[Steelersfan]

I need a little help installing an ATI Radeon 9600 SE video card. Long story short, I bought this card to play a few of the newer 3D games on my Comp. because my onboard S3 ProSavage DDR video card didn't supoprt T&L. It is an AGP card and I can't get the comp. to recognize it. I installed the software and plugged it in properly but I fear I am missing some of the necessary AGP and VGART drivers for the motherboard chipset. I am a little lost at this point and if anyone has any experience with this, any help would be greatly appreciated and worth a few drinks at a local watering hole!

My comp. is an E-Machines (bought Aug. '03) with a AMD Athlon 2600+ and 512 mb RAM. I think my chipset is a VIA model on a S3 motherboard but I am not positive.

 

[Trouthunter]

Did you enable the AGP in the system bios and disable the the default video card?

Must enable it in the bios before it will work.

TH

 

[bill]

Yes, check the BIOS first

if that does not work, I need to know the model number of your PC and what OS you are using.

 

[Steelersfan]

I wish I was at home to pull the model #.

I did go into the BIOS and made sure the aperture size was matched and turned it on but I think I am also having trouble turning off the onboard video card. I went through the BIOS and couldn't find where to turn it off. When I try to start my game HALO, I get an error that DirectDraw didn't load properly, etc.. I ran DXDIAG and it doesn't give me the options to enable or disable directdraw or 3d Acceleraction so I think I may be missing drivers.
I'll pull the model # off the comp. when I get home and post it up.

 

[Steelersfan]

PS - I am using XP.

 

[bill]

Ok

When in BIOS, when you highlight the on-board video use page up/page down to disable. BUT before you do that check what version of DirectX you have, Click Start, Run, DXDIAG then click OK. When the tool appears the version will be at the bottom. Then go here and make sure you have the latest version
http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads
It might send you to the windows update site to get the install but it is ok.

Then make sure you have the ATI CATALYST installed. It should be on your ATI CD but if not go here
http://www.ati.com/support/products/pc/radeon9600/radeon9600setup.html

There are some error messages you might get with XP and the fixes are listed on that page. Let us know if you need more help.

 

[Steelersfan]

That's my problem Bill, I don't get an option in BIOS to turn off my on-board video. I am afraid my MB is not compatible with the ATI.

I have the latest DirectX 9.1.00b or whatever it is installed.

I have all the software for the ATI installed, including the Catalyst and Hydravision. I am thinking I am missing my motherboard chipset drivers to enable AGP but I am having trouble finding out what they are and where to get them. I have an AGP folder within my Drivers folder on C: but they may not be current or compatible. I am not sure how to check.

I'm flying back to Pittsburgh tonight so I won't have a chance to play with it until Sunday night or Monday. I appreciate everyone's help.

 

[DISSipator]

What is the brand and model number of the MB. A few MB's have a jumper to disable on-board graphics, instead of doing it in the bios.

 

[Steelersfan]

The model is Emachines T2625. I'll try to find out what MB manufacturer I have.

 

[DISSipator]

Well here is the specs but it does not show what MB it has.

http://www.emachines.com/support/support_info.html?prodName=T2625

But since you have a e-machine. It looks like you could go here http://www.emachinesknowledgecenter.com/security/login.jsp and create a login and get the info you need.

 

[ShadMan]

It's probably a jumper on the MB, like DISSipator said. If not, go into Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager and delete the onboard video, freeing up the IRQ (after you've installed the AGP card). If you've got an AGP slot, it should work, but eMachines are notoriously difficult to expand. You'll probably need to free up the IRQ for it to be recognized.