ATI Radeon 9200 big issue!

[Asmodai]

Ok... I just got a new computer from Fujitsu-Siemens (btw their customer support is ****). It's a Scaleo 600, with 2,6 Ghz (intel 865PE), 512 ddram, 160 GB, WindowsXP home ed... and an ATI Radeon 9200. All of this should aobviously be enough to play most of todays games, but for some unknown reason I couldn't play ANY GAME!!
I tryed Warcraft III, Neverwinter Nights and Planeshift (this one worked in "Safe Mode" with crappy graphics). After a short time (between 20 secs and 2-3mins), the image on the screen would freeze (sometimes along with the sound but not always), or the screen would go black. I could only reboot...

I have managed to make this games work with PowerStrip, which permitted me to tweak the AGP transfer rate to 1x (4x was greyed out and it didn't let me select 8x; 2x = crash). I wanted to changed the AGP setting with my BIOS but it wouldn't let me (it's an Award BIOS).
But this is probably not a long term solution, as Power Strip is a VERY old program , and today I expirenced some weird crashes probably due to it (not 100% sure). Also, anytime I need to ipdate my drivers I would need to reinstall it, etc.

I am not sure the AGP rate thing (sorry I'm not very sure what it is or anything, just got the idea to change it from the internet) or if it is the real reason behind the problem. The system is brand new so it shouldn't have any configuration problem.

And of course, I did all kind of updates before tweaking the AGP (ran Windows XP update and downloaded all my latest drivers, also tryed reinstalling the video drivers).
I suspect this could be another of the reasons as ATI Radeon 9200 doesn't have full directx 9.x support (supposed to be used with 8.1), I am not sure if my system had 8.1 to start with or if it had 9.0, I now have the 9.0b.

Anyway, I would really appreciate any kind of help or hints, as I've been looking for solutions desperatly since Monday and I've been totally ignored by Fujitsu-Siemens customer support (their explanation --> ATI Radeon 9200 doesn't have 3D acceleration, it is normal some games don't work with it, get a 3D acceleration PCI device....).

Thanks!!

[Peter M]

Support bullsh*tters ... invent a new excuse every day.

Print out ATi's specification of the part, and hand it back in for replacement. Maybe run a RAM test beforehand ... www.memtest86.com

[Asmodai]

Well todays I tryed Warcraft III in another Scaleo 600 (they let me do it in the shop- btw they come with directx 9.0 straight out of the box), and it worked fine. They told me it was no problem to change it, so I decided to try a few things before changing it...

Desisntalled PowerStrip (which was causing inestability, crashing the computer on reboots, etc.), and reinstalled the latest ATI Catalyst driver. Still not working. Then I found it was possible to change the AGP setting with the control panel, to 8x, 4x or Off. I tryed enabling fast write too but then the changes wouldn't be enabled after the necessary reboot. So I tryed just changing the AGP to 4x and now it wokrs. I'll be testing this for a ouple of days, but I think it's ok now...

But does anyone have a clue why the brand new system didn't support 3D games at 8x?

[Peter M]

Well it's an 8x capable mainboard, so if it crashes at 8x then something's fishy.

Readily configured brand machines should definitely NOT contain components that don't work well together - so I rather suspect your unit has some sort of flaw.

[$1500-P4 gamer]

I agree.. It really sounds like some bum hardware. Option 1 Id Change the video card first! Option 2 swap mobo's. One of the two is causing the agp transfer problems cause well thats all there is to the agp. The main-board's end and the cards. No 4x on new video card/mobo combo is def. something wrong 100% for sure. I wouldn't waste time with software *fixes* as its more than likely all hardware problem.:t

[Asmodai]

Are you sure it's a hardware problem? I mean, with the AGP speed at 4x everything "seems" to run fine, though I will give it around 2 days to make sure. I really don't feel like changin the whole Scaleo for another one because setting everything was a real pain...
How can I be sure it's a hardware problem? I mean, if works at 4x then the hardware should be fine. Or having games crash when it's set to 8x means the flaw is in the hardware???

Tomorrow I am calling the helpdesk service of my city (I hope they are better than customer support) to try to sort it out. Should I try to have them send someone over to change the graphic card and then the motherboard to check if it's really a hardware problem?

Or should I thank god it works at 4x and not try to find out?
I am starting my classes the 4th and I won't have much time then, so I'm not really sure what I should do...

[sabrex]

You should call Fujitsu-Siemens customer support at once and they will provide you with a firmware update disk to fix this for you. Although this problem has been spread along the spectrum of ATI/Nvidia cards on Windows XP im confident this is platform over hardware related. The only firmware released fixes those with ATI Radeon 9200. It also seems to be an intermittent problem.

If one does a google search on the said error "caused an instability blah blah" one sees it is not just an FSC machine but widespread intermittent error on other manufactured pc's.

Everybody blames someone i blame Bill.

Hope this helps

Sab

PS Manufacturer cannot tell you to go buy anything what helpdesk are you calling UK or USA ?

[Frazz]

FINALLY!!! I've been searching for someone with the same problem as me for AGES!!! I have the exact same problem with my Radeon 9200. Only i built my computer, so it's not a package. I've got a Soltek SL-75FRN2-L motherboard (it's an AMD). I've tred everything you've done and more. I even re-formatted and re-installed win XP. The IT guy at my schol said it could be something to do with the power supply. He said if I try a "brand name" supply it might fix it. (something about the correct voltage) But seeing as you've got the same problem It's probably the card itself. If you have any more progress, PLEASE e-mail me. frazzle_zek@hotmail.com Thanks