Knoppix Fried GeForce 4 Ti 4200!

Hi all,

This might seem hard to believe, but I think Knoppix just fried my graphics card :(

I have been running Knoppix 3.1 on a Thinkpad 600 with no problems, but tonight I decided to try it on my Dell 4550 with GeForce 4 Ti 4200.

Knoppix went through much of its boot sequence until it tried to talk X11 at which point the display disappeared.

From this point on, no matter what I did not bring back the display.
Changing the video card did however completely restore system to normal.

JUST A WARNING o ALL

<snip>
This might seem hard to believe, but I think Knoppix just fried my graphics card.
</snip>

Actually, it's IMPOSSIBLE to believe. There's NO WAY that Knoppix could be responsible for your problem. I speak from my electronic, software AND computer hardware experience. It's likely an unfortunate coincidence.

OOPS!

Did you try cycling power (unplugging) for about 30 seconds before writing it off as a dead video card? How did you know it was a dead video card and not something else?

I had some problems with Dell's P.O.S.T. memory checks being tripped by the KnoppixKDE disk on the lab computer I was working on and failing and the computer refusing to turn on past the second POST light (ack!!) but after an hour of frantically fidgetting, and earning accusatory stares from the rest of the patrons I cycled the power to clear the NVRAM (I think) and it turned on like nothing at all. Naturally when you took out the video card you would have cycled power. Are you sure this isn't what it was? It's a heck of a lot more likely.

I have also repeated this event on an IBM of mine. Maybe it was only the particular CD but I had uneventfully used it on two laptops of mine.

On second thought, If you'd like I'll take that 'dead' video card off your hands for you, heh heh. gl.

i have a geforce 4 ti 4200... no problems at all... well...

originally, when I started x, using the nv drivers, I got a black screen, very much like what you discribed. Pissed me off, i could not figure out what it was for the longest time. Turns out the NV drivers do not support the digital out monitor hook up... All i had to do was switch it to the standard monitor plug and i was all set...


btw.. did you check the card by running it in another OS?

I have a geforce 4 ti 4200, and X does indeed not support the DVI port. Although the terminals all worked well, there was no signal, until I changed to the analogue port.

Wow, thanks for all the interest.

I'm willing to believe this is a horrible coincidence, but I must admit I am very wary of trying again. My experience is also that software rarely fries hardware, but it could push a dodgy card over the edge by chucking out extreme sync signals).

Here is what I did:
1. Used machine for a couple of hours on XP (sorry)
2. Re-booted machine with Knoppix, Knoppix went through much of its boot sequence until it tried to talk X11 at which point the display disappeared

3. Tried reboot again with Knoppix, gave blank screen (no POST messages even)
4. Diagnostic lights all show green (claiming memory & video OK)
5. Swapped screen from DVI to Analogue
6. Re-start gave blank screen as before (Knoppix & XP)
7. Reseated card, no change
8. Swapped video card for old Matrox I had lying around
9. Re-start XP, and all is OK (with old video card on analogue)
10. Swapped back for sanity check, no display
Conclusion: dead card

I am brave enough to try Knoppix again with the old card just to make sure it all goes OK, I'll let you know if I have any trouble assuming I still have a video card 8)

Ian

igs, can u please let us know what brand of GeForce Ti 4200 was that ? Creative ? LeadTek ? Asus ?

Your gf4 ti 4200 chip probably wouldnt have got burnt. It would have been some other electronic component on your card. Though the card manufacturers use the standard gf4 ti 4200 and follow nvidia guidelines for board design, they might use poor quality components, which might have been the cause for the dead card.

My card was a (presumably) Dell card as shipped with a dimension 4550, there are no markings on the card to indicate either Dell or any other manufacturer except Nvidia themselves.

As the machine was under warranty I have been trying to get Dell to replace the card but they seem to be a bit reticent so far.

igs

I too have a Ti4200 (MSI), and Knoppix works fine with it. Better yet, my Ti4200 does not crash Knoppix to (or vice versa), but it is the cause of a great deal of instabilitiy under WinXP. :evil:

On a secondary note, does anyone besides me not trust Nvidia at all? Their website says the detonator drivers (latest, of course) are WHQL certified, but in actuality only parts of them are certified. The drivers as a whole aren't even signed by MS.

Suffice to say, I'm getting a Radeon 9700 ASAP.

I have noticed some odd behaviour on a Dell 4550 when doing a knoppix shutdown, it would turn the PC off after asking you to remove the CD. Upon pressing the power on at this point, the PC would turn on but the display would not, not even the BIOS boot screen, monitor would stay in standby. Then if I would actually unplug the power from the back of the unit and plug it back in, it would boot up normally. I evenually figured out a way around it (issuing an init 6 instead of doing a shutdown). I'm not sure if the 2003-03-26 version has this problem, I think I did shut down once the regular way IIRC and it did not exhibit the lock-up.

And WHQL "certification" actually means anything? That just means they paid Microsoft a bunch of money for the ability to say their drivers are WHQL-certified, not much more. Considering MS can't make stable/proper software, why should we base our opinions of drivers on whether or not MS got their dough or not?

Indeed, I would see no reason to ditch a card because of it not being WHQL certified. The big issue is probably that geforce cards are made by all sorts of manufacturers, and microsoft may be reluctant to certify a driver that works on such a wide range of hardware.

On the side, I'd like to note that in my experience, NVIDIA drivers are MUCH MUCH more stable and well-written than ATI's drivers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by igs

My card was a (presumably) Dell card as shipped with a dimension 4550, there are no markings on the card to indicate either Dell or any other manufacturer except Nvidia themselves.

As the machine was under warranty I have been trying to get Dell to replace the card but they seem to be a bit reticent so far.

igs

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Have you tried putting the card back in after a reasonable amount of time (60 sec or more) of the system being powered down and unplugged?

BTW, as to GeForces and DVI out - If you remaster with the binary NVidia drivers installed, DVI works perfectly.

What really impresses me is that Knoppix 3.2 works on my laptop even without those drivers - Slightly older versions of X don't work with the GeForce4 440 Go.

I know this is a really old thread, but does anyone else have problems with the MSI Ti 4200? I use the DVI port and knoppix seems to support it...kind of. I can't get it to use 1280x1024 resolution. I've tried every combination of resolution and refresh rate I an think of, and still can't get more than 1152x764.

I also experience some instability with WINXP on the 4200? Has anybody had these problems?

YES It IS POSSIBLE for this to happen...

I've been doing some research following my own post on this forum about this type of issue, and the SUPERPROBE that isused with most Linux distros HAS BEEN KNOWN to sometimes fry video cards. I also discussed this issue with another friend of mine who uses every machine imaginable from i386 based to Alpha, MIPS, Sun, etc..and has been running Linux/FreeBSD/NetBSD for many years. He himself told me that the SuperProbe has fried a couple of his own video cards. So Loper, it's an unfortunate coincedance that you've just never come accross this happening. The SuperProbe DID fry my GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, it's permanently screwed. I've had to raise the voltage up al the way now to even use it until I can afford the ~200 to buy a new vid card.

Needless to say, I've never seen any warning ANYWHERE that something like this could potentially happen, and I'm pretty pissed. IGS, you're not alone in this, and it does happen.