Updating Graphic Card Drivers... Impossible?

[codydod1]

According to DxDiag, I have an "NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS". Well, I just bought Mass Effect for the PC, and it freezes on the splash screen. According to its help files, I am to update my graphics driver in order to fix it. I realize that my driver is old, and so I checked on NVIDIA's website.
I found this page, which, according to the "Products Supported" list, my card is included. Great! I downloaded the file, and installed it and ran it. When the computer reset, my screen went weird. My resolution dropped to 640 x 480 with 4 bit colour. I could use the slider to change it to 1080 x 480, but when I hit apply, it switched back to 640 x 480. I used a system restore point to go back to before I installed it, so nothing permanent came of it.
According to NVIDIA's website, sometimes Antivirus programs get in the way. Well, the antivirus that I use is NOD32 (antivirus only, not ESET's full package) so I disabled it and tried installing the program again. Same result. What am I doing wrong? is there a better driver to download? What can I do?

[Ant]

What screen do you have and do you need to update its drivers too?

[Ant]

Rummaging around google in the meantime turns up similar issues with this card.

Some links:

http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/n...wers.search_nl

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

Support forum:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/support.html

Link to other drivers for this card:

http://driverscollection.com/?H=GeFo...8800&By=NVidia

[codydod1]

According to the Front of the screen, I have an NEC LCD 1515 screen. Although there might be a more technical title, I don't know where to find it.

[codydod1]

And by the way, what is this xorg.conf thing that people keep talking about

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s....20/+bug/91292

http://blog.shevin.info/2007/04/dont...raphic-in.html

I have been told to change the refreshrates or something in xorg.conf, but I don't have that on my computer as far as I know. What's up?

[Ant]

Yes, you don't have the xorg file on your com, it's not for windows, it's a kind of system configuration for a different operating system.

The symptoms suggest that your screen driver is missing or corrupted, the game tries to open a full screen in a resolution and or refresh rate which your screen isn't capable of displaying. Reinstall your screen driver from here:

http://www.xpvistasite.com/nec_lcd_1515_35549.htm

See if it restores your range of resolutions/refresh rates.

[codydod1]

Ok. The link that you, Ant, gave me, sent me to a website with a link to the NEC website. I downloaded the driver for my screen, and all I got was a zip file with 3 useless things in it. A .cat file, a .icm file, and a .inf file. What do I do with these?

According to the Mass Effect (yes it's a game. By Bioware if you want to know) help files, it is the graphics card driver that will solve my problem (apparently), but I"m unable to update it for unknown reasons. I don't feel that I have the right drivers, but when I try to update mine, I'm stuck at 640 x 480 with 4 bit color. Why is this? Is there a way around it?

Bioware is working on some kind of patch for their game, but I have no idea if this is one of the problems that they are fixing. I doubt the updating-graphics-drivers problem is included in there, as that is not their problem.

And unless I'm misreading that NVIDIA link that thetoolman gave me, it just directs me to a place to compare the actual graphics cards. I did shut down all applications when I installed my driver. No luck. And my "driver CD" doesn't exist. This computer was built by someone else, who is not remotely reliable, so I will not be able to get the CD if I ask for it .

[Ant]

Ok, Cody, I'll explain why I've asked you to download this and what it is.

I can access a whole lot of screen resolutions with my NVIDIA graphics card, many different resolutions which my card is capable of using, and which might be used by a game for instance. However, I have a screen (NEC Accusync 90), which although can display many screen resolutions at many different refresh rates, can't display anywhere near as many as my NVIDIA card can. So I need the right driver for my screen as well as the right one for my card. Together they will only allow screen resolutions which my card and screen can display together.

Now, should I try to set a resolution which my card will allow, but my screen cannot (or a game tries to do the same), I get a blank screen or worse, so it follows that I need to have the correct driver for both my card and my screen.

You can access some resolutions for your card, but not all of them, so I'm wondering if your screen driver is installed too. Your computer isn't in front of me so I'm feeling my way you must understand.

The files you downloaded are the screen driver files. It's not an executable or anything like that, but files containing the information your computer and gfx card need to choose resolutions and refresh rates your screen is capable of displaying.

In order to install this info, right click on the screen and chose Properties -> Settings Tab -> Advanced -> Monitor Tab -> Properties -> Driver Tab (you can see here if it's your particular screen or just a generic one) -> Update Driver -> Don't connect to the internet -> Install from a specific Location -> (Browse to location you saved those files to) and click next.

This should install those driver files and your card *should* now know what resolutions your screen is capable of, as should the game you're trying to start.

I've had this exact problem with games myself a couple of times as my screen isn't recognised by the P&P system for what it is. I'm only trying to help but without actually being there it's not easy you know.

[Ant]

As you also mention in your original post, you can't access all the screen resolutions which should be available in windows either, that would also suggest that the driver for your card is corrupt or not the right one too.

Download the latest driver for your card from the NVIDIA site and follow the same instructions to instal that driver, if it doesn't come with its own installer program (adapter tab instead of monitor tab).

[codydod1]

I appreciate the help, but, unfortunately, my screen driver is completely up to date.

Let me attempt to establish what is going on in my computer: I start with an old version of my NVIDIA 8800 GTS driver and an up-to-date version of my screen driver. Everything works fine. I can access screen resolutions of up to 1024 x 768 with 32 bit color. And then I install Mass Effect, and it crashes on the splash screen. I check the help files, it tells me that perhaps my video card driver is out of date. So I check NVIDIA's website, and download the newest driver compatible with my Graphics card (according to NVIDIA's website, anyways). This is the "GeForce Release 175.16". I install this driver, and restart (as it tells me to). When my computer starts up again, I am in 640 x 480 with 4 bit color. When I go Right-Click-Desktop>Properties>Settings>Screen resolution, I can change my resolution to 1024 x 768 with the slider, but when I press "apply" or "OK" it reverts back to 640 x 480. The same thing happens with the color. I realize something must be wrong and use a system restore point that I had (wisely) created before I installed the graphics driver. So now I'm back to the beginning: with a screen that works for everything except Mass Effect. I later tried the earlier NVIDIA release 169.21 with the same result as the 175.16. My question to anybody who knows, is why do these drivers ruin my resolution? They are built for my computer's chip, are they not? why don't they install properly? I did turn off my antivirus and close other programs like I was instructed by the NVIDIA website, but it didn't help. I don't know what else I can do, or why the driver is being odd. Any suggestions?

[Ant]

Ok gotcha. Couple of things, have you used the Mass Effect Configuration Utility to set the resolution and aspect ratio prior to tryng to run the game?

"Config Utility: The Mass Effect Config Utility can be accessed either by selecting the 'Configure' option in the Mass Effect launcher menu, or by directly running the file MassEffectConfig.exe found in the \Program Files\Mass Effect\Binaries directory. This utility has a range of features for configuring the game settings before launching it (e.g. if for some reason you can't access the in-game settings); for Repairing launch icons or Firewall exceptions; and for viewing details about your system. Generally speaking you shouldn't use it unless you experience problems and can't enter the game to alter the settings there."

And who is the manufacturer of your card, Asus, Gigabyte (mine's made by a company called Point of View) etc?

Asus have their own drivers here:

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us

[codydod1]

The Configuration Utility automatically set my resolution to 1024 x 768, so that doesn't seem to be the problem.

Which card are you referring to? The Graphics card? When I opened my case a long time ago, I saw ASUS on some of the stuff, so that would make sense to be the manufacturer. Is there a definitive way of finding out who made my card?

I checked the link you gave me, and I picked Graphic Card, NVIDIA series, and then it gave me a list of things that I had no idea what they meant. What do these mean? Where can I find what mine would be? Thanks for the help, I do appreciate it.

[Ant]

To find out extensive system information you can download and run Belarc Advisor:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

If you got the whole system complete it's very likely that the graphics card is Asus too.

On the Asus link, there's a link (Asus navigation wizard) to direct you to the driver download page, or you can navigate yourself by the General Download window on the right - (top to bottom) choose Graphic Card then NVidia Series then EN8800 Series and you should be directed to the Asus Specific driver page.

(Bottom left is a set of links with Specifications/FAQs and a discussion forum you might want to look at.)

Expand VGA and, after a short wait, a window should open with driver downloads for various Operating Systems; you want the second one. It's a zip file so download it and extract it to a directory. See if there's a setup file in there.

If not you'll have to install the driver manually via right-click screen -> properties -> settings -> advanced -> adapter -> properties -> driver -> update -> don't connect -> manually choose driver to install -> navigate to the folder -> click ok.

Hope it's gonna help.

[codydod1]

Well, my Main Circuit Board is ASUS. I tried the driver, and it would seem like that was the driver I have had all along... It did update, and it didn't make everything die, but it also didn't help with Mass Effect. So close! :P