Gah!! Can't get new vid card to work!

poppinfresh

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Jan 11, 2004
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I'm looking for a little insight here... I got a Hewlett Packard Pavilion a420n computer for Christmas, and I am trying to ad an ATI 9600XT with little success. When I add the video card, and turn the system on, I'm not getting any signal from the monitor output. If I try to switch to the system's original monitor output, I don't get any signal either. Even though I'm not getting any monitor signal, it doesn't seem like the system is booting up completely. If I remove the card, the original system monitor output works. I think there is a conflict between the onboard video and the new video card. The computer has an AMD 3000+ processor, 512mb ram, and a 250W power supply. The motherboard is made by ASUS, but I can't find out a part number except for HP's name for the board, which is "Kamet2". The mobo itself has the VIA KM400 chipset with 3pci and 1 agp slot. I know the power supply is a little anemic, but HP said the card should work in the system, but couldn't provide any additional help. I've tried disabling the onboard video through the control panel, and removed the S3 video drivers through add/remove programs, but with no success. Windows XP just seems to reload the drivers when I restart. I've also looked under the BIOS setup, and there don't seem to be too many options that would affect the video. The only option that seems would pertain is one relating to selecting the video source. There are 2 options, PCI and AGP/ONBOARD. The default setting was PCI, but I don't get any effect when changing this option. I've followed the vid card instructions, and have even downloaded the new Via Hyperion 4-in-1 drivers to get the latest AGP GART. Has anyone had this problem before, and can anyone point me in a new direction? My next step is to call ATI tomorrow, but I'm not sure that they'll be able to help me... I'm dying to play some decent looking games so any help would be appreciated!!
 

poppinfresh

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Jan 11, 2004
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Thanks for the tip! After I posted, I was actually scrutinizing the board for hidden jumpers when I noticed the model number was printed on the board (in conspicuous large white letters, duh). It is actually the A7V8X-LA. It must be a derivative of the A7V8X board that is manufactured for HP. I checked the ASUS website, and they have no documentation for the LA model. It is similar in appearance to A7V8X-MX, but it apparently has some different options from my board. From reading the manual, the MX has more jumpers, and the BIOS is more extensive than on my board. I couldn't really find any clues in the manual that would help me out. I do have a tech support email into ASUS, but I bet they won't help since it was sold by HP. Any more ideas out there?
 

UNSoldierPT

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Dec 28, 2003
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First of all the new video card musnt be onboard.
Click Start and right-click My Computer.
Click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button.
Click View, and then Show Hidden Devices.
Click the Plus (+) sign next to the Display Adapters category to expand it.
Select a graphics controller under Display Adapters and click Disable. Click OK to confirm.
Continue to disable all of the graphics controllers until all are disabled. Do not restart the computer until all controllers are disabled.
Turn the computer off.
Install the new video card and software using the instructions that came with the video card.
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Maybe you already removed the drivers from the control panel, but I suggest you to do it just like its above (maybe its stuppid to do it that way, but its what the guys at hp say).
 

poppinfresh

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Jan 11, 2004
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unsoldierpt,
I've already tried it that way and it doesn't work. I got that method off of HP's troubleshooting website. Here's another thought... Has anybody had problems with using ATI cards on the ASUS A7V8X-MX motherboard? Looking through the previous posts, I came across one other user that had problems with this mobo and the 9600XT. Maybe I need to return it and get an NVIDIA card??
 

thehun101

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Jan 16, 2004
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I am having the same problem with a system I just built. I put a PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro on an Asus A7N8X motherboard. After I installed the drivers and configured I shutdown for a few hours, and now the monitor won't come on. I'll post back here if I find a solution.

-the Hun