New G400 and I am not happy!

[Goc]

Hey Don...

Really sorry I jumped on you, but I was really, really pissed... Hell, it happens to us all some times
Well if I can help you in any way I'll do it, just keep on posting

P.S.
Well, if we look at it all from another point of view, that rant of mine started things going for this thread so now you'll most certainly get all the help this dudes can give you

P.P.S.

I didn't build a quad Xeon system but I overclocked a Celery266 on a PC Chips LX mobo to 333... it involved some soldering on the Celery PCB and rewriting some parts of the mobo BIOS so it would use a 83 Mhz bus when thinking of using 66, but I don't want to brag (edit: Soldering wasn't needed at all )

[This message has been edited by Goc (edited 14 December 1999).]

[Katoona]

How about setting the AGP speed from 2x to 1x.
My G400 MAX wouldn't work at all in games before I did this.
I don't know why, but I don't really care, and I guess that next time I'm buying a motherboard it won't be ASUS P2B-S.

[Goc]

whooah... this dude really stinks... Like you work in damned IT industry... yeah, right. If you did anything else besides answering the phones and putting them through to people that know something about computers, you would also know that because of the way things are supposed to move in the Wintel world (stick any piece of hardware in your rig, the almighty and smart Windows detects it and everything works like a charm) we have a crappy system that crashes every now and then and still the hardware don¹t work as advertised. It is really unfair to blame it all on Matrox and send them to rot in hell, because your board didn¹t work as you expected it to, the moment you inserted it in that brown slot (what is it called... AGP?? Bwah Make, names! We don¹t need no stinking names!).
I mean it people just look at the first line!
"Last chance before I re-install Win98!"
What!?! Like that is the last thing you should do, go messing around with uncle Bills brat?
So please DonKiddik, do us all a favor and try not to act so pissed... I understand you aren't happy 'cause you can't get this board to work, but people here solve that kind of problems for FREE!! It won't cost you much more than just a bit of good will and people like Jorden, Kruzin, ALBPM and others will do their best to help you 'cause they really are Matrox fans, and can't stand their products being thrashed by people who know nothing about how computers work, and won't admit their ignorance!

pheew... End'o'rant

Sorry dudes for the long post, but MAN AM I PISSED!!!

[DonKiddik]

Phew!

Glad I was able to cool things down a bit.

Sorry, I did not even check to see if MURC was affiliated to Matrox, I boobed!

Ok, moved the Hollywood + to Slot 3.
Disabled USB in bios, this helped a bit.

Here is a problem, Award bios will NOT let me manually allocate IRQ's only options I have are Legacy ISA or PCI/ISA Pnp.

My IRQ listing as it is now:
[IRQs]

0 System timer
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2 Programmable interrupt controller
3 Communications Port (COM2)
4 Communications Port (COM1)
6 Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7 Printer Port (LPT1)
8 System CMOS/real time clock
9 Creative SB Live! Value
9 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
10 REALmagic Hollywood Plus
10 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 Matrox Millennium G400 - English
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12 Genius NetMouse Pro PS/2 Mouse Port
13 Numeric data processor
14 Primary Bus Master IDE controller (dual fifo)
14 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller (Ultra DMA)
15 Secondary Bus Master IDE controller (dual fifo)
15 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller (Ultra DMA)
5 (free)

Looks OK to me, I know some of you disagree. ;-)

Tried both AGP at 2x and 1x. In 2x it locks in game at 1x I get that loovely plaid screen all over! YUK.

Gonna post back soon as soon as I gather more info Bios revison etc.

Goc: No probs at all, cheers again!

Ash has a big what? pictures please for my wife teehee.

Thanks







------------------
Rgds
Don (Kiddik)Davidson
"Welcome Back my Friends to the Show that Never Ends"

[Alfie]

Jorden,
fic 503+ mobo is a tried and true socket 7,
The tricks involved in getting a socket 7 and a AGP card can be a little more drawn out than a Pentium.
Notice I say AGP, regardless of manufacturer.
The usual problems associated with irq's definitely applies here.
Get the g400 on it's own irq.
Make sure usb is enabled in bios.
Disable video caching and other similar things in bios.
Enable assign irq to vga.
Increase memory assigned to agp to 128(play with this setting)
Regardless of AGP card it should have it's own irq,especially when dealing with super7.
Make sure nothing occupies the pci slot next to AGP.
Make sure you have the latest 4in1 drivers from Via.Install them if neccessary.
Make sure you have the latest drivers for the g400.Reintall both Via and g400 drivers (after uninstalling )
Do this after you've assigned irq for AGP device.
Make sure mobo bios are current.
Repeating what's already been said,just reinforcing it(I have a super7 system)
Let's cut out the bickering,it gives me and everyone else a headache.
Let's get this g400 working!



[This message has been edited by Alfie (edited 15 December 1999).]

[Kruzin]

I notice 2 IRQ holders on IRQ11, but only one device (the G400) there.
There should only be 1 IRQ holder (1 per device).
This probably indicates that there is duplicate or errant drivers in there.
Boot into safe mode, and check your device manager for multiple video cards (the extras hide in normal mode, but show up in safe mode).
If there are multiples, remove them all, and reinstall the drivers...

[This message has been edited by Kruzin (edited 15 December 1999).]

[Alfie]

Good point Kruzin!
Do what Kruzin says!Also get rid of old AGP device drivers ie.voodoo? etc.
Jorden will supply you more info,so be sure to give him the info he requests.

[Rags]

DonKiddik,

Follow these instructions exactly to get your system up and going:
Download the new G400 drivers (which you have already =) ), download the 4in1 driver pack from Via, download the uninstall utility from Matrox, boot into safe mode and delete all video adapters in Device Manager, run the uninstall utility, reboot switch to standard Vga adapter and reboot, install the 4in1 driver pack in normal mode reboot and go into your bios and disable "read around write" save settings and exit, boot into windows and run the setup for PD 5.41, reboot and you should be up to speed.


Rags

(I am assuming you have the latest BIOS for your FIC, if not GET IT! )

[DonKiddik]

Thanks all

Ok
Mbd rev A3
Award Bios rev. 1.13JE12

The "extra" IRQ 11 device holder appeared after I disabled USB in Bios. I will check safe mode out for what it's worth but!

I now have further problems, after un-installing Norton utilities my system is so goosed, I reckon I need to start from scratch!
As I speak I am getting GPF's all over the place (WUCRTUPD (Windows update) RNAAP (Dial Up Networking) MSIMN (Outlook) all GPF) It's any wonder I got to post this back!

Give me three days and "I'll be back" All your suggestions taken on board, and I will start from fresh as of tomorrow night.

Thanks

[McRhea]

JORDEN!!!!!! Oh my GOD! I'm such a dumbass! Why do I keep spelling your name with an "A"??? Dang... I'm going to put your name on a post-it note right on my computer so I don't forget... Sorry bro. You can whoop my ass! I'll shut-up now.

Ps. Don, did you disable Norton Utilities? Did it do you any good? Also, did you buy your comp, or did you put it together? If you bought it, did the comp come with some program that "Helps" you get started or something? I bought a Gateway, and it comes with this program called "the HelpSpot." It's a program that "helps" you with the computer if you're just getting started... Anyway, that was also part of my problem. So try getting rid of ALL the programs that "scan" for virus's or "prevent" crashing. Good luck

[rylan]

Yeah, definately check what Kruzin mentioned about a possible extra device leftover in windows, since there should only be 1 irq holder in 11 along with the G400.
Also, the FIC 503+ seems to be more picky about agp cards than some other SS7 boards I've seen. Set AGP aperture to 256mb. It seems to be the most stable for this board, and provices better performance anyway. While you're at it, disable serial port 2 (COM2) unless you are using it for some really really odd reason. Then follow all the stuff for normal SS7 driver installation mentioned earlier. USB should be -disabled- if not being used, so it doesn't suck an irq.

[YankeeeMax]

Hi
1)go to your bios (Board) and check if you have Enable IRQ for VGA !??
2)you dont nead Directx7, Matrox G400 goes with Directx6.1(Dirctx7 is to Gforce and new Ati Maxx)
3)Check is your bios version is the je1537 Va-503+ pcb12a?
Good Luck!

[Gurm]

Ok folks, I'm in a lousy mood... but I'll try to be GENTLE.

Don:

Sorry to have tweaked you out. I too have a wife, am saving against the kid-to-come, and pay mortgage and car payments. I also looked at TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP. I bought a European car because it would be cheaper and better overall, despite the hefty initial pricetag. And guess what? It was/is.

Same with components. I love AMD chips. But that's like saying I love Yugo engines. Nobody, to date, has made a SS7 chipset that is stable. Nobody. End of story. Some people have better luck than others. But the "oh crap, my motherboard is incompatible with EVERYTHING" rate on BX boards is practically nil, whilst on SS7 boards it's 75% or more.

Joel:

Read what I just said to Don. I _LOVE_ AMD chips. Love 'em. To death. But if I can't run one on my Intel chipset ('cuz they're the only ones, it seems, who can make a good chipset - and NO, I haven't formed an opinion yet on Athlon chipset(s)) then you can keep it.

- Ash

P.S. Things which are degenerate, for future reference:

Netscape
OS/2
Linux
VIA and ALI chipsets
3dfx
ATI's 3D (their 2d isn't bad)
Catholicism (had to, sorry if I offend anyone but the pope needs diapers not adoration)

------------------
Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[DonKiddik]

Hi again

McRhea: Yes I did get rid of Norton and it screwed me system up! Hey it was bound to do that! No I built it myself, that way I know what's in it and how it's gonna get upgraded in the future.

Humble Pie time :-)
GOOOOOD NEEEEWWWSS

G400 has landed!

Just tried the safe mode check as Kruzin said (cool name BTW) and yup there was all sorts o crap knockin about. Got rid, rebooted and tried the techdemo. It ran in three passes No probs (not much I know but on this sys it never got passed two without dyin!)
Then I tried an old fave of my son's, Star Wars Episode 1 Racer, previous goes = 1 lap and plaid screen, tonite = 3 laps and it wuz bloody faster than Voodoo2!

Time for bed, still got those effin GPF's (bloody Norton Utils!) Tomorrow night is UT night (needs re-install,) CAN'T wait.

Thanks and double thanks, I will keep posting if all is well (or not.) And I'll keep checking the forum in the future too!

Happy days are here again etc. etc.


------------------
Rgds
Don (Kiddik)Davidson
"Welcome Back my Friends to the Show that Never Ends"

[DonKiddik]

Gurm

Nice one, we all are entitled to our opinions and I respect yours if you respect mine?

Sorted.

Pooters eh, luv em or hate em? LOVE EM.

If I cud afford intel I would, god knows how many arguments at work I have had with that one!

Night night I am knackered.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ