comp problem help

The Village Idiot · #1 January 18th, 2004, 12:25 PM

Well this is a new one for me overnight my comp has independantly decided to boycot the use of directx 8+. DX7 works fine but any and all tests using 8 and up just give me a odd looking screen and lockup. Ive updated my drivers and reinstalled dx. Is it possible my card (GeForce 2 Ti) is somehow involved? Anyways please help I'm starting to go through withdraws now.

The Village Idiot · #2 January 18th, 2004, 10:52 PM

Thats one of the first things I tried actually. Anything else?

Gandalf Parker · #3 January 18th, 2004, 11:01 PM

Doing a slight google I see references to something about that Version switching alot of things from hardware to software emulation of things. Many are unhappy with it. But the common response seems to be that most games arent really using the new capabilitys so until you find a game that doesnt run, dont upgrade.

The Village Idiot · #4 January 18th, 2004, 11:08 PM

Umm yeah thats kinda the problem. I can't play anything newer than about 3 years old including dom 2. To check it out I did a dxdiag and on testing dx8 for direct 3d it does the exact same thing as when I try to play a newer game. Thats what made me first try "repairing" directx and then when that diddn't work reinstalling drivers for my card. So I actually haven't changed anything that i've been using for the Last 5 months or so.

PvK · #5 January 18th, 2004, 11:15 PM

It sounds like it is definitely the 3D acceleration on the video card that is the problem, for whatever reason, since it is crashing whenever it tries to use 3D acceleration. If you have updated the drivers for the video card itself to the manufacturer's latest, and it still blows up, then you could try some 3rd party drivers for the card, of which there do exist one or two, which were suggested to me when I was noticing low frame rate using the manufacturer's drivers in Doms2. I don't have that reference right now - I think it was Sabre Cherry who came up with the links...

It's also possible that your video card is just plain messed up physically (maybe dusting it off, and taking it out and putting it back in physically would help...), or is somehow incompatible with your other hardware (or motherboard BIOS, or who knows what), or it just needs some sort of setting change.

PvK

[ January 18, 2004, 21:17: Message edited by: PvK ]

Arralen · #6 January 19th, 2004, 12:34 AM

I'm running a Ge2 Ti card with Dx8.1 and nVidia 6.13.10.4109 drivers (is this Version 41.09?) on W2k with SP-2. Don't have ... big problems like that (ok, there are small errors in some games, but that's nothing to worry about. Might occure with any card today).

Looks to me like your machine is thoroughly screwed up. Get yourself
- a DX-Deinstaller to get rid of a potentially faulty installation
- a nVidia-Deinstaller to get rid of ...

.. both do not deinstall (completely] via the system/software setup screen.

Re-install DX8.1, than the card drivers. Do not use the latest card drivers, as support for the older cards maybe broken. Use an older driver - the Last one where the readme lists fixes for the 2Ti card. (dunno which it is, check it out..)

Run DxDiag ...

A.

PS: don't forget to clean the card's fan and heatsink

The Village Idiot · #7 January 19th, 2004, 01:33 AM

Perhaps I haven't been clear enough. I did not change anything dirvers, dx, etc. it just stopped working on anything that requires DX8 and up. I have deinstalled drivers and dx then reinstalled the same ones i've been using since august with no problems. I will try the remove/clean/reinsert on my card, but that is the Last thing I know of that I can try.

Gandalf Parker · #8 January 19th, 2004, 02:56 AM

Try a "cold boot". That means powering down the computer and turning it completely OFF at the power. Unplug it if you arent sure how to do cold boot vs warm boot. Then turn it back on.

Computer stores get alot of machines now that are already fixed when they are brought in. Thats because the user unpluged it to bring it in and the store turning it back on let it go thru its hardware checks. (most of them charge for the visit anyway)

[ January 18, 2004, 12:56: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

The Village Idiot · #9 January 19th, 2004, 03:31 AM

Well that created more problems than it helped. I had to restore my registry after I booted. Don't have a clue why it died. But I was able to get it to run the dx8 test, then the dx9 test messed up. Rebooted and now 8 won't work anymore again. Well anyways thanks for the help but I don't think I can find the awnser here.

Ibn Arabi · #10 January 19th, 2004, 05:42 AM

If you don't mind some advice from a computer tech;
it may be your power supply failing to supply proper voltage to your card, or it may be heat from things that are overclocked causing instability under stress. When it isn't a driver problem these are the most common issues with hardware that hasn't failed outright. ANd as your problem started without you doing anything, the power supply dying is my best guess. If your bios has voltage monitoring built in check out the readings... If your 3.3 volt line is reading 3, or your 5 volt 4.7 etc..., try a new power supply.

Also, check the fan on your video card and in your case, make sure they work, if the fans seem to be working well try raising the voltage a tiny bit (~5%) on your ram and CPU.

If that doesn't do it, a geforce 2 is a Dx7 part, it does not support all the features of dx8 much less dx9. These are handled in a software emulation mode, it may well be that your box is just not stable enough to handle the stress of emulating the hardware. I'd check your ram timings (if they are 6-2-2 set them to 7-3-3 or 8-4-4) and if your box is already overclocked set it back to the default bus speeds.

Good luck