Tempest wrote on 2021-03-05, 00:39:

I have an odd problem. I'm trying to put an NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 (Asus 5187-1531 6mnh1) into a GTX-260 because this card has S-Video out which I need. The system is working fine with an NVIDIA 32MB VGA AGP Video Card (CN-01E200-4457) in it, but when I try and put the Asus into it it suddenly won't boot. Is the Asus card compatible with this system? They're both PCI Express cards so I can't see why they wouldn't work.

Do you mean a Dell OptiPlex GX260 when you say Dell GTX-260 ?

Also do you mean 32-bit 33MHz ("legacy") PCI, because that's what a Dell OptiPlex GX260 has in addition to an AGP slot (as opposed to PCI Express slots)?

It's unfortunately not uncommon for newer legacy PCI video cards to not work in older PCI-equipped systems .

EDIT : Added clarifications

Yes I'm sorry. I mean a GX260 and it's an AGP slot not an PCI Express slot. I wasn't thinking when I was typing.

Tempest wrote on 2021-03-05, 06:07:

Yes I'm sorry. I mean a GX260 and it's an AGP slot not an PCI Express slot. I wasn't thinking when I was typing.

No worries, just making sure I understand .

That NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 is probably PCI, though, or did someone actually make an AGP variant ?

Tempest wrote on 2021-03-05, 00:39:

They're both AGP slot cards so I can't see why they wouldn't work.

AFAIK there is no thing as an AGP GT 420, only PCIe and PCI. Post a picture of your card.

I suspect your card is an MX420, see https://ithardwaregroup.co.uk/5187-1531-hp-nv … -graphics-card/

Yes that's the one. I got the original description off an eBay auction because I only had a part number. Sorry about that.

Any reason it wouldn't work though? The system literally won't boot with it installed.

Exactly what is the CN-01E200-4457? What is it's PCI ID? If you don't know then the [PCI Bus] panel of my SIV utility should tell you.

Once we know exactly what the other card is we can compare the AGP specs of the two cards.

It would also help to know what the post code is or at least the how the system beeps when it fails to post.

Here are both cards. The top one won't work, but the bottom does. They're both AGP. (Sorry for the link, but it won't let me post a pictures if it's not https).

http://atariprotos.com/temp/cards.jpg

Again exactly what is the CN-01E200-4457? What is it's PCI ID?

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-05, 13:41:

Again exactly what is the CN-01E200-4457? What is it's PCI ID?

Where would I find that? As you can see the card doesn't have many markings.

It appears to be this one: https://www.amazon.com/DELL-NVIDIA-VIDEO-CN-0 … 5/dp/B00B871FA8

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-05, 13:17:

Exactly what is the CN-01E200-4457? What is it's PCI ID? If you don't know then the [PCI Bus] panel of my SIV utility should tell you.

Tempest wrote on 2021-03-05, 14:14:

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-05, 13:41:

Again exactly what is the CN-01E200-4457? What is it's PCI ID?

Where would I find that? As you can see the card doesn't have many markings.

I told you how to find it!

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-05, 13:17:

It would also help to know what the post code is or at least the how the system beeps when it fails to post.

Knowing this would also help.

I missed that post, I'm sorry. I'll try and run it now

It doesn't boot period. The power light goes on (green, not orange), but I get no beeps or visual on the monitor. The hard drive doesn't seem to access either.

You said it did post with the CN-01E200-4457 installed and it's the CN-01E200-4457 I asked about!

You have also failed to specify how the system beeps when it fails to post with the MX 420 installed.

If you yet again fail to provide this information I will stop trying to help you.

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-05, 14:54:

You said it did post with the CN-01E200-4457 installed and it's the CN-01E200-4457 I asked about!

You have also failed to specify how the system beeps when it fails to post with the MX 420 installed.

If you yet again fail to provide this information I will stop trying to help you.

Sorry yes, I got the two numbers mixed. up. I'll get the PCI ID number momentarily. I need to transfer your program over to my system.

With the MX420 installed I get no beeps what so ever. There's no activity in the system period other than the power light.

Ok I'm not sure if I'm reading this right but it says:

Bus Numb-Fun
-------------
1-00-0

IRQ
---
16

Vendor-Dev-Sub_OEM
-------------------
10DE-0150-002E10DE-A4

Class
----
VGA Controller

Vendor and Device Desc
-------------------
nVidia NV15 [GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro][GPU-0]

I'll take a picture of the screen as well.
http://atariprotos.com/temp/siv.jpg

So the working card is a NV15 [GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro], the specs are https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce2-gts.c797 and the problematic one is a NV17 [GeForce4 MX 420], specs https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce4-mx-420.c777

Given they both are Architecture Celsius I would expect the MX 420 to work and wonder if it's faulty, does it work in any other systems and how sure are you that it's OK? Where did it come from?

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-05, 16:01:

So the working card is a NV15 [GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro], the specs are https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce2-gts.c797 and the problematic one is a NV17 [GeForce4 MX 420], specs https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce4-mx-420.c777

Given they both are Architecture Celsius I would expect the MX 420 to work and wonder if it's faulty, does it work in any other systems and how sure are you that it's OK? Where did it come from?

It could be faulty, I have no idea where it came from or any way to test it in another system. If it should just work then I guess it must be bad.

Do you get any beep codes?

Tempest wrote on 2021-03-05, 14:56:

With the MX420 installed I get no beeps what so ever.

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-03-06, 22:54:

Do you get any beep codes?

I feel it's wise to read existing posts before posting!

red-ray wrote on 2021-03-06, 23:17:

Tempest wrote on 2021-03-05, 14:56:

With the MX420 installed I get no beeps what so ever.

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-03-06, 22:54:

Do you get any beep codes?

I feel it's wise to read existing posts before posting!

Great thanks

@OP - I too have similar issues but with a different Dell. AGP cards that should work otherwise cause problems with POSTing, however in my case I would get 1 long 2 short beep, which means vid card. So it may not be such a stretch to think that Dell BIOSes and/ or their vendor provided mobos are hit or miss with some vid cards.

In my case, I was able to get the card 'working' in a roundabout fashion by installing a PCI vid card, ensure the primary video option was set to PCI in bios, power down, install the problematic AGP card (while keeping the PCI installed), then it would POST fine. Machine booted to windows and I could see both cards in device manager, install drivers, etc.

Note that I only did this to figure out if the 'bad' card was actually working, but I guess you could run such a system for general use if you properly installed drivers and configured multiple display via nVidia's utilities.