GF4 card craps out on OpenGL???

[Naxos]

I've got a Gainward GeForce4 ti4200 128MB that pukes out on OpenGL games. RTCWolfenstein runs in single-player mode as long as I don't change any graphics or sound settings, if I do, it locks up hard. I can manually make graphic/sound setting changes in the .cfg file and the changes work fine the next time I run the game, but it will NOT run multiplayer mode no matter what, just locks as it starts up the OpenGL console. I can’t get any other OpenGL games to work at all…

3DMark2001SE works perfectly, and my scores are awesome (7700-8700 depending on O/Cing the CPU and GPU), but SiSoftware Sandra crashes when I try to get any info on OpenGL.

I've done everything: updated mobo BIOS, new mobo VIA/AMD drivers, tried many different Nvidia drivers, got a new 350watt PS, swapped RAM, added RAM, pulled out all other cards, tested every system component in another machine (unfortunately, the other machine has the same mobo and parts), and I tried numerous mobo BIOS AGP-related settings, all with the same exact result: the video card works great except with OpenGL. And O/Cing the CPU and/or the GeForce card doesn't seem to affect anything (except 3DMark scores and a little higher chip temps in MotherBoardMonitor 5, of course).

My System: ASUS A7M266 mobo, 256MB unbuffered DDR RAM, AMD Athlon 1200Mhz CPU, 350watt PS, Gainward Ultra 650 TV (Gold Sample) GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB, Soundblaster Live! 5.1, WindowsXP Pro

I'm I missing something obvious??? HELP!

[grimfandango]

HAve you tried the latest drivers from nvidia?

[NDD]

Welcome to SysOpt !

Looks like you did everything you could.
Try to replace the card if you can.

[grimfandango]

ohh i forgot one more thing

Welcome to sysopt!!




JUST give the latest drivers a try...
Version: 30.82


that might sloveyour problem..

[morpheus kain]

My Gainward Geforce 2 TI was defective and I had with OpenGl too. I suggest that you call Gainward and RMA your card. Their RMA department is very polite you just have to strain to hear them. Good Luck! (I think they're from the Taiwanese base)

[AllGamer]

Naxos, i've seen this slight Annoyance happend before on different systems with different video cards.

it's a OpenGL thing, maybe a bug

the work around is the following

Change your normal DESKTOP resoultion to very LOW or very LARGE, so either 640x480 or some huge number like 1600x1200, or whatever your monitor can display.

Then go run your game, now you should be able to change the resoultion and color properly from inside the game without Hanging.



when you finish the game, change your video mode back to normal on your Desktop.

[Naxos]

Allgamer: I was gonna kick myself in the head if what you suggested actually fixed my "slight annoyance," but alas, it didn't work (not from really low res, really high res, or anything in between). *sigh* =)

Grimfandango: Thanks for the welcome! I've tried nearly a dozen nvidia drivers, including the newest, and still no luck. With one really old driver I did manage to get an error message as one game tried to start up: GLW_StartOpenGL() - could not load OpenGL subsystem

Morpheus: I've read on some other forums that a few people with different branded GF4 cards are having the same problem, so I'm not ready to believe that the card is defective (but hell, maybe all of us having this problem have defective cards). Who did you call to return your bad card, Gainward or the place you bought your card?

Anyone out there know of any way to tell if my GF4 card is defective or just incompatible with my mobo?

[morpheus kain]

I didn't think my card was defective either..... So after piddling with it for quite a while it was out of newegg's warranty, therefore I had to send it back to Gainward.

I suggest that you call Gainward and RMA your card. Their RMA department is very polite you just have to strain to hear them. Good Luck! (I think they're from the Taiwanese base)