Error Message: PCI Express Card is operating in x1 mode

Message Edited by rick000 on 08-22-2005 06:43 AM

It wouldn't have run if you tried to put it in a x1 slot. It's like a quarter of the size of the x16 slot.

I'm presuming something is blocking the contacts in the slot itself (i.e. a piece of paper or something). Try removing the card and checking if there is anything in the slot.

I looked at my "device" settings and there are no problems. I have the GEFORCE with 256 MB on it. I tried out setting the display to the highest possible setting (32 bit at 1280x1064 with highest refresh rate) and it did that with no problems at all. So I am pretty certain that the video card isn't installed incorrectly.

Also, I put it the video card back in the exact same slot it was in when I received it from Dell. When the new RAM is installed the Video Card fits fine. The end piece of the RAM slot is folded up.

It was just that when there is no RAM in the slot, the end piece folds down and is underneath the video card. So it just takes un-installing the video card to install the RAM and then it all fits back in place when it is re-installed.

Maybe there is just something I have to change on the set-up screen that I am not seeing. When I was having problems with the computer not seeing the new RAM, the Dell echat person told me to "flash the BIOS". I did that, and maybe there is something I need to do in the settings because of that. (BTW "flashing the BIOS" did not solve the problem I had with the RAM. I just had to play around with putting the existing RAM and the new RAM in different slots to find a place for them that the computer recognized all the RAM. No one on Dell phone support or Dell echat had the solution. I eventually fixed it on my own.)

Maybe this question would be better directed in "upgrades"? ... I'm hoping to find the answer here on the forum for this problem - - as it is not nearly as frustrating as dealing with either the phone support or echat support with Dell.

Message Edited by beckkay on 08-22-2005 02:19 AM

Hey I get this same error message (PCI Express Card is operating in x1 mode).  If you ever found a fix for this please drop me an email.  Thanks.

I will give you a link to follow advice I received in another community heading. The person that gave me the advice is very high rated, so I am pretty sure it will work. The link gives you information for "CLEARING CMOS SETTINGS".

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4700/sm/syssetup.htm#wp1052769

I hit F1 every time I log-in, and have been doing it since August now. I haven't followed the instructions because I dread opening up my case again, and the aftermath if this fix fails, and instead makes things worse.

I know I NEED to take care of this, but I really am afraid of doing what I was advised to do, as this is a completely new procedure to me.

IF you have luck, please post again - - - you'll make me brave! ;-)

Hey i've tried clearing the CMOS, is not really a big deal. But that didn't fix the problem. I got some advice from someone else. I downloaded this utility called PC Wizard 2006. which detects all the info inside your computer ( Motherboard - pci info - memory info - video card info- sound card info and so on ) One thing that I notice is that in the program it said that I had two PCi-E SLOTS, but their only capable of doing X1. It's weird since the chipset on the motherboard is Intel 925x wich is capable of doing x16 but i guess Dell locked or tweaked the motherboard since they manufactured it, or i just got a bad motherboard. Either way i'm out of warranty so i'm out of luck. My motherboard info is as follow

General Information :
Product : 0U7084
Version : Unspecified
Serial Number :
Support MP : Yes, 1 CPU(s)
Version MPS : 1.4

Chassis Information :
Manufacturer : Dell Inc.
Type : Mini Tower
Version : Unspecified
Serial Number :
Asset : Unspecified


On-Board Device Information :
Device : Broadcom 5751 NetXtreme Gigabit Controller (Ethernet)

Slots Information :
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v
Slot PCI-Express : Available (x1) 3.3v
Slot PCI : In Use (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v ?????????
Slot PCI-Express : In Use (x16) 3.3v ????????? This is where the problem lies. It says is using the X16 slot but when I boot up I get this message that says

"!Alert video card operating at X1 press F1 to continue (to windows) press F2 to enter setup (bios Setup)

PCI-Express Information :
Number of PEG connectors : 2

Bus PCI-Express :
Device : 82925X/XE Host-PCI Express Graphics Bridge
Version : 1.0
Port : 2
Physical Slot : #0
Slot Populated : Yes ?????????
Link Width : x1 (max. x1) ???????<------------------- Slot populated X1 and it max X1 now above it says that I'm using slot X16.

Link Speed : 2.5 GB/s

Bus PCI-Express :
Device : GeForce 6800 [NV41.1]
Version : 1.0
Port : 0
Link Width : x1 (max. x16)
Link Speed : 2.5 GB/s

Mine did not start with that error message until I added the extra memory card to it. I will try the software you recommend. That sounds like a great idea.

Thank you for writing to urge me on to get this mess fixed before I am NOT in my warranty period. The Dell computer I purchased from a 2nd seller (QVC) and the memory I purchased direct from Dell are still under warranty.

When I call Dell I will be armed with whatever the software you recommend tells me is wrong with my computer when I call them. If THEY tell me to clear the CMOS and it blows up (lol) at least it will be something they told me to do!

Then whatever happens after that is their problem. ;-)

I'm happy I have a 3 year warranty. I put up with the boot problem for a long time - gave up on a fix.

Then a couple of months ago I started getting the "blue screen of death" daily - sometimes 3 times a day. Finally it wouldn't even boot up.

I called Dell, and they sent a repairman the NEXT DAY and he put in a brand new mother board. It has run perfectly ever since.

If you still have a warranty - call them!

Since trying to deal with the problem myself with someone in the Dell call center that I could NOT understand, I assumed that having a repairman come out would be equally excruciating. I was so WRONG!

I'm still floored that he came and fixed it THE NEXT DAY! I kick myself for all those months of putting up with having to push an F key every time I booted up!

Yes, you have a three year warranty that costs about one third as much as your computer did. Because of this extortion, Dell can afford to send out a chap the NEXT DAY and fit another appallingly cheap motherboard, filled with cheap parts and chips, to your new computer that should not have failed so quickly in the first place.

THIS makes you HAPPY?

Hmmmm.

It makes me think...How long are we all going to put up with this over priced rubbish we keep getting sold by the comnputer industry wide boys?

Microsoft, for example; who sell us "software" that has not even been finished correctly, costs a small fortune, lasts about three years, the public have to write their own add-in programs to make it work at all, and it has to be patched with a massive level of add-on software to even work at any where near an acceptable standard. Would we put up with car makers, or carpenters doing this? I think not.

I am UNHAPPY and I think we should all be.

Message Edited by freemycatfish on 03-09-2007 04:46 PM

Message Edited by freemycatfish on 03-09-2007 04:47 PM

So it seems to have been an overheating problem caused by a faulty fan? Thanks for this.

They didn't replace my fan ... just the motherboard. It seems we got the same error msg for different reasons.

And "freemycatfish", I didn't pay extra for the 3 year warranty. It was included in the purchase price.

I bought it from a very large retailer that purchases thousands of units at a time from Dell. Thus, the price was much cheaper than I would have paid if I purchased it directly from Dell and ordered the same configuration with a 3 year warranty.

Also, it was MY FAULT that I didn't get it fixed sooner! I could have asked for service within the first year - and I surely would have if I only had a one year warranty. I just knew I had a long warranty and so I got lazy about it and didn't ask for service until it escalated to the "blue screen of death".

Anyway, "freemycatfish", I hope the fan fixed YOUR problem and made you happier, as I don't think we "all should be mad" (as you suggested). lol

Then you were indeed fortunate AND at fault. Where I live the only possible way to get a computer from Dell is by buying directly from them and the warranty is an added and very expensive extra.

My apologies to you mam!

However (lol. There is always an "However.") I think you are wrong and we SHOULD get mad. Mad as . Computer equipment makers, computer makers and software manufacturers have been ripping off the public for years. Think, for instance about the price of an ink cartridge for a printer. These things last virtually no time at all if you use your printer a lot and yet they cost a comparative fortune. Then there is the cost of computer memory. Many people think that the price of memory should be 2/3rds less than it is and others think it should be even cheaper.

There is virtually no reason why CD players for computers should cost so much and the price of software is a scandal. Computers that can cost a great deal of money, seem bring with them a shorter and shorter life span that the companies get around by selling extraordinarily expensive "warranties."

Much of Microsoft’s products is unfinished and has to be re-written by the public to make it work on an acceptable level and this is now becoming a trend used by games manufacturers also.

All in all the computer industry is a mess and this board is testament to that mess. Reading through the posts here it is obvious that many, many people are having unacceptable breakdowns with virtually new equipment. Getting help, even when you have a warranty is not as straight forwards for many as it appears. I myself was forced to give up seeking help on this board and get an independent expert in to sort out my problems. In the end, I lost a massive amount of data that has caused all kinds of problems.

An investigation into this industry by the authorities is long overdue.

In the meantime. I am as mad as and will stay that way until something changes.