serious problem with gf3

[nvidia-james]

Ok this is a strange one: I boot to XP with a gf3-ti200 and get a blank, black screen. I currently have a gf2 pro and it's working fine, I've tried flashing the bios of the gf3 but that didn't help anything. It also works fine in another XP computer I have so it's software somehow.

The screen turns black right before loading the login names, right after the "XP" screen with the 3 blue blocks that move indicating XP is loading.

Has anyone else experienced this? I've tried both the manufactures drivers and Nvidia reference drivers which are dated v28.32.

Hope someone here can help me.

[BipolarBill]

Get the Detonator Destroyer:

http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-destroyer/

Boot into VGA mode by pressing F8 and selecting it when you see the black/white segmented "loading" bar.

Remove the older nVidia drivers in Add/Remove Programs and then run the Destroyer. If you are prompted to reboot, do so and come right back to VGA mode. Install the new drivers and restart. If you have problems, boot to Safe Mode and manually set the driver to the new version in Device Manager.

You should be able to do all of this with the new card installed.
:cool:

[nvidia-james]

thanks, i'll give that a try real fast

[nvidia-james]

I tried that process twice and I still have the same problem.

One thing I find odd is the driver is dated 3-8-2002, but Nvidia says it was released 4-26-2002 http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=windows2000

I can't find a version with a zip file of drivers, the Nvidia version wants to install itself, so I can't be sure if it's really using the Nvidia drivers.

I'm going to delete all the files in the driver file details and see if that helps anything.

something has to work, this is driving me nuts.

[nvidia-james]

ok i deleted every driver file listed, even the help files.

i hope this works.

[BipolarBill]

Force the driver by using "Don't search..." and manually selecting it.

[nvidia-james]

deleting all the driver files didn't help.

I updated the driver first with the gf2 installed, then I'll install the gf3 and manually install the driver if XP can't find it.

[nvidia-james]

managed to get the gf3 ti 200 working with a old driver dated 7-2001. Course a gf3 ti 200 wasn't listed, only gf3, so I tried that. After restarting it's only displaying 4 bits (32 colors! looks very, very strange) and 800x600.

I'll keep updating to later drivers until I find one that works.

[BipolarBill]

Have you used the Detonator Destroyer?

[nvidia-james]

yes, that was the first thing I did when you mentioned I should try that. Didn't work entirely, got an error msg.

Detonator XP v21.81 (7-2001): only recognized the card as a gf3 and only had 4 bit colors that couldn't be increaseed, but at least it worked.

Detonator XP v23.11 (12-2001): black screen.

Detonator XP v28.32 (4-2002): black screen.

I've given up. The gf2 pro has no problems at all, even a old 2meg SIS Virge card worked. The bios has been flashed to default nvidia bios, so it should work fine.

Don't know what's wrong anymore, i'll probably just sell it on ebay and cut my losses.

Should have known better than to buy a generic, no name Robanton video card.