Garbled video output after upgrade

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mattyb
  • Start date Start date
M

Mattyb

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if any one could give some advice on an issue I'm
currently having.

Background;

Just upgraded my CPU from Duron 800 to Athlon 1100

All seems ok low temp quicker multitasking with Apps etc.

However, I have a problem when I launch a game i like playing Risk, it
was perfect before my upgrade now I have totally garbled graphics and
everything s unr4eadable, leaving me to reset PC.

I have an old BIOS, dated 2001 and have ACPI crashes on occasion, my
mobo manufacturer has gone bust and it's difficult to get a new BIOS
free.

Should I alter refresh rate/ resolution?

Any thoughts?

Cheers for any advice.

M ;-)
 
Mattyb said:
However, I have a problem when I launch a game i like playing Risk,
it was perfect before my upgrade now I have totally garbled graphics
and everything s unr4eadable, leaving me to reset PC.
Click to expand...

Instead of restarting, try switching back to the desktop by pressing
Alt+F4. Then right-click on the taskbar icon and close the game.
I have an old BIOS, dated 2001 and have ACPI crashes on occasion, my
mobo manufacturer has gone bust and it's difficult to get a new BIOS
free.
Click to expand...

For your information. That ACPI cannot be removed after you install
Windows. It has to be disabled in the bios before installing Windows
if for some reason you don't want it.

Consider reinstalling the operating system. If you have a least 512 MB
of RAM, upgrade to Windows XP.
Should I alter refresh rate/ resolution?
Click to expand...

Well, yes, but usually the game takes over. Before starting the game,
you can limit/override the refresh rate in DirectX diagnostics. Set it
to something your monitor can handle at the expected game resolution.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Mattyb said:
Hi Guys,

I was wondering if any one could give some advice on an issue I'm
currently having.

Background;

Just upgraded my CPU from Duron 800 to Athlon 1100

All seems ok low temp quicker multitasking with Apps etc.

However, I have a problem when I launch a game i like playing Risk, it
was perfect before my upgrade now I have totally garbled graphics and
everything s unr4eadable, leaving me to reset PC.

I have an old BIOS, dated 2001 and have ACPI crashes on occasion, my
mobo manufacturer has gone bust and it's difficult to get a new BIOS
free.

Should I alter refresh rate/ resolution?

Any thoughts?

Cheers for any advice.

M ;-)
Click to expand...
Clear(reset) the CMOS
Reinstall direct X
 
Mattyb said:
Specs

768MB SDRAM
WIN XPSP2

TNT2m64 nvidia card
Click to expand...

Consider the things you've changed.

1) Physically been inside the computer. Bumped up against components etc.
a) Try reseating RAM modules, with computer off and unplugged.
b) Pull the video card and reseat it, making sure the contacts
are fully into the socket.

2) New processor uses more power than old processor. This might not become
obvious until the CPU is fully engaged.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031018050306/http://www.qdi.nl/support/CPUQDISocketA.htm

Test the computer as if it was new:

3) memtest86+ from http://www.memtest.org/ can be placed on a floppy
diskette and used to boot the computer. You can verify your 768MB of
RAM with that. The program will run forever, if you don't stop it.
Two complete passes is enough.

4) Prime95 from mersenne.org is a program that runs in Windows. Use the
"Torture Test" option to verify the CPU and memory working together.
You don't have to "join" to use the program, if prompted to do so.
You can use the program just for hardware testing. Prime95 runs the
CPU at 100% load, and is a good workout for the power supply, the
CPU cooling system (so watch the temperatures), and since the program
does a math computation with a known answer, it can detect whether the
CPU works properly under those conditions. This is different than gaming,
in the sense that you can still watch the screen while it runs. If you
have a program like mbm5, Speedfan, or some other temperature/voltage
monitoring utility, you can watch what happens there, as Prime95 is running.
If the computer crashes during this test, or if the computer shuts off,
that pretty much tells you it is not a video card problem.

5) Updating DirectX is only advisable as a function of the games you use.
I had one old game, that didn't work right when DirectX was updated, so
if the games you use are really old, I would use caution. Any games
introduced after DirectX7 are probably safe.

To test the video card, I don't have a good hardware primitive test.
About all I can suggest, is 3DMark2001SE build 330, as it is a small
download compared to some of the later versions of the program.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download99.html

If the program crashes running that in Windows, and yet passes step (4),
then the problem could be with the video card. Either the voltage is
low, the video card is failing, or the video card was not fully
seated in the connector.

BTW - You still haven't mentioned brand/model of motherboard. Even because
they are out of business, doesn't mean you cannot find information for them.
web.archive.org has archives of a lot of web sites.

HTH,
Paul
 
Consider the things you've changed.

1) Physically been inside the computer. Bumped up against components etc.
a) Try reseating RAM modules, with computer off and unplugged.
b) Pull the video card and reseat it, making sure the contacts
are fully into the socket.

2) New processor uses more power than old processor. This might not become
obvious until the CPU is fully engaged.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031018050306/http://www.qdi.nl/support/C...

Test the computer as if it was new:

3) memtest86+ fromhttp://www.memtest.org/can be placed on a floppy
diskette and used to boot the computer. You can verify your 768MB of
RAM with that. The program will run forever, if you don't stop it.
Two complete passes is enough.

4) Prime95 from mersenne.org is a program that runs in Windows. Use the
"Torture Test" option to verify the CPU and memory working together.
You don't have to "join" to use the program, if prompted to do so.
You can use the program just for hardware testing. Prime95 runs the
CPU at 100% load, and is a good workout for the power supply, the
CPU cooling system (so watch the temperatures), and since the program
does a math computation with a known answer, it can detect whether the
CPU works properly under those conditions. This is different than gaming,
in the sense that you can still watch the screen while it runs. If you
have a program like mbm5, Speedfan, or some other temperature/voltage
monitoring utility, you can watch what happens there, as Prime95 is running.
If the computer crashes during this test, or if the computer shuts off,
that pretty much tells you it is not a video card problem.

5) Updating DirectX is only advisable as a function of the games you use.
I had one old game, that didn't work right when DirectX was updated, so
if the games you use are really old, I would use caution. Any games
introduced after DirectX7 are probably safe.

To test the video card, I don't have a good hardware primitive test.
About all I can suggest, is 3DMark2001SE build 330, as it is a small
download compared to some of the later versions of the program.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download99.html

If the program crashes running that in Windows, and yet passes step (4),
then the problem could be with the video card. Either the voltage is
low, the video card is failing, or the video card was not fully
seated in the connector.

BTW - You still haven't mentioned brand/model of motherboard. Even because
they are out of business, doesn't mean you cannot find information for them.
web.archive.org has archives of a lot of web sites.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks for the extensive suggestions Paul I appreciate it. I will try
the tasks that you suggest later in the day.

BTW Mobo is Lucky Star K7VAT Vers 2.1.

Thanks again.

Matt
 
Mattyb said:
Thanks for the extensive suggestions Paul I appreciate it. I will try
the tasks that you suggest later in the day.

BTW Mobo is Lucky Star K7VAT Vers 2.1.

Thanks again.

Matt
Click to expand...

Jeesh my eyes hurt from alll that reading.....your motherboard is a PRIME candidate for
exploding capacitors. Look the board over for bulging and or leaking caps.
 
Mattyb said:
Thanks for the extensive suggestions Paul I appreciate it. I will try
the tasks that you suggest later in the day.

BTW Mobo is Lucky Star K7VAT Vers 2.1.

Thanks again.

Matt
Click to expand...

This is an example of an archived web page. Not all of the Lucky-Star site
seems to be well archived, but at least it gives you a place to look for stuff.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020627103438/www.lucky-star.com.tw/pub/Bios/mainboard/s462/k7vat/

The manuals links here, appear to be empty (didn't get archived).

http://web.archive.org/web/20020613021744/www.lucky-star.com.tw/pub/Manual/mainboard/s462/

I did find a K7VAT manual here, but I'm not sure if it is for your
version of board or not. In the "typical power supply" section, you
can see they suggest having a power supply with strong +5V rail output.
The label on the side of your power supply will have that kind of information.

http://premium1.uploadit.org/LAVAB84615/k7vat.pdf

Paul
 
This is an example of an archived web page. Not all of the Lucky-Star site
seems to be well archived, but at least it gives you a place to look for stuff.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020627103438/www.lucky-star.com.tw/pub/B...

The manuals links here, appear to be empty (didn't get archived).

http://web.archive.org/web/20020613021744/www.lucky-star.com.tw/pub/M...

I did find a K7VAT manual here, but I'm not sure if it is for your
version of board or not. In the "typical power supply" section, you
can see they suggest having a power supply with strong +5V rail output.
The label on the side of your power supply will have that kind of information.

http://premium1.uploadit.org/LAVAB84615/k7vat.pdf

Paul
Click to expand...

Cheers Guys,

Tried all your diagnostic/maintenance uggestions Paul, all passed
without hitch.

Still have graphic output issue just with Risk!! Tried monopoly from
Spintop no problems, go figure!!

Have contacted Spintop cust support waiting for reply.

thanks again,

Matt
 
Mattyb said:
Cheers Guys,

Tried all your diagnostic/maintenance uggestions Paul, all passed
without hitch.

Still have graphic output issue just with Risk!! Tried monopoly from
Spintop no problems, go figure!!

Have contacted Spintop cust support waiting for reply.

thanks again,

Matt
Click to expand...

Did you check for bad caps, like JAD suggested ? Here is a picture of some
bad ones. The tops are no longer flat, due to pressure buildup inside. In
some cases, you'll find a brown stain underneath the cap, where leaking
electrolyte has dried onto the motherboard. All boards will eventually
have a problem with electrolytics, but it should happen at the 10 year
mark. There were a large number of improperly manufactured caps a few
years back, and those don't last very long at all. Capacitor lifetime
is temperature dependent, and the hotter the environment for the motherboard,
the shorter the life of the caps.

http://www.badcaps.net/images/caps/kt7/image004.png

It'll be interesting to see how long the motherboards with
polymer (solid) electrolyte last. That is the latest innovation
in Vcore regulator design, for which you might pay a few bucks more.

For your diagnostics, you got 3DMark2001SE to pass ? No garbled
video there ? It is surprising that Risk would be more demanding
than 3DMark.

Paul
 
Did you check for bad caps, like JAD suggested ? Here is a picture of some
bad ones. The tops are no longer flat, due to pressure buildup inside. In
some cases, you'll find a brown stain underneath the cap, where leaking
electrolyte has dried onto the motherboard. All boards will eventually
have a problem with electrolytics, but it should happen at the 10 year
mark. There were a large number of improperly manufactured caps a few
years back, and those don't last very long at all. Capacitor lifetime
is temperature dependent, and the hotter the environment for the motherboard,
the shorter the life of the caps.

http://www.badcaps.net/images/caps/kt7/image004.png

It'll be interesting to see how long the motherboards with
polymer (solid) electrolyte last. That is the latest innovation
in Vcore regulator design, for which you might pay a few bucks more.

For your diagnostics, you got 3DMark2001SE to pass ? No garbled
video there ? It is surprising that Risk would be more demanding
than 3DMark.

Paul
Click to expand...

Yeah I checked caps but will have another look, no obvious spillage.
it's just strange how video output on other games is fine, as it used
to be on Risk, and it just effects that, thanks anyway Paul.

Matt
 
Mattyb said:
Yeah I checked caps but will have another look, no obvious spillage.
it's just strange how video output on other games is fine, as it used
to be on Risk, and it just effects that, thanks anyway Paul.

Matt
Click to expand...

Java core games? Remove Java from your system and then reinstall it. MANY were having
trouble with old installations of Java that were infected by viruses then fixed (healed).
When the next big update for Java came the healed (fixed) file is corrupt.
 
Java core games? Remove Java from your system and then reinstall it. MANY were having
trouble with old installations of Java that were infected by viruses then fixed (healed).
When the next big update for Java came the healed (fixed) file is corrupt.
Click to expand...

Many thanks JAD and Paul, you've helped me fix it!!!! Removed Java
Vers 6.2 and then re-installed it, now Risk works!!

thanks very much guys. Was just wondering if that would confirm your
theory about a corrupted version or how that would relate to my
upgrading the CPU as it was working fine on my previous Duron?

Many thanks again chaps i appreciate it.

Matt
 
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