Ref. Drivers + V770 = Very Expensive Paperweight?!

[SouthFla]

Well I'm really stumped....I absolutely cannot get Nvidia ref. drivers to work on my Diamond V770 TNT2 Ultra...I doesn't even work when I load the reference drivers (tried 2.08 all way up to 3.65) after a clean reformat/Win 98 install where there are no other conflicting drivers present. No go...The machine boots up and gets into windows fine, and can surf the web, etc., but trying to start any 3D application causes immediate lockup.

If I go start/programs/applications/system tools/ direct x diagnostics and try to run "test direct draw" or "test d3d" on my primary display (tnt2), I again get an immediate freeze with any ref. driver. I don't think its a direct x problem, 'cause the same tests will run fine using my secondary display (voodoo 2 sli).

If I uninstall the Nvidia drivers then put in the Diamond 4.02 drivers, everything works fine. And this is the EXACT same problem I had trying to use the CL Annihialator Pro Geforce DDR card. I could never get it to work; it would always act like the TNT2 with the ref. drivers....

Specs:PIII500, AOPenAX6BCPro R1.07, 256 PC100, 300W power, V770 TNT2 Ultra, MX300, V2 SLI, IBM Deskstar 18 gig, Philips CD/RW, USB Intellimouse, Surfboard Ethernet adapter, Diamond SupraExpress Modem, Visioneer One Touch Scanner, HP 722 printer, Win 98, Direct x 7.0 (actually also tried new beta Dx).

Does anybody got a clue what the hell my problem is? (My COMPUTER problem, that is!) Thanks! Happy Y2K!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[alpha]

I think the problem is something to do with not having the correct AGP VxD for the Via chipset. Make sure you have the correct VxD installed.

[SouthFla]

OK, thanks Alpha...So how do I confirm if I have the correct AGP VxD?? Any helpful hints or guidance would be mostly appreciated, especially since I'm full of Y2K Bubbly!!! Happy Happy!! :O

[RobRich]

I assume your Aopen board is using a VIA chipset. If so drop by: www.via.com.tw (http://www.via.com.tw) and pick up the 4-in-1 driver set. This contains updates so windows can correctly operate with the chipset.

By defualt, Win9x will use the Intel based defualt AGP driver, which cuase many prob's with the VIA AGP controller. After you download, just click setup, and choose which options you wish to install. There will be two different options for the AGP driver, normal and turbo. Try turbo first, then if problems still exist, try normal.

Also, you may wish to check these options in your bios setup:

Assign IRQ to vga: enable
Video pallete snoop: disable
Video caching: disable
Video shawdow: disable

You might also wish to try these options as a last recourse:

cpu-to-pci line buffer: disable
cpu cache read + write combining: disable

I reccomend using the 2.xx reference driver set for the TNT-x for performance and stability.

Also, enabling the super7 compatibilty feature in the regisitry can help. In regedit (Start, Run, regedit), go to the directory:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\NVIDIA Corporation\RIVA TNT\System\

Create a DWORD value by right clicking in the right-hand window. Name the DWORD Super7Compat (capitalization does matter) and change its value to 1. This can lead to a slight performance drop from normal, but it can aid in system stability.

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 12-31-1999).]

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 12-31-1999).]

[SouthFla]

Thanks RobRich, I'm trying it out now!

Actually, My mb uses the Intel 440bx chipset...(Is that what you are referring too??)

[This message has been edited by SouthFla (edited 12-31-1999).]

[RobRich]

I assumed you have a via chipset since I read the post above, but since you have a bx chipset, you don't need the VIA drivers, but the other tips might help. Also, since you using an Intel chipset, you might try setting your AGP aperature size equal to you system memory. This has worked for some, but results do vary. Also, ignore the last two bios setting regarding write combining and pci buffering, since they apply to super7 boards.

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 12-31-1999).]

[BBA]

2 things Rob...

1. Make sure no other PCI card is in a slot next to the AGP slot. (This causes resource conflicts that windows cannot identify)

2. Make sure the setting in bios for agp/fsb is at 2/3. The TNT2 series would not run at 100Mhz bus speed.