[chris73]

Ok, so I bought a new video card for my game machine. I figured I pull the old card and put it in the family PC since it's better than the onboard video and I needed a DVI input for the LCD. It's an ATI AIW 9000 with all the newest drivers and software from ATI.

Here's the problem - the monitor seems to receive no signal until XP boots. I don't see the BIOS splash screen or the XP Boot screen and I can't access the BIOS anymore without the video to see whats going on.

Everything else is fine, but this one has me stumped and Google isn't helping much. If I can just get this squared away I can maybe get out of the house this weekend!

Thanks!

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actually, you just hit the the f1, f2 or del key once a second after turning the pc on and it will get you there...you just cannot see it.

that said, I understand your frustration with this issue

The key here is your motherboard bios settings.

some will allow you to set the initial video device, some will not. Some give you the illusion of being able to do this...it will say

agp or pci, but since the internal gpu is on the agp bus, placing another card in a agp slot still checks the internal agp first.

anyway, the question is, what is your motherboard?

[gerryf]

actually, you just hit the the f1, f2 or del key once a second after turning the pc on and it will get you there...you just cannot see it.

that said, I understand your frustration with this issue

The key here is your motherboard bios settings.

some will allow you to set the initial video device, some will not. Some give you the illusion of being able to do this...it will say

agp or pci, but since the internal gpu is on the agp bus, placing another card in a agp slot still checks the internal agp first.

anyway, the question is, what is your motherboard?

[chris73]

Thanks for the reply - it's an Intel Pendelton D845PT - stock Dell Dimension 4400

I suppose I could drop the original card in the machine to reset the Bios and then re-install the Radeon 9000, but there must be an easier way than that! (I hope)

[gerryf]

tap DEL key once a second after powering on the system...dell uses the DEL key as the default setup entry key...you will get into bios even if you cannot see it.

once a second, not holding it down or you will get a keyboard error.

[gerryf]

the screen you are looking for is ADVANCED > Video Configuration Submenu

It appears you have few options, and are out of luck though, as your choice is AGP or PCI, and the AGP by the manual checks on board video first. Furthermore, you cannot disable the onboard gpu to get it check the agp slot first.

Unless it disables itself when you insert a videocard, which has not been my experience with Dells

[chris73]

tap DEL key once a second after powering on the system...dell uses the DEL key as the default setup entry key...you will get into bios even if you cannot see it.

once a second, not holding it down or you will get a keyboard error.

Thanks, but if I can't see the screen, how can I change anything? I think I misunderstood your post.

[gerryf]

no, your setup screen will come up in a couple seconds even if you cannot see the command to press DEL...it will still switch over to the bios screen.

I do it all the time with a cheap motherboard I have with a server in the basement....the trick is hitting the delete key at the right moment.

[chris73]

no, your setup screen will come up in a couple seconds even if you cannot see the command to press DEL...it will still switch over to the bios screen.

I do it all the time with a cheap motherboard I have with a server in the basement....the trick is hitting the delete key at the right moment.

Delete, F2, F12, nothing enables me to VIEW the bios. The computer is in because Windows stops loading, but the display never gets a signal. This is horrible!

[gerryf]

it is the DEL key...you have to hit it just right to get it...if you are locking up, you are hitting it too many times.

I'd say put the other videocard back in to look at that setting, but I assure you that it will not do any good. The integrated video is getting the first pas, then the PCI, then it goes to the AGP slot.

There is nothing you can do about it with that particular motherboard.