Win2/XP OpenGL problem

[Tee]

I tried the Refresh Rate tools on the net...still nothing. I tried what was said in the GeForce FAQ...still nothing. But...I have a project at hand and I need your help.

This project requires some modeling in 3DSMAX and AutoCAD and a program that I can't recall it's name, the catch is it's Win2K only (I'll have a copy of it soon though). Now, in 3DSMAX it is a great help to have the viewports render in OpenGL. So I decieded to "upgrade" my graphics card just for that purpose to something not really that big. I got a GF2MX400 64MB (64-Bit)...It's not much but atleast I get real Win2K driver support. The card it's replacing is my aging Diamond Stealth III (Savage4)...it serves me well under Win98SE but in any other OS (besides Linux) it suffers graphics errors in Direct3D and a low fill rate in both D3D and OGL (don't ask me how). Anyways...I ran into a problem with this GF2MX. OpenGL just won't work, all I get is a program error. So I tried WinXP, I got the same. After multiple tries with renaming driver files and replacing with various versions, even fiddling with the registry key for OpenGL, I got varying results that either were an error or no OGL support or Software OGL support. Funny thing is that my old S4 never did that in OGL. OGL was just slow in compareson to Win98 but atleast it wasn't as slow as software. My Win2K installation carries no service packs...it's Build 2195.

I use Half-Life and QuakeIII and a small program that I wrote with GLUT to test OGL. Later I added a program that came with my OpenGL Superbible that describes what my OpenGL subsystem is capable of (extensions, buffer bits, modes, version..etc..). This program displays a small animated cube that is in OGL. Even that program gives me the error. SiSoft SANDRA says I have Hardware OpenGL support...version 1.4 even and a nice loooong list of extensions.

Which driver you ask? I tried WHQLs and the latest version I could get my hands on from the CD (40.72). I'm on 56K too, so downloading a 17MB driver isn't that easy for me. I found on the CD a 30.82 WHQL driver, still no go.

Now please don't tell me I need to either upgrade the driver version or even download a service pack, I will if I have to but....don't tell me users had to upgrade to a non-existent yet service pack/driver just to play Half-Life when it was sorta new. Sorry for the rough tone....

Now check this out. I tried a wacky idea I came up with under WinXP (I figured if I got WinXP to work I'd get Win2K to work by following the same steps with minor changes to suit Win2K) I tried the compatibility mode option (I know you'll say DUH but I don't call that a solution). HL and Q3 and anything I had with OGL in it worked (Serious Sam too) but under Win98 compatibility mode...Look at the irony, I might have to run a Win2K only program in WinXP under Win98 compatibility mode. That is NOT a solution. It works for my games under WinXP but I want to get rid of XP as I don't use it, I only "visit" it every once in a while, and I need to use it's space for my work.

Any ideas? I'm sure fresh out for now. BTW other users on the net have had similar events...but no solution was offered...yet.

Thanx for your help guys.

This is my very first GeForce card...I hope it will be a nice experience.

[saturnotaku]

Did you perform a clean Windows installation when you replaced the Savage 4? If not, odds are your problems stem from leftover files and/or registry entries.

And you have no service packs installed for Windows 2000? I know you said not to tell you this, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Install at least service pack 2. There are literally hundreds of bug and compatibility fixes that are part of this service pack. Hell, a lot of programs and games won't even run if you don't have service pack 2 for Win 2k.

[Tee]

Thanx for the reply saturnotaku...

I'll see what I can do about the SP. But I still don't get why this sort of thing happend. I did a clean up of all the files and registry entries that resulted from installing te S4 before installing the GF2MX. The funny thing is the problem in Win2K is identical to the problem in WinXP. I also tried disabling AGP just incase. The only thing that changed was GeForce2 MX/AGP/3DNow! to GeForce2 MX/PCI/3DNow!

Still the same error occured.

I'll keep working on it though.

[saturnotaku]

So I gather you did not do a clean install when you changed from the S3 to the NVIDIA card. If that's true, then there's where your problem lies. I think if you formatted and reinstalled Windows your problems would likely go away.

[VeritechK7]

or at least patch up the system. Try that first as you seem to have right detonators in hand

system specs?

[Tee]

Originally posted by saturnotaku
So I gather you did not do a clean install when you changed from the S3 to the NVIDIA card. If that's true, then there's where your problem lies. I think if you formatted and reinstalled Windows your problems would likely go away.

Unfortunately I can't just format and re-install...but since I practically re-wrote the S4s INF file to install it my way, I know where everything goes and what files are installed (I checked the INF file during the clean up as well just incase I missed somthing). I also checked if any of the files create registry keys on there own...none did so (The power of Hexadecimal editing + registry searching). Simply put I'm not in a good position to reformat or re-install windows. I'll have to do too many things all over again. I'm used to "cleaning" windows :)

Also I'm known (among my friends) to be the most against re-installing windows since it's just a program like all else....can be cleaned up and run like new. But I'll try re-installing if it's my only option left.

I have 5 OS'es on my PC. 1 of them is Win98SE that is over 3 years old (single install)...I even went as far as copying it from drive to drive as it is completely stable even after changing hardware around (and cleaning up ofcourse).

Thanks for the tip...

Originally posted by VeritechK7
or at least patch up the system. Try that first as you seem to have right detonators in hand

system specs?

I'm working on downloading SP2 (101MB) so that part is going to be fulfilled soon I hope.

My system specs are very old:
AMD K6-III 400 @ 420 (400 still didn't solve the problem...I only overclocked recently)
GigaByte GA-5AA MoBo
128 MB RAM
XFX GeForce2 MX-400 64MB
C-media 8738 sound
LAN
Mobem
40GB, 10GB

OSes: Win98SE, Win2K, WinXP, Win98SE (for games), RH Linux 7.2 (hybrid with 7.3) (non of these know the other exists)

If it a compatibility problem then so be it...I'll see what I can do (read: UPGRADE)...But why does it work in Win98SE and WinXP (compatibility mode)?

I'll keep digging in the system....probably I'll find a registry key some where that's bugging it.

If it's a hardware/software problem with big proportions...I don't think compatibility mode in WinXP would have worked....although the program EXE is not responsive after it's closed.

Thanks for all your help guys...I appreciate it.

Edit:I can't spell :rolleyes:

Edit: I'll give the format a shot in WinXP...I only need to find that CD first

[Tee]

Service Pack 2 downloaded and installed.

No effect.


Pending WinXP reformat....(CD not found yet)