Getting an x1950 AGP running on a KT400-based mobo

Ian Riches

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Dec 21, 2009, 11:53:40 AM12/21/09

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I'm struggling and currently failing to get an x1950Pro running on a Via
KT400-based motherboard (an A7V8X). This is under WinXP SP3.

The combination runs an x800 XT PE fine with the Cat 7.2 drivers - but
although it will install any ATI driver seemingly OK, I end up with
either no D3D acceleration, no AGP capability, crashes in the SMARTGART
testing on re-boot, missing desktop icons or display stuck at
640x480x4-bit, or any combination of the above.

I've tried the latest 9.11 "legacy" drivers, Cat 7.2, Cat 7.12 and Omega
drivers based upon Cat 7.12.

:-(

Any suggestions of BIOS settings, driver version etc. to try to attempt
to get this combination running? I'm assured the card is a good'un, but
have no other machine to test it it.

PSU is an Enermax 400W, which runs the X800 XT PE fine, and that and the
1950Pro have very similar power requirements.

Thanks for any help.

Ian
--
Ian Riches
Bedford, UK

Jim Price

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Dec 21, 2009, 12:16:06 PM12/21/09

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Via Hyperion drivers? These are needed for some cards to work stably -
specifically the AGP driver, but they come in a pack with an installer
which will detect which ones are needed. They are additional to the
drivers for the graphics card, and should be available from your
motherboard support site, or, if that doesn't work, here:

http://www.viaarena.com/displaydrivers.aspx?PageID=1&OSID=6&CatID=1110

--
JimP

fwibbler

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Dec 21, 2009, 3:36:56 PM12/21/09

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Ian Riches <ianr...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I seriously doubt you'll get that board to run reliably with that card.
I had a few of those boards and none would work with any high performance
ATI cards. (I didn't have any Nvidia cards to try)

--
Graham
Website - http://www.thedeathzone.free-online.co.uk

Ian Riches

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Dec 22, 2009, 3:12:10 AM12/22/09

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On 21/12/2009 17:16, Jim Price wrote:
> Ian Riches wrote:
>> I'm struggling and currently failing to get an x1950Pro running on a
>> Via KT400-based motherboard (an A7V8X). This is under WinXP SP3.
>>

> Via Hyperion drivers? These are needed for some cards to work stably -
> specifically the AGP driver, but they come in a pack with an installer
> which will detect which ones are needed. They are additional to the
> drivers for the graphics card, and should be available from your
> motherboard support site, or, if that doesn't work, here:
>
> http://www.viaarena.com/displaydrivers.aspx?PageID=1&OSID=6&CatID=1110

Sorry...should have said, Via drivers already installed.

Ian Riches

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Dec 22, 2009, 3:14:30 AM12/22/09

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On 21/12/2009 20:36, fwibbler wrote:
> Ian Riches<ianr...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm struggling and currently failing to get an x1950Pro running on a Via
>> KT400-based motherboard (an A7V8X). This is under WinXP SP3.

> I seriously doubt you'll get that board to run reliably with that card.
> I had a few of those boards and none would work with any high performance
> ATI cards. (I didn't have any Nvidia cards to try)

I'm rapidly coming to the same conclusion myself. I tried again last
night, bypassing SMARTGART by installing the drivers directly via the
.inf file rather that running the ATI .exe file. Seemed to go rather
well until trying to log back in after re-booting. Monitor then started
complaining about "signal out of range" and a blank display.

Oh well. It works with the x800 XT PE, and I'm probably CPU-bound most
of the time anyway!

Clint Sharp

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Dec 23, 2009, 3:55:16 AM12/23/09

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In message <hgpv57$74s$3...@news.eternal-september.org>, Ian Riches
<ianr...@hotmail.com> writes

>I'm rapidly coming to the same conclusion myself. I tried again last
>night, bypassing SMARTGART by installing the drivers directly via the
>.inf file rather that running the ATI .exe file. Seemed to go rather
>well until trying to log back in after re-booting. Monitor then
>started complaining about "signal out of range" and a blank display.

Well, that's not necessarily an insurmountable problem and sounds more
like a driver issue than a hardware 'problem'... can you boot to safe
mode?

>Oh well. It works with the x800 XT PE, and I'm probably CPU-bound most
>of the time anyway!
>
>Ian

--
Clint Sharp

John Jordan

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Dec 23, 2009, 7:37:56 PM12/23/09

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Ian Riches wrote:
> I'm struggling and currently failing to get an x1950Pro running on a Via
> KT400-based motherboard (an A7V8X). This is under WinXP SP3.
>
> The combination runs an x800 XT PE fine with the Cat 7.2 drivers - but
> although it will install any ATI driver seemingly OK, I end up with
> either no D3D acceleration, no AGP capability, crashes in the SMARTGART
> testing on re-boot, missing desktop icons or display stuck at
> 640x480x4-bit, or any combination of the above.

The KT400 did have problems with AGP8X support (fixed in KT400A, IIRC),
which you could work around by forcing it down to AGP4X. I think the
Catalyst Control Centre can still do this (check under "SMARTGART").

This sort of trouble can also be caused by dust or hair in the AGP slot.
Symptoms are often identical.

--
John Jordan