G400 DualHead BSOD in Win2K !!!

[Ism]

h e l p....

as soon as I try to change res by klikin settings panel in display properties VGA.DLL dies and my system halts.. ?

im using 5.31 but I got the same error with a previous build, 5.20..

anyone know of this issue ???

[Rags]

Hi Ism,

First, I would like to welcome you to our forums. You will find that we are a rather unique bunch of people here, and should enjoy your stay.

Okay, now to your problem, I think it's very hard to troubleshoot any problem without knowing your system specifics. Please post as much as you know about your system, and include the IRQ assignments.

Thanks.

Rags

[Ism]

appreciate the help Rags - details as follows

it's a system I've set up specifically for DVD/Mpeg playback (it's in a cupboard - hidden away from view in my lounge [

ok -

Intel 6LdX Lx Dual P2-400 128mb PC100
Adaptec UW & Seagate Barracuda 7,400 9gig

SBLive with liveware 3.0

funny thing u said about IRQ's - i've been using 2k for some time but never with a old LX board (I would put 9x on this box, but its a dual cpu etc etc so I thought this would help with software decoding..) but when I checked last night the IRQ table was all over the place [; - the G400 was "supposedly on IRQ 128 ! - so i'm presuming its a IRQ/Bus mastering thing. - I was gonna try the matrox uninstaller and remove all traces of the drive, then reinstall 5.31 - u think I should go for this or maybe a full reinstall (which im tempted to do..)

thanks again

Paul.

[Ism]

also - when I installed the new beta drivers , after reboot I didn't get a powerdesk icon in my sys tray - and also any app that trys to create any kind if overlay (netmeeting, Iphone 5, Powerdvd) all prompt the same error - BSOD with VGA.DLL failing....

[SteveC]

Hold on, an LX board running 2 P2-400's?? The LX boards can't do 100mhz FSB, so are the chips only running at 266mhz?

Anyway, that's beside the point - have you had the G400 running on this board before (in any OS)? It could be that the board can't supply enough juice to the AGP port to power the card and that's why it's unstable.

But then, your problem seems quite specific, so I'd go for a complete removal of all matrox files and registry entries, and then try again.

Check in your BIOS, and make SURE that there is an IRQ ASSIGNED TO VGA CARD option, and it's TURNED ON!

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[Ism]

the cpu's are running @ 83x4 = 333
i have had dvd playback in win2k on this box before (smooth too - using cinemaster 2000) but now...

I checked the PSU (first thing i thought of!) - its a 300w rock steady (used to use it in my athlon rig) so i dunno if thats the issue

Im tempted to rip the whole thing out a reinstall 2k (its only a terminal for dvd playback - basically a thin client as all apps are stored on the server)

- i only found out about the big when I connected to the machine remotely via comp. managment from my server, tried to start the remote desktop sharing (netmeeting) service and it bombed....

grrrr

thanks for the advice tho, gonna try the uninstaller when I get home from work..

[Ism]

oh and the MB does not have a option to specify IRQ assignment - and as my NIC is bootable it wipes out the allocation table displayed on startup before i get a chance to see it...

only options in CMOS are pnp os y/n & assign to legacy ISA...

no IRQ to VGA but im "hoping" that this is happening anyway, cos I have had playback in win2k (never tried any other o/s in this box) - and I know the card is fine cos I tested it on my P3 700 (144x7=1008 on a Abit BF6) and its cool....

[Raptor^]

I've seen weird IRQ numbers on LX boards before in Win2k using ACPI.

It wasnt causing me any obvious problems like you have, but I flashed the motherboard to the latest BIOS and then all the PCI devices appeared to have the same IRQ as the ACPI controller.

That was what I expected, so I left the machine and it worked fine until I retired it recently.

If there isnt a more recent BIOS available, you could try a non ACPI install on Win2k.
Sorry, but I don't know how to do that. Plenty of people here do though

[Ism]

sounds promising - is it neccesary to install with no ACPI services or can i just stop and disable them in managment?


hey - you guys are too helpful - thanks for this [;

[Rags]

I don't believe your system is installed in ACPI mode. If you are getting IRQs of 128 and the such, this means you are using NT's virtual IRQs.

Anyhow on to your problem. Go ahead and post all of your IRQs anyhow. Also have you tried to clock your processor back to a normal bus speed?

Rags

[Ism]

booyakasha... !

it works ! - matrox uninstall got rid completely and i was able to install the 5.31 drivers fine - not tried dual head output yet - using powerdvd 3.0 (a little shaky) and Cinemaster 2000 - this is the best so far for playback - I get 30-60% cpu use across the 2 chips ..BUT i do get the occasional frame skip or stutter - any ideas as to y this is the case when the CPU's are almost idling ? - DMA enabled (Pioneer 6x drive) - I'd like to get some opinions as to what best route to improve playback - Im using DVD genie to tweak the cinemaster settings and Im gonna give the matrox tweak app on this site a go too - any ideas,..??

anyway, i iz MUCH happier - thnx for the advice, and keep coming with the comments on how I can get this cool card to be just that *little* bit cooler...


P.