nVidia TNT2 Driver Problem

marshahu

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Along time ago I did a foolish thing to my ancient graphics card - I decided to update the TNT2 Detonator drivers from version 21.83 to about 40.xx and then none of my DirectX games would run. Then, I introduced a program called Detonator Destroyer which totally uninstalled my drivers - I then started building the card from scratch - first using the Sparkle drivers included with the card, then I reinstalled version 21.83 again; the version I started off with and was using happily before all of this palaver happened.

However I then found that my Direct 3D settings were ruined - there was an nVidia logo in the corner of the screen and in many games I can't seem to change any options regarding the resolution or refresh rate. I have lost some options with Direct3D and I am gven options regarding Anti Aliasing which my card doesn't even support. I thought I could correct this problem by installing DirectX 9.

I have problems when playing grand theft auto 3 - it only requires a 16MB DirectX 8.1 compatible card and mine is 32MB. The graphics are really appalling and even on minimal settings the game runs really slow.

I tried to go into DirectX 9 Diag and under the graphics heading it said that AGP Acceleration was disabled - with my old drivers it was enabled and when I used 40.xx drivers the Direct3D tests wouldnt even run! I cant even enable AGP Acceleration now but the tests all ran fine and successfully.

As you can see all of my actions have had chain reactions making the problem worser and worser. Please can someone help me rectify the problem by telling me:

- Which version of drivers I need install
- The website which I can obtain the appropriate drivers
- How to install the drivers

Before I did all of the above all DirectX games were working fine, if a little slow when running the resolution on 1024 x 768. I guess the moral is if I aint broke dont fix it. LOL Screw the moral - help me get back all the options I had with "old" 21.83 setup and allow me to carry on enjoying games the way I used to!

PC Spec

ECS K7S5A with Sis Chipset
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
768MB PC133 SDRAM
10GB Hard Disk space with only 300MB remaining!
16x LG DVD ROM drive
Memorex 24Maxxx1040 CDRW drive
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Soundcard
Creative Inspire 6.1 6700 Speakers
Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 32MB M64 AGP Graphics card (I dont know if it is DirectX 9 compatible:-s)
Windows Me

Thank you guys for your time!


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phsstpok

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Start your driver installations over again. Blow away your chipset driver, detonators, and DirectX (Search for DirectX Eradicator).

Next reinstall again in the same order; chipset, video, DirectX.

It's broken chipset/AGP drivers that's keeping AGP acceleration from working .

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>
 

marshahu

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OK Ill give that a try - but how the hell will I find the chipset drivers and uninstall them? The only option in the Add/Remove Programs dialogue box is "NVIDIA Display Drivers Windows 95/98/ME". DirectX 9 cannot be uninstalled because I installed it long ago (hence System Restore wont help me here) so by using a DirectX destroyer will I do any damage to my crucial graphics/system files - it seems I did just that when using a Detonator Destroyer as I now have a screwed up installation of my graphics card and no AGP acceleration!!

Isn't there any other way which I can just unistall my drivers through Add/Remove programs and then install newer drivers than 21.83 which will happily work with DirectX9 and give me all the options I used to have and better performance - i obvisouly cant have anything up to or later than 40.xx!

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phial

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with dx9?


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phsstpok

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Dec 31, 2007
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If your SIS chipset drivers don't include an uninstall option then just reinstall them. Check the SiS website for the drivers or your mobo manufacturer's site.

DirectX Eradicator won't hurt anything. You need it if you want to reinstall DirectX 9.0x (which Windows doesn't normally allow).

Try

- reinstalling SIS chipset driver (or just the AGP driver if there is a separate driver for this).

- Run Detonator Destroyer again. Note that the correct way to do this is to first uninstall the nVidia Detonators (with Add/Remove) then run Detonator Destroyer (which just cleans up extraneous files that the uninstall process leaves behind).

- Run DirectX Eradicator and then reinstall DirectX 9.x. If you happen to have a dial-up connection (like me) you might want to search for the DirectX 9.0b Redistributable file (or later if there is one). The file is 2X to 3X as large as the online update but it makes it easier if you reinstall DirectX more than once or on more than one PC.

Do all three reinstalls, chipset, video, and DX, for the cleanest driver installation.

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marshahu

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Thanks for your input - I did change my motherboard this time last year due to a blown memory slot on my old FIC AZ11E. The last motherboard used a VIA chipset and since I dont want to have to change all of my RAM to DDR I decided to get a combo board so the ECS K7S5A is the only one I could find. But then again when I stuck with my old drivers even after I changed my motherboard everything was working fine although the performance was slightly slower than my old board. Ever since I used 40.xx the board went wrong.

HunterKillers, you said that you have managed to use drivers up to 51.xx?!?! How much better is the performance and graphics quality when compared to the original drivers. How good is the overall performance and quality of the graphics in OpenGL and DirectX games. Who manufacturers you're graphics card - mine is Sparkle. How much RAM does the card have, which previous drivers did you install and in what order. How do the new drivers perform with DirectX 9 - do you just get better performance or does the TNT2 M64 gain features like T&L, higher resolutions, smoother framerate in both Direct 3D and OpenGL, anti aliasing. I understand that I wont get the feeling of a whole new graphics card but shouldn't I at least get a marignal improvement. Games like GTAIII only need 16MB Minimum and on 640x480 (GTA chooses the ideal textures for you and I cant seem to change them) the game is so slow, especially when I am in a busy scene with lots of cars and people shooting - the fastest machine gun fires one bullet per second. My graphics card is 32MB by the way. Changing the Sound Card options from EAX to standard makes no difference and putting all the graphcis settings on minimum does nothing - although removing the Trails does speed it up a bit. Where do you get these drivers from and will they cure my problem, whilst giving me better quality graphics in OpenGL and Direct3D/X games?

Also by updating my SIS chipset drivers what do I gain and what risks are there if the installation goes belly up. First time visitors please refer to my original post to answer that question and then go on to help me here.

Others who have already chipped in thanks for your help so far I really do apprechiate it! You have no idea how much this is driving me mad, not to mention the amount of times I am getting my ass kicked cos of crap Direct3D drivers - OpenGL games I can win but I still suffer similar problems. Once again Thank you!

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Titanion

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Hmmmmmmmmm... this thread has me thinking. I may have a similar problem with my GF2 MX400 64MB card. I just got it back after a trade with a friend I sold it to a year ago, and when I put it back in my computer (the 3rd best in my house), DX9 is telling me it too has no hardware accelleration. For some weird reason I thought this was the product of an old card set with DX9 and new NVIDIA drivers. With DX9 and any new driver, if I should still have hardware accelleration enabled, then I too have a problem. NWN still runs OK, albiet slow, but Halo kept crashing on me... to the point where I uninstalled it. It would have been nice having Halo on three computers on my LAN.

Perhaps I should uninstall the VIA 4in1 drivers, then DX9, then the NVIDIA drivers and reinstall them.

BTW, for NWN to run OK, I had to revert back to 43.?? to get it to work correctly... the laters few drivers had mouse problems and refresh rate problems... maybe this was not the driver's fault... perhaps it was this broken chipset/AGP thingy I have not heard of before...

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Vimp

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Just so you know installing the latest directx merely allows for better compatibility with the latest games. It does not give you any of the new functions however. T&L, higher resolutions, antiailiasing and things such as these are things that the card has to have been built with and not something that a new driver will allow for. New drivers typically only increase the performance and compatibility of your cards abilities and does not give your card new abilities that the newer cards have. Also resolutions are more likly to be restricted by your monitor and not your graphics card. Even the biggest most expensive monitors don't usually allow for the resolutions that video cards allow for.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Not the solution you want, but I have used many ECS K7S5A's, sometimes for the same reason on not needing to upgrade RAM. I had so many issues gaming on them in Windows ME and 98se. I Have 2 on my home LAN running Win XP now and they are both now very stable. Not fast, but stable. If you ever get fed up and want an OS reinstall, go with XP.
 

marshahu

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OK fair enough, I'll have to accept that i wont get any extra features. However can I safely use 51.xx nvidia detonator drivers and get smooth performance in my Direct 3D games? I have found an Nvidia directory which contains some files from 41.83 drivers. I still have the setup file there - should I run that and install 41.83 drivers? First time users please answer my original question.

The PC Guru knows all except combination to the safe! Check out my PC Guru website @ www.geocities.com/marshahu_cr - It's still under development