Radeon 32M PCI, was it really a good buy?

[Yalumborg]

OK, here goes. I bought an ATI Radeon 32 Meg PCI video card(new)for a fair price. I get the card and install it according to directions(may have been first mistake). I reboot to the message "Windows Protection error...yadda yadda yadda." We all know where this goes, the beloved SAFE MODE. I removed the device from the device manager and rebooted to 16 colors at 640X480 using the standard PCI display adapter. At least, I was out of Safe Mode. Checked for potential resource conflicts. I have looked into the support site site for ATI and come up with nothing for the PCI bus version only the AGP variety. I have called tech support where I purchased the card and they have no answers(until I get them.) I have downloaded the latest drivers for the video card and the motherboard. Also, I replaced the old cards and it worked like it did before, so i know i didn't "hose" my registry. Here is what I am running:
Windows 98 SE
AMD K6 350 Mhz
FIC PA-2007 Motherboard
Award BIOS Version 1.13cn15
64 Megs of pc 100 RAM
Creative Labs Soundblaster AWE 64
U.S. Robotics 56K
two hard drives and a CD ROM in a pear tree
I really think that they ship only the AGP drivers with the card. Could this be the problem?
--Lost if I don't get to play Q2--Yalumborg

 

[Yalumborg]

One thing I forgot to mention is that I reinstalled my OS with the card in the machine. I also removed all the keys referring to ATI from the registry before I installed the drivers. Every time I try and install the drivers and reboot, the beast wants to go to safe mode. OK thats a couple of things--Yalumborg

 

[dakota81]

I bought myself one of those darn Radeons. After a week of headaches I changed back to my old Voodoo Banshee card, the Voodoo card was a better performer, faster, smoother. I've got a K6 at 450 so we're running practically the same cpu. I also had a Creative Labs Annahilator Pro in my system and this card struggled to play games, and also locked up quite frequently. Even the Voodoo2 card I have runs smoother than the other cards . . .

 

[hackin02]

Hey Guys,
I just installed a ATI Radeon 32meg PCI video card and fought the stupid thing until I just about went nuts!! I finally got the thing to work in a Compaq Presario running Windows 98, 400 mhz processor, and everything thing else was integrated. This is how I fixed the problem.
1. Install the new video card in a free slot.
2. Start your computer and boot into SAFE MODE. (hit F8 on boot)
3. Right click on My Computer, go to properties, click on the Device Manager tab, click on video adapters, select your old video card and click remove.
4. Make sure your monitor is hooked up to your new video card.
5. Reboot the system and let it boot into normal mode.
6. Insert the driver CD into the CD-Rom drive.
7. On autorun tell it to install the drivers, and reboot.
8. Set your display settings to the highest colors and set the resolution how you like it.
9. Shut down the machine and remove the old video card.
10. Play some Ultima Online!!!

P.S. It may not work with Windows 95.

 

[Yalumborg]

Thanks for the replies, albeit a little too late. Returned the Satan produced object to the demons who sold it to me. I am going in the direction of AGP.