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I've installed plenty of graphics cards before, but this has got me stumped.
My AGP graphics card appeared to be on its way out so I picked up a cheap replacement, a ASUS AH3450 based. I did the usual, uninstalled the current drivers, powered down, turned of the psu and installed the new card and attached the auxillary power cord. When I pressed the power button up popped the BIOS screen and ran through its POST. I looked away and when I looked back I had a blank screen and the monitor LED had turned from green (indicating a signal) to orange (indicating no signal.
I reseated the card and the same thing happened, I tried another output on the card with the same result. Closer inspection shows that the BIOS screen display fine (and I can enter the BIOS config. screens). After the POST the screen blanks and I get the cursor blinking away for a few seconds in the top left (as XP does just before is boots) but as soon as the XP startup screen should disply, the display dies. The harddrive continues to run and when it stops I can enter my logon password - and off it goes again, so Windows is loading.
Booting into safe mood doesn't help either. I don't think that the card's duff, it may be some sort of conflict, but I am stuck. Any thoughts as to what to try?
Does it require an additional power connection? If it does and it's not connected, the GPU will be fine on startup, but fail on OS boot.
It does require an additional power connector which is fitted (if it's not I get a serious of beeps and no POST on power up). I'm pretty stuck as to what to try next.
have you only got 1 agp port if not try the 2nd, try a different monitor if you have one, unplug and replugin the monitor and try the on off button a few times on it. if not take the card back.
I've only got the 1 AGP slot and I have tried a second monitor, all with the same effect. I'm still inclined to think it's a software/hardware conflict but have got in touch with ASUS to see what they say.
Sadly the card was an Ebay 'bargain' in that someone had bought an AGP card they couldn't use, but that doesn't help me, at least it was only £25.
Any joy booting into safe mode - I know you said they were uninstalled, but may this indicate a driver problem if you can?
[i]edit : Ignore, just re-read the OP![/i]
you can still send them the card back, asus is a ballache tbh, ive had lots of their products and the drivers and support is bollocks, it sounds like uve been sold a dud
As a last resort, stick your old one back in. Back up and do a clean install with the new card
The same happens when I try to boot into safe mode. I don't have another OS or bootable CD to try, in case it is an XP issue.
id just send the card back mate and get another
Are there any other cards fitted you could remove and test again?
Is the AGP card definitely compatible with the AGP on your motherboard?
Same voltage etc?
Assuming that the PSU is delivering enough power, it sounds like it's broke to me. If you've significantly upgraded on the previous card though, it could be that the PSU's just not up to it?
What's the motherboard make / model?
When you say your existing card is 'on its way out', what symptoms are you getting? Ie, could both these issues be symptomatic of Something Else?
The cards not a significant upgrade on the old one, perhaps a model up. The psu should be up to the job, I think it's 600W and it's just an old Pentium D dual core system, nothing too power hungry. I've got an ancient AGP card in now and that's solid.
I'm beginning to believe it is the card. If I let the boot process run I hear the Windows logon sound, but have a blank screen. I've removed all the other cards with the same effect. Now here's something odd, if I disable 'Quick Boot' in the bios, the bios screen appears but then the system won't post, the screen goes blank almost immediately.
Now I just need to find out if I'm stuck with a duff card or if ASUS UK might RMA it.
It could be the resolution that the new card is defaulting to in Windows cannot be displayed by your monitor.
Boot with the old card and change the resolution to the lowest setting and 16 bit colour. Then swap in the new card and see what happens.
if I disable 'Quick Boot' in the bios, the bios screen appears but then the system won't post
It's broke, that. One of the things Quick Boot will do is remove the graphics card's splash screen; if it's keeling over when trying to display the ASUS splash then it's categorically a hardware problem, you can immediately forget about anything to do with Windows / drivers / settings etc.
One thing I'd try before writing it off, it's a 4-pin MOLEX on that card isn't it? Make sure there's no disk drives or anything daisy-chained onto the same cable you're using for the card.