8RDA+ and Radeon 9700

[scotch]

Hopefully someone here can help me out with this problem. The problem i am having occurs after installing the drivers for the 9700. I can install WinXP, SP1 and the nvidia drivers fine, but when i install the drivers for the vid card i run into a problem. After the initial reboot it will make it to the WinXP boot screen, then it either locks up or reboots. The one time it did boot fine, the second the resolution changed the screen went black. I can still get into Safe Mode without a problem, and i know the card isn't the culprit because i am using it now in a different machine. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mechBgon]

What power supply are you running, and what are the rest of your parts? I assume you got the additional power cord hooked up to the R9700 Pro? Welcome to the Forums, by the way

 

[scotch]

Thanks, always browsed the forums but never had a need to post until now. As for the power supply, its an enermax 450W, so there shouldn't be a problem there. right now all i have hooked up is the vid card, harddrive and cd. Its weird because i have no problems until the drivers are installed for the vid card, i've tried different versions, still the same result.

 

[mechBgon]

How about booting in Safe Mode and disabling WinXP's reboot-on-error feature... quoting someone else here...

Go to My Computer->Properties->Advanced->Startup Recovery Settings and unselect "Automatically restart".

 

[scotch]

I'll give that a try, will have to do it tomorrow since i have to pull the card out of this comp. I'll see how it goes and report back here. Thanks for the help.

 

[LastRide]

I had a similar problem as you just a little while ago.Had to reinstall XP cause it wouldn't repair windows so I reinstalled XP.It would boot up close around the windows logo and just reboot.I just bought a 9700 Pro aswell.I think part of the problem may be the Radeon.I tried what the other person said about disabling that feature.This started when I was overclocking and 3D Mark 2001SE crapped out.After that the headaches came.

 

[scotch]

Did you ever get everything sorted out?? I'm open to just about any suggestion at the moment to get it working. At least i know the card itself is ok since it works perfectly in my other computer.

 

[mechBgon]

I wonder if WinXP is trying to use the wrong video driver or trying to load a utility or software for your previous video card. Does WinXP offer a boot menu with a "VGA Mode" like Win2000 does, if you press F8 after the POST screen? If so, maybe you can start in VGA Mode, uninstall any drivers, software or utilities associated with your old video card, and then re-install the Radeon 9700 Pro's drivers/software and reboot.

Also, if you haven't done so, fix the AGP Frequency at 66MHz (refer to page 4-9 of the manual).

 

[LastRide]

I don't know if XP has a VGA boot mode.I did 2 fresh installs so no idea what it might be.I'm running ok now after reformating.I notice in device manager under display adapter there are 2 things listed,Radeon 9700/9500 SERIES and below that it says Radeon 9700/9500 Series Secondary.Any idea what the secondays is?.

 

[ProviaFan]

I heard of problems originally with Radeon 9700 Pros and some AGP 8X motherboards. Try forcing lower AGP settings in the BIOS, perhaps that would help?

 

[CyberBard]

I am having the same problem as we speak.....I think I will try to repair windows.......can't even get it to boot in safe mode....

 

[TrollMan]

Out of left field - are you connecting the external power of the 9700 direct to your PSU?

And are you running all BIOS at defaults currently?

 

[LastRide]

I run mine the way its listed in the manual.It goes from your 9700 Pro card to the hard drive and to the power supply with the "Y" connector included with the card.Maybe cause the video card runs also to the hard drive that something causes corruption or something.I did overclock when the trouble began but I put everything back to default but still wouldn't boot to windows.Had to reformat again.3D Mark 2001SE froze and went black when I OC'd.After 5-10 minutes on my desktop the computer rebooted and wouldn't go to windows.

 

[scotch]

Well back again, still no progress with getting the card to work. Just going to go grab a cheap nvidia card to slap in it, see if i get anywhere with that. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

 

[mechBgon]

Good luck scotch.

 

[bigdog1218]

Had a very similar problem with my parents computer. I upgraded them to a Asus nforce board, exact model slips my mind, and a Radeon 9000. Did a clean install on their HD, installed all the mobo drivers everything worked fine. Installed the radeon drivers, restarted, computer won't boot up. I tried doing it the other way around, installing the radeon drivers first, same ending. So easiest thing was to return the Radeon and stick with the Voodoo.

 

[scotch]

Happy to report that i at least know the motherboard is ok, bought an nvidia Ti4200 and it works great with this board. Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[TrollMan]

Bumping this, is this a common problem with the 8RDA+ or are there more people happily using 9700s and this motherboard? If it's likely to come up, I think I'd rather plump for the listed MCP2-T option on the MSI K7N2-L (currently on offer on a couple of sites I use)...