ATI x800xl agp dvi issue

I just installed this card in my computer, which has two monitors connected. One is my conventional analog primary monitor, and the other is a hi-def tv that I use as a secondary monitor from time to time.

In any case, the card, and indeed Windows itself will not boot when the dvi connected monitor is plugged into the new video card. We got it working once by plugging it in when the computer was already turned on, but a reboot failed as did numerous other tests. Everything works fine when only the analog monitor is plugged in. We also tried unplugging the analog and going with just the dvi, but it failed in the same manner.

Basically, bios starts on both screens, then it shifts to my regular analog monitor traditionally. That isn't happening though, and instead the monitor displays the warning message about going into standbye mode and then does in fact go into standbye. At this point Windows fails to boot, as no sounds indicate such a success.

This must be a windows only issue, because the bios works.

What do I do? This is really frustrating!

Thanks all.

Your solution makes sense. Unfortunately, two of us were unable to get any drivers from ATI's site last night, for any card, or at least for any card running under Windows XP. Wait, I'm trying again at the time of this posting and now it allows me to download. Are the display drivers for this card series called "Catalyst" drivers? I have the option to download Catalyst separately, but selecting drivers still brings up a list of Catalyst drivers, the most recent being 6.11, released just a few days ago.

I did a little more checking before going to bed last night. The dvi TV/monitor works great every time it is plugged in after boot, but fails every time it is plugged in during a restart or cold boot. Plugging it in live does mean that I have to configure the resolution and sort out which monitor is which, but the computer doesn't complain about it. This is entirely a boot problem.

Should I try to update the bios on the card? Never done that before.

A few more bits of info:
When I pull up display properties --> settings --> advanced --> adapter --> properties, I get the usual data, which includes this little snippet: PCI bus 1, device 0, function 0, but this card is an AGP card. Is the AGP port sometimes called PCI bus 1? The system knows it's an AGP card in other places even within these display menus.

I just finished downloading "Catalyst driver" v6.11. When I pull up my current driver info, it says I have 6.14.10.6512, which was released last year. I am somewhat confused, but am hoping that the Catalyst driver package includes a newer regular video driver that is newer than this one.

I am also aware that you are indicating there are problems with the latest driver, but I figure it might be best to start with that one and work back.

Other advice is more than welcome here, folks. Thanks again.

This is rather sad, because I built my computer by hand and yet cannot recall what size power supply I have. I know it's at least a 420, and I got a stable brand to fit my Antec P160 case. Is there somewhere I can go within the system to check my power supply stats? I have a lot of health problems that prevent me from opening and playing around with my hardware. I usually get someone to help me install things actually, which is why I've used "we" several times in this thread.

Should I install the ATI software like Catalyst itself, or just the core drivers? I'm not sure what benefits I get from the rest, but I am getting this worked on now.

I have options to install the ATI Decoder, Catalyst, and the ATI control panel. The control panel doesn't even appear as a runable program on the start menu, nor does the decoder. There's more in here too I think, but I'm uninstalling at the moment...

I can't install the latest version of catalyst, because it requires .NET 2.0, and that is only available with SP2. I tried installing SP2 on this system in December of '04, and both times my system locked up and I had to reinstall Windows (or repair, but that slowed down my system noticeably).

Could this be the problem? Would I still get a system lockup if I installed SP2 now? It was new at the time.

I use a Chaintech VNF3-250 motherboard and an Athlon 2800+ with 2 serial ATA drives and an Audigy 1 sound card. Maybe this is relevant, or maybe I'm creating a needless list for no one's amusement.

Switch what cables? I can't boot if anything is plugged in the DVI port on boot. If I plug it in afterward it is fine, but that is not really an acceptable option given my large unwieldy desk.