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Thread ID: 61374 2005-09-02 12:58:00 Display Adapter problems SaAB (1292) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
385596 2005-09-02 12:58:00 Radeon 9700pro 128MB
1 GB pc2700 ram
Gigabyte GA-7n400pro
480 watt psu
System 2 yrs old

When booting into Windows 98 SE I received a blank screen, the monitor told me it was at the correct resolution but there was no display.

Booting into SUSE 9.2 it displayed correctly in the vesafb 1280x1024 mode but complained at X server startup about services missing (and refused to start the X server).

Booting a separate incarnation of Windows 98 SE (achieved using Norton ghost) still received a blank screen (ruling out software, as no hardware had changed since this image was created – which had been restored off of before).

Setting Windows 98 SE to 640x480 16 colour worked, changing either resolution or colour depth up caused blank screen.

After a while it came right for Windows 98 SE but for one game- DX-Ball (a 640x480 directX game), SUSE still complained.

So is my video card dying, is my mother board crook, or is it something else?

Any input would be appreciated, as I don’t want to get a replacement video card only to find it was not the problem.

Thanks. 		SaAB (1292)
385597 2005-09-02 21:58:00 Thats an odd one - all my video cards have either worked or not. Heres a few suggestions;

1) Check the fan on the card - if its not going or is covered in crap you might have too much heat building up when the card is running higher resolutions.
2) Do the same for your whole PC - give it a spring clean inside the case
3) Try a Windows XP install with the latest drivers for your card. This may give you more information where its failing.
4) Unplug all but the essential devices to remove any other possible hardware factors. Repeat any tests you have carried out.
5) Borrow a vid card from a friend - any working compatible card will do, the objective it to see if the problem is isolated to the card or the motherboard. OR try your card in a friends PC?

As a last resort you could take your PC down to a local PC shop and explain the situation - they will likely have a vid card lying around that you could test with and I'd be surprised if they charged you anything to test - especially if you are a regular customer. 		Freejack (375)
385598 2005-09-02 23:19:00 1) Check the fan on the card - if its not going or is covered in crap you might have too much heat building up when the card is running higher resolutions.
2) Do the same for your whole PC - give it a spring clean inside the case
3) Try a Windows XP install with the latest drivers for your card. This may give you more information where its failing.
4) Unplug all but the essential devices to remove any other possible hardware factors. Repeat any tests you have carried out.
5) Borrow a vid card from a friend - any working compatible card will do, the objective it to see if the problem is isolated to the card or the motherboard. OR try your card in a friends PC?



1) Tried that.
2) Tried that at the same time.
3) I don't have Windows XP, but I tried the latest win98me drivers
4) Tried that too.
5) I have not tried this yet because I was concerned with the possibility of my faulty hardware damaging the other hardware.

I do have an old 32MB TNT2 hanging around but since it is PCI it probably will not tell me if there is something wrong with my motherboard.

Thanks. 		SaAB (1292)
385599 2005-09-02 23:36:00 Are you sure the card's fan is running when the PC is on?

Trialing the old TNT2 card will at least tell you whether there is a problem elsewhere in your hardware but I guess it won't tell you much about issues with your AGP slot. Tracking down someone with an old AGP card would help you with that.

Trialling with other peoples hardware is risky but it sounds like thats your next real option. I'd rate the risk as pretty low though. 		Freejack (375)
385600 2005-09-05 12:16:00 Hello, sorry to bring this up again. After restoring yet another windows image (using ghost) I encountered the same symptoms, after some investigating I found that all images created before I first encountered this problem displayed (or not) the same symptoms, any image created after will work (except DX-Ball).

Now I'm not sure exactly when, but I installed Fedora Core 4 somewere around this time. Is it possible that FC4 re-programed something on my card or something. I can get my display back predictably on an old image by removing and replacing the ATI drivers running in lo-res mode for half an hour and then switching up to a higher resolution; If I try switching up too soon then I get a blank screen. Weird!

Any ideas?? Might contact ATI about this one.

Thanks. 		SaAB (1292)
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