Topic: Display problem

[Clive]

I have an Athlon 2200 machine which has always suffered from a strange screen display problem.  After 20 minutes, the display disappears and I have to re-boot, after which it is perfectly fine for the rest of the day.  I haven't found it to be too much of a problem because I switch it on when I get up in the morning, have breakfast, and then do a re-boot by turning the computer off at the switch.  However, in recent weeks, it seems to be getting worse, and I'm having to re-boot several or many times a day.  

Originally, the video card was suspected to be the culprit, but that was changed and it didn't solve the problem.  If I wanted to change the motherboard, what should I go for and about how much would fitting cost?  I know I should have had it done whilst it was under warranty but I couldn't bear to be without it.  Oh, I could have a second HDD fitted at the same time couldn't I?

The one thing that I'm scared of, is that since my computer is networked to Mrs Clive's, would she lose her Internet connection if I disconnected it?

[Simon]

When you say the display disappears, do you mean the screen goes completely blank?  Is is exactly 20 minutes?  I don't suppose it could be anything in your Power Management options going into standby?

[Clive]

What happens is that the screen freezes and if I alt/tab to a different screen it breaks up and goes blank.  Sometimes I get double images but I can only alt/tab about 4 times and the display goes completely black and the computer re-boots by itself.  If I just turn it on and leave it without using it, the screen will go grey and I have to turn it off at the mains.  You can almost set your watch with the 20 minute timeout and it always leaves an error in the event viewer log.  All it says is "nv" and there have been 14 so far today.  They all correspond to this problem.  If I don't get it sorted very soon I fear that it will result in a complete failure.

[Simon]

The first thing that springs to mind when you say 'nv' is nVidia (but of course it might be something completely different), and it does bear some of the hallmarks of a graphics problem, but as I have no real idea what it could be, I'd best leave this one to a real techie!

Is this the machine  :adept:  put together for you?  Bloody cowboys!!    

[Sandra]

Clive check the refresh rate in the video properties and try it a bit higher or a bit lower and see if that improves things, I should think that you should be somewhere between 60hz and 100hz on your setup.
I thought that you had a VIGOR router Clive, in that case unless you are using your pc as the gateway and not seperate ethernet connections to your pc and Mrs Clives, then there shouldnt be a problem,
Her laptop presumably uses the wi fi connection to the router too so all 3 should be able to connect to the net indepedantly of any of the others  

[Clive]

The replacement graphics card was a slightly upgraded one so it couldn't have been part of a bad batch.  It made no difference so the old one was re-installed.  I only have myself to blame for not getting to the bottom of it since I should have let it go back to the workshop for testing when it was under warranty.  If consensus of opinion is that it could be the board then I know someone who will fit a new one for me while I wait.  But it still means taking the machine to him, and the guy is a total nutter.  I still need to know what to buy and what would happen to my network.

[Sandra]

Look up here Clive ^  

[Clive]

I've changed it from 75 to 72Hz and the screen momentarily went black and returned.  It says that the default setting should be 60Hz so I'll reduce it in stages to see if that makes any difference.  Meanwhile, I found this website:

http://www.voodoofiles.com/2633


I think I have an ethernet connection Sandra.  I really should pay more attention shouldn't I?  

[Adept]

The one thing that I'm scared of, is that since my computer is networked to Mrs Clive's, would she lose her Internet connection if I disconnected it?

Clive, Sandra is correct, you have a router. You internet connection does not rely on your PC being there at all

Chganging the refresh rate won't help as you have an LCD panel. It needs to be 1024x768 at 60KHz to give the best picture.

The PC has been completely dismantled, cleaned and re-built and the graphics card has been changed. The graphics drivers started off as Detonator, went back to standard Windows ones and then Detonator again without altering the problem

The exact error message from the event log would be helpful Clive, as it didn't log an error when I first started looking at the problem. Could you post it here please.

[Clive]

It says Parse Error on CMDCD 00000000 00000000 00736300 00000010 00736300 if that's of any use Adept.  The fact that I can remove the machine without disrupting Mrs Clive has put my mind at rest as it means that I can afford to be without it for a short period if necessary.

[Adept]

A quick Google found this Clive. It would appear to be a common fault with nVidia Gforce4s and VIA motherboards.

A quick precis:-

1. Download and install latest Detonator drivers
2. Download and install latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers
3. Use Windows update to install latest AMD processor driver for XP
4. This:-
"At least, got this problem solved. After having tried almost everything, last weekend i made 2 more adjustments in the Bios: setting AGP Aperture Size to 128, following a tip stating that this should be half the size of my memory (which is in my case 256mB). Further I set "Timing Setting Mode" to "normal" (was "faster") Optical mouse reinstalled, hardware acceleration to "full", no more freezes since 4 days. I suspect that "Timing Setting Mode" was the problem, I tried yesterday for a short while with the aperture size back to 64MB, no freezes there. I will of course at some point update my NVIDIA driver, but for now i'm glad that the machine is running.
Just wanted to share this, maybe someone else can benefit from my findings."

Might be worth a try

[Clive]

Thanks very much Adept.    I've downloaded the Windows Update driver and also the latest VIA 4 in 1 and my computer still works.  I can't find a Detonator driver later than 2002 though.  Incredibly, apart from the usual "20 minute" problem this morning, everything has been very stable today and that was even before I installed those new drivers.    I'm keeping my fingers crossed and if this solves it I will be very very happy.   8)

[Adept]

I can't find a Detonator driver later than 2002 though.  

Try http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_56.64

Detonator seems to be called ForceWare now (no-one consulted me on this! > )

[Clive]

My knees are starting to knock here Adept.  Three drivers in one day!  Here we go then....

[Clive]

Driver Installation Hints

"Download Accelerator" utilities should be disabled when downloading any drivers.

Do not run virus protection software in the background while installing the drivers. This prevents the driver from configuring itself properly.

Before installing new drivers make sure you uninstall all NVIDIA display drivers from the Windows Control Panel. Browse to the Start Menu > Windows Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and search for "NVIDIA Windows Display Drivers" or "NVIDIA Display Drivers" and select remove.

What do you make of that last one Adept?