I have a P4 2ghz box running XP h ed; the mobo is made by Elite Group (ECS); BIOS build from mid-2002. Box assembler Wintergreen via Tigerdirect. mobo video is Radeon 7000 with VGA connector.
I need to run a 4-year-old Apple LCD monitor with DVI connector. I bought a Radeon 700 PCI DVI card, but while the PCI screen lights up, it only showed up as extended desktop at 640x480 (whether a DVI or VGA monitor was connected to PCI); primary screen was mobo VGA even if no monitor was connected to mobo. In Properties, make PCI primary monitor option grayed out; other options like changing resolution available, but didn't 'take' when OK or Apply was clicked. Card maker (Powercolor) said I have a conflict, talk to Wintergreen; they said that mobo MIGHT be able to automatically detect add-on card if it is AGP, probably not PCI, and couldn't help. Also that there might be jumpers on mobo, but I couldn't find any.
So I bought a AGP card (Geforce3 Ti 200), but XP hangs during startup with the card installed; and the drivers won't install if the card is not present. The card's fan doesn't spin. I tried booting with a Linux CD (that I use for Tivo tools) with just the AGP monitor connected, but no signs of life. (CD boots into Linux OK with mobo video).
The slot is 'universal', ie no notches. Any suggestions on what might be happening and what to try next?
Would a male VGA (card side) to female DVI adapter connected mobo be likely to work?
Ram question...mobo has two PC133 slots, and two empty slots of same length right next to them. After getting two more PC133 modules, I realized that the empty slots are keyed differently (one notch key) and a different color (red). Any clues as to what these might be?
I'm very familiar with upgrading/troubleshooting Mac, and computer-savvy enogh to use my Win box to upgrade Tivo for example, but a relative beginner to messing with Windows, eg just learning what BIOS are.
Thanks for any help--John Wilton