S
sauron42
Guest
Here's a mind bender for you.
Hope the collective consciousness can provide some insight.
The configuration:
TBird 1333
Epox 8k5a2+ (KT333)
512MB DDR
2x 40GB Maxtor HDD
several GF4 4200's
SB Live Player
DLink DFE 530-TX
400W power suppply
Windows XP Pro
The problem:
A seemingly random time after a clean Win-install, the Geforce4 driver will fail to start upon boot. Desktop will appear in 640x480 resolution 4 bit color, or, very rarely if I'm lucky, in 800x600x256.
In Device Manager the following error is displayed for the display adapter: "The device failed to start (code 10)". Translated, that means the driver could not start due to the hardware being absent.
Before this failure everything would work just fine, system is 100% stable. There is no traceable event that seems to trigger this problem.
After this failure there is no way to fix the system except to format and re-install or restore from a Ghost image taken before the trouble started. Well, there was one occasion where I was fed up with it one day, turned it off and when I powered up the next day it was working again (yes, I have a witness). Windows System Restore occasionally works too, mostly does not.
Things I have tried:
Two different motherboards, one KT333, one KT133A, same problem.
All versions of BIOS of both boards (even modified ones)
APIC and PIC IRQ modes.
All unneeded devices (serial ports etc.) disabled
Vga card has it's own IRQ, not shared
Different versions of Detonator drivers
Different VIA 4 in 1 drivers
With and without XP SP1
This happened with 3 different 4200's now, VisionTek, Leadtek, and now MSI. Other (older) VGA card in same system, no problem.
Some other thoughts:
The fact that a restore from backup CD fixes the problem is a good indication that this is a software malfunction.
Does anybody have any idea what could possibly be causing this?
This has been going on for over a month now and I'm fed up. If I can't resolve this soon I will have to switch over to the Dark Side, as much as I would hate to.
Hope the collective consciousness can provide some insight.
The configuration:
TBird 1333
Epox 8k5a2+ (KT333)
512MB DDR
2x 40GB Maxtor HDD
several GF4 4200's
SB Live Player
DLink DFE 530-TX
400W power suppply
Windows XP Pro
The problem:
A seemingly random time after a clean Win-install, the Geforce4 driver will fail to start upon boot. Desktop will appear in 640x480 resolution 4 bit color, or, very rarely if I'm lucky, in 800x600x256.
In Device Manager the following error is displayed for the display adapter: "The device failed to start (code 10)". Translated, that means the driver could not start due to the hardware being absent.
Before this failure everything would work just fine, system is 100% stable. There is no traceable event that seems to trigger this problem.
After this failure there is no way to fix the system except to format and re-install or restore from a Ghost image taken before the trouble started. Well, there was one occasion where I was fed up with it one day, turned it off and when I powered up the next day it was working again (yes, I have a witness). Windows System Restore occasionally works too, mostly does not.
Things I have tried:
Two different motherboards, one KT333, one KT133A, same problem.
All versions of BIOS of both boards (even modified ones)
APIC and PIC IRQ modes.
All unneeded devices (serial ports etc.) disabled
Vga card has it's own IRQ, not shared
Different versions of Detonator drivers
Different VIA 4 in 1 drivers
With and without XP SP1
This happened with 3 different 4200's now, VisionTek, Leadtek, and now MSI. Other (older) VGA card in same system, no problem.
Some other thoughts:
The fact that a restore from backup CD fixes the problem is a good indication that this is a software malfunction.
Does anybody have any idea what could possibly be causing this?
This has been going on for over a month now and I'm fed up. If I can't resolve this soon I will have to switch over to the Dark Side, as much as I would hate to.