Screen is Black w/ Vid Card

Before I state my problem, I'm going to list some details:

I'm running:
Windows XP SP2
L7VMM2 motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2400+
1.99 Ghz
2 Gigs of Ram
ATI Radeon X700 Pro AGP 256M

The Problem:

Whenever I plug in my video card and reboot, the screen just shows a black screen. I had my monitor cable connected onboard and to the port on the video card and still... ...black screen. What's the deal?


Basically, I'm trying to play WoW, and it's impossible with the onboard graphics, the full motherboard specs can be found here

I spent time looking around google and various forums for suggestions or advice, some said that onboard graphics could not be disabled, and some even said that AGP cards cannot work on this motherboard.

I am pretty confused, because why would a motherboard have an AGP slot and not accept the cards?

Anywho... I would LOVE any help to this annoying problem. Thank-you.

 

Do you get ANYTHING on the screen? Ever? Right when you turn the PC on, do you at least get a manufacturer logo or some POST info (like maybe "Press [F2] for setup." or something similar)? Have you tried removing the video card and using the on board video solo, just to see what happens?

 

I don't get anything at all, just a black screen. Then, when i remove the card and reboot everything is fine. If I try to add the vid card it goes back to the black screen.

 

It would appear that either the AGP card is no good, or you have an incredibly weak power supply, or there's some type of BIOS conflict or problem. Check with the PC or motherboard maker for a possible BIOS update. Check the BIOS and make sure that the video is set for AGP. This setting is usually under Advanced Settings or maybe Integrated Peripherals (the exact category names may be different). Other than that, either try a different (stronger) power supply, or try the video card in a different PC.

 

Look on the page for you motherboard that you linked to and find the manual for your board and download it (it should be a free download). Then look for instructions on how to disable your onboard graphics. You may have to enter your BIOS setup screens as dlb wrote. Do you know how to do that? It could also be that you have to change a jumper setting on your motherboard to turn off the built in graphics. In either case, take your time and be careful as you can mess things up if you don't follow instructions carefully.

 

Look on the page for your motherboard that you linked to and find the manual for your board and download it (it should be a free download). Then open that manual (probably an Adobe pdf file) and look for instructions on how to disable your onboard graphics. You may have to enter your BIOS setup screens as dlb wrote. Do you know how to do that? It could also be that you have to change a jumper setting on your motherboard to turn off the built in graphics. Your motherboard instructions should tell you exactly what you have to do to turn off your built-in graphics chip which should allow your AGP board to work properly.

In either case, take your time and be careful as you can mess things up if you don't follow instructions carefully. Note any changes you make in your BIOS settings so you can restore the original settings if you need to. And if you have to change a jumper setting on your motherboard, make sure you identify the correct jumper (there are likely several different jumpers on your board -- a jumper is typically 2 or three tiny wire pins sticking up out of the board with a tiny wire connector, covered with some plastic insulation, bridging two pins). Anytime you're working inside your computer case or even just plugging or unplugging something from your computer you need to be sure you ground yourself to discharge any static electricity first. This is especially important if you're going to be touching your motherboard as static electricity can fry computer chips.

If you're confident you've turned off/disabled the on board graphics and are still having the same problem then you may well have a defective graphics card or inadequate power supply. But download that motherboard manual and make sure you have properly disabled the graphics chip on your motherboard and followed all instructions for installing an AGP graphics card and activating the AGP slot.