No signal when trying to install graphics card

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gbritton

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Hi everybody,

I'm new here. I've seen a lot of posts here where people are having the same problem that I have. I have a Dell Dimension 3000 (with three PCI slots). I'm trying to install a graphics card but I can't get it to work. Any time I install the card into the computer, the monitor gets no signal. I know the computer's working though because I can hear all the sounds when Windows starts up.

I've tried quite a few things:

Disabled the onboard graphics in Device Manager.
Uninstalled the onboard graphics driver in Add/Remove Programs.
Changed the BIOS settings to Auto instead of Onboard.
Installed video card to other PCI slots.


I can see the screen with the card installed and install the drivers for it if I set the BIOS to explicitly use Onboard. But if I try anything else I'm back to no signal. Sorry if this doesn't make complete sense but I'm getting a little irritated.

Has anybody come up with a solution for this or am I dead in the water? I'm just wanting to play World of Warcraft and not any major performance-hogging games.


My machine:
Dell Dimension 3000
Windows XP Pro SP2
2.66 GHz Celeron D
512 MB RAM
80 GB Hard Drive
16X DVD-ROM Drive
48X CDRW Drive
Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (Intel 82865G Graphics Controller)
3 PCI slots (no AGP or PCIe)
Factory-installed Dell 250W Power Supply (12V = 16A)
Machine is not overclocked or modified in any way


Video card I'm trying to install:
ATI Radeon 9000 128MB PCI by Diablotek

More info:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=V9000-P128
 
I had one of these DELL 3000'S. You must have a PCI only card. If you simply plug the card into the slot, then plug the monitor into the VGA outlet...you should get a picture even before you install the driver. If this is not happening, try another PCI slot or exchange the card. Also...be aware that the power supply may not be enough to power the card. Those power supplies are pretty weak in that machine. Take a look at the minimum power requirements for your card.
 
Oh, a new Warcrack-addict. Always in moderation, buddy. And thanks for the very detailed post. On here, we don't get enough of them.

Some questions:
Does the card need auxiliary power? If so, does it come with an adapter that would work for your PSU?
Have you installed the drivers the manufacturer of the card provided?
Are there any options but Auto and Onboard in your BIOS, for the boot card?
Does the card have a fan on it (if it does, you can watch it as it boots and see if the fan begins to spin as the machine comes on, to see if power is reaching the card)?


Keep in mind, manufactured PCs are sometimes very finicky about new hardware.

I don't see anything mentioned in the Geeks.com page about the 12V rail requirements of this card, but if it's PCI-based, what you have should be adequate. 250W max. capacity is a little lackluster, as well.
 
pdyckman@comcas said:
I had one of these DELL 3000'S. You must have a PCI only card. If you simply plug the card into the slot, then plug the monitor into the VGA outlet...you should get a picture even before you install the driver. If this is not happening, try another PCI slot or exchange the card. Also...be aware that the power supply may not be enough to power the card. Those power supplies are pretty weak in that machine. Take a look at the minimum power requirements for your card.

Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking that I should get at least some sort of picture before installing the drivers. I'm not well-educated in the realm of video cards though. :blush:

I've scoured through all my documentation and I can't find anything that lists the power requirements for this card. Does anybody know what they are or know where I can find them?

Thanks in advance.
 
thebaronjocelin said:
Oh, a new Warcrack-addict. Always in moderation, buddy. And thanks for the very detailed post. On here, we don't get enough of them.

Some questions:
Does the card need auxiliary power? If so, does it come with an adapter that would work for your PSU?
Have you installed the drivers the manufacturer of the card provided?
Are there any options but Auto and Onboard in your BIOS, for the boot card?
Does the card have a fan on it (if it does, you can watch it as it boots and see if the fan begins to spin as the machine comes on, to see if power is reaching the card)?


Keep in mind, manufactured PCs are sometimes very finicky about new hardware.

I don't see anything mentioned in the Geeks.com page about the 12V rail requirements of this card, but if it's PCI-based, what you have should be adequate. 250W max. capacity is a little lackluster, as well.


Greetings,

Does the card need auxiliary power? If so, does it come with an adapter that would work for your PSU?
Not that I'm aware of. It didn't come with any cords(except an S-Video cable) and I don't see any connectors on the board at all. (Except for the normal ouput for VGA, S-Video, and DVI of course.)
Have you installed the drivers the manufacturer of the card provided?
Sure did. Took it straight from the installation CD. Device Manager shows that the device is working properly but when I plug into the VGA out I get no signal.
Are there any options but Auto and Onboard in your BIOS, for the boot card?
Auto and Onboard are the only options I have. There are options for sharing some of the system RAM with the onboard chipset as well. I tinkered with those also but to no avail.
Does the card have a fan on it (if it does, you can watch it as it boots and see if the fan begins to spin as the machine comes on, to see if power is reaching the card)?
Yes. The fan comes on and seems to run strong.

It's starting to look like:

A) My machine doesn't like this card for some reason or
B) My power supply isn't quite strong enough to power it.

Thanks for your help
 
Let's start from scratch. I have a Dell system. Do this
1.read this:
there is nothing wrong with the card or psu, the psu has more than enough power and requires no additional connection
2.download new set of drivers, save on your desktop
3.delete video card in device manager, right-click-delete
4.un-install drivers in control panel
5.shut-down system, remove video card
6.boot system up- go into bios (F2 or F12, I forget which) set-up
7.set video to auto-let generic Windows driver install
8.shut-down system-put card back in
9.re-boot system-disable anti-virus-cancel Windows driver install screen if it pops-up
10.install drivers from desktop
11.re-boot
 
It looks like it must be a driver/software issue to me. In my experience, underpowered cards simply don't run at all, so that fan would stay dead (unless it draws power straight from the motherboard).

Let's see if KPO's tips work out, and take it from there.
 
:mad: This is getting to be more trouble than it's worth.

I tried KPO's tips but still to no avail. I downloaded the latest driver from the ATI website but it won't even install. It gives me a severe error. Says that no driver was found and I should install a VGA compatible driver before proceeding. ???? :confused:

Even with drivers installed that report they're working properly the only way I can get a display with the card installed is to set the BIOS switch to Onboard. I can then see the screen and install the drivers for the card but if I attempt to plug my monitor into the video card or set the BIOS switch to Auto I'm back to the no signal scenario.

Could there be something else I'm missing?

I'm beginning to think I just need to exchange this card.
 
gbritton said:
Yes. Followed them in that exact order. Downloaded that exact driver to the desktop. It's the one that gives me the severe error.
Read the release notes for the driver, 2 possible issues
Do you have .net framework 1.1 or 2.0 installed?
The Catalyst software suite may not support your card. See the supported list. You may be only able to use the WDM driver.
 
Awesome! I finally got it working. After spending some time in the ATI support knowledgebase it came down to:

1. The latest driver from ATI won't work with a "powered by ATI" video card. I had to use the install disc that came with the card. And those drivers didn't work because

2. I only had .Net Framework 2.0 installed. I installed 1.1 and the card then took over as the primary video adapter.

Although this is not a top of the line video card, it's still much much better than the onboard video adapter. I can actually play the game now with fairly decent graphics.

Thank you kpo and everyone else that helped with this. :wave:
 
Glad you got it working. :cool: .net framework 2.0 should supercede earlier versions but doesn't always work that way (especially on older systems).
 
helllo ive brought a ati x1950 pro graphics card, but when i put the graphics card in the pci -e slot nothing shows on the screen. I have a 650 watt psu. so thats more than enough. i have an asus mb too... I just really don;t know what else to try... the graphics card fan spins so power is getting to the card... any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!!
 
Jase123, open your own thread and do not reopen old threads. and the way u are typing is the reason u are not getting respocess.
 
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