get the proper driver file for the monitor

Still nothing. I even installed DirectX 9c to no avail.

Do you have the Forceware 77.72 Driver installed?

Yes. I also "re-installed" windows to see what would happen and nothing. Also, the refresh rate isn't setting at all and I believe it might be the video card to blame for this or I need to reseat the video card and VooDoo2 card as well.

Can you post some more complete specifications? Motherboard, cpu, video card and sound cards, please?

Posted the specs, eh.

when you select monitor properties it is listed as nec multisync and not generic pnp monitor ?

There are several utilities, PowerStrip for example, that let you specify custom resolutions and refresh rates. Just be sure your monitor supports the resolution/refresh rate/timings because I've heard it's possible to damage a monitor by forcing settings that it can't support.

Davros wrote:

when you select monitor properties it is listed as nec multisync and not generic pnp monitor ?

Yes, it shows the NEC MultiSync driver.

Looks like that motherboard has integrated graphics. What happens if you yank the Nvidia card and try with the IGP?

Either that or try a different graphics card, I suppose.

I'll attempt that, just have to disable the EMM386 and HIMEM.SYS memory drivers from config.sys to make the IGP work and I'll post the results.

I checked to see if the theory worked by hooking it up to the IGP port and it does go to 1280x1024. I'll test it again after I restart the computer (REM'd the HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE drivers in the config.sys file) with the GeForce 6200.

Still no luck with the GeForce 6200 card. Going to re-seat the GeForce 6200 PCI and VooDoo2 card and see what happens. Thank you all for helping me out.

Tried re-seating the video cards to no avail. A few suspects for this issue:

1) The video card drivers are corrupt (tried re-installing the drivers to no success)
2) The on-board video is the root cause (cannot disable the IGP unless I insert an AGP video card, but, the IGP works with the monitor without issues)
3) The VooDoo2 card needs to get taken out or something similar thereof

I also notice that sometimes, I get an error message saying cannot set refresh rate, and when I try to launch the setup file for the drivers, I get the cannot find an nvidia graphics chip in this system message. My plan is to re-install the VIA KM266 chipset drivers again and see what happens, as well as install the GeForce2 MX400 card I have (not compatible with some of the games I have, sadly or too slow for them).

bjwil1991 wrote:

I'll attempt that, just have to disable the EMM386 and HIMEM.SYS memory drivers from config.sys to make the IGP work and I'll post the results.

thats bizzare

I switched the primary video from PCI to AGP/IGP instead and the monitor does get 1280x1024 at 16-bit color mode. The EMM386.EXE memory driver when loaded in the config.sys file makes the secondary card that's installed (whether AGP/IGP or PCI) to not work unless the line is REM'd in the config.sys file. My GeForce 6200 PCI card is still giving me problems with the resolution stuck at 640x480 at 16-bit color mode.

Another thing for my theory test would be to remove the VooDoo2 card and see if the nVidia card functions since that can also be an issue right there. If it is, I'll move cards around, clear the BIOS settings, and check to see if that clears it out.

bjwil1991 wrote:

I'll attempt that, just have to disable the EMM386 and HIMEM.SYS memory drivers from config.sys to make the IGP work and I'll post the results.

Do you need to disable both? Or does disabling EMM386 suffice? I wonder if it's caused because it's using a memory range belonging the video BIOS shadow. Is that a toggle option in your BIOS?

The EMM386.EXE driver causes one video card to not work whereas the other one does, when switching the primary video from PCI to VGA/IGP or vice versa. With the driver disabled, it makes both the IGP and PCI card to activate, however, it's impossible to run two different video cards in 1 system (should be the same brand, same model), unless I switch from one to the other in the BIOS.

I'm also planning on installing my TNT2 M64 card to see how that works out and get the issue resolved.

Got the issue resolved by switching the VooDoo2 card and GeForce 6200 card around, installing the 77.72 drivers, and it works without issues. Thank you all for helping me out with this. If if occurs again, I'll let you know.

Back in the saddle again after placing the GeForce 6200 card on the bottom PCI slot and my VooDoo2 card won't work either (Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius won't run).

bjwil1991 wrote:

Back in the saddle again after placing the GeForce 6200 card on the bottom PCI slot and my VooDoo2 card won't work either (Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius won't run).

If you had a working configuration four days ago, why change the location of the cards again? 😕

It's a Windows thing. It also never detected the card in the first place. I placed the GPU on the first PCI slot below the AGP slot, and placed the sound card below the 3dfx VooDoo2 card and all is well again.