GX260 doesn't like XP

1. Get the (ATI) driver from Dell web site, and install it.
2. (In Safe Mode) Right-click Desktop, and then select Properties; Switch to Settings tab.
Set something neutral: ~ 800 by 600 and 16bit.
Click Advanced button; Switch to Monitor tab; Try 70 and 75 Hertz Screen refresh rates.

Hope this helps.

i have wiped the drive completely and reinstalled XP Pro and used the Dell Radeon VE driver from the site.  After the OS install the machine is still behaving erratically (the reason I wanted to wipe it to begin with)  it crashed or locked up several times during the install of other programs such as Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Office XP and Oracle 9i client.

The best one is the Acrobat reader install which reports during the install that Data1.cab is corrupt and cannot be used.  I deleted the installer, removed the temp files from C:\windows\cache and redownloaded it about 5 times.  Same thing each time.  Finally I decided to copy the installer over to my Toshiba laptop.  Worked perfectly there.  Won't work on the GX260 at all.

And tech support is all but useless.

 

 

clintrr,

By any chance, did you fail to install the chipset drivers before the other drivers?

Oh, I should also mention that right after the OS install, I installed additional drivers from the Dell site:

Intel 1000 network driver, Sound Driver, and the chipset update for my machine.

I then ran windows update until it no longer showed any critical updates.  During this process it failed several times (first time I have ever seen that happen on any machine) during updates.

Then I installed the third part software mentioned above.

chipset drivers were installed after the video driver.

I turned off quick boot and it is now showing memory errors and when i spoke to dell tech support they are basically asking me to troubleshoot the system to the point of trying to replace the memory with other memory, replace the HD with another, etc.   

oh, and tech support really, really thinks it could be web bugs...they think i need to  use a spyware scanner.  And if all else, I should wipe it again and reinstall the OS.  I guess the fact that I just did that all day today is escaping them.

 

Message Edited by clintrr on 08-04-2004 06:01 PM

Message Edited by clintrr on 08-04-2004 06:04 PM

I turned off quick boot and it is now showing memory errors...

That would certainly explain what you've been seeing. Why Support would be interested in the hard drive or Web problems when they have evidence of a memory system problem certainly isn't clear! I suspect the machine will fail the memory tests on the Resource/Diagnostic CD as well. Maybe that would help Support believe the data you already have.

(edit) You might try turning the machine off, disconnecting the AC power, opening it up, and reseating the memory modules (careful about static!).

Jim

Message Edited by jimw on 08-04-2004 06:58 PM

clintrr,

chipset drivers were installed after the video driver.   Chipset drivers should be the first thing installed after the operating system. Interactions between video drivers and the chipset drivers may explain the odd behavior of your display (since you were able to see a display when you booted into Safe Mode when the installed video driver was not loaded).

I turned off quick boot and it is now showing memory errors and when i spoke to dell tech support they are basically asking me to troubleshoot the system to the point of trying to replace the memory with other memory, replace the HD with another, etc.   If you get memory error on only one of your GX260s that may be a valid suggestion.

oh, and tech support really, really thinks it could be web bugs...they think i need to use a spyware scanner. And if all else, I should wipe it again and reinstall the OS. I guess the fact that I just did that all day today is escaping them.   If you have spyware that can survive a clean install it will be the first such I have heard of. That recommendation suggests that you exhausted the script available to deal with your problem. I'm surprised they didn't also suggest a low level format, which is also not indicated but is frequently recommended just because it sounds serious. In your position I would reinstall XP on another system (not the one indicating memory errors) with the chipset drivers before all others and see if the installation is successful.

A tech had me re-seat the memory modules when I told him about the memory error.  For giggles I switched the two modules location and when we rebooted the memory error had moved to a much lower hex address.  When I told him this, he had me go into the bios and do some really crazy key combinations.  I can't remember them all or exactly, but it was something like this.  light all three keyboard lights (caps lock, num lock, scroll lock), then hit alt-n, alt-b, alt-w or something.  It beeped on each of the alt-key presses and then we rebooted it.  No more memory errors.  What did that do????

Since then I have wiped the drive again and have started 10 interations of the 32 bit diagnostics.  We'll see what happens.

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clintrr wrote:I can't remember them all or exactly, but it was something like this.  light all three keyboard lights (caps lock, num lock, scroll lock), then hit alt-n, alt-b, alt-w or something.  It beeped on each of the alt-key presses and then we rebooted it.  No more memory errors.  What did that do????

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You reset the default system configuration, which is a pretty good thing to try whenever odd (and relatively rare) issues like this pop up.