no 800x600 display with nvidia riva tnt2 64

I installed a used nvidia riva tnt2 64 graphics card on my amd k6-2 550 board running under 98se. It works fine except for one thing. It won't work properly at 800x 600. Is fine at all other settings. But at 800x600, it has what looks like "ghosts" or double images. Appears to be a double display with one partly overlaying the other. And it is dim. But change the desktop to any other size and it is fine.

Have any of you encountered this before?

The monitor is a gateway 2000 ev700. It displays 800 x 600 just fine with other graphics cards.

I tried a different driver, but got the same result.

Any thoughts? I have no documentation for the graphics card since it is a salvage card.

Byron

 

Hi Byron,

No I haven't experienced it. I do think it may be driver related.

Suggest downloading the best drivers for both the video card and the monitor (probably those recommended by nVidia and Gateway).

Go to Display and change the video adapter to standard video adapter and the monitor to plug and play monitor.

Reboot to safe mode.

Go to Add/Remove programs and remove anything related to video. Go to Device Manager and remove anything under video adapter and monitor.

You can then run the driver installation programs in safe mode(although they should run OK in normal mode, but safe mode may give you the best chance of getting a clean set).

Reboot. If they are not automatically installed, use "have disk" if you have a choice, otherwise you may have to select your model from the list. (Windows has numerous methods of installing drivers and this may be the key...the way you select the drivers). The list should be fine if you have already run the installation program.

As long as you have the standard monitor and adapter set in Display, you can cancel out of a Windows driver search (before the desktop) and then run the installation program in (normal) Windows.


Matt

 

Hi byron59,

800x 600 - that's my favorite res. even tho I'm on an 17" LCD. I've never seen that problem either.

Can you change the frequency? That could help.

 

Thanks for the thoughts guys. It was a driver installation problem. After removing and installing the Nvidia drivers about five times and also diligently searing for and manually removing "leftovers" from previous display drivers----the Nvidia card is now performing correctly.

I am suspecting that something called "S3 Refresh" (which strongly resisted removal) may have caused the problem. Sometime ago I did have an S3 video card installed and it was set at 800x 600 most of the time.

This was my first experience with Nvidia cards or drivers. Apparently they are "sensitive" and require a bit more care than others.

Seems to be a very good display card though.

 

Well done Byron.
nVidia drivers seem to clash with other old drivers in the system, even old nVidia drivers. I haven't had to do manual removal before, thanks for letting us know how you did it. Search and destroy eh?

Matt