Fried video card?
Fried video card?
I have a Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600pro, and recently, right when Spring starting making it hot here, Reality Factory (game creation system) will no longer run, fails to create a main window (in both dx and ogl mode, which was a tipoff), and yet Irrlicht runs fine... on Windows. In linux, however, Irrlicht no longer runs fine in OpenGL, and instead displays an empty window (dosent even try to draw, theres no picture in it, not even blackness, it just shows the window under it) with a framerate of about 12, which is very low compared to what it normally is. It works fine in Software mode, except for it being, err, software mode. I'm using the Mesa libs and headers to compile Irrlicht and the examples im trying to run (it worked before). Am I doing something wrong, or did I somehow fry my graphics card? (I do not overclock it except for a tiny bit when i first got it, then reset it and it hasn't been for almost 2 years, so that can't be it.)
best way of getting rid of doubts would be to try it out on another pc; if same thing happens on it then it's your videocard. If it runs ok on another pc then it might be a driver issue, or time to format your HD and install a fresh and clean OS or the problem might be your Mobo's slot.
To discard the motherboard issue, you should try another card on it in the same slot your ATI is running on (I assume it's AGP for the time you mention you got with it). If new inserted card runs ok then your ATI is fried; but if new inserted card gets freaked out as well, then we nailed it down! It's your mobo's AGP slot that might have a short. That's why it's always good to have another pc to interchange stuff with. So in this case the solution would be to buy a new mobo compatible with the hardware you got.
To discard the motherboard issue, you should try another card on it in the same slot your ATI is running on (I assume it's AGP for the time you mention you got with it). If new inserted card runs ok then your ATI is fried; but if new inserted card gets freaked out as well, then we nailed it down! It's your mobo's AGP slot that might have a short. That's why it's always good to have another pc to interchange stuff with. So in this case the solution would be to buy a new mobo compatible with the hardware you got.
I'm almost positive it's not the card...
it's your opengl drivers I bet.. thats what it sounds like anyways... and if that is true then most likly it's your windows installation (the place opengl drivers are installed on your poop)
could be the card...but I doubt it.
if opengl wouldn't work then niether would direct X it's only common sense... it's not impossible that I'm wrong..nothing is with computers but it's highly unlikely.
try the card in a different pc...try direct X and opengl if it works fine then reformat your pc... problem solved.. 99.9% positive.
it's your opengl drivers I bet.. thats what it sounds like anyways... and if that is true then most likly it's your windows installation (the place opengl drivers are installed on your poop)
could be the card...but I doubt it.
if opengl wouldn't work then niether would direct X it's only common sense... it's not impossible that I'm wrong..nothing is with computers but it's highly unlikely.
try the card in a different pc...try direct X and opengl if it works fine then reformat your pc... problem solved.. 99.9% positive.
Thanks! Well, I don't have another PC that has an AGP slot. 
I waited a long time to upgrade, and the PC I upgraded from only had PCI slots. My other main PC is a laptop.
It does it in both DirectX and OpenGL on Windows, and of course only OpenGL on Linux. But that's a good point, MN. Why would the same engine work on Windows and not on Linux if it weren't drivers? Maybe I'll go download an old version of my video card's drivers and see if they work. Thanks for the idea.
If all else fails, I guess I can get out my PCI GeForce 4...
I waited a long time to upgrade, and the PC I upgraded from only had PCI slots. My other main PC is a laptop.It does it in both DirectX and OpenGL on Windows, and of course only OpenGL on Linux. But that's a good point, MN. Why would the same engine work on Windows and not on Linux if it weren't drivers? Maybe I'll go download an old version of my video card's drivers and see if they work. Thanks for the idea.
If all else fails, I guess I can get out my PCI GeForce 4...
Well, that explains it.
It started a new trick; every time id run irrlicht in windows, it would run REALLY slow and the video card would make a wierd noise (like eewweetiiioooweee really high pitched and fast). I turn it off, and discover the problem: the fan on the gpu has died. doh. ill try cleaning the dust out, see if that fixes it, and if not, its off to the repair shop.
It started a new trick; every time id run irrlicht in windows, it would run REALLY slow and the video card would make a wierd noise (like eewweetiiioooweee really high pitched and fast). I turn it off, and discover the problem: the fan on the gpu has died. doh. ill try cleaning the dust out, see if that fixes it, and if not, its off to the repair shop.