Vista 64 graphics going to 'fuzz'

[ceyc77]

Hello,

This is my first post! (Sorry that it's long.) I built my first home-build (HTPC) in Feb and i'm having sporadic, but persistent problems with the graphics. System works great 95% of the time, but every now and then upon a reboot windows displays nothing but black & white fuzz (like with old TVs when you had no signal - but in a crisp 1080p). When this happens i end up having to spend hours troubleshooting it. Whatever fixes it one time doesn't the next, so i end up trying random stuff until it finally starts working. I'm desperately looking for any advice on how to diagnose exactly what the problem is so i can put an end to it once and for all.

System:
Graphics card: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 2600XT (512MB)
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H
OS: Vista 64
Chip: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+

Symptoms:
When it happens, it always starts upon a startup or reboot (and it seems that the chance of it happening greatly increases after Vista or other software updates - but overall it seems totally random). Everything will display fine up through vista's retro Microsoft bar with the green blocks underneath, but fuzz will appear when the circular sound window's emblem is supposed to appear. Not getting any sound over the HDMI cable either, but fiddling with the remote i can make the HD churn - indicating to me that it's just a display error. My screen is also my regular TV so i know it's not a monitor issue. Upon subsequent reboots i can operate fine in safe mode, but the problem will continue in normal mode until by some voodoo i manage to resolve the problem.

Troubleshooting:
The only thing that always works is disabling the ATI graphics drivers, but then i don't have 1080p which is the whole point of the machine. Uninstalling and updating/reinstalling the ATI drivers has worked before - latest update to 8.7 didn't help. Doing a hard reset to the mobo has worked a few times. I can physically pull out the card and use the on-board, but this one time i somehow got the ATI drivers to display 1080p and sound over the HDMI that way (weird since i didn't think the X1250 could do that) but upon reboot even that went to fuzz, making me believe it's not a physical issue with the card. Once after trying everything the key was taking a BD disk out of the drive, but that magic only worked once. Reinstalling Vista doesn't help. And like i said, once it magically starts working again, it's like the problem never existed until it sporadically reappears after a month or so.

Anyone have any ideas of what the source of the problem is or advice on what sort of things i can try to find out?

Many thanks!

 

[Jmatt110]

(like with old TVs when you had no signal - but in a crisp 1080p)

Lmao I thought that was quite humorous.

On topic though, it obviously sounds like a video card problem, however you've tried both the card and on-board with the same results. Have you got any other video cards you could get access to?

Also, check to make sure nothing is shorting out, overheating (highly doubt this since it's on a fresh boot, but the NB on my old GA-MA69G-S2H did get quite hot, check the temps of it.

Are you running any overclocks? If so does it work fine at stock speeds? You could also try it with only 1 stick of RAM to see if your RAM is causing the problems.

- Jmatt

 

[boogah]

Catalist 8.4 seems to be the most stable drivers for older cards. I have alot of problems with 8.5 - 8.7 and always revert back to 8.4 and problems are gone.

the sound over HDMI thing. Sometime i have to go into control panel and makesure that the ATI HDMI output is the default audio device.

 

[Mussels]

all i've got is that i know my systems dont like me if i power them on with the TV off/on another channel/input.

 

[ceyc77]

Jmatt - I followed your advice and got it up and running with only 1 gig-stick (pqi DDR2 800). Graphics were a little messed up at first (at 1920x1080 it kept plotting an area larger than my tv - which has never happened before - while anything 1776x1000 and below looked fine) but after a while of uninstalling and reinstalling the ATI drivers it eventually got back to normal at 1080p - sound and everything. Thanks!

boogah - i took your advice and reverted back to 8.4 ...thanks!

Now for more details:
I first tried simply reshuffling the ram (4 sticks - all pqi) and afterwards the computer wouldn't boot. Sure the lights would come on, the fans would spin (even on the sapphire), the HD would power up - but the HD would go silent and not even a flicker would ever appear on the screen - and if i left it be the CPU and RAM would get pretty hot. After getting it to boot on one stick, i had trouble adding a second. The very first time i tried with two sticks it booted, but after that i got the won't-boot symptoms on subsequent restarts. Even moving the pair from slots 1 & 2 to 3 & 4 didn't help. I then took out the second stick and it still wouldn't boot on the first one that originally booted, but when i took it out and reinserted it then did work again. Eventually after switching out the second stick for another it booted fine with two sticks. Only after this was i able to get the graphics and sound to work right.

So that's where i'm at now - machine's running fine on 2G RAM, and i might have one or two bad sticks sitting on the bench, or maybe the problem is something else and it'll come back just like it has before. I'm leaning towards Jmatt's conjecture that it might be the RAM, but could it potentially be the mobo or the vid card? How can i definitively tell? If it is my ram, how can i tell which is/are the bad stick(s)

Thanks again to all!

 

[Jmatt110]

Jmatt - I followed your advice and got it up and running with only 1 gig-stick (pqi DDR2 800). Graphics were a little messed up at first (at 1920x1080 it kept plotting an area larger than my tv - which has never happened before - while anything 1776x1000 and below looked fine) but after a while of uninstalling and reinstalling the ATI drivers it eventually got back to normal at 1080p - sound and everything. Thanks!

boogah - i took your advice and reverted back to 8.4 ...thanks!

Now for more details:
I first tried simply reshuffling the ram (4 sticks - all pqi) and afterwards the computer wouldn't boot. Sure the lights would come on, the fans would spin (even on the sapphire), the HD would power up - but the HD would go silent and not even a flicker would ever appear on the screen - and if i left it be the CPU and RAM would get pretty hot. After getting it to boot on one stick, i had trouble adding a second. The very first time i tried with two sticks it booted, but after that i got the won't-boot symptoms on subsequent restarts. Even moving the pair from slots 1 & 2 to 3 & 4 didn't help. I then took out the second stick and it still wouldn't boot on the first one that originally booted, but when i took it out and reinserted it then did work again. Eventually after switching out the second stick for another it booted fine with two sticks. Only after this was i able to get the graphics and sound to work right.

So that's where i'm at now - machine's running fine on 2G RAM, and i might have one or two bad sticks sitting on the bench, or maybe the problem is something else and it'll come back just like it has before. I'm leaning towards Jmatt's conjecture that it might be the RAM, but could it potentially be the mobo or the vid card? How can i definitively tell? If it is my ram, how can i tell which is/are the bad stick(s)

Thanks again to all!

You said your CPU and RAM heated up heaps. What CPU cooling have you got going? Case ventilation?
To test which RAM is bad, use 1 stick at a time in the first slot. If it dosn't boot, then it's most likely bad, especially since it's heating up heaps. Try mounting a fan over the RAM slots and see if that boots. Also, try the red slots instead of the yellow ones. I doubt it's a vid card/mobo problem.
Are you OCing at all? If so have you tried stock settings?

- Jmatt

 

[ceyc77]

Jmatt,

Sorry for my delayed response. I've had mixed results with the same stick, which could indicate it may be bad. I may be new at building, but inserting RAM seems pretty straight forward so i doubt that the problem is something i'm dorking up there.

To answer some of your questions, i'm not OCing at all - everything has been left at stock settings. I have plenty of fanage in my case and even after somewhat rigorous use i can pop of the top and the CPU is just warm to the touch. Moreover, in the specific instance i had mentioned, the top of the case was off and another fan was blowing in the room, too - still things heated up a lot more quickly than normal. All-in-all, i don't think clockspeads or heat are an issue.

Anyways, i've downloaded MemTest by HCI Design. I'm going to let it run overnight, as recommended, with the two sticks i have in there right now which have been pretty stable. Assuming everything checks out ok i'm going to try the other two sticks overnight as well. So i'll let you know how it works out - hopefully the mystery will be solved. Thanks everybody for your help thus far!

 

[{JNT}Raptor]

My screen is also my regular TV so i know it's not a monitor issue.

Until you try another monitor...you cannot know this.....no offence Intended.
What PSU are you using? .....you really should fill out your full system specs In the "User CP" section here....alot easier to help when the whole picture Is there for everyone to see........not a smack....just a fact.

 

[Jmatt110]

Jmatt,

Sorry for my delayed response. I've had mixed results with the same stick, which could indicate it may be bad. I may be new at building, but inserting RAM seems pretty straight forward so i doubt that the problem is something i'm dorking up there.

To answer some of your questions, i'm not OCing at all - everything has been left at stock settings. I have plenty of fanage in my case and even after somewhat rigorous use i can pop of the top and the CPU is just warm to the touch. Moreover, in the specific instance i had mentioned, the top of the case was off and another fan was blowing in the room, too - still things heated up a lot more quickly than normal. All-in-all, i don't think clockspeads or heat are an issue.

Anyways, i've downloaded MemTest by HCI Design. I'm going to let it run overnight, as recommended, with the two sticks i have in there right now which have been pretty stable. Assuming everything checks out ok i'm going to try the other two sticks overnight as well. So i'll let you know how it works out - hopefully the mystery will be solved. Thanks everybody for your help thus far!

Sounds like bad RAM. And yea it's pretty hard to not put RAM in properly Let us know how MemTest goes.