Well, in the past I had similar problems with a Tyan motherboard and VIA chipset, the main problem was blue screens in Windows 98, ultimately I thought there was a HW problem, in reality it may not be the case.
It seems that the VGA I have on the Tyan (AT) maybe 1590?, a TNT2 has problems with that chipset, from research it seems that the GF2MX can work, but only by installing the drivers in a certain order, and I don't know exactly if some are wrong Well.
So, if you want I'll try to find the link on how to make the GF2MX work on the Tyan, and I'll add it in the next post.
Apart from this, I follow your channel with interest, I have already seen a few videos, they are very interesting, I like them a lot.

did you install the VIA 4in1 drivers?
4.35 is a solid version for 9x

Try looking here:
AOpen AX59Pro VIA MVP3 big issues with Nvidia cards

There are two known issues here: the notoriety of the MVP3 chipset for AGP issues, and early AGP implementation that supplied low power to the AGP slot. I've read where the 591P is one of the boards known for having a low power agp slot. Make sure if there is a setting in CMOS for AGP 1x/2x that it is set to 1x. What version of the chipset driver are you using? I would recommend the the Via 4.17 for such an early Via chipset. Make sure that the driver installs in Normal mode to ensure that the card is set to 1x

Thanks all for your comments - Thanks PC@Live for your comment about my channel!!

I've installed VIA 4.35. BIOS AGP 2x is set to disable. Spread Spectrum is set to disable. I checked the 3.3 voltage at AGP, it reads 3.3v. I'm also trying with an ATX power supply but I don't know whether the 591P is routing 3.3V from the PSU to the video card.

The link is useful. I'll try the AGP aperture size to 4MB - currently set to 64MB. I can try installing Windows XP with my Trio64, that would rule out the AGP issue. Then I can focus on the AGP.

Can try VIA 4.17 but at least with Windows XP I don't reach the desktop 😀

Windows XP installation failed. Later in the installation I have this "low virtual memory" error and then a stream of errors from various files, mostly complaining about not enough storage?? I am using an 8GB CF. I'll wire an HDD now and test with that. The CF was mostly empty when I checked it with Windows 11 and I did re-partition and re-format it during Windows XP setup.

Thanks so far!

What is the BIOS date? In my experience early MVP3 BIOS's are very unstable when using AGP graphics and updates very often fix all issues.

It's the latest available, 025 I think. March 2001.

I wired an HDD and then the board would not post. Or with only half of the RAM. I've had this on both my 591P, it happens sometimes. This time I used some "lubricated" contact cleaner, which has really made a difference on more than one occasion. Fingers crossed.

(Yes, that RAM passed 3 memtests yesterday)

The 4.17 I linked are for Win98. I don't usually bother to install chipset drivers with XP on MVP3 motherboards, I've found the ones that XP provides work fine.

Please keep us updated on progress, or any unresolved issues.
I looked for useful information for this card, I saw that it has two jumpers for the synchronization of the memory and the AGP, they should be like in the image, possibly you could try exchanging them, that is, try the other setting (I don't know how they are positioned in the your MB), maybe nothing changes, or maybe not?
However, I advise you to try other VGAs, on one site I saw a system that does not use VGA AGP, and has a PCI VGA and two Voodoos, perhaps the AGP was a source of problems, not easily solvable.

Thanks PC@Live - I discovered those jumpers yesterday and they were incorrectly set. That didn't improve things though.

Yes, AGP seems to be a headache with this board - I should have purchased a PCI card but I didn't want to spend too much money on it.

Thanks RepoMan11, makes things easier 😀 So it's only the video driver. Fingers crossed.

Oh, Windows XP installed ok yesterday with the spinning HDD. So there is some hope! I'm going to test it more now.

Bad news.

I went to install the nVidia drivers on my Windows XP install. They did install but the drivers don't start. I tried a few times and it just refuses to work.
I changed the AGP aperture to 4MB in the BIOS, now I have a black screen.
I'm trying 93.71.

Any ideas?

what is the revision of your board?

my board is rev3.1 and I do not remember any issues with the GF2-GTS I used to run on it several years ago
you can see the revision on bottom left corner or the pcb under the bios

it's 3.1 indeed.

One of my RAM modules failed - AGAIN!!!
After the black screen ,I restarted, the BIOS reset to default by itself. I checked the battery, it's ok. then the RAM failed. I left it with only 128MB, Set the aperture to 4MB again.

Got into windows and... this time the FX5200 is being initialised!
Haven't tested yet but this is weird. This is the second DIMM module which dies on that board - are those modules bad or is the board frying them?

One could be revived with cold spray so it looked like "age" to me.

I'll test the 3D later. But this is super weird.

I went to test 3D with 3Dmark2000.
The computer rebooted.
Now Windows won't start anymore.

I'm out of ideas.

More updates.

UT99 works! I'm gobsmacked!

HOWEVER, it runs at like 2fps.
No, it's not in software mode. I've compared software and HW and it's definitely better graphics. (see attached)
I've monitored the 3.3 line with my multimeter, it stays at 3.4 all the time.

IT WORKS!!

How? Don't know.

I've tried W98SE again.
Differences from previous tries
- Sound card on different slot
- AGP aperture I think is set to 8MB
- I didn't install the USB storage drivers
- This is on a spinning HDD, not CF. But I did test before with the HDD.

I installed the usual VIA 4.35, then Forceware 45 and it works! UT99 also works.

Went back to the other 591P, it posted up to RAM count, but no RAM was being counted. Then it was dead. Black screen. No post codes. R.I.P.

I assume all my issues here were a combination of
- Software
- BIOS
-Bad motherboard
-Bad RAM

All together and randomly. Fun, isn't it???

awesome!!!
the 591p is my favorite SS7 mobo
the fact that you did NOT install USB drivers could also play a role - I always disable it in BIOS

Not the USB drivers, the USB storage "drivers" which I understand is a bodge-work from ME to have USB stick to work in 98.

I like the variety of feedback I'm getting on the MVP3 and the 591P! From "awesome" to "rubbish" 😁

Now I need to figure out why the other 591P is dead!

tony359 wrote on 2024-01-08, 14:50:

IT WORKS!! […]
Show full quote

IT WORKS!!

How? Don't know.

I've tried W98SE again.
Differences from previous tries
- Sound card on different slot
- AGP aperture I think is set to 8MB
- I didn't install the USB storage drivers
- This is on a spinning HDD, not CF. But I did test before with the HDD.

I installed the usual VIA 4.35, then Forceware 45 and it works! UT99 also works.

Went back to the other 591P, it posted up to RAM count, but no RAM was being counted. Then it was dead. Black screen. No post codes. R.I.P.

I assume all my issues here were a combination of
- Software
- BIOS
-Bad motherboard
-Bad RAM

All together and randomly. Fun, isn't it???

Good, congrats!!!
I too will see if I can solve the Windows blue screen problem, on the Tyan S1590, first I will remove the TNT2, and then I will try to follow the same procedure you used, by the way on another motherboard with VIA VPX chipset, the sound card works and does not cause problems only in one position, and it would be spaced by one slot, that is, leaving an empty slot, between the video card and the sound card, then perhaps it is possible that by reshuffling the cards, you can find another position in which it works .
Speaking of VIA VPX, I should start work by the end of the week, the board is a FIC PA2010+, I have to replace a diode (transparent with two black lines), and a capacitor in the VRM area, after that I think it might be ready for a startup test . Let's hope so.

I painfully went through the 200+ video clips and 15+hours of footage and made a video of this upgrade/repair! 😀 I hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_k3xtvr3Kw

I saw that video before this thread. That was a crazy mix of failing hardware.

I've seen RAM fail suddenly or only start showing errors after it has been powered on for a few hours. Also, the "random pattern" tests in Memtest86+ use the same data patterns in the same order, and it doesn't run every possible data pattern in every pass. I noticed that back in 2012, and it stuck with me.