Problems installing the drivers

[albatorsk]

Hi folks.

Just got back from the store with my shiny new Parhelia (retail) and was looking forward to an evening in gaming heaven. There's only one small problem; the drivers won't install

After trying both the CD that was bundled with the card, and the WinXP 1.0.3.230 drivers from Matrox' site, I still get the same error.

The installation procedure seems to go well, and there are no errors visible until the two final steps, just when the installer asks me to press "Next" for the last time. In that window, I'm presented with the following error:

Failed Matrox Parhelia 128MB

Files have been copied. Click "Next" to continue.

And when I do press "Next", I'm presented with the following error:

Errors have occured. Display software wasn't successfully installed. Your display software may not work properly.

Try restarting your computer before running this setup program again. For more information, see your Matrox or system manual.

And that's it. If I restart the computer, Windows automagically finds a new, unknown VGA Controller every time, yet it is very accurate in pinpointing the Matrox Parhelia drivers if I ask Windows to install the new hardware for me. Doing so results in the same error as above.

This is driving me nuts, and I would be very grateful if anyone here know of this problem, and might have some sort of remedy. I'm writing this on my Parhelia-driven computer at the moment, in 1024*768*32, but everything is extremely slow, and if I check the Display Properties in the Windows controlpanel, it simply says I'm running "(Default monitor) on" (no, it's not a typo, it really says nothing more), and if I click on the "Advanced" button and then on "Adapter", everything is listed as "unavailable", yet if I click on "Properties", Windows says that "This device is working properly".

Please help!

Relevant computer specs:
ASUS A7M266-D motherboard
2 AMD AthlonMP 1800+
512MB RAM

[Greebe]

are your PCI and AGP buses ok in device manager? all other drivers and BIOS upto date?

[albatorsk]

Wow, that was quick

Yes, I'm running the latest BIOS for the motherboard, not sure if the BIOS on the Parhelia is the latest. How do I find out? BTW. I can't find any BIOS updates for the Parhelia on Matrox' site.

There are no exclamationmarks in the devicemanager, and the previous graphics card I used had no problems.

[Greebe]

PD- HF, Information tab

[Greebe]

What order did you install the device drivers?

Should have been (in this order)
OS
Power Management
AGP patch
IDE BM drivers

[albatorsk]

Ummm.. I'm not sure if you understood what I meant in my first message, but what it's supposed to say is that there is no PowerDesk installed, since the installation "Failed".

[albatorsk]

Originally posted by Greebe
What order did you install the device drivers?

Should have been (in this order)
OS
Power Management
AGP patch
IDE BM drivers

That order, but I skipped the IDE-drivers since I don't use them. Also, I lied. There are exclamation marks in the Device manager; on the Video Controller.

[Greebe]

Almost forgot... what Gcard was running in this system prior to P and were it's drivers removed first?

[albatorsk]

There was a GeForce 3 (be gone, foul being!!) before the Parhelia, but Windows was thoroughly cleansed before putting the P in. I've used quite a lot of Matrox' before, so I know the proceedure of "Remove, go to VGA and clean" since some time back..

[Ryu Connor]

Out of curiosity, have you installed the .NET package yet?

[albatorsk]

Originally posted by Ryu Connor
Out of curiosity, have you installed the .NET package yet?

Yes, I've installed everything on Windows Update. Should I remove them? I don't think I'll be using them in the near future anyway...

[Ryu Connor]

Should I remove them? I don't think I'll be using them in the near future anyway...

No, no. You have to have them for the Parhelia drivers/software.

[albatorsk]

I have "Microsoft .NET Framework (English) v1.0.3705" installed currently.

[Ant]

Have you tried downloading the latest driver from the web? Maybe there is a problem with your installation CD.

Are you letting Windows install the unknown VGA device? If not let it do so.

Try removing the video controller from device manager.

[albatorsk]

Yes, I've tried both the latest from Matorx, and the driver in my CD.

I've tried both installing the driver on my own, and letting Windows do it for me upon detectin new hardware. Same result.

I've tried removing the videocontroller from Device Manager, but it comes back after a reboot.