Geforce 4 card prevents computer from booting... completely. Help needed!

[Ranga]

Hi,

I recently purchased an Intel Pentium 4 3.0ghz processor with an ECS P4M800-M7 mobo. I'd swapped over from AMD, and was surprised that I didn't have to reinstall Windows. However, when my graphics card (Geforce 4Ti4200) was in, instead of the usual boot sequence, I get a blank screen. The HDD light buzzes around for a while, then stops. The CPU fan increases speed every now and then... but nothing happens.

When I take the card out, it all runs fine. I've installed the latest Nvidia drivers, and have "jiggled" the card gently, swapped the "Primary Graphics Adapter" from PCI to AGP, and reset the CMOS - still to no avail.

I found a similar problem here
- but nothing mentioned seems to work. (I also don't have an old card to play with.)

Can anybody help/offer suggestions?

Ranga

System Specs:

- ECS P4M800-M7
- Intel Pentium Processor 630 3.0ghz
- Geforce 4 Ti4200 w/ AGP 8x
- 2x Hynix 256mb DDRam
- IBM 60gb HDD

 

[Cole]

Bad choice leaven AMD, I'd slap you but my im to tired.
I had a Graphics Card like that...Any computer it was in though would not even turn on. What had happened was my modem got zapped, overheated my graphics card and on an extremely close look 1 little thing was fried very very hard to notice. It was a Geforce 4 420MX, completely sucked so I didn't care.

Anyway, if you got a new mobo that might be the problem right here. Anytime you get a new mobo you should reinstall Windows. Most of the time you have to reinstall windows.
For your monitor when you put the new graphics card in, is it connected to your old graphics card or the geforce 4? Whatever one it's in switch it and see if anything shows up.

 

[JNightshade]

Yeah, congrats. You ask for advice, but all you're gonna get is a load of "N00B" accusations for switching to intel.

N00B.

 

[Adabiviak]

Intel's fine - If anyone can tell the difference between the two game-performance-wise in a blind test of comparable systems, then I'd be concerned. Do you have power to the extra power plug? Those are exactly the symptoms I got when I replaced a video card and left that thing open.

 

[Ranga]

Intel's fine - If anyone can tell the difference between the two game-performance-wise in a blind test of comparable systems, then I'd be concerned. Do you have power to the extra power plug? Those are exactly the symptoms I got when I replaced a video card and left that thing open.

Extra power plug? Okay, now I'm a bigger n00b. (Save your energy, guys.)

Where is this extra power plug located?

EDIT: Thanks for the reply

 

[Ranga]

*Bumpety-bump*

Does anybody else have any ideas/suggestions? I have no 3D accelleration

 

[Cole]

Have you tried my idea?
Sometimes graphic cards require an extra power plug from the power supply. I don't think the Geforce 4 required this though.

 

[The Brick]

What's your PSU?

 

[Asus]

Intel's fine - If anyone can tell the difference between the two game-performance-wise in a blind test of comparable systems, then I'd be concerned.

Don't you think you could tell the difference?

I would first try a different video card and then maybe switch out the motherboard.

 

[Ranga]

What's your PSU?

400W thing that came with my Case. I doubt it's at fault.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Have you checked the jumper settings on your HDD?

I know its sounds unusual, but I've had a problem with my computer not booting up, and it turned out to be the HDD. When I first got my HDD, it worked fine, but when I swapped out hardware, it wouldn't boot the first time round (kept on getting error messages). Got a new motherboard and it wouldn't boot up at all, so I took the new mobo away. got a new mobo (expensive when it first came out) still wouldn't boot, so I figured it was hardware i already had. messed around with the jumper settings on my HDD, and by luck it actually worked under one setting.

You should have 3 jumper settings on your HDD (recent HDD's anyway),
1) primary,
2) slave,
3) third one (forgot what the third one is)

Anyway, try swapping the jumper setting from 1) to 3), or the other way round, depending if it was in the third setting to begin with (I've only done it once, but it helped a great deal).

If it still doesn't work, remember to put the jumper setting just the way you found it, so your back at square 1, and not square 0

 

[Ranga]

I was finally able to try the card in another machine (I didn't have access to one previously); didn't work.
Granted, it was an older AGP slot (documentation says it still should have worked), but I think I'm up for a new card.

<Expression of sheer despair>

Thanks for all the help, and sorry for the wasted thread.