Member Avatar for zeroth

Can someone give me some help in identifying my video card? I've added an extra computer to my net and loaded it up from scratch. Win2Kpro and it id's as a generic VGA, so the system can't find a driver for it. I've got a display but it's not very good.

I've tried all the ways suggested on the web sites I've found, looking on startup at POST (not there), actually looking at the card (there's a serial number - C11F044412 2002) but no Identifiers that I can see.

Funny thing is that I tried to change it out for a 3DFX card that I have but it give some funny beeps on startup and won't boot.

Any suggestions appreciated and thanks,

zeroth

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Short summary and practical follow‑up for future readers: the RV100 chip family is the entry‑level Radeon design (commonly sold as the Radeon 7000 / VE). Using a Windows‑2000–compatible legacy ATI/ATI‑branded driver (rather than a newer XP or generic package) is the reliable fix for that hardware. (en.wikipedia.org)

How to identify an unknown card when you have only a working VGA display: first check Device Manager’s Details → “Hardware Ids” (copy the VEN/DEV string) and use that to search for the exact chip. If Windows is unhelpful, run an identification utility (GPU‑Z or HWiNFO) under Windows or boot any Linux live image and run lspci -nn | grep -i vga to get vendor/device IDs. These methods give a clean hardware identifier you can match to drivers. (learn.microsoft.com)

Safe, practical driver workflow for Win2K era cards (in order):

  • Boot to Safe Mode (F8), open Device Manager and uninstall any display adapter entries.
  • Reboot (allow generic VGA); cancel any “Found New Hardware” prompts if they attempt to install the wrong oem driver.
  • Install a Windows‑2000 specific/legacy ATI driver package (signed Win2K packages exist for the Radeon 7000 family). If an XP/modern package was tried and produced a black screen, use a Win2K legacy package instead. If the card still leaves no display, test it in another known‑good PC to rule out hardware failure. (ibm.com)

Hardware checks and POST beeps: a long beep + three short beeps commonly points to a video/adapter or video‑memory POST failure on many BIOSes, but beep meanings vary by BIOS vendor — consult the motherboard manual. For AGP cards, also check slot/keying and BIOS AGP settings (voltages and aperture); AGP voltage/compatibility mistakes can prevent a card from working or cause damage. Reseat the card, try another slot or machine, and only then retry drivers. (biosflash.com)

Notes: correctly steered the thread toward the Radeon 7000 family and ’s DirectX tip can matter for some control panels, but the crucial point is matching the driver package to the OS and chip family — DirectX alone won’t make an incorrect driver work.

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Member Avatar for Coconut Monkey

I don't suppose you could photograph the card?

Or you could try a system information tool like Everest.

Member Avatar for zeroth

I don't have a digital camera. However, good suggestion on Everest. I ran that and it gave me ATI RV100 DDR. I went to the ATI site but they don't have that listed????

So I searched on the internet and found a driver for it and loaded it. No display. I came up in VGA mode and the card had a name, etc., driver listed, but it just won´t work in normal mode. I´ve uninstalled the driver and I´m back to the original problem.

zeroth

Member Avatar for zeroth

Oh, I forgot. When I come up in normal mode now, Win2kpro finds new hardware. It searches for a driver, finds something called oem2, when I restart, no display. It doesn´t seem to be the driver I download for ATI but nevertheless, it doesn´t work.

Member Avatar for Thong_Ispector

Most of those require Direct X to work. Install generic vga drivers, then directx then the oem driver

Member Avatar for zeroth

No, no dice. Loaded DirectX 9 and then the oem drivers and then...nothing...no display. I'm guessing I have the wrong driver but...

When I run everest, it is specific: ATI RV100 DDR

On the ATI web site there is no such card listed, even under discontinued products. However, I can find several references to this card if I do a search and several references to drivers for it. That´s where I got the driver I´m trying. It´s supposed to be for a lot of cards, including this RV100. I did go to drivers.com and they can´t find a driver referenced for RV100 either. So I´m confused.

Member Avatar for zeroth

something else weird happens when I try to install a 3DFX boards I have. It should work great, I had it in another computer for a Nanao 20 inch monitor. But in this computer when I turn it on there is a long and then 3 short beeps and the monitor doesn´t repond. I appears the computer is starting up, I just have no monitor. When I put the other video card back in, I get the same. After several on and off cycles, I finally get the single beep and the monitor starts...after that no problems.

I´m thinking this mother board is messed up. I could take the whole mess apart and try another computer frame that I have scavanged, but the processor is a little slower and I don´t want to go to all that trouble just becaus I can´t get a video board to work. Other ideas?

Thanks,
zeroth

Member Avatar for Coconut Monkey

As far as I can tell, you have an ATI Radeon 7000 video card. Therefore, this driver should be the one you need.

Member Avatar for zeroth

I did not understand at first that the main Radeon driver would work with any Radeon card, no matter how old. And when at last I did, I got a bad download. Now all is well, I got a good download and everything is working. Thanks to those who helped.

zeroth

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