[Stefan Berger]

Hi,

After some minutes my computer hangs. Only a hard reset solves the problem. The Problem occurs with the following games: Deus Ex, Unreal Tournament and No One Lives Forever.
I've the newest patches for all the games.
Where is the problem ? Patches ? Drivers ?

My configuration:

AMD T-bird 1GHz
ASUS A7V (BIOS Ver: 1005)
128 MB SD-RAM 133 Mhz Infineon
ASUS V7100 GeForce 2 MX Pure
Creative Soundblaster Live! Platinum 5.1
ASUS 50x CD-ROM
HP CD-RW 9350i

Win2k + SP1 + AGP Patch
Detonator 667

Greetings
Stefan Berger

[HawkBoy]

could u describe the hang?
does it just stop, or does it go black, or blue, . . .?

[JJ32]

Easy to fix....first off get your A7V BIOS up to 1007. It fixes a few comaptibility issues. Next, go through your BIOS and make sure you know what the heck things are and how to set them up. If you don't put it all on auto ad verify all settings. Update your ECSD. Test it. If it fails...could be all kinds of stuff. I need more info before I can give you more advice, but this is a damn good place to start. Let us know and we'll fix this up like REAL QUICK! Post here!

[JJ32]

Also get your Detonator drivers up to par (date) and verify your video card BIOS! Give me more info and I'll hook you up quick on what it is doing. Do this stuff first OK.

[Brian Frank]

I agree with JJ32, get the latest Dets. and upgrade to the 1007 Bios. That fixes a Sh*tload of problems! I believe the 10.80dets are the latest drivers out. Those are very nice.
Also, JJ32 is right, the Bios settings are best left on Auto, if at all possible. Ive changed the boot sequence and one or two other things, but thats it. Much less problems.

[Stefan Berger]

How do I verify my video card BIOS ?
Are the newest Dets really the best or should I use the WHQL certified ones ?

[Stefan Berger]

OK. It's done. I've updated my BIOS to 1007 but at first I used the 7.58 WHQL drivers.

To JJ32: My video card BIOS: 3.11.00.04
Should I enable AGP fast write or not ?

[Brian Frank]

The Dets seem to get faster with each release. I havent had problems with any non-WHQL certified Dets. I havent updated my video bios. I have to more research, but it seems as though you may only be able to update the bios in Win9x, so far. See how the 1007 Asus bios does to fix your problems.
Go ahead an enable fast writes, but if it causes problems, disable it.

Even though I have an MX card and the A7V, the same fixes for me might not solve your problems, but from what I hear, the 1007 bios fixes a lot of issues for everyone.

Also, you may want to make sure of two things if problems continue: have a 300 watt power supply and plenty of cooling for the T-Bird.

[GHackmann]

I don't know how the A7V handles AGP settings, but if you can set AGP driving values, try DA or EA. I set my KT7-RAID to EA and it fixed crashes with my Hercules GF2MX card.

Also try disabling AGP 4x in BIOS, or enabling it and setting AGP to 2x or even 1x in Windows.

The last thing you should check is your I/O voltage. IIRC A7Vs ship with the I/O voltage high, and you might have to crank it down a notch from 3.4V to 3.3V.

[Brian Frank]

I have the driving values set all the way up to FF and it helps a lot, especially since Im OCing the FSB.

The 11.01 Dets are out, so give those a shot. They're a little different than the 10.80s, but not by much. They seem to resolve a little speed issue with UT.

Also, set the system speed to Optimal.
Oh,yeah, try getting DX8 too. It works fine on mine, but some people have had problems with it. There is a program to uninstall DX8, Ive seen it around, just in case you want to uninstall it.

[ThC 129]

to answer the response about need 9x to update your BIOS you need to be in a PURE DOS prompt (like booting off the 98 SE CD and choosing to boot without cd rom support will work) and have the ROM and Flashing Program on there too.

[Brian Frank]

I was talking about the video bios program only.