# problem with radeon 9800 xxl



## xarnan (Aug 20, 2005)

hi im new here. ihave a problem with my video card (obviously  ) . whenever i start a game using either openGL or 3d my computer freezes as soon as the ingame graphics start. when this happens the only thing i can do is restart and it usually dont post an error report. when i get an error message it says that the graphics accelerator had been reset as it wasnt responding (or something like it). im using a medion computer (the ones you buy in aldi) with an radion 9800 xxl card. it was running fine just a few days ago... 
tried restoring the factory settings and reinstalling drivers (tried both the one from medions HP and the catalyst 5.8 from ati) but it didn't help. if anyone has any ideas as to what could be wrong plz help 

thanks in advance 
Xarnan


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Hi and welcome to TSF!

Can you share what your system specifications are?

CPU:
RAM:
Motherboard:
PSU: (amperes and brand)
OS:


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## xarnan (Aug 20, 2005)

not so computer savvy but will try :sayyes: 

CPU: pentium 4 intel 2.9 GHz 
RAM: 512 mb
Motherboard: where can i check  
PSU: where can i check 
OS:XP home edition

http://www.billigdrucker.de/article3355.html
its the one on the left in german but kinda self explanatory


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

You can get the motherboard info (as well as info about everything else) with Everest. You can get the motherboard info by clicking the "+" to the left of "Motherboard" in the list on the left, then click "Motherboard" in the sublist which opens up. The "Motherboard Name" and "Company Name" tell you what kind of motherboard it is. Make sure to include whether it has an AGP or PCI-Express slots.

The other thing you could do is include your DXDiag info. That gives all the information about your drivers. To do that do the following:
1) Click "Start".
2) Click "Run".
3) Type in _dxdiag_.
4) Click "OK".
5) Click "Save All Information"
6) Save the dxdiag.txt file.
7) Include the dxdiag.txt file as an attachment to your next post.


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## xarnan (Aug 20, 2005)

thanks mate :grin: 
hope it works


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

There are a couple of drivers you should upgrade. I'm not sure it will fix your problem but you should do this first. It's best to get your drivers in order before trying other stuff.


> Name: Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to AGP Controller - 2571
> Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2571&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\3&13C0B0C5&0&08
> Driver: C:\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\AGP440.SYS, 5.01.2600.0000 (English), 8/17/2001 21:58:00, 25472 bytes


Your AGP driver is old. You should download these chipset drivers and install them.

The other thing I'd do is download DirectX 9.0c from Microsoft. Some games get picky about not running 9.0c.


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## xarnan (Aug 20, 2005)

tried to upgrade the things you suggetsed and the directx 9.0c worked fine but the agp driver doesn't seem to want to update. even though it installed the file just fine it still lists the driver as being from 2001(see attach for detail)


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## jonss (Mar 13, 2005)

Radeon drivers need to be uninstalled completely before upgrading. The link provided will walk you through how it's done.

Jon


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

This is the AGP driver I'm used to seeing for Intel 865s.


> Name: Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to AGP Controller - 2571
> Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2571&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\3&13C0B0C5&0&08
> Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\AGP440.SYS, 5.01.2600.2180 (English), 8/3/2004 18:07:42, 42368 bytes


It's not the most critical component so if installing the Intel chipset drivers didn't update it then I wouldn't worry about it.

It might be a good idea to do the thorough version of uninstalling and reinstalling the latest drivers from ATI. That's done by uninstalling your current drivers, rebooting in safe mode and running DriverCleaner, and then installing your new drivers. It makes sure you didn't mess up your drivers and DriverCleaner takes care of cleaning out the registry for you. There are instructions on how to do that here.

If you didn't make any software changes at all when the thing stopped working then you may have some kind of hardware problem. I'd check that your power supply voltages are okay (instructions here). It's also a good idea to make sure the power supply can deliver enough amps on the 12 volt rail. You can get the current ratings from a sticker on the side of the power supply.

One hardware related thing that's easy to try is slowing down your AGP port with SMARTGART (instructions here). Sometimes an unstable AGP port will cause the card to crash or hang up as soon as you go into 3D mode.


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## xarnan (Aug 20, 2005)

ok have tries most of the things outline in the suggestins above and the only thing i have found is that my video card fan isn't runnig. Now this leads to me asking is the video card fan supposed to be runnign at all times or only when the card gets hot ??


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

The fan on a 9800XT runs all the time. If it has stopped then you've probably damaged your GPU (graphics processing unit). You can see if the video card is still capable of working by running the computer with the side of the case removed and aiming a desk fan at the video card. You can also try underclocking the GPU as explained here. It may still work if you underclock the GPU enough and have a fan blowing on it again. I've seen that before with 9800 Pros which had dead fans. You just have to test and see what clock rate the thing is capable of handling now. If the card can still work at a decent speed then you can replace the fan with an after market fan/heatsink or put a slot cooler in the slot next to the 9800XT.


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## Mealworm (Aug 9, 2005)

I've been having a similar problem with one of my computers and i tracked down this info on ATI's web site, i hope it helps.
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"DEVICE DRIVER is STUCK IN INFINITE LOOP" or VPU Recover errors in Windows XP 
This issue affects the following system configurations: 
Windows XP 
Any ATI display card
Based on our experience, the error "The drivers for the display adapter got stuck in an INFINITE LOOP" is a result of a system communication mishap. On some systems, the error "Unable to complete a drawing operation", or an ATI VPU recover error may also occur. 

This error does not occur on all system configurations.

This issue can occur using any motherboard or graphics chipset along with the Windows XP Operating system. It appears that in most cases this problem is due to a BIOS setting, specifically options affecting the way the RAM, CPU and graphics card communicate with XP and DirectX. Improper timing settings can result in system lock ups or random system reboots. 

This issue also affects different makes and models of video cards from various manufacturers.

In attempt to gather more information on why this error occurs, ATI developed a component to catch when the INFINITE LOOP occurs. This component is called VPU Recover. If the display driver detects that the graphics processor has hung, VPU Recover will attempt to reset the graphics processor, eliminating the need for a system reboot.

VPU errors can occur mostly while using 3D applications and games. This error has also been known to occur in 2D applications as well. 

This error message may occur in the virtual video adapter driver that is used by Symantec PCAnywhere. If PCAnywhere is installed on a computer where this error message occurs, visit the Symantec Web site to determine if there are any available fixes for your version of PCAnywhere.

At the present time ATI is still gathering information on the Infinite Loop condition. 

The following suggestions may help to correct this issue:

Verify that the system has updated software 
Adjust basic settings within the system BIOS 
Adjust advanced settings with the system BIOS 
Test with different hardware configurations 
1. Verifying that the system has updated software

a) Update the display drivers.
Ensure that you have installed the latest ATI CATALYST software for your ATI product. Drivers for your video card can be found on the ATI website. 

b) Ensure that all three DirectX Features are enabled. 
Run the available tests to ensure that each of the three components pass. 

c) Update your motherboard chipset driver software. 
Updating your AGP chipset drivers can add stability to the PC and may help to prevent the Infinite Loop error from occurring. 

d) Use the ATI SMARTGART utility to adjust AGP Reads/Writes.
In newer revisions of the Catalyst Drivers, a feature called SMARTGART was introduced. With the latest ATI CATALYST software installed, you can use the ATI SMARTGART settings to adjust the Fast Writes and AGP BUS speed. 

Select the "Start" menu -> click on "RUN" -> type "SMARTGART" -> click OK. 

Ensure that both the AGP Read and Write settings are On. If these are set to OFF, then enable them and restart Windows as prompted. As a test you should try disabling the AGP Write setting. NOTE- AGP Writes may not be enabled on all chipsets.

e) Update the motherboard BIOS. Any updates can be found on the motherboard manufacturer's website.

f) Make sure you have an adequate power supply.


2. Basic BIOS options.

NOTE: These options may vary depending on the type/version of your system. You may or may not have all these options present.

Video BIOS Shadow - DISABLED 
Init Primary Display - AGP (Toggle this setting if your video card is PCI) 
AGP MASTER 1W/S READ/WRITE - ENABLED/DISABLED (Toggle this option) 
AGP Aperture size - 128 MB 
AGP Driving Control - AUTO 
Disable AGP 8x/4x mode in the BIOS. 
Disable AGP Fast Writes in the BIOS. 
AGP Driving Control - AUTO 
AGP Performance Control - ENABLED/DISABLED (Toggle this option) 
Assign IRQ for VGA - ENABLED 
System Bios Cacheable - DISABLED 
Video BIOS Cacheable - DISABLED 
VIDEO RAM Cacheable - DISABLED 
Read Around Write - ENABLED/DISABLED (toggle this setting) 
PnP OS installed - YES

3. BIOS Settings for ADVANCED USERS:

NOTE: These options may vary depending on the type/version of your system. You may or may not have all these options.

Load optimized defaults in your BIOS 
Set your memory settings to default values (I.e.. DRAM Timing = SPD) 
Lower the memory frequency to 133/166mhz (effectively DDR266/333mhz) 
If available increase AGP Voltage to 1.6 - 1.8 in the BIOS 
SDRAM Cycle length - 2.5 
Bank Interleave - ENABLE/DISABLE (toggle this setting - It will only make a difference if you have more than one memory module.) 
DRAM Burst length - 4

4. Recommended Hardware changes:

Test system with a single memory module if multiples are being used 
Test with different memory modules. 
Test with a different Power supply 
Disable/Remove ALL non-essential hardware i.e. sound card, network card, additional HDD etc. 
Test the video card in a different PC
Additional Information on the Infinite Loop:

Staying Out Of The Loop - http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64

Microsoft Knowledge Base - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q293078


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