Changing over from Matrox RT2000 to STORM2.

1. you will have to find a storm2 , not easy these days unless it's second hand.

long way to sort the swap of card etc

2. remove all matrox software
3. shutdown pc
4. remove rt2000 card , and also the g400 graphics card.
5. insert new graphics card
6. restart pc
7. check it's working properly . shutdown pc.
8. install storm2 card etc
9. install software in order directed.

advantages ..... don't need to reinstall most software

short version

1. remove rt2000 plus g400 graphics card
2. install new graphics card plus storm2 card
3. start pc , and insert operating system disc into cd/dvd drive
4. format operating system partition
5. install operating system and then all the other drivers / software

advantage ..... clean build so nothing nasty to catch you out

Thank you Gary,
I will be back again for further guidance

oku

Hi Gary,

It looks like the Matrox graphics card is not compatible/working with the Storm2.
Could you please, as a matter of urgency, recommend a graphic card that will be suitable for the Storm2 card. Not an expensive one.
Maybe I could ask on 'classfieds'?

Thank you Gary.

oku

I use a nvidia geforce 4 4200ti , and as far as i can tell all nvidia and ati cards are compatible and there are enhanced drivers for storm2 with them.
there is a card that canopus themselves rebadge for use with storm2

talk to richard @ dvc , sure he can help you.

Gary,

Once again thank you for your usual prompt response and attention!!!!

If I may, could you please have a look at my specs below, if the nvidia geforce 4 4200ti will be suitable, or if you could please recommend 1 or two other nvidia graphics cards:

Dual Pentium III sys.
2 x 1 Gig. Intel Intel Pentium CPUs
Abit VP6 Motherboard
1 Gig ram - 4x256 (kingston Memory)
G400flex video card

Thank you

oku

the problem you have is that the 'flex' is a alterred version of the g400max card , specifically alterred to work with rt2000.

a card that will definately work with Storm2

ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-A9600

and
http://www.canopus-uk.com/UK/Products/Spectra_WF17/pm_spectraWF17.asp

but it isn't cheap

I think I will go for the ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB. But at £70 plus vat, like you said, its not cheap.

Once again, your prompt attention is very much appreciated

oku

The 9600XT might not be cheap, Oku, but it is a very good card - if you get the ultra version (if it is still available) it is passively cooled, so no fan noise. QuietPC used to sell them at a good price.

Thank you Alan,

I've ordered the ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB - £70

oku

Hi,
I had a Storm system built by DVC a few years ago and I had a Matrox G550 dual head graphics card installed (by DVC). This system is now redundant as I have upgraded the PC,s
The card referred to by Gary made by Canopus, I think, is a Spectra WF17 - based on an Nvidia card which I have in one system. Not the fastest of cards but works fine. I dont think this card is still available, mine was purchased 3-4 years ago at a Canopus open day / demo.
A friend of mine has changed from the same Matrox card as yourself and installed the Canopus NX card - the successor to Storm. His computer is basically home built and luckily it all works fine. I would suggest you visit the Canopus Forums and search for installation procedures if you install Storm as the installation procedure can cause many problems if done in an incorrect order. This doesn't seem to apply with the latest cards. Canopus' installations were aways a problem mainly due to all the patches they kept issuing. I believe the poster of the installation procedure is known as HazelRandy. One other problem - if you cannot register the Storm card on Canopus site usually due to it being already registered you will not have access to any of the latest drivers / patches so ensure you can either change the registration to yourself or get the supplier to obtain all the drivers / patches for you. To future proof yourself I would suggest you purchase the NX card which is around £750 and until tonight comes with a free HDV board. If you only intend to do standard dv this card fits as normal but HDV will be unavailable. It is the replacement for Storm which is now discontiued.
Watch out for proposed 'Special Offers' / bundles from Holdan which have recently been appointed exclusive Canopus agents in UK.
K.C.

K.C.,

Thanks very much.

oku

Gary or anyone,any ideas or advice please. I have come into problems installing the ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB which finally arrived yesterday!

This installation is being done by someone else, as I do not have a clue on what to do!!! I have got four weddings that needs editing.

Uninstalled the Matrox card driver then took out the Matrox card and
replaced it with the ATI. The Windows screen came up OK, but of course only at 640x480 - the ATI driver has to be installed to get the higher resolution that you need for editing.

When the driver finished installing it asked to reboot the computer (this
is normal)

Trouble was, from then on each time Windows went to open it crashed and
rebooted.

OK, I said, I'll start again with a clean installation of Windows (just in
case the previous matrox software was still in place and giving trouble)

With a new Windows installation AND NOTHING ELSE I loaded the ATI drivers
and just as before it crashed and rebooted each time.

As a check, I opened up one of my computers, got out the Nvidia graphics
card and tried it in your computer. It worked fine - no crashes.

Your computer doesn't crash with an Nvidia card installed, but it was an
old Nvidia card that isn't available these days and I couldn't guarantee
that another Nvidia card would work as well

Is there anyone ln the London area or Surrey who can fix this problem PLEASE

Thank you

oku

this may well be a problem with a setting in the computer bios.
AGP aperture may need increased to max possible.

or keep the nvidia that works in the new computer and put the ati into the older machine.

Ray Liffen may be near you.

Hello Gary,

Since you mentioned, it is Mr Ray Liffen who is trying to solve/fix this for me. The nvidia is his. I have just phoned him to look into the computer bios settings. But the problem is Ray has a lot of work of his own to take care of.
Hence my question of someone else living locally who will be able to look into this. I will bring the computer. Is there someone??? PLEASE

Thank you Gary

oku

PS:
Gary, it is one computer, bur partitioned

chipset features setup menu > in bios menu

agp aperture size
agp-4x mode
agp fast write

are all settings you could alter and see if it responds properly.

or

enter bios , anmd press F6 which will load failsafe settings.

Thank you Gary, I've passed on the info.

Would you know of a Video/Computer technician in the London or Suburbs or not far from Greater London please; apart from Mr Liffen

oku

sorry , If gg is around ( guido giles ) he's pretty good on pc's.

can I send him a PM

oku

yes , but need to work out how to find him.

ah , sussed it

http://forums.dvdoctor.net/private.php?do=newpm&userid=5688
should start up pm for guido

Thanks Alan.
I have already sent him a PM. I did a search with his name and traced him throgh some of his threads.

oku

Mr Ray Liffen tried the bios suggestions.

agp tweaks -no difference - still reboots as soon as it reaches Windows.

Tried F6 for fail-safe - no difference - still reboots as soon as it
reaches Windows.
Also, after using F6 it brings up an opening screen message " CPU has been
changed or is unworkable - please check"

oku

enter bios again.
get it to check cpu 's.
set them if it can't work it out
save settings
reboot
press F8 , bring windows up in safe mode.
try re-installing the graphic drivers from there.
If it doesn't work , it has to be a hardware problem ...... can you check the card in another pc.

What OS are you using ? You mention a dual 1g P111 , This would suggest you are using W2000. If so , what service pack are you using ?. I reccomend SP2 and no other
refinements. If your Bios is reporting the wrong speeds for your processors , this suggests either 1. The bios is unhappy with a voltage setting (are you overclocking ? If you are reset back to normal core voltage) 2. You have a Ram memory problem ( since your computer reboots when reaching the final stages and not the driver stages) check your ram has not become dislodged.3. Your Mobo has reached the end of it`s serviceable life - This is the time when Dry joints make themselves known.5. Your PSU should be at least 450 watt. It will run on 400 but you are asking it to do a lot. I run a storm 2 on a dual p111 966, I have a bog standard 16mb graphics card and although the machine is a bit slow compared to my P4 2.8 with a storm 2 installed , It is fairly stable, with the above parameters.

Thank you, Gary and John. I've passed this on to Ray Liffen. I shall keep you informed.

oku

Hi guys

A bit of background.

This is a dual-processor PIII with 1Gb of RAM. There doesn't seem to be a handbook or drivers disk for the motherboard and I can't find a makers name.

As purchased it had a Matrox RT2000 and Chris had it set up for dual booting using Boot Magic with Win 2K on both partitions ('Edit' and 'Office').

The problem came with the changeover to DVD making and the time it was taking to do MPEG conversion.

Chris decided to buy a second-hand Storm 2 to get the speed of the hardware encoder and asked me to fit it, which I did. To keep costs down I did not change the graphics card. As far as I was aware there was no reason why the Matrox card should not work.

After several weeks of wierd intermittant troubles with strange colours on internal and external monitor pictures (ie on the PC screen and on the Storm's output) Chris put the problem up on these boards and it was suggested that the Matrox graphics card should be replaced. The suggestion was the ATI 9600XT which I purchased on Chris's behalf and fitted. (this brings us to last Monday).

As soon as the ATI drivers were installed on what had been a fully stable Windows installation the computer started rebooting just at the point where the Windows desktop is about to be displayed.

To be QUITE sure that the Matrox card hadn't left a legacy behind I foramatted and reloaded Win +SP2. With NO OTHER drivers installed I installed the ATI drivers and immediately the rebooting came back.

As a cross check I borrowed an old Nvidia 440 card from one of my computers. WITH NO OTHER CHANGES other than putting in the Nvidia driver, the computer booted though to the Windows desktop without a problem. I think this test excludes motherboard, CPU or RAM problems. (and of course the Matrox graphics card also worked fine when in combination with the RT2000)

With the ATI card back in I played around with the AGP settings as per Gary's suggestion but no improvement.

The big problem is time. Time trying things and waiting for the reboot and then trying something else and waiting for the reboot . . . . .

If anyone out there in the South London area has a bit of time and some knowledge of building editing computers there is a puzzle-box waiting for their attention in Carshalton . . . . . .

Ray Liffen

Ray,

The obvious conclusion here is a faulty ATI card, surely?

Can this be tried in another system?

Thats my conclusion OR ati doesn't like windows 2000 / acpi.

I think i may have made a fatal error.

I assumed a twin intel cpu motherboard would have a decent chipset and while doing 27 timetable changes in the last 4 days didn't check your motherboard as well as i should have.

There are known problems with ATI AGP cards and via chipsets.

Guess what

your motherboard has A VIA CHIPSET.

and all i see now is problems for you .......

where did you buy the new card from ?
will they accept it back if it is incompatible with your motherboard ?

if not , email me ,and i'll see what i can organise to get you a different graphics card to try and get you up and running ......
and no it won't be matrox or ati.

Good morning Gary,

I've forwarded your message to Ray. If possible, could you please send him a PM explaining it to him further please.

The company where we purchased the ATI from is the one you mentioned earlier on the thread:

"a card that will definately work with Storm2

ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB [url]http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/....html?NOV-A9600[/ur

but it isn't cheap"

Once again, I thank you very much for all your time and efforts you've put in to get me up and running.

oku

Gary, you have PM

oku

The problem is that many people have the card working with a storm2 , and it is compatible with a storm2
Many people have it wrking with your motherboard , many don't.

The problem may well be the three pieces together don't like each other.

Maybe richard @ dvc would know more about this , it may just need the storm pci slot changed.

I'm trying to organise a non-matrox , non-ati graphics card.

Thank you Gary, very much appreciated

oku

need your snail mail address .............

Gary, you have PM
Thank you

oku

have organised a card. ( nvidia agp card , same era as ti4200 but slightly newer )
Just need to check it in my pc on monday.
Will send it monday night to snail mail address.
You should have it Tuesday morning , so if you prefer a different address for it to be sent to get back to me before Monday 4.00pm , when it will go into the post.

quick idea found on ATI messageboard

turn the speed of the AGP slot down, if you still have ati card in the pc.
go into bios and select 4x or 2x and see if the graphics card works now.

small fix for via chipset problems.

Gary: Yes, can you please send it to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you

oku

address editted out by Harlequin ..... but noted as destination for box.

Card in post to Ray.
Should arrive tomorrow morning , recorded delivery

Hello Gary, Thank you very,very much. I will pass on this message to Ray. Please have a look at your PM

oku

I'm not surprised you are changing to a Storm, I bought a pre-built Matrox RT100 system after having a Storm 2 for a couple of years and found the Matrox to be the most useless poorly designed piece of rubbish I've ever used. It crashes by just looking at it losing all your work even if you have made backups. It is totally intolerant of anything except a DV input where you may get away with a day without a crash.

Storm 2, I think I had one crash in 2 years.

Matrox, never again.

Anyone got a 2nd hand pro built Storm 2 for sale?

Talk to Richard @ dvc , he had one from a customer up for sale about 4 weeks ago.

Chris/Gary

The new Nvidia card worked correctly straight from the box (where the ATI would not even allow the computer to go into safe mode to remove its drivers).

Ray

Good.
How are you getting on with returning the ATI card ?

Next time i promise to read all the specifications of the kit before suggesting components.

Not long now

oku

Hello Gary,

There is another problem:

"Having put in the new graphics card it works fine and I've been able to
load Premiere, the storm drivers and some of the other progs.

However, there is something odd about 200Gb and 60Gb drives - when I try
to select files on these drives the computer will suddenly crash.

I don't know why - it all happens very fast!"

Any suggestions PLEASE

oku

Now i am really confused ......

I assume this wasn't happening immediately after the new graphics card was installed.
I wonder if you won't need to re-install everything from scratch ( o/s , drivers , software , and see where it goes wrong.
This sounds to me to be more than just your original problem.

The one thing i have seen do this ( or similar instant re-boot ) is a bad video codec , and when windows shows 'thumbnails' for files on drives , it loads the wromng codec and Poooooof ..... machine reboots.