Author Topic: Davidhoff having tech problems (Read 453 times)

willhoff · « **Reply #40 on:** March 09, 2011, 04:04:36 pm »

*Davidhoff using my brother's computer again* Ok, probably the first time I got a BSOD and was happy

I put the old RAM stick back in and booted the comuter and after one minute I got BSOD...so, looks like it was faulty RAM, and not my video card.

I looked over my mother board to find the make. I know my computer is a Dell Optiplex 280. On the mother board I saw the words Dell. I also saw a black space with "Intel" written, along with the following codes:

FW82801FB
L422Q182
SL7AG
Intel '03
MALAY

Also saw something about Riptide and SmSc at other locations.

I also noticed I have two more open slots for RAM, so I could put a total of four sticks of RAM.

As far as what to do now, it looks like I should replace the old RAM with new sticks, at least two, maybe more depending on the cost. It also appears to be favorable to have a stand-alone video card like the ATI. Problem is I don't really like the HD graphics (call me old-school). I'm wondering if I can buy a non-HD video card that would work with NWN? Any suggestions? I don't think I want to go back to my original integrated video card (ialmrnt5.dll) because it is old and does tax my RAM.

Got to go to work now...will be back to see what is said...thanks again

Hellblazer · « **Reply #41 on:** March 09, 2011, 04:45:21 pm »

Alright I was able to get my hand on the pdf owners book of your computer. Good old Dell to put in all the info you need to upgrade your computers...:rolleyes:

Anyhow it seems from their website that this The Twin2X4096-6400C5 is a 4096MByte matched pair of DDR2 is a fully compatible upgrade ram and would quadruple the ram capacity you had in the first place. A good thing depending on what you do with your computer. Tiger direct sells it still for 87.99 bucks.

You could always get simply an other 1 gig as you had if that was fine for you, though. I'm pretty sure that the dealer near you should have replacement ram that fits the speed and type that you presently have, just bring the ram in with you so they can compare it.

Right now for the ATI you're not using the HD graphics as long as you don't have your screen plugged in into the card. From what you wrote, you were still using the on board chip as you didn't move the dongle (cable) from it's original position. What I'd try is to unplug that cable, and then plug in the dvi from the ATI card to your screen and make a comparison. You might be pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately ATI doesn't do any non HD card anymore, been doing a search on the web and all that are sold even in the older cards are HD.

Hellblazer · « **Reply #42 on:** March 09, 2011, 04:54:32 pm »

Quote from: Chazzler

(Phew, tech support on forums sure is tough!)

Ooh I find it quite refreshing compared to what I was doing over the phones with clients just 3 years ago :p

willhoff · « **Reply #43 on:** March 09, 2011, 06:19:25 pm »

Hmm, the 4GB RAM addition is tempting, but I think based on what Chaz was saying I have a 32-bit system (we did that test to see if "programs x 86" was on my C: drive and it wasn't) and the Tiger website you provided says the 4GB dual chips are not compatable with a 32-bit system...only 64-bit. So, maybe I'll just go get two new sticks of RAM like I have..maybe four depending on cost. You think I can get those at Best Buy or you think I need to find a DELL Dealer? Does DELL have dealers?

On the video card, when I put the ATI in I DID plug my dongle cable into the new ATI plug. That's why I'm getting the HD quality now. I guess I could try to plug it back into the old "integrated" port and see what happens, but that makes me think I would somehow be bypassing the ATI altogether? Unless the ATI will still be running my video, but without it plugged into the dongle cable I'll be bypassing the HD quality? *looks a bit confused*

Thanks so much...I'll be keeping around now. Hmm, maybe I'll go pull the memory stick out and plug the dongle into the integrated port and see what happens.

Hellblazer · « **Reply #44 on:** March 09, 2011, 07:16:59 pm »

No that's not true. I have 4 gigs of ram on my computer and I'm using a 32 bit version of xp. You just don't see the full 4 gigs. YOu will see 3.5 gigs out of the 4 gigs. But 4 gigs ram kits is the maximum that is supported by a 32 bit os.

When you go with a 64 bit Operating system you can go much higher than 4 gigs. A friend of mine has a server board that he uses as a desktop and he's really a maniac.. he has it fully loaded with 192 gigs of ram.. just for the kick of it. But if he was running a windows xp 32 bit system he would only see 3.5 gigs out of all that ram.

Anyhow, as for the ATI card, alright noted. Somehow in how you wrote it, I read it like you had not moved the cable. but unless you are using a cable that is dvi (that fits in the white connector) you're not getting HD yet. But like I said before, finding an ATI that isn't HD.. is going to be hard. Finding a V-card that doesn't do HD is going to be hard. But I'm sure there still is some, just haven't found them yet.

When you use the VGA connector (small blue female connector on your graphic card with 15 pin) You don't get HD, but you still are getting a much better quality than what you had on your on board graphic chip.

willhoff · « **Reply #45 on:** March 09, 2011, 07:48:55 pm »

So, what would the result be if I plugged the blue cable into the on-board card, with the ADI still connected to the motherboard (but no cable attched to it)?

Oh, I bought two new sticks from Best Buy, they each have 1GB of RAM, so at least I've upped my RAM by 1GB. So, I'll put those in now.

I guess if I want to go back to using my on-board card, how would I go about re-installing the drivers and adapters for that? I guess I could try to find one of my old start-up disks or I could maybe find a download on the web? That way I could get my $105 bucks back for the ADI

Hellblazer · « **Reply #46 on:** March 09, 2011, 08:20:51 pm »

Good you'll probably see a bit more smoothness and applications might load up a bit faster too.

Your ATI wouldn't work at all if you go by the on board card and you might even have some stability issue as your ATI would be active at the same time as the on board. One of the next things I was going to have you do if you chose to keep the ATI was to disable the on board chip in the bios. If you want to go back to the on board chip, you will have to download the right drivers (updated) and uninstall the ATI card to make sure there's no conflict.

willhoff · « **Reply #47 on:** March 09, 2011, 08:52:39 pm »

I think I might want to go that route...trying to reinstall my on-board. I wonder if it might be better to try to reinstall the drivers with the old CD's I have that came with the computer (2004). I've heard there can be problems with the "new" or "updated" drivers. Or do you think it would be better to do an online search for the updated drivers? I guess my search would be for drivers for the "ialmrnt5.dll"? You know I kind of recall when I was using the Uninstall function to get rid of my old driver, I think I removed something called "integra...." something or other..can't recall exactly.

Thanks for the help again and again and again

Hellblazer · « **Reply #48 on:** March 09, 2011, 09:23:00 pm »

I'd go with the newer, and then if you have problems you can always uninstall them and install the one from your cd's. Usually newer means that there's been bugs fixing and new integration of sharers and stuff like that.

willhoff · « **Reply #49 on:** March 09, 2011, 09:38:20 pm »

Great thanks HB. My problem is I don't know/remember what I had before :p

I guess I could look at my brother's computer...they should be identical *light bulb*. So, where exactly would I go to look to see what driver he has active? Then what site would you suggest I look on to download the new drivers?

Thanks again

willhoff · « **Reply #50 on:** March 09, 2011, 10:02:04 pm »

Ok, I looked on my brother's computer to see what his set-up is. His is identical to the way mine "was".

If I go Control Panel there's a file for "Intel(R) GMA Driver", click on that I get a screen with some info and tabs. I select the "information" tab and then select "drivers" and it says "description: Intel Graphics Miniport Driver v. 6.14" located at "C/windows/system32/drivers/ialmrnt5.sys."

If I go RUN: dxdiag, and go to display, it says "Main Driver: ialmrnt5.dll"

If I go to Add/remove programs, I found the one that I removed off of my computer which was called "Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver"

So, with that info I wonder if you could tell me what driver I should be searching for and maybe a trused site to get the download?

Thanks

davidhoff · « **Reply #51 on:** March 09, 2011, 11:10:02 pm »

Bah, can't figure how to uninstall the ATI. So, I downloaded that Clean Up wizard you sent me to see if I could get rid of it that way and I can't figure how to work that thing. *reaches down to the pull cord and gives his chainsaw a few pulls*

davidhoff · « **Reply #52 on:** March 10, 2011, 04:16:14 am »

In an attempt to get my old drivers back and to remove the ATI, I did a system restore to set the computer back to where it was on March 4. It appears that may have done the trick. I checked the Add/Remove feature and my old Intel driver was sitting there as an option (it was gone before I did the restore) and the ATI driver was not there (it was there before the restore). So, that's good. My graphics are back to the good ole non-hd state. So, all sounds pretty good. I did notice some lagginess or slight skipping when I played Tra n Griff a few moments ago, but that could just be a temporary server issue.

Thanks for all your help guys n girls. I'm gona keep monitoring my system to see how its working. I'm considering doing an update to my drivers to see if that speeds or smoothes things over...but for right now I think I'm ok.

Thanks again,

Davidhoff

Hellblazer · « **Reply #53 on:** March 10, 2011, 05:17:35 am »

Hey there sorry for having dropped out of circulation. I'm glad you got things working again.

The system restore was a good move, but if you have problem with the ialmrnt5.dll I'd go here to get the latest version.

davidhoff · « **Reply #54 on:** March 10, 2011, 08:43:23 am »

Thanks HB for your help and everyone else. I appreciate the link to the site. I found some sites that indicated an update to the ialmrnt5.dll file, but I'm always sceptical about those downloads because of viruses and unwanted critters. I like the Dell site you provided. It gave an update for the intel "graphics controler" & "chipset" which I guess are important, but I'd hoped they would have provided an update to the ialmrnt5.dll file. Maybe I don't need to update my ialmrnt5.dll file if Dell doesn't reccommend it? Maybe its best to just update what they suggested? Thanks again for bleeding with me in this battle HB

Hellblazer · « **Reply #55 on:** March 10, 2011, 02:10:00 pm »

The update to the graphic controller & chipset are probably the update for the chipset drivers itself. They might have used the same name so you might not see a difference in the name of the driver. Check the version of it if you can.

davidhoff · « **Reply #56 on:** March 10, 2011, 06:32:41 pm »

I think I'm going to go ahead and load the updates for the video (the graphics controller and chip set) even though I have no idea what they do :\\ Seems like a good idea to have it up to date.

There are many other downloads availiable that say either optional, recommended or urgent. Do you think I should go ahead and download all the recommended and urgent?

Also, what's your opinion about going to one of these "other" sites and downloading an update to my ialmrnt5.dll file? (Wow that's sad that I actualy remembered that file name by heart)

Thanks again HB

Chazzler · « **Reply #57 on:** March 10, 2011, 07:12:01 pm »

I bet there are many sites that modify a germ-filled file into a package or whatnot by checking for Google's search results on their site, and then offer that file as an update.
The safest way to go is to use the original provider's site (in your case, Dell's).

Hellblazer · « **Reply #58 on:** March 10, 2011, 07:52:52 pm »

I tend to avoid a site that is not known (ie guru3d and other reputable site) or the original dealer/manufacturer of the items. They will usually want you to download a utility that will prove more headaches than anything because then you have to purchase a license to get it to work.

Anyhow, keeping your computer up to date is often the best way to avoid trouble further down the road.

davidhoff · « **Reply #59 on:** March 10, 2011, 10:20:56 pm »

Agreed, well you all have taught me a bunch and I sincerely appreciate the time you spent to work me through this. Much thanks