Quick Start Manual
21
TROUBLESHOOTING
This section contains a list of symptoms that may indicate a problem with your software or hardware and some
troubleshooting steps you can take to solve the problem. If you still have problems after trying our suggestions or
if you’re having a problem that is not described below, please contact us. We’ll be glad to assist you. See the
“CONTACTING GAINWARD” section in this manual for more details.
The system doesn’t boot when it’s turned on, there is no display, and the PC beeps abnormally.
This probably means that your new display adapter isn’t correctly seated in the PCI-E or AGP slot. Try the
following:
1.
Turn off your PC.
2.
Remove your new Gainward display adapter from the PCI-E or AGP slot and reseat it. The card should fit
into the bus slot perfectly, without extra “fingers” that do not match the slot.
3.
Re-attach the monitor cable to your Gainward card and turn on the PC’s power. If the problem persists
repeat step 2
4.
If you have another PC available, you may wish to try installing the display adapter in another PC before
calling Gainward. This will help narrow down the cause of the problem.
The system appears to boot normally when it’s turned on but there is no display on the monitor.
This probably means that your monitor isn’t operating or isn’t connected to the display adapter correctly. Try the
following:
1.
While the PC is still on, make sure that the monitor is plugged into an electrical outlet and is turned on.
2.
Turn off your PC. Reattach the monitor’s video cable to your display adapter. This helps rule out the
possibility of a loose connection between the display adapter and the monitor. Verify that the display
adapter is still tightly seated in its bus slot.
3.
Turn on power to your PC. If the problem still occurs take another look at the monitor. Many monitors have
an indicator or display that tells you whether or not the monitor is receiving a video signal from the display
adapter. This information will help if you have to contact Gainward.
4.
If necessary remove the Gainward card and reinstall your old display adapter to verify that the monitor
works correctly with the old display adapter.
Quick Start Manual
22
An application doesn’t display correctly or behaves erratically after Gainward display drivers were
installed.
This might indicate a problem with our display driver or a hardware compatibility issue. To narrow down the cause
of the problem try the following:
1.
Temporarily switch to the standard VGA driver. Your PC will operate in a low-resolution environment and
you won’t have accelerated display performance, but this is a good way to see if the problem is related to
the display driver.
2.
Check our web site to see if an updated display driver has been made available for your product.
3.
Enter your motherboards CMOS setup, (Press [CTRL]-[Alt]-[Del] during Power-On-Self-Test) and load
“Fail-safe settings” Consult the user manual of your motherboard to learn how to do this.
4.
Most AGP-based display adapters require their own hardware interrupt. On most motherboards this feature
is not enabled by default. Consult the user manual of your motherboard to learn how to make these
changes.
5.
On most motherboards the first PCI slot to the left of the AGP (or PCI-E) slot, shares one hardware interrupt
with the AGP slot. The hardware interrupt on this PCI slot is hard-wired and can’t be changed. Make sure
not to place any PCI card right beside the AGP slot.
6.
If the problem still occurs you may need to contact Gainward.
The system appears to boot normally when it’s turned on. The monitor comes on and shows the Power
On Self Test. The moment Windows’ desktop starts, the monitor turns off or shows a message “Out of
Range”.
This indicates that you (or Windows) chose a resolution and/or refresh rate that the monitor is not capable of
handling. This is known to happen on a few occasions where Windows 98, Windows 98SE or Windows ME
installs a “Default Monitor” after installing display drivers
•
Turn off your computer and turn it back on again. Immediately press the [F8] key and keep it pressed until
Windows has finished loading the desktop. Windows is now loaded in “Safe mode”. Right-click on
Windows’ desktop and open the “Display Properties” - “Settings” applet. Click on “Apply” and reboot
Windows. Windows will now start normally but with 16 colors. Again, open your “Display Properties” -
“Settings” applet, change the color depth and the resolution. Click on “Apply” and Windows will restart for a
second time. Now Windows will come up normally. You can now proceed to select the correct monitor type
on the advanced “Display Properties” - “Monitor” applet.
