Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
In article <Cn1Hc.2203$fZ3.1227@newsfe6-win.ntli.net>, "Dave"
<notmyrealaccount@virgin.net> wrote:
> I have been using a A7V8X-MX mobo for several months and am broadly happy
> with it, but now need to add a proper AGP video card to enable me to run MS
> Flight Sim 2002 without problems.
>
> Having read the manual, it doesn't appear to me that there is any switch or
> jumper to be used to enable/disable the integrated graphics. Obviously I'll
> want to do this to reduce the load on the CPU and free up the RAM. In the
> absence of other information, my inclination is to disable all the drivers
> for the S3 graphics that I can find, power down, install new video card,
> power up, and install new video drivers.
>
> Can anyone advise me what else I need to do? I'm sure there are potential
> pitfalls that other users have encountered. All advice and thoughts
> gratefully received!
>
> Dave
I see a setting "VGA Share Memory Size" with listed
values 16, 32, 64, disabled in the manual. Maybe if you
set it to [Disabled], the onboard graphics won't use any
resources or might actually be completely disabled ?
On some motherboards, plugging in an AGP card disables
the built-in automatically. I don't know if that will be
the case with your motherboard or not.
If that doesn't work out, try Device Manager and see if
you can disable it there. Disabling at that point, won't
release all the resources, but it is a start.
In any case, do your experiments with the new graphics card
in place. Just so you don't get into a Catch22 situation with
no graphics capability at all
When the new graphics card
causes the New Hardware wizard to pop up, just click cancel
(twice if the card supports two outputs), then uninstall the
Via Unichrome driver for the KM400 graphics. Reboot and
follow the install instructions that came with your new
video card.
If, when you plug in the new video card, things "go south"
on you, simply remove the card and your system should be
able to pick up where it left off (KM400 Unichrome driver
and all). Only remove the KM400 video driver if the new card
looks like it is going to work.
There are two parts to video drivers - the Via 4in1 Hyperion
has an AGP driver, which is considered the "chipset driver"
and is necessary for your new video card. There is a second
driver, usually separately installed, which is a driver
for the built-in graphics block (might have had Via Unichrome
in the name). This is the one to remove, and it should be in the
Add/Remove Programs control panel for you to remove. You
shouldn't try to remove the old driver, by hunting for the
files manually and deleting them - that usually leads to
trouble at some future date.
If, at some point, you tire of the new AGP video card, reenable
the onboard graphics, and uninstall the new AGP video card
drivers. Then, reinstall the Via Unichrome driver. You should
really only keep one set of video drivers on the system at a time,
for while the driver itself is controlled by hardware enumeration
and wouldn't cause a problem on its own, some video card driver
installs modify the registry, and that is the reason for
religiously using the uninstaller that comes with the card.
Some video cards come with unbelievable quantities of "cruft",
and these will be System Tray icons, pop-up this and that, you'll
want removed, just so you won't be wondering five years from
now, what all those files do
Refs:
Via main page for drivers:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2
Via 4in1 drivers:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=403
Unichrome graphics driver:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=70
Chipset info:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/ProSavage+Chipsets/km400.jsp
Just a guess,
Paul
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