Video Driver not working

[k2x5]

Hi all,

I've been reading through the many posts here, and I'm just wondering if someone can point me in the right direction.  I've been trying to set up a PC to run on Windows 2K Pro but obviously drivers have been an issue.  After a lot of time searching around I have nearly everything working properly; however I have one very bizarre issue.

When I plug my monitor into the onboard VGA port, it tries to install the Intel 4600 Graphics drivers - which it installs, but upon a reboot it says it can't load the drivers.

When I plug my monitor into a PCI-e card that I install, it doesn't detect it as a Standard VGA Adapter or ask to install the drivers.  A device appears in the Device Manager called "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge" with a yellow exclamation mark on it.  When I check it's message it says "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use.  (Code 12)"  This happens whether the video card is PCI-e or straight PCI.  I've tried disabling all the other integrated peripherals in the Bios to no success.

Specs:
Motherboard: GA-H81M-S2PV
Processor:  Intel Core i5

The graphics cards obviously operate on a basic level here, because they do display something - however the maximum I can get is 800x600 resolution/16 colors.  I just need to get 1024x768 out of it for my desired application.

[pointertovoid]

Welcome, k2x5!

Here's just a first answer, not very detailed. The basic difficulty is that Intel provides no official driver for plain W2k on this recent H81 chipset.

• For sure, no official Intel driver exists for any integrated graphics adapter (IGA, here 4600) - the thingy that Intel puts in its Northbridge and more recently in its Cpu. Never mind, because the IGA is bad anyway, so one better puts a true graphics card instead.
• It could be BUT I didn't check this recently that you find official InfInst "drivers" from Intel for W2k that configure much of the PCH (the single chip that remains presently from the chipset). This is expected to improve the "PCI-to-PCI bridge" and some more. Not the IGA.
• I know that no official Intel W2k driver exists for the disk host of your H81. You can still access the disks, but without the Ahci mode that brings Ncq, a feature useful to accelerate disk access by reordering multiple access requests to serve them sooner.
• You didn't tell the brand and model of your graphics card. As a comparison, my GF9800gt is about the latest for which official W2k drivers exist.

So you might try IF the Infinst improves something for W2k on your H81, then access the disks without the Ahci mode, and put a graphics card that has an official W2k driver.

Or you can go unofficial ways, and this takes several weeks. Brilliant forum members here have ported drivers and more things so W2k runs on more modern (or even up-to-date) hardware.

• Ahci drivers (fed by the F6 diskette at W2k installation) exist for many chipsets. I run my P45+ich10r that way for years with a thankful thought for the driver's porter. This is a minimum change in the system, and is quick to learn.
• Or you switch to extensions to W2k that let drivers (and applications) run that were meant for more recent Windows. I can't tell (but others here can) what chips are addressed, and whether the H81 is one of them. For sure, it demands you to invest time in it, more so if you Windows isn't English.
• Some ported graphics drivers may exist that run on W2k without the OS extensions, I don't know details. For sure, many cards and drivers operate on extended W2k.

All this must be checked in case-by-case and takes time. That's the price of an abandoned OS. Depending on the machine's use, you may want to check what antivirus and web browser may run on plain (very restrictive! Many web pages won't display properly!) or extended W2k.

[k2x5]

Just to provide an update here -

I found a post relating to the HAL for the system and ACPI.  During the original installation I took the default HAL which shows up as "ACPI Multiprocessor PC".  I changed the driver out for the "Standard PC" driver and after re-installing all the system drivers, it detects and installs my PCI video card without issue. (VisionTek Radeon 7000)

Now, I've just got to sort out a problem with .NET and I'm good to go!

[cc333]

I found that with Standard PC, you lose ACPI power management (you also need to manually power off the computer when you shut down Windows).

Have you tried "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface PC"? That may accomplish the same goal, and preserve your power management abilities.

c

[k2x5]

Correct, I've found the same.  But I'm not overly concerned with power management.  The system has to stay awake 100% of the time it is turned on, and the power needs to be manually cut - so when it gets to the "It is now safe to turn off your PC" screen it works out nicely as an indicator of when to cut the power.

Incidentally, I tried switching the Driver to "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface PC" just to try your suggestion - it had the same result as the ACPI Multiprocessor PC.  The system no longer recognized the video card.