display driver?

[mcslack]

howdy to all you fine helpful folks. i've just re-installed win98 on a friends 3 year old factory computer and the display only offers 16 bit color. everything looks like crap. i looked at the mobo, the vga is onboard but i can't find any identifying marks, so i don't know where to look for a driver. if i use the utility in windows to search for a driver it tells me i already have a standard, working, vga adater and no better drivers exist on the HD. so, my question:

any ideas of how to identify the driver i need?

or should i just throw a cheap vid card in the 1 open pci slot?

thanks,
mike

[GaryRouth]

Might want to see what the onboard video can do. Download and run BelArc Advisor to see what components the system is comprised of: then you'll be able to locate a driver for it. (you can post here with what you find, if you'd like). If you have the make/model of that computer, the details of its component range would be on the maker's website, too.

You can download BelArc Advisor at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

If you have no manuals of any kind, the manufacturer's websites have those too: might want to see what else is on the mainboard, such as sound, modem, and lan (network card) = you might need to enable/disable such chips depending on whether on not you wish to use them.

Best of luck, & Happy Holidays
. . . Gary

[mcslack]

hey Gary,

thanks for the advice. Belarc Advisor is a pretty cool tool. unfortunately i couldn't find any drivers for Acer Laboratories. didn't look that hard though. found an old case at my friends and ripped the vid card outta that.

am up and running.

thanks again,
mike

[mcslack]

well i thought i had it fixed. after i put the card in the system kept freezing. so i am back where i started, stuck with the 16 color display of the standard VGA. i went to the website of Acer Labs and they offer no drivers. they make the chipsets only i guess and instructed me to contact the entity that put the system together. i don't know who that is. so any ideas?

i switched the primary graphic adapter in the BIOS from onbaord to PCI. do i need to do anything else to disable the onboard video? i imagine if it wasn't totally disabled that would have caused the freezing. (i removed it from the system device manager but every time i started the machine it would want to re-install the driver, so i left it in there.)

any help would be most appreciated.

mike

[pillainp]

Try www.video-drivers.com. Might help.
What does Belarc identify your motherboard model as?

NPP

[GaryRouth]

What did BelArc list as the Acer video chip? Did it say something like "Aladdin V"? It may have abbreviated it to something starting with ALi (Acer Laboratories Incorporated). If you can find that information, that will do - We can find you a driver from that.

Or - did you notice a motherboard make/model silkscreened onto the circuit board anywhere? Or did BelArc list a model # for you? If so, post the motherboard make/model = we can search for the video chip that way also. It might be a discrete chip on the board, or it might be built into the North Bridge of the chipset.

Or - do you know if these are mostly the original components of the computer? If so, what make/model of the system? (such as GateWay SX-466, Compaq Prolinea 4100, etc)
___
You are right that having the two video drivers collide is what was causing the system to lockup. We'll need a motherboard manual to see how to disable the onboard video (they are pretty easy to find on the web). Some need a jumper set on the motherboard, some just need a bios setting changed, and some need both.

Motherboard or system or video chip info will get us a driver. My first impulse would be to try the onboard again - since it's there, and see if it will do for whatever the computer is to be used for. What PCI card did you find in the other system?

Never a dull moment
. . . Gary

[mcslack]

hey Gary,

i am away from the machine today but will get that info tomorrow to tackle this. (family is in town today). but please check this post tomorrow as i could sure use your help.

thanks,
mike

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

No problem - I can't stay away too long: tomorrow I'll need a break from cleaning the house: we have family arriving Monday night, too. Gonna hafta Vroom with the Vacuum.
. . . Gary

[mcslack]

ok, i'm back. i ran for a bit with your advice, Gary and NPP and here's what happened:

Belarc lists the Mobo as Acer Labs. Inc. (ALI) 1631 1.0. no video chip info was listed. after a bit of searching i found the AGP driver for this Mobo at ALI, downloaded and installed it and the utility with it. installed both but after rebooting it asks me for the install disk (wich i do not have) and i have to cancel out. i've searched a bit for another aprropiate driver and have found none. so what can i do next?

thanks again for your time and effort,
happy holidays, mike

[andyms18a]

when it asks for the install disk point it to the temp loc that the drivers extracted to

[mcslack]

it only gives me the option to insert disk and click ok, and it's only looking in the cdrom drive. i guess i could burn the files to a disk and try that.

[andyms18a]

when you click ok doyou not get a browes box come up

[GaryRouth]

Hi again, sorry I'm a bit late: my four-year-old has come down with a flu. (don't worry, while she's not feeling her best, she should be able to enjoy her Christmas morning anyway - the worst of the flu seems over)

Sounds like what you are installing is a chipset driver for helping the chipset work with the AGP slot, as well as it's onboard built-in nVidia TNT2 graphics (which is built into the North Bridge of the ALi 1631 "Aladdin TNT2" chipset).

See if you can look on the motherboard itself for some identification. The ALi 1631 tells us what chipset, but doesn't identify the manufacturer/model of the motherboard. It may turn out to be an AOPEN, which is a subsidiary of Acer: but we'll need a model # to get the right driver. Acer/ALi doesn't provide reference drivers like Intel, SiS and Via do. ALi prefers that you get the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer.

So, try and find some more motherboard info. If the BelArc info is too sparse, and you'd rather not open up the case, you can try SiSoft Sandra - another system analysis set of tools, also with a free download version: http://www.sisoftware.co.uk

Best of Luck & Happy Holidays
. . . Gary

[mcslack]

Hi Gary,

hope your daughter is feeling better. my friend is out of town until tomorrow so i'll pop open the case and /or try SiSoft Sandra then and get back to you.

thanks,
mike

[mcslack]

ok, i give up. i tried running Sandra and it gave me the same mobo info as belarc. i opened the case and only a few chips are labeled, no identifying marks anywhere else. so, realizing i've put 3 hours into the search and i can get a decent vid card for $20 - $30, i'm going to newegg and ordering a card. sure, i kinda feel like i'm taking the sissy way out.

anyhow thanks for all the help.

mike

[GaryRouth]

Happy 2003 Mike

Hope you have good luck if you try a new card. You'll need to poke around for a way to disable your current onboard video first, though, to avoid future problems. There will either be a jumper on the motherboard, a Disable option in the Bios Setup screens, or both. (That's why a manual for the board would be such a godsend). And see if you can uninstall the drivers from Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Before you install the new card & it's drivers, switch to the Standard VGA driver:
Go to Device Manager
Click on Display Adapter
Click on the nVidia TnT2
Click on Properties
Click on Driver
Click on Update Driver
Click on Next
Click on "Display a list of all drivers..."
Click on Next
Click on "Show all Hardware"
Click on Next
in the left hand pane, select "Standard Display Devices"
(you'll need to scroll to the top of the list to see it)
Then select Standard VGA from the list in the box on the right.

Sorry it took me so long to reply - - - I just got back from a vacation up in the mountains. (The little ones were feeling fine, and had pretty good aim with all the snowballs they were throwing . . . )

Best of luck
. . . Gary