video trouble on a pent4 mobo

[maxwell011]

i installed an operating system on a comp the other day for a friend. the install was problematic but eventually got it. the os was vista. the comp had 512 mbs pc-2700 sharing 32 mbs of that with onboard video. to install i ended up disabling that to free up the 512 mbs vista wants and installed a 128 mb fx5200. once i got it up and running, i did a few things like disabling uac, replacing notepad with a 32-bit ver i use and some other stuff, then went to bed. when i got up, the comp wouldn't boot. the cpu fan came on but didn't kick on monitor. after hours [and 2 playoff games] i got into vista - but with a 4 mb sis6326 agp card. (believe it or not, vista will run on a 4 mb vc, you just can't do anything;0) ) neither the onboard video nor the fx5200 i used to install would work. i also tried an old 32 mb diamond viper and a couple pci cards. the only card that will kick on the monitor is the 4 mb sis. with the others [and onboard video], the comp does everything it's supposed to except kick on the monitor. this is driving me crazy. i could really use some help on this. to save anyone valuable finger time on the keyboard, here's what i've already tried:

five different video cards
unhooking everything but the video card(s)
a different ps
two different monitors
disabling onboard video
enabling onboard video, trying each mb option
pci card(s) in every one of the pci slots
clearing the cmos
ultimately flashing the bios
also, i've considered voltage but the fx5200 worked when i installed and voltage doesn't explain the onboard video not working.

probably more but that's all i can think of.

i should point out that i'm sure of the functionality of all the video cards i tried.

the board's an ecs p4vmm2 socket 478
the processor's a pent4 2.8 ghz

does anyone know why suddenly, the only card that will kick on the monitor is an old 4 mb 2x agp sis6326.

 

[maxwell011]

just curious. i noticed all the subjects are in bold letters except mine. oh, yeah, and also a little help with my above-listed problem.

 

[maxwell011]

well, since no one seems inclined to answer my bold-letters question and equally disinclined to or incapable of helping me with my video problem, i'll continue trying to figure it out on my own while looking elsewhere for help.

 

[wahnula]

i installed an operating system on a comp the other day for a friend. the install was problematic but eventually got it. the os was vista.

Question: You say the install was buggy, the hardware was minimal, why would you not expect problems with a beast like Vista? Try doing a parallel-install of a less-hardware-intensive OS like Win2K or even XP to check the function of everything else, like the DVD drive or the HDD or the chipset drivers. My guess would be that the chipset drivers are not Vista-certified. My next step would be to add another stick of RAM.

BTW the post titles stay bold until you have read/posted to the thread, then turn bold again when there is a new reply.

Tony

 

[DrLar]

If it was Vista beta, I doubt it will work, also you have to check with the vid card manufacturer to see if they have Vista drivers for their card.

Another quickie is install bare WinXP or Win2k, go to the Vista web site and run the "windows vista upgrade advisor", it will tell you want it isn't compatible.