monster 3d doesn't work with aptiva

Goto this link and down load a newer bios image if your machine,
I can not say that it will help your problem but if may.  Also most newer on board video is now disabled when you insert a new video card is will disable the onboard video.  If not then there will be a jumper on the mother board like next to on board video.

Link to new bios
http://www3.pc.ibm.com/techinfo/509a.html

2 things need to be installed and not just the driver for the Monster card. Put the Monster CD in the drive and install the drivers. Restart. Next, Install the Glide Drivers. You can get them right from http://www.3dfx.com and go to the SDK & Drivers section. Also, you have to have the Monster 3D as a daughter board plugged into a 2D card. If you want to use a better 2D board, I'm sure that IBM can tell you how to diable the onboard video card. It sucks, I know. I sold them at Lechmere. If you are having problems with a specific game, what ones?

Vinman,
The Monster3D's driver came with both D3D and Glide driver....

Muffin,
I don't think it's got anything to do with your 2D card except if there's a conflict, check under Device Manager.  As soon as you start a Glide or D3D game, the Monster would take over.  It would help if you state what game you're trying to run, D3D or Glide.  Also, what kind of crashes...

I had to download Glide for some of my games to work properly .... The drivers that come with the cd are the 3dfx drivers for the card. Geez, maybe I just answered my own question. I would ask him to right-click on my computer, click on device manager. See any yellow exclamation points? Can u say hardware conflict? I don't think it would be the monster board Beacuse it is a PNP device. No jumpers.

Vinman,
Yeah, you're right here, the Glide driver from Diamond are ver.2.41, and the latest are 2.43 from 3Dfx.  Some of the newer games only run on 2.43, that's why I ask what game he's trying to run.

He may also want to go to http://www.diamondmm.com and have him upload the newest Diamond Drivers. They do have an update as well.

vinman, i am sure the drivers being old is not the problem because it will not run any of the games that came with the monster 3d card, like whiplash and tomb raider which are pretty old.  I'm pretty sure whiplash is a glide game and i think tomb raider is a d3d game.  Just to clairify things, we have not got it to work on any 3d games or apps whatsoever.  And there is no hardware conflicts (exclamation points in system properties).

Geez, the LAST thing I would try is a BIOS upgrade.  It's possibly the *worst* combination of "likeliness to resolve the problem" vs "it could mess up my system beyond repair" that I can think of.  It's highly unlikely that this will solve your problem, and it's highly likely to leave your computer in a unusable state, where you either have to buy a new BIOS chip, or borrow someone's PC and their EPROM burner to reprogram your existing chip.

More likely, certain S3 video chips have a tough time coexisting with your M3D.  I'd check to see if your onboard video is one of these sets (it's documented in your M3D manual).  The reason I suspect this is because the S3 chipsets are very commonly used for onboard video.

Bill

Muffin,
Tomb Raider II is D3D game while Tomb Raider I is Glide only if the 3Dfx patch is applied.  To verify if it's got anything to do with your 2D card, try remove the Monster card and run Tomb Raider in software mode.  Also, better description of 'system crashes' would be good.

bilko, the onboard video is ati rage II+ and my friend with the ibm wouldn't want to try the bios thing because it's too complicated for him.

Larbel, every game works perfectly in software mode.  We have tried many games in hardware and software mode without it working.  For the crashes, MTM2 crashes at the loading screen, and everything else the screen just goes black.

Did you try to test the M3D card, itself?  Go to Control Panel --> Display and try testing it.  Also, make sure the refresh rates are something your monitor can handle.

Bill