Issue with X1900XT

[Darkmedic]

So I have a really outdated computer and I?m doing a tune-up before I do a full blown upgrade in December. I'm currently running a Athlon 3000+ on a Asus A8N SLI Deluxe mobo and a X800.

I was given a x1900XT and last night I put her in the box. When I start i get "Failed to initialize VGA"

I checked the connect to the pci express slot and made sure it was snug, check to see if I missed connecting the 6 pin power cable to the vcard, I didn?t. I checked to see if the other power cable was connected to the mobo right beside the PCI Express slot and it was.

All connections are snug and proper. I even tried the other PCI-Express slot. Nothing I get the same error.

I have a 460W PSU. I thought maybe since I?m running 4 hdd's plus 2 disc drives maybe it isn?t getting enough juice. I unplugged everything minus my boot drive. Still I get the "Failed to initialize VGA"

I put in my old x800, works.

Since I was out of options, I figured resetting the bios would be a long shot but it won?t kill me to try. Reset the bio's on the mobo, still getting the error.

I checked to see if this mobo will work with the x1900xt and it checks out.

I'm totally out of ideas and don?t know what the issue is. I'm going to read the A8N-SLI manual to see if I can find something but I thought maybe somebody here might know what to try.

Only other thing could be the card is fried? I?m going to test it today on another pc that is recent and not outdated.

Any Suggestions?

 

[will889]

Check that the X1900 actually works on another unit if you can.

 

[Darkmedic]

I'll try that on a test machine here in a few hours. When I fire up the computer, the fans spin on the x1900xt.

I dont get it, Ive seen on the asus forums people using 8800's on this mobo and it works.

I know my 6pin from my psu is ok because my x800 runs off it. perhaps it might be the card.

anybody else have any suggestions?

 

[will889]

You definitely need to find out of the X1900 actually works before anything else is done. I mean there's no reason to go on with theories until you know the card you're trying to get working is a valid working piece of hardware. Fire up that test machine and test out the X1900 =)

 

[Darkmedic]

I should have an answer in about two hours or so

 

[Darkmedic]

Ok, I just tried the videocard on a G5 Quad I have here for testing. Works fine.

Now I'm even more confused.

Can anyone please help?

 

[will889]

Try a different monitor cable and check pins on the cable you did use. Unhook all but the main OS HDD and the extra optical drive an try again.

 

[Darkmedic]

The card has 2 DVI ports. I have a VGA cable going to a DVI adaptor then plugging into the card.

At home I tried unplugging everything BUT the OS Hdd. Still didn?t work.

The mobo just keeps saying on a black screen (mobo talks on errors) "Failed to Initialize VGA test"

I dont think its a pin issue because the other card (x800) works fine. Also even if I didn't have a monitor plugged in, it would still boot and would say "Failed to Initialize VGA Test"

I've never come across this before argh

 

[lurk3r]

Originally posted by: Darkmedic
The card has 2 DVI ports. I have a VGA cable going to a DVI adaptor then plugging into the card.

At home I tried unplugging everything BUT the OS Hdd. Still didn?t work.

The mobo just keeps saying on a black screen (mobo talks on errors) "Failed to Initialize VGA test"

I dont think its a pin issue because the other card (x800) works fine. Also even if I didn't have a monitor plugged in, it would still boot and would say "Failed to Initialize VGA Test"

I've never come across this before argh

I had a horrible time with an x1900xtx on my DFI infinity SLI motherboard too, finally gave up, when I did get the card to run, drivers would not install properly, DVI ports would not work to access BMON, had to use the DSUB connector on my samsung LCD with a dvi==dsub connector .... several other quirky stupid problems, bottom line is card never worked properly, I still hate ATI, and the 7900 and the 8800 I replaced it with work great.

I sold the card to a friend (conditional on it working), he's got some dell and its been working great for him, did I mention I hate Ati?

Oh, you should be able to get the computer to boot into BMON with just a CPU, Memory and video card, no OS hard drive necessary.

 

[Darkmedic]

well the reason I unplugged everything but the OS HDD was because I was thinking maybe the vcard wasn't getting enough juice.

I called asus..... i've never called tech support before... they said I should try up update the Bios...

Its been updated like a few yrs ago, im gonan check if there is any new updates (which I doubt)

I'm just totally stumped on this one

 

[humanure]

can you boot into safe mode or last known good config?

 

[Darkmedic]

See this is the thing...

I cant even boot to mem test..

As soon as I turn it on, my display doesnt even get a signal. It's just a black screen and my mobo (in a voice from my speaker) say's "Failed to initialize VGA Test"

I cant do anything because there is no signal going to my display

 

[Denithor]

May not be getting enough juice, supported by the fact that the x800 runs fine in the setup and the x1900xt works fine in a different system. What make/model powersupply do you have? A cheapo rated at 460W just simply may not be up to the task of a power-hungry x1900xt.

 

[Darkmedic]

It's an Enermax 460w.

But even unplugging everything and just leaving 1 hdd(boot) running and it still doesnt boot?

Could that be possible that its sucking THAT much juice?

 

[humanure]

An enermax power supply should be good, but it seems to be the most likely problem. Have you tried using a molex-pcie adapter, try that if you don't have another psu to test with at the moment.

 

[Darkmedic]

im not sure what a molex-pcie adaptor is...

Care to explain? Thanks

 

[humanure]

4pin molex to 6 pin pci express adapter like this

 

[Denithor]

Also, try unplugging everything except the motherboard and video card (hdd/DVD drive/etc are not necessary just to check for boot). Strip out any sound cards, modems, etc and drop to 1 stick of RAM. Try again to see if it will boot. If it boots you need a stronger powersupply. If it doesn't, you still don't know if the PS is the problem or not.

 

[Darkmedic]

Thanks everyone.

I just picked up a 550W psu with more rails then the one I have now. I'm going to try all of the suggestions when I get home.

I'll post my results.

Thanks for the great responses!

 

[dino26]

I am pretty sure ATI says you need more than a 460w psu for 1 x1900 (not that you necessarily do) which makes me think you might not be supplying enough juice through the 12v rail of your particular psu.