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TomDromiFlag for Israel

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ATI bios video adapter problem

Hi,
My computer (pIII 500, ME-windows) work great until one day I turn it on, I see the splash screen of the ME and then it asked me to select between normal, safe mode and so.
What ever I choose, after some second of loading, my screen became black, then it writes:
"ATI MACH64 BIOS p/n 113-49801-101", and restarting.

Everything inside is plugged correct.
My video adapter is ATI 3D Rage pro turbo AGP.
What can I do? Where is the problem? is format will help?
Thanks, Tom
Avatar of dbrunton
dbrunton
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Your machine is rebooting.

There could be any number of reasons.  Most common if it is hardware related is

Check CPU fan.  Is it working?
Check Power Supply.  Is it of the right capacity for your motherboard.
Have you overclocked your system?

A heat problem is possible.  Open your system up and with a BIG fan  blowing into the guts of the computer try restarting it up.  If it runs like that, you know you have a heat problem.

Try starting the system from a floppy disk.   If it starts like that you know you have a hard disk problem.
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rayt333

Sounds like the video card may have gone bad on you, but lets try someelse first. Do you have a Win98 bootdisk handy? If so then boot to it and at the prompt type "*Scanreg /restore" at the prompt
You will get a screen where you can select which registry backup to use, choose your backup and press Restore

Choose one with a date older then when your problem first started.
Wait a second, after rereading the question, then I agree this sounds more like a hardware problem, so you should not do the scanreg /restore at this point. trouble shoot the hardware first.

If you have a spare video card then try it, also to eliminate some of your hardware you can remove the sound card, the modem, network card (if any), unhook the printer and scanner and get the system down to only the bare bones needed to run.
Check all fans, make sure it's not overheating. Also, check the power supply fan at the top back of the computer.

Joe
I think you have a driver problem.  Choose to start in Safe Mode, then upgrade the video driver with this file:
http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/winme/wme-rpro-4132655.html

This file is 10MB for some insane reason (ATI's drivers are always HUGE for some reason), so you'll have to find some way to get this onto the system, preferably download on another system, extract it, then copy the extracted files to a CD-R disc.  Alternatively, start in Safe Mode then go to Display control panel and change the video driver to Standard VGA (under Advanced tab, then Display, then Change Driver button).  Be sure to read the Readme file for this driver also:
http://download.ati.com/drivers/wme-j5-30-1-b02.html

-dog*
Er hmm...if you can't even get in Safe Mode (after re-reading the question), you'll probably have to reinstall WinME  I believe you just have a corrupted driver.  Also, when you get the list of startup choices, choose Logged from the list.  This will generate a c:\bootlog.txt file that you can look at with DOS edit command to see what file/driver is the last to load and causes the reboot.

You're seeing the MACH64 message because the card is set to display that on the monitor before the motherboard's POST process kicks in.

-dog*
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ASKER

I make me clear:
1. no heat problem seems to be.
2. I can't do nothing - not to see the bootlog.txt and not change the video driver because what ever I choose in the "Safe-mode" menu make restart.
3. I haven't another video card and I havnen't a boot disk.

my question is should I format it or am I need to bay a new Video adapter?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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rayt333

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Tom:

From the SafeMode menu, can you choose Command Prompt Only? (I don't know if they left this in WinME...stupid microsoft@!)

Then you can look at the bootlog.txt generated on a previous attempt.

Sounds like a virus possibly corrupted your WinME system files.

-dog*
Thanks from your comments, it help me concentrate getting the answer.

after a format, replacing of the video card and cheacking more thing according heat - I think might my motherboard died becuse none of the above did help.
and I going to buy a new one... - am I right?
my current is "Intel 820cc" - what to buy?

Thanks, Tom

 
I think might my motherboard died becuse none of the above did help.
and I going to buy a new one... - am I right?

Usally when a MB goes bad it just quits, you get nothing at all. unless you are planning on getting a new CPU and memory then I would at least test these in another working system to be sure they are OK.

Now if you are seeking an excuse to "upgrade" then of course you can simply replace the CPU and memory with new anyway along with the new MB.
It wasn't an answer but it help me getting the answer.