I recently upgraded my hardware--a SOYO P4S Dragon Ultra motherboard with an Intel P4 1.6 GHz and a single 512 MB DDR memory module, and a VisionTek video card--an Xtasy AGP 64 MB DDR GeForce4 MX 440. My display screen remains blank (dark) as the computer boots up (into Windows 98). I'm not sure how far along the boot process goes, because I can't see what's going on, but after a short period of time, the computer shuts down automatically . I have been forced to use my older PCI video card in order to make my system work properly.
Reasoning that either the video card or the motherboard's AGP slot was bad, I had them subjected to some simple 'replacement' -type testing. A different, but similar AGP card worked fine in my computer's AGP slot, apparently indicating the my AGP slot was OK. But to my subsequent surprise, the Xtasy AGP card which would not work when placed in my computer's AGP slot, worked fine in another computer's AGP slot, apparently indicating that the Xtasy video card also was OK.
Two technicians I have talked to about this problem have both suggested than there is some sort of incompatibility between the video card and the motherboard. One suggested that the GeForce4 MX chip is generally incompatible with SOYO motherboards, whereas the GeForce2 series, for example, works OK with SOYO motherboards. I'm not sure I am willing to buy this sort of speculation, buy what do I know?
So apparently, both the motherboard AGP slot and the Xtasy video card are OK, but do not seem to work together. I am at a loss to explain this, so I was hoping someone out there would be able to, and suggest what I could do to correct the problem. Here is some added information about my motherboard and its BIOS settings which may be of help--or not, as the case may be (these are the settings, to the best of my determination, which are related to the functioning of the AGP slot).
The motherboard supports AGP 2x/4x/Pro VGA
The AGP voltage is adjustable: 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, with a default setting of 1.5 ( I used all defaults in the setup)
Graphic Window Write--Mask AGP Request: Enabled (default)
AGP Fast Write Capability: Disabled (default)
Video Mode: EGA/VGA (default)
AGP Aperture Size: 32, 64, 128, 256 MB with a default setting of 64 MB
Graphic Window WR Combination: Enabled (default)
AGP Auto Calibration: Enabled (default)
[Added Note] Since writing the above, I have received a belated reply to a message, similar to the above, which I sent to SOYO some time ago. They want me to return my motherboard for 'changes to support the GF4 VGA', with no further explanation (?). Can someone explain what's going on?
Reasoning that either the video card or the motherboard's AGP slot was bad, I had them subjected to some simple 'replacement' -type testing. A different, but similar AGP card worked fine in my computer's AGP slot, apparently indicating the my AGP slot was OK. But to my subsequent surprise, the Xtasy AGP card which would not work when placed in my computer's AGP slot, worked fine in another computer's AGP slot, apparently indicating that the Xtasy video card also was OK.
Two technicians I have talked to about this problem have both suggested than there is some sort of incompatibility between the video card and the motherboard. One suggested that the GeForce4 MX chip is generally incompatible with SOYO motherboards, whereas the GeForce2 series, for example, works OK with SOYO motherboards. I'm not sure I am willing to buy this sort of speculation, buy what do I know?
So apparently, both the motherboard AGP slot and the Xtasy video card are OK, but do not seem to work together. I am at a loss to explain this, so I was hoping someone out there would be able to, and suggest what I could do to correct the problem. Here is some added information about my motherboard and its BIOS settings which may be of help--or not, as the case may be (these are the settings, to the best of my determination, which are related to the functioning of the AGP slot).
The motherboard supports AGP 2x/4x/Pro VGA
The AGP voltage is adjustable: 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, with a default setting of 1.5 ( I used all defaults in the setup)
Graphic Window Write--Mask AGP Request: Enabled (default)
AGP Fast Write Capability: Disabled (default)
Video Mode: EGA/VGA (default)
AGP Aperture Size: 32, 64, 128, 256 MB with a default setting of 64 MB
Graphic Window WR Combination: Enabled (default)
AGP Auto Calibration: Enabled (default)
[Added Note] Since writing the above, I have received a belated reply to a message, similar to the above, which I sent to SOYO some time ago. They want me to return my motherboard for 'changes to support the GF4 VGA', with no further explanation (?). Can someone explain what's going on?
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