P4PE AGP slot doesn't work?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DH
  • Start date Start date
D

DH

Thanks in advance.

I pulled the GeForce4 card out and brushed the dust off the fan. When I put
it back in, it didn't work. I tried two other new AGP video cards and none
work. I have upgraded the bios to the latest version and set default
settings. I'm at a loss. I can get it up with a PCI video card.

Any suggestions appreciated,

Dave H.

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DaveW said:
Sounds like your motherboard's AGP died.

--
DaveW



DH said:
Thanks in advance.

I pulled the GeForce4 card out and brushed the dust off the fan. When I put
it back in, it didn't work. I tried two other new AGP video cards and none
work. I have upgraded the bios to the latest version and set default
settings. I'm at a loss. I can get it up with a PCI video card.

Any suggestions appreciated,

Dave H.
Click to expand...

Is that possible? Who ever herd of an AGP slot going south!

Dave H.
Click to expand...
 
"DH" said:
Is that possible? Who ever herd of an AGP slot going south!

Dave H.
Click to expand...

When you insert an AGP card, does the "AGP Warn" LED light on the
motherboard ? Is all power gated off, as in pressing the power
button on the front of the computer results in no fans spinning ?

The AGP Warn circuit checks for a 1.5V AGP card, by monitoring
the TYPEDET# pin on the AGP connector. If the AGP Warn circuit
malfunctions, then you won't be able to get the fans to spin,
and the red LED should be lit up as long as +5VSB power is
available on the motherboard. That is the same power source
as runs the green LED on the motherboard.

It is possible you have a mechanical alignment problem with
the video cards and the motherboard. For example, if you
happen to be using motherboard standoffs from another computer
case with your current case, they can lift the motherboard
to the wrong level with respect to the slot holes in the
back of the computer. The result would be your AGP card would
be canted at an angle to the motherboard, and the AGP signal
contacts might not be aligned properly.

Similarly, if you placed fiber washers on top of the standoffs,
that ruins the mechanical alignment as well.

As a test, try pulling the motherboard from the case and
running the video card in the motherboard then. See if that
fixes it.

HTH,
Paul
 
It is possible for the agp slot to die, I had a soyo board that had some
capictors on it that leaked thus causing the agp slot to cease functioning.
There could also be several other causes for this, such as the card not
being seated in the slot properly, grouding issues, capicitor leakeage etc..
Unfortunatly AGP boot problems are hard to diagnose. How does your system
not boot up? Are you getting beep codes, does everything power up (fans
etc) and no video comes through? My suggestion would be to let me know if
the system is beeping when it starts or just fans power up etc.. My soyo
would only boot with the AGP card 1 for every 50 re-seats of the card. If
that is the case then there might be a capacitor problem. Capacitors being
the tube like things that stick up from the motherboard. If there appears
to be any brown goo or corrosion etc.. then they are bad and can make
motherboards act funny.

CaptBaldo

 
Paul and CaptBaldo, thank you for your most thorough replies.

I am getting a single post beep. The agp cards that I have tried will not
power-on the monitor. Although I can't see the display, I suspect that it
is booting because of the sound of the hard drive access. I have tried
moving the agp card to a number of positions with no luck. I suspect that a
new motherboard is the answer.

Thank again,

Dave H.
 
I have tried
moving the agp card to a number of positions with no luck.
Click to expand...

How many AGP slots do you have? ;-)

Couldn´t this be a wrong bios setting as well?
 
"DH" said:
Paul and CaptBaldo, thank you for your most thorough replies.

I am getting a single post beep. The agp cards that I have tried will not
power-on the monitor. Although I can't see the display, I suspect that it
is booting because of the sound of the hard drive access. I have tried
moving the agp card to a number of positions with no luck. I suspect that a
new motherboard is the answer.

Thank again,

Dave H.
Click to expand...

One last suggestion before you give up on it. Install the PCI video
card again, then reflash the BIOS. Don't use 1007, as some people
have had trouble with that. Try to identify the current revision
of the BIOS, and get a copy of that revision to use for a reflash.

The least risky way to flash, is with a DOS boot disk, as far as
I'm concerned.

Info used during boot time, is stored in two places in the computer.
The CMOS RAM (inside the Southbridge), keeps settings recorded from
the BIOS setup screens. (Doing the "Clear CMOS" procedure, with
the computer unplugged, will clear this out.)

There is also DMI, ESCD, and microcode cache, all of which are stored
in the BIOS flash EEPROM. AFAIK, all of these bits of information
are cached from boot process to boot process. There is a remote
chance that if something in there is getting corrupted, or if
the actual boot block or main code segments in the flash EEPROM
are corrupted, that funny things will happen. (For example, say
somehow that the address of the frame buffer on the video card
is being offset - all the screen updates then won't appear on the
screen, but the computer will still be booting.)

So, try flashing the BIOS chip. In terms of the flashing process,
the flashing program will refer to two portions of the BIOS.
The boot block is one part and the rest of the device is the
other part. The boot block is what makes "Crashfree" work,
so if you don't flash the boot block, then in theory you can
recover from a bad flash of the rest of the EEPROM. I would
try a flash, without updating the boot block, to see if the
symptoms improve. If they don't improve, you could try a second
flash including updating the boot block, not that it is likely
to help.

In each case, enter the BIOS and select "Load Setup Defaults"
in the Exit menu. This will ensure that the BIOS controls
and the data structure in the CMOS RAM are aligned. After
saving the default settings, you can power down and put in
the AGP video card. (And anytime you add or remove hardware,
it is good practice to unplug the line cord, as this guarantees
that the power supply cannot source any power to the hardware.
While switching the switch on the back of the computer is
normally enough, at least one poster here had a computer keep
running, even with the switch on the back in the OFF position.)
When the computer is next powered up, the BIOS should refresh
the now blanked DMI, ESCD, microcode segments etc.

This is the last step before taking a hammer to the board :-)))
Or RMAing under warranty.

Paul
 
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