..

Ok I have been working on this problem for a few days now and still have not been able to solve the problem. I have posted about it in other forums but no one has been able to solve it either. Most of the information is copy/pasted from my original post on the sharky forums ( http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=204693 ) and for further details please check out that link. This post is going to be long, but bear with me, since it will have all the info I have compiled so far about this problem:

FIRSTLY System Specs:

Motherboard: Asus A7M266 (Updated with the latest drivers + bios to support GeForce4)
Video Card: MSI NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 w/128mb
Sound Card: Soundblaster LIVE! Value
Ram: 256MB DDR
Operating System: Windows Me (4.90, Build 3000)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) Processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~900MHz (actually a 1.2ghz)
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 (4.09.0000.0900)
Video Card Driver: Detonator 45.23

The Problem:

My old vid card was crapping out and began giving me problems on my Windows 98 OS. I decided to buy a MSI Geforce FX5600 w/ 128mb and format the computer and start fresh with Windows Millenium. I installed the vid card drivers off the cd, then installed updated Detonator drivers from nvidia's website.

Got DirectX 9.0.., Updated my Soundblaster Live! Drivers.. Everything I thought I would need to get the games to work.

But I STILL get the same errors as I did with the old vid card on a different OS. Everytime I try to run any kind of new game, it gives me some error (shown later).

Those game errors were pointing me in the direction of thinking the problem has somethign to do with Direct3D. I decided to run tests with dxdiag:

DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: All tests were successful.

BUT when I tested the "Direct3D Acceleration" here is what I got:

D3D7 Test Result: Failure at step 8 (Creating 3D Device): HRESULT = 0x80004005 (Generic failure)
D3D8 Test Result: Failure at step 8 (Creating 3D Device): HRESULT = 0x8876086c (error code)
D3D9 Test Result: Failure at step 8 (Creating 3D Device): HRESULT = 0x8876086c (error code)

So there is a definate problme with the Direct3D

ALSO

Someone suggested the problem may be with my AGP settings. I have tried using the "PowerStrip" Software to change my cards AGP modes between 1x, 2x, 4x and other options such as Sideband Addressing and Fast Write Protocol, but NOTHING solves the problem. I also noticed that my video cards AGP Revision is 3.00, but my systems is 2.00.. That may be part of the problem..

Conclusion so far..

I have come to the conclusion that it is either my motherboard that is giving me the problems (somethign to do with the AGP) or it is the fact that I cannot get the Direct3D to work properly. Wether one is a result of the other I dont know..

I have emailed Asus to find out for sure wether my motherboard supports this card for sure.

Here are some examples of the errors I get:

Ghost Recon
Illegal Operation

Morrowind
Rendition Error ``

Unreal II Demo

Error setting display mode: CreateDevice failed (D3DERR_INVALIDCALL). Please delete your Unreal2.ini file if this error prevents you from starting the game.

UT2003 Demo
UT2003 Build UT2003_Build_[2003-02-16_18.56]

OS: Windows 98 4.90 (Build: 73010104)
CPU: AuthenticAMD PentiumPro-class processor @ 909 MHz with 255MB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 (4523)

Error setting display mode: CreateDevice failed (D3DERR_INVALIDCALL). Please delete your UT2003.ini file if this error prevents you from starting the game.

History: UD3DRenderDevice::UnSetRes <- CreateDevice <- UD3DRenderDevice::SetRes <- UWindowsViewport::TryRenderDevice <- UWindowsViewport::OpenWindow <- UGameEngine::Init <- InitEngine

Silent Storm Demo
Unsupported Video Card

Raven Shield Demo
OS: Windows 98 4.90 (Build: 73010104)
CPU: AuthenticAMD PentiumPro-class processor @ 909 MHz with 255MB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 (4523)

Assertion failed: RenDev [File:\Data Manager\Version\SPDEMO\Local\WinDrv\Src\WinViewport.cpp] [Line: 471]

History: UWindowsViewport::OpenWindow <- UGameEngine::Init <- InitEngine


If anyone has any ideas or any questions, please feel free to post, any help is greatly appreciated. Again, there is more info on the original link I posted at the beginning of this post. You may wanna check that link out also.

Thank You

 

I know you've looked at the AGP side, but this forum http://forums.techguy.org/t139565/s0eb2bf6b62595b5cb8a3443f66dbb175.html seems to suggest the problem could be in that area.

 

Ok... since you think it may be problems with DirectX I think it would be worth mentioning that DirectX 9.0 needs to be installed before any video card drivers you've downloaded or have on CD. This can cause problems. Now, I know you're thinking you'll have to format and start over, because you can't remove DirectX, but there are actually some uninstallers mentioned in this thread. My suggested solution is to do what this person did in the thread mentioned above and see if it helps with your game play.

 

lesrae and TRex, thx for your suggestions but unfortunately neither of those solutions solved the problem.

I followed what that guy said in the thread and changed my AGP memory to 128mb from 64mb in my bios, but that still didnt fix the problem. Also the guy in the thread who had the problem said he solved it by changing his AGP to 8x in his BIOS. I dont have that option all I have is AGP 4X Enabled/Disabled option.

If anyone else has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it..

 

Anyone else have any ideas?

 

Very interesting.
Tell me , what Power suply you running?
could be over taxxing the systems power with that 5600

 

Hmmm im not exactly sure how to check..?

 

Hey,

Ive got a 300W Power Supply..

I just got an email from ASUS and he said one of my problems may be that I dont have enough power... like you said.

He suggests that for over 700mhz (like in my case) I need atleast 350 Watts..

Do you think this could be the cause of the problem?

 

FINALLY found the problem:

Since all motherboards are not alike the chipset and onboard drivers can sometimes be difficult to know which ones you should use and which ones not to use. In example, the A7M266 uses the AMD Northbridge and the VIA Southbridge, therefore the 4in1’s are used BUT the AGP driver is deselected and NOT installed during the process. The AMD AGP driver is installed separately. Had you not known that, you may have installed the 4in1’s and then trashed your install because later the video would not have functioned properly.

 

nice...just install the right AMD agp drivers and you should be golden!