Strange video problem.

FireElements · Jan 22, 2008, 08:57 PM

First it should be noted that everything was working perfect. I shut down my computer for the weekend and when I came back to turn it on this all happened. As far as I know, nobody touched it and nothing has been changed from when it worked. I have a Sapphire Radeon X1800XT, was using 7.11 drivers.

I come home and turn my computer on and it shows the Windows loading screen and when it loads in Windows (XP), the screen goes completely blank. The computer is still running as I can hear the sounds and played around in it a bit. But the screen is entirely blank. I tried safe mode, which works fine. I uninstalled the video drivers and the computer boots fine, showing the screen and everything. I can change the resolution around and everything but my screen's resolution isn't showing since I don't think it's a default resolution (more on that later). So I decide to install the latest drivers, 8.1. Install them, restart, same problem. Screen goes entirely blank. I also try the latest Omega drivers, same thing. I've tried Driver Cleaner and all that.

Here's a few things that have me puzzled, though. First, the fact this is happening at all just randomly. Next, I did a registry edit to give me a 1680x1050 resolution (when I didn't have drivers installed) and all I got was a black screen. I also thought maybe the resolution was a problem, so I set a game to run in 800x600 and while in normal mode with drivers installed I navigated to it (with a black screen) and heard it load up, but my screen was still black. Also, I've booted into VGA mode and if I try to set the resolution or colors to anything than what they started as in that mode (640x480) I'd get the black screen.

Something even more interesting happened when I installed the Omega drivers. It booted into normal mode with a 640x480 resolution and 16 colors and if I tried to set it to anything else I'd get a black screen.

I'm completely stumped. Anybody?

Dyre Straits · Jan 23, 2008, 01:05 AM

Have you tried connecting to the secondary output?

**Mousey** · Jan 23, 2008, 11:00 AM

It's eitheir as Dyre says and the output could be faulty or your GPU could be damaged on the card. With the original X1550 i bought for this system it only worked in hardware mode, after i installed the drivers i'd eitheir get 16 bit 640x480 colour like you said or i'd get black screens with shet loads of lines and tearing.
Try using the second output, and perhaps try the card in another machine or on a seperate windows installation (a new one).
And if all else fails then i'd say the GPU is damaged.

FireElements · Jan 23, 2008, 04:11 PM

Exact same thing on the second output. I was afraid the card had just gone bad. It's still under warranty, actually. Would this be covered under it?

FireElements · Feb 9, 2008, 07:29 PM

Interesting. I was about ready to RMA it and I figured I'd try one more thing. I had the card out of the system and put it back in, booted up, installed 8.1 drivers, and...it's just magically working again? It's working fine, it seems. Only problem is the CCC doesn't work. I've tried uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling, but the CCC refuses to work. I can see the CCC.exe program is running, but it refuses to open up. Any suggestions on that?

**temeteus82** · Feb 10, 2008, 03:09 AM

make sure that .Net framework 2.0 is installed and updated. It should be installed before installing the drives.

Jan 22, 2008, 08:57 PM	#1
FireElements DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 189 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Strange video problem. First it should be noted that everything was working perfect. I shut down my computer for the weekend and when I came back to turn it on this all happened. As far as I know, nobody touched it and nothing has been changed from when it worked. I have a Sapphire Radeon X1800XT, was using 7.11 drivers. I come home and turn my computer on and it shows the Windows loading screen and when it loads in Windows (XP), the screen goes completely blank. The computer is still running as I can hear the sounds and played around in it a bit. But the screen is entirely blank. I tried safe mode, which works fine. I uninstalled the video drivers and the computer boots fine, showing the screen and everything. I can change the resolution around and everything but my screen's resolution isn't showing since I don't think it's a default resolution (more on that later). So I decide to install the latest drivers, 8.1. Install them, restart, same problem. Screen goes entirely blank. I also try the latest Omega drivers, same thing. I've tried Driver Cleaner and all that. Here's a few things that have me puzzled, though. First, the fact this is happening at all just randomly. Next, I did a registry edit to give me a 1680x1050 resolution (when I didn't have drivers installed) and all I got was a black screen. I also thought maybe the resolution was a problem, so I set a game to run in 800x600 and while in normal mode with drivers installed I navigated to it (with a black screen) and heard it load up, but my screen was still black. Also, I've booted into VGA mode and if I try to set the resolution or colors to anything than what they started as in that mode (640x480) I'd get the black screen. Something even more interesting happened when I installed the Omega drivers. It booted into normal mode with a 640x480 resolution and 16 colors and if I tried to set it to anything else I'd get a black screen. I'm completely stumped. Anybody?

Jan 23, 2008, 11:00 AM	#3
Mousey Bang. Bang. Bang. Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5,420 Rep Power: 105 System Specs	It's eitheir as Dyre says and the output could be faulty or your GPU could be damaged on the card. With the original X1550 i bought for this system it only worked in hardware mode, after i installed the drivers i'd eitheir get 16 bit 640x480 colour like you said or i'd get black screens with shet loads of lines and tearing. Try using the second output, and perhaps try the card in another machine or on a seperate windows installation (a new one). And if all else fails then i'd say the GPU is damaged. __________________ Visit hardWIRED - Back up and running, The Wiki is back Who we are, is but a stepping stone to what we can become.

Jan 23, 2008, 04:11 PM	#4
FireElements DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 189 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Exact same thing on the second output. I was afraid the card had just gone bad. It's still under warranty, actually. Would this be covered under it?

Feb 9, 2008, 07:29 PM	#5
FireElements DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 189 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Interesting. I was about ready to RMA it and I figured I'd try one more thing. I had the card out of the system and put it back in, booted up, installed 8.1 drivers, and...it's just magically working again? It's working fine, it seems. Only problem is the CCC doesn't work. I've tried uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling, but the CCC refuses to work. I can see the CCC.exe program is running, but it refuses to open up. Any suggestions on that?