|
Post Reply
Jonathan 2005-10-01 05:08
I've been running dual monitors for some time on my Albatron NVidia GeForce 5900XT. When I upgraded to a new motherboard/CPU combo, I had them toss in a PCI video card so I could expand to 3 or 4 monitors. The card is a Chaintech GeForce FX5200 PCI.
Both cards are installed and show in Windows XP Pro's hardware monitor. Both cards also display as "working correctly", however I get no picture on any monitor attached to the second adapter.
The card is powered and sending a signal to the monitor (the light on front goes solid green (on) and the monitor is "awake" - but the picture is solid black).
I have uninstalled and reinstalled both cards using nVidia's 78.01 (latest) drivers. Both cards are identified during driver installation as well.
When I access nVidia's "nView" display options, I see no reference to the 5200, only the 5900.
In bios, AGP is set as the primary video.
Can anyone advise me as to what I may have overlooked?
Thanks,
- Jonathan Murray
|
Jonathan 2005-10-01 09:44
Since posting original, I've done a lot of browsing through this forum.
I notice several people have had problems with the nVidia 5200 chipset when combined with a 6000 series card, although I have found no references any closer to my setup.
I have tried setting system bios to AGP and PCI as primary, but neither setting changes the fact that BIOS recognizes the AGP card during POST, everytime.
I've also been performing the basic setup/troubleshooting steps that others have mentioned in similar situations, but none have changed anything (other than the occasional big step backwards).
I'll keep plugging away at it and check back here on occasion in hopes that someone else has had and resolved this problem.
Thanks,
- Jonathan Murray
|
Jonathan 2005-10-02 04:57
And so it goes on...
Confirmed: each video card works fine if installed seperately.
Confirmed: regardless of BIOS setting (AGP/PCI as primary), the AGP card is always enumerated first.
Confirmed: regardless of PCI slot the secondary card is installed in, the behavior of Windows does not change.
Confirmed: Uninstalling both cards, uninstalling all nVidia drivers, reinstalling both cards, one at a time (in either order), returns the system to the same state [Windows recognizes both cards, both report as functioning properly, monitor on second card does not appear to Windows]
Windows troubleshooter says the PCI card *must* be in PCI slot 1. I had to physically hold the card away from the AGP fan in order to test this setup; windows noted the change and reinstalled the drivers - but it changed nothing. The card is currently in PCI slot 2 (I've tried all 5), and there are no other PCI cards installed. Regardless, Windows *does* recognize the card, installs drivers for it (same nVidia driver as the AGP card), and reports it as working.
Each time I reinstall the PCI card/drivers the attached monitor wakes up and displays a blank screen - to me, that means the card is alive, working properly, and sending a signal to the monitor. Windows does not show the third monitor in the desktop properties, nor does it recognize the third (Plug and Play) monitor as attached.
I am out of ideas and have expended all the troubleshooting advice I have found in these forums. Any additional help and/or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
- Jonathan Murray
|
Jonathan 2005-10-02 06:36
Think of it as therapy... all this talking to myself.
I finally dug back into this forum far enough to find someone with the same setup/problem as I.
http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/forum/messages.asp?Topic=4162&tmpl=
The answer is to DOWNGRADE nVidia drivers to 61.77. Installing at driver set provides "advanced" settings to both adapters, enabling all three monitors.
Very screwy that nVidia would lose this functionality with newer drivers, and I'll be writing them a love letter later today to let them know what I think of all this.
I'm done here... will add my settings and experience to the database after I've calmed myself down some :)
Thanks for providing me a place to vent, and ultimately the information I needed to make this work.
- Jonathan Murray
|
Post Reply
|
