Help! Display adapter conflict!

[Tobytook]

As Dawn appears to have opened the floodgates for this kind of thing, I'll add my own modest torrent:

A helpful family member managed to format my C Drive some time ago, so I had to reinstall Windows (I’m using '95 - no hilarious Stone Age comments, please; it's [ahem!] a financial constraint).

All is well except that I’ve got this annoying Display Adapter conflict. It doesn’t seem to have any tangible effect on operations, but I’d still like to resolve it just in case.

There are 2 Display Adapters listed under System/Device Manager:

1) Rendition Verite 1000 PCI – the one that’s working fine, it seems.
2) PCI VGA-Compatible Display Adapter – this one has the dreaded black exclamation mark with yellow backing, signifying a conflict.

I removed both and restarted the PC. New hardware was duly detected and the driver apparently found in folder Inf. I clicked Finish – all good – and my PC auto-restarted well enough. But when I checked, it was just the same as before.

I tried again, this time choosing Update Driver and searching Other Locations. The name of the required driver was vga.drv;win95_06.cab according to this feature.

I checked Windows Explorer to find this file, and it came up with one called vga.drv in Windows/System. I supposed this to be a suitable generic driver, so I repeated the process of uninstalling and forged a path to it in Update Driver/Other Locations. Sure enough, the filename vga.drv;win95_06.cab auto-changed to vga.drv when the path concluded. Everything matched up, it seemed.

I clicked OK and the system did its stuff, then prompted me to Restart, which I did.

All good? Nope. When I checked, it was exactly the same as before. Both adapters listed, the latter still with its big "!" surrounded by yellow.

In desperation I repeated the process and chose Skip File to see if vga.drv was not the only file it required. It was just that one, though, so I hadn’t missed anything.

If anyone can help me sort this out, I would be very grateful indeed.

Tobytook

 

[Darren]

Have you got a driver CD for your video card? It may be that when you re-installed Win95 you need to install the driver for the video card. Although the Win95 CD does have a lot of drivers on it they are not all there.

Is the video chip built-in to the motherboard or is it on a separate PCI card (at the back of your computer where you plug the monitor in, is the port on a plate next to the other expansion slots, or is it elsewhere, such as near to the keyboard and mouse slots).

I googled your video hardware (is that now an acceptable verb - to google?) and came up with these sites which have some info. It seems as though Rendition is the chipset, but the video card may have been made by another company.

http://www.micron.com/content.jsp?path=Products/ITG
http://www.micron.com/content.jsp?path=/Products/ITG&edID=16653

http://www.chickshardware.com/html/interviews/rendition/rendition.html

If these don't work, you could try http://www.windrivers.com/ who have loads of drivers.

Let us know how you get on.

Darren.

 

[Tobytook]

Originally posted by Darren Lewis
Have you got a driver CD for your video card? It may be that when you re-installed Win95 you need to install the driver for the video card. Although the Win95 CD does have a lot of drivers on it they are not all there.

The annoying thing here is that my CD-Rom drive is unwell at present. Actually, it's got something terminal and needs replacing - but ye olde folding green is in short supply and food takes precedence over hardware.

If I could find the driver in question online, and download it, the problem would - I think - be solved. The links you provided were helpful to a point but I couldn't find out where/what a compatible driver is. (However, if I did then the question would become: What would happen to the other Display Adapter? Would it just disappear into the ether, or would the conflict just escalate dans le mod&#232le de India & Pakistan?)

Is the video chip built-in to the motherboard or is it on a separate PCI card (at the back of your computer where you plug the monitor in, is the port on a plate next to the other expansion slots, or is it elsewhere, such as near to the keyboard and mouse slots).

I'm not being funny, but what difference does that make? I only ask because to check I'll have to shut down the system and drag everything out from its hidey-hole - an awkward task which I only usually do to clean it all.

By the way, I understand that "to google" is now a perfectly acceptable verb.

Tobytook

 

[Darren]

If the video chipset is built-in to the motherboard, then it is usually the motherboard manufacturer who will provide the drivers.

If it's on a separate PCI card then the card manufacturer is the place for support.

Do you have any CDs or manuals for the video card or motherboard which might give us a clue?

Sometimes the chip manufacturer sells the chip architecture to another company to integrate it into the card. Eg your v1000 chipset is used by these cards who all may have modified it slightly.

3D Blaster PCI by Creative Labs
Intense 3D 100 by Intergraph
Magic Video 3D by IO Magic
miroCRYSTAL VRX by Miro
Rider 3D by InnoVISION
Screamin' 3D by Sierra
Total3D by Canopus

Darren.

 

[Ell]

Tobytook,

Just a thought:
Could it be that there's nothing wrong with your adapter driver? You may just have an IRQ conflict. In which case, looking for another driver won't really help.

Look at this Windows 95 help file:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q129955

As long as everything else seems to be working, I'd just leave things as they are - I wouldn't recommend messing with IRQ settings, etc. unless you're familiar with these things. You've got a display adapter that's working, so the other is probably redundant. On the other hand, if it causes other programs to malfunction, then do something about it.

 

[Tobytook]

Where's the card? Here's the card.

Hey, Darren

Originally posted by Darren Lewis
Is the video chip built-in to the motherboard or is it on a separate PCI card (at the back of your computer where you plug the monitor in, is the port on a plate next to the other expansion slots, or is it elsewhere, such as near to the keyboard and mouse slots).

Sorry about the delay responding - especially as you were so quick to offer help.

Right, the adapter (Verité 1000-E) is a separate PCI card in exactly the position you specify: where the monitor is plugged in.

As for the other one - the one that is (seemingly) conflicted - there's no sign of it, so I suppose that means it's built-in.

And hey, Ell

Originally posted by Ell
Could it be that there's nothing wrong with your adapter driver? You may just have an IRQ conflict. In which case, looking for another driver won't really help.

Look at this Windows 95 help file:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...b;en-us;Q129955

As long as everything else seems to be working, I'd just leave things as they are - I wouldn't recommend messing with IRQ settings, etc. unless you're familiar with these things. You've got a display adapter that's working, so the other is probably redundant. On the other hand, if it causes other programs to malfunction, then do something about it.

Yeah, as I mentioned initially, there don't seem to be any tangible effects caused by the conflict (if that's what it is). I just don't like the idea of something being wrong on my computer. If the "conflicted" adapter is, as you suggest, redundant, then how can I get rid of it? Every time I remove it from Device Manager, it pops up again as New Hardware Detected when I reboot.

It was kind of you to supply the link, by the way, but none of the referenced software features on my PC.

(Oh, and the sole listing for an IRQ - again located in System/Device Manager - seems okay with "No conflicts" specified.)

Tobytook

 

[Darren]

Did you ever manage to sort out the problems?

 

[Tobytook]

Cheers for the follow-up, Darren. Sadly, no. Still glitched out. Doesn't impact upon the system noticeably, though, so I sort of forget it's there. Bit like Homer regards Maggie.

Tobytook