Need help GeForce 2 MX 400 under Win98SE

[mariusfranghiu]

I have an old system I use for old games.A P4 /2.4 ghz, 512 DDR RAM, MSI 845E MAX motherboard (bios up-to-date), a Voodoo 4500 AGP 32MB , a soundblaster creative pci 64V and a ATI Tv wonder tuner.I use Win98SE (patched with unofficial WIN98SE SP).So far so good.THAT system works wonderfull, no blue death screesn , no crashes , no freezings.I also have a Voodoo 2 board 3D accelerator and , recently I purchased a GeForce 2 MX 400 AGP 64 MB, thinking that I would make a great "combo" with my Voodoo 2 card for Glide/Direct 3D games
Well ...this was where my excruciating pains began...
I did this:
Before detaching the Voodoo 4500 I uninstalled the 3Dfx tools and then in safe mode , I erased everything in C:\Windows\INF and C:\Windows\System which got anything to do with Voodoo board.I removed the Voodoo card as I was saying and I installed the GeForce card into AGP slot, with Voodoo 2 board in standing by... Well...after I installed I tried the 71.xx drivers for my OS.After I rebooted well...the Windows flickered in a dark blue manner ,a couple of microseconds, after that it halted into a dark black screen(no prompter line).I rebooted and nothing happened.I rebooted again and then a windows poped up saying "your video hardware is not supported or you settings are not correct" or something like this, don't remember exactly.Well I didn't give up.I went in safe mode and I uninstalled the drivers.I rebooted and I installed newer drivers (81.xx).Well...this time luck abandoned me for good.The same scenario , dark blue flickering with dark screen after(no prompter line) .When I tried to boot in safe mode and uninstall the driver (as I did with the older one), well...the OS crashed with an error in EAX , EBX, ECX etc modules and everytime I tried to boot normally the system hanged, never entering Windows again.In safe mode, the same story, with the OS crash error in those modules.I dug up a little on net and someone was complaining like me he cannot install the GeForce 2 MX 400 on the same motherboard.That's my story short, any ideas how to trick that little mother****er GeForce card-**** ???? I tried to find very old drivers but with no luck.By the way , the video board is a "no-name" Eixon brand name.They don't have a site or driver support etc.And I don't have the original CD with drivers...so here I am begging for help and the sanity of my mind.Don't even think telling me "well if the system works with that Voodoo 4 board , why don't you keep it that way?", allright ?
In the meantime , waiting for a merciful soul to help me, I'll try find older drivers for the Nvidia card.Thank you for your time.

 

[SNGX1275]

As for getting back into Windows I don't know. But you shouldn't be attempting to run that high of a driver number on 98SE for that card. You should stick to the "Detonator" drivers, the ones in the 40s are the highest you should go, and you may be better off with something in the 20s. I think early on the 20s were optimized for the GF2, 30s for GF3, 40s for GF4 which was basically a GF2 (but I could be wrong on thinking they were optimized..) In theory the newer drivers should have handled the old cards, but I'm not even sure there were any above the 40s for 9x.

Anyway, I found the old drivers for you on Guru3d but I can't link the search results. So just go to www.guru3d.com and in the top right there is a search, click that and enter Detonator for the search term.

 

[luvhuffer]

"well if the system works with that Voodoo 4 board , why don't you keep it that way?" j/k lol

Agreed. I have an old MX440 SE and I ran it with the Detonator 44.03 drivers for 98 and ME which you can download here from Guru 3D

 

[mariusfranghiu]

As for getting back into Windows I don't know. But you shouldn't be attempting to run that high of a driver number on 98SE for that card. You should stick to the "Detonator" drivers, the ones in the 40s are the highest you should go, and you may be better off with something in the 20s. I think early on the 20s were optimized for the GF2, 30s for GF3, 40s for GF4 which was basically a GF2 (but I could be wrong on thinking they were optimized..) In theory the newer drivers should have handled the old cards, but I'm not even sure there were any above the 40s for 9x.

.

You are right, but I don't find lower than 41.xx.Every link with older drivers is...missing, even on Guru3D! Trust me...I'm tired beeing happy that I discovered one and after half an hour realizing that is ...a mirage. If you have and can upload for me a older driver, that class you mentioned , it would be great !

 

[mariusfranghiu]

"well if the system works with that Voodoo 4 board , why don't you keep it that way?" j/k lol

Agreed. I have an old MX440 SE and I ran it with the Detonator 44.03 drivers for 98 and ME

Thx man. I'll give it a try though I tried a 42.01 without any luck...

 

[SNGX1275]

They are all there, from the beginning. I may have left out a step in telling you how to get them. You have to go to the downloads, then click search. Then enter Detonator. I got a big list of them all.

Here I found a way to link:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/search.php?for=detonator*&cat=4&start=100
http://downloads.guru3d.com/search.php?for=detonator*&cat=4&start=200
http://downloads.guru3d.com/search.php?for=detonator*&cat=4&start=300

I tried 1 really early one, like a 12 something, it didn't work. But the 31.40 did work, and thats all I tested.

 

[Corwin613]

I am wondering if you didn't just delete the wrong files when you did that honestly your shouldn't of needed to do that except uninstall the voodoo drivers

I have had several GF2s and never had a problem installing them in 98SE....

 

[mariusfranghiu]

I am wondering if you didn't just delete the wrong files when you did that honestly your shouldn't of needed to do that except uninstall the voodoo drivers

I have had several GF2s and never had a problem installing them in 98SE....

No way.I even reinstalled the OS from scratch (formatted and stuff) and with the GeForce the only board in system and the result is the same.It's conflict between GeForce board and what Win98SE can offer as a plug & play driver for my AOC 7k+ monitor.And it seems that my monitor is not ready to accept that and everytime resets what Win98SE try to use for it as a driver.Here is the pain...And is puzzling because the monitor works in the same OS (Win98SE) and a Voodoo 4 board without a flaw. I need to try earlier drivers , the ones optimized for GeForce 2 boards in that time , the 20.xx series.

 

[mariusfranghiu]

They are all there, from the beginning. I may have left out a step in telling you how to get them. You have to go to the downloads, then click search. Then enter Detonator. I got a big list of them all.



I tried 1 really early one, like a 12 something, it didn't work. But the 31.40 did work, and thats all I tested.

Thank you , I'll try them and let you knwo the results.

 

[mariusfranghiu]

I finally cracked the case.It was something I didn't think to and something nobody bothered to ask: The GeForce 2 MX class ...are COMPATIBLE (in theory) with AGP 2x but they actually work ONLY on a AGP4x board .Pretty stupid, huh ? Well that is a way to learn things.
Thread CLOSED!