Bios is all in German

[Simon]

There might also be a release clip at the other end to the screw, attached to the AGP slot.

[Lona]

Undo the screw, then grip the card at the top and pull upwards. It will require some force to unclip it. To put it back, line it up and push down hard, making sure it clips in completely, then put the screw back in.

There seems to be a white plastic sort of clip at the bottom gripping the card. I wonder if it's that which is stopping card from coming out.

[Rik]

Can you post a shot of it, Lona?

[Sebby]

That's the AGP slot, Lona. You need to pull the card quite hard upwards to disengage it.

[Lona]

That's the AGP slot, Lona. You need to pull the card quite hard upwards to disengage it.

It's out and examined. Put in and it didn't solve anything.

[Sebby]

If it were my computer, I'd replace the motherboard, given their low price. I'd say it's worth the risk. But I know not everyone would want to do that...

[Inactive]

It's out and examined. Put in and it didn't solve anything.

Lona, I had problems with my graphics card, I just took mine out, cleaned the gold plated connectors, put it back in..sorted.

It may be worth a try.

[vitriol]

Hi Lona,

A friend of mine had a similar problem, with the graphics display being corrupt.  The picture you posted of the Intel P4 logo with the stripes of white dots looks very familiar to me.

He had an ATi Radeon 9800pro graphics card in his machine.  I though that the card may have malfunctioned and luckily I had a spare Radeon 8500 lying around.  Put that in instead and the computer was fine.  His was a definite graphics card problem. 

It also made his BIOS look weird aswell. 

Do you know anyone that has a spare graphics card that you could try?  OTOH AGP cards are quite cheap now.

[Simon]

I have a spare AGP card you can have for the cost of postage, Lona.  PM me if you're interested.

[Lona]

I have a spare AGP card you can have for the cost of postage, Lona.  PM me if you're interested.

Thanks for the offer Simon but it's pci-e slots on the PC so don't think AGP would fit.

[Simon]

No, it wouldn't.

[LesD]

ATM, my money is on a corrupted BIOS.

Hi Lona,

I was with Rik on this one 100% but having seen what vitriol says namely:

Hi Lona,

A friend of mine had a similar problem, with the graphics display being corrupt.  The picture you posted of the Intel P4 logo with the stripes of white dots looks very familiar to me.
.
.
.
It also made his BIOS look weird as well. 

I am back thinking it is the AGP card that is faulty. I did mute this possibility a while back and these Medion machine have a history of problems with the Graphics cards from what I have read elsewhere.

From what I understand to have been said you have had the AGP card out and reseated it to no avail. This card being the one with the release peg that you have to pull to get the card out. Also you have some empty pci-e slots so you have two option for a replacement graphics card as I see it. A new AGP one or a PCI Express one.


Here are a some for instances that might take your fancy:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/256MB-NIVIDIA-GEFORCE-FX5500-DVI-TV-AGP-Graphics-Card_W0QQitemZ150257278050QQihZ005QQcategoryZ3762QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/512MB-nVidia-GeForce-7200GS-PCI-Express-Graphics-Card_W0QQitemZ140240443651QQihZ004QQcategoryZ3762QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XFX-GeForce-FX-5200-Graphics-Card-128MB-AGP8X-DVI_W0QQitemZ230259926296QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3762QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There are thousands of Graphics cards in this eBay category to suit every pocket and personally I have done OK with used ones but not everyone may agree with this approach.

Once again I have my  for you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,

Les.

P.S. I can't find an MD8383 Fan Site forum but no one has replied with a guide to how to flash a Medion BIOS so far I am afraid

[Lona]

Hi again Les

Here's the site I go to for help

http://www.medionsupport.com/phpbb2/portal.php

Most are convinced it's the graphics card so it was suggested I take the card out of this PC first before going to the expense of a new card.

I spent all afternoon trying to remove the card on this machine but it has a different clip at the bottom which has a cut out to grip the card in place.

I tried sliding it, then pulling it up and it wouldn't budge.

I have pictures of this card which I will post once I extract them from my camera.

Frustration isn't the word now.  Totally *issed off would be a better word to how I am feeling just now.

I was on Ebay last night looking at cards and saw a few that would do the job.

Quite fancied this one but dunno if it would be too powerful

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270246495648&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=017

[Simon]

One thing to bear in mind, Lona, is that some of the newer, more powerful graphics cards, are quite sizeable, so it would be an idea to be sure it will fit before you buy one.  The clips may be different, but any PCI-E card should fit in a PCI-E slot, providing there's room with the other cards you may have.

[Lona]

Here's the one I tried to remove from new PC to test on other PC




You will see that the white clip is different from old pc.  I'm scared to force it.  I even took out the dvi card to get a better look and the clip goes all the way round the card. 


Simon, you are perfectly correct and I am doubtful if this card would fit in other machine even if I did manage to remove it. 

[Simon]

It looks like you just pull the clip towards the edge nearest to it, Lona, then gently pull the card from the upper opposite corner, so it sort of slides out from under the clip, if you get what I mean.  They can be bloody fiddly, but it should come out OK.  Another one would fit it by the same method, only reversed, but be careful to make sure it's seated securely, and straight in the slot.

[Lona]

Well I have just checked inside old PC and there is no way my other card would fit it as there is hardly any space between card and dvi card.

The newer card which is 8600gs doesn't have a fan but has a large metal bit sticking out where a fan would be.

I won't have to battle with it again to get it out and just hope I never need to remove it. Three years warranty so I hope it's still in warranty should I ever need a new card for it. 

[Simon]

This is similar to mine, Lona.  Huge great big beast!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Lona]

Very similar but even bigger than mine


I see yours connects direct to monitor same as mine but on old PC it's different. There's a cable connector clipped onto card that then goes to the monitor.

I'll have to be careful when buying a new card. It's a minefield out there.

[Simon]

Just to clarify, that isn't mine, Lona, it's a pic from Google just to illustrate the size.  I think the connections on mine are slightly different.

[Lona]

Update

Got new card yesterday and it's now fitted and PC is back to normal.

The bios has corrected itself so if anybody should get those weird screens on their pc the answer is to check the graphics card.

I ended up fitting a nvidia 8400gs.

Thanks to everybody who tried to help me.   

[Sebby]

Good result, Lona. I bet you're relieved!

[Lona]

Good result, Lona. I bet you're relieved!

When I think of the hours I spent trying to solve the problem I'm glad I went for the new card and didn't try updating the bios.

[LesD]

I'm glad I went for the new card and didn't try updating the bios.

Hi Lona,

I am glad to see you have fixed your PC with a new Graphics card. 

Have a  for perseverance and succeeding. 

I am pleased that it all worked out without the need to update the BIOS but often it is not as bad in the doing as the thinking about doing it can be. 

[Simon]

Thanks for the update, Lona!