Accept Refurb or Not???

[HulaMike]

Dell is replacing my ATI 256 MB DDR Radeon 9800 Pro video card on my new Dell XPS machine. My warrantee has free on site installation by a Dell rep here in the islands. They sent the replacement to me and its a refurb. I think they owe me a new unit, not a refurb, and have emailed them my displeasure.

Is offering refurbed replacement parts under warrantee the norm for the industry? Should I demand a new card???

[Auminer]

It is the norm for Dell...read the warranty/purchase agreement its in there. I reads something like "Dell computers are made with parts that are new or refurbished". I also have two Dell laptops.

Dave

[HulaMike]

Thanks Dave. Dell graciously pointed me in that direction this am. Now if only I knew if the card they sent was comparable to the one I paid for. Replacement says, "Card, graphics, 256MB, R360 Dimension, shock". Went to the web site and couldn't find this part listed. On my original invoice the part number's different too. They look the same, we'll see. So long as it works I guess.

[Auminer]

Hey Mike that doesn't sound right, the part numbers should be the same! Your ATI 256 MB DDR Radeon 9800 Pro is an excellent card and you should get the identical replacement not just looking the same or something similar. The card should say ATI 9800 on it somewhere.

You might want to go here http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/ this is the Dell support and forum site. It is a little slow most times, just so you won't think its your hookup.

Whats the name and model number of your Dell 'puter?

Dave

[Auminer]

"POWERED/GRAPHIC BY ATI products are manufactured using ATI components but by another manufacturer. These manufacturer's, or ATI Manufacturing Partners, offer products in varying configurations and price points all based on the quality and reliability of ATI components. These products are distinguished by the POWERED BY ATI or GRAPHICS BY ATI logo on the product packaging."


Identifying your Graphics Product - Product Details from System Information
The following article describes ways of verifying your installed graphics adapter details from the Windows System Information Utility so as to identify support options available from ATI Customer Care.

Product Details from Windows System Information

Windows System Information, accompanied by Windows 98/98SE/ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP can be used to verify details of your graphics product, even if no display driver is installed.

Particular Device IDs can be obtained from System Information which should verify if you have a product that is BUILT BY ATI, or POWERED BY ATI, or even NON-ATI based graphics. Vendor IDs are important as they will determine your product manufacturer and support options offered by ATI Customer Care.

To obtain details from System Information, perform the following:

Select Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information.
Click the [+] sign next to 'Components'
Highlight 'Display'
For Windows 98/98SE/ME/XP: Click "File", then select "Export".
For Windows 2000: Click "Action", then select "Save as Text File...".
Type a name to save the file.
Open the saved file, and refer to the section entitled [Display].
You will find a variety of useful information (especially Device ID, Sub System ID, and Sub Vendor ID) in the [DISPLAY] section:

Example (the exact arrangement of this information may vary):

[Display]

Item Value
Name RADEON 7500
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5157&SUBSYS_7146174B&REV_00\000800
Adapter Type RADEON 7500 (QW) Rev 0, ATI Tech. - Enhanced compatible
Adapter Description RADEON 7500
Adapter RAM Not Available
Installed Drivers ATI2DRAG.DRV
Driver Version 4.00
INF File ATI Tech. - EnhancedC9_02628.inf (RV200_ENU section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries Not Available
Resolution Not Available
Bits/Pixel Not Available
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xAFFFF
Memory Address 0xB0000-0xBFFFF
I/O Port 0x03B0-0x03BB
I/O Port 0x03C0-0x03DF
IRQ Channel IRQ 11
Memory Address 0xC8000000-0xCFFFFFFF
Memory Address 0xC7000000-0xC7DFFFFF
I/O Port 0xD800-0xD8FF
Memory Address 0xC0000-0xCBFFF
Memory Address 0xC7020000-0xC703FFFF
Driver c:\windows\system\vmm32.vxd (, 1,008.75 KB (1,032,956 bytes), Not Available)



Make a note of the following pieces of information which are displayed:

Name: This is the display adapter name which is also listed in Device Manager.
PNP Device ID: This identification string will verify if you have a product that is BUILT BY ATI, or POWERED BY ATI. If the Subsystem ID does NOT include a value of "1002" in it, then the graphics product is likely manufactured by one of our valued partners and is considered POWERED BY ATI.
NOTE: The PNP Device ID entry in System Information currently combines the Vendor ID, Device ID, Sub System ID AND Sub Vendor ID into one string. Each ID includes 4 digits.
Example shown above (PNP Device ID PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5157&SUBSYS_7146174B&REV_00\000800):

Can be broken down to:

Vendor ID (VEN_1002) = 1002
Device ID (DEV_5157) = 5157
Sub System ID (SUBSYS_7146174B) = 7146
Sub Vendor ID (SUBSYS_7146174B) = 174B
ATI Customer Care provides a current POWERED BY ATI Graphics Board Identification Chart which lists POWERED BY ATI products by Device ID, Sub System ID, and Sub Vendor ID.



Identify your product based on the BIOS P/N:

A BIOS Part Number showing a complete sequence of different numbers, such as 113-85701-104, or similar, should verify a product that is BUILT BY ATI. If you can identify your BIOS P/N similar to 113-85701-104, refer to the BIOS Part Number Lookup.
A BIOS Part Number listed as 113-00000-000, blank, or not detected may indicate a product that is POWERED BY ATI. Further verification will be required here.
You may also use different methods to help identify your product.

Dave

[HulaMike]

Hey Mike that doesn't sound right, the part numbers should be the same! Your ATI 256 MB DDR Radeon 9800 Pro is an excellent card and you should get the identical replacement not just looking the same or something similar. The card should say ATI 9800 on it somewhere.

You might want to go here http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/ this is the Dell support and forum site. It is a little slow most times, just so you won't think its your hookup.

Whats the name and model number of your Dell 'puter?

Dave

Dell Dimension XPS Gen 2, Intel Pentium 4 Processor 3.2 GHz w/HT Technology and 1MB Cache.

Edit:

Well, it's not the card. The new card behaves exactly the same; IE: Can't save my display preferences using two monitors. The local tech called Dell and we then tried a system restore to a previous state, didn't help. The Dell tech now says that as we've changed cards and installed the most current driver that all we can do is wipe the C drive and reinstall the OS and everything else. A real bummer as I have many programs and drivers with custom settings that would all have to be reinstalled too. I can live with the current situation; IE: select preferences every time I reboot but that's a pain in the arse.

Oh well. Any other ideas? I used to use Norton Utilities to run a system check for mistakes in the registry, etc. but haven't reloaded it on this machine due to feedback about bloated and unnecessary file allocation Norton requires.

Is there any other diagnostic that might find a corrupted or missing INI or registry file that would keep me from having to wipe and reinstall everything on my C drive?

[Auminer]

Mike, you don't have to wipe everything clean, their support is a bunch of lamers at times. All you have to do is reinstall just the system files which will keep your programs intact if you need to go that route.

You sure it isn't just a setting some place? I'm not familar with a dual monitor setup haven't had the luxury nor space.

I recommend a program called AIDA32 that will show settings and lots of other necessary items on your 'puter, check it out and use it for future things too. The main site has been removed from the net, but is still available. If not I can distribute it as its free ware.

There are registry tools available too. Do you happen to know the .ini or .sys file needed? Maybe the AIDA32 could lead you in the right direction.

Also lots of help through forums on the net too. I can give ya leads in the right direction or just do a search.

Dave

[HulaMike]

You've already been loads of help Dave. I'd appreciate any further help, leads, URLs you think might help.

Its a very strange situation. If I unhook the second monitor everything's fine and display preferences will be saved on reboot. If I add the second monitor I get a nice expanded desktop but when rebooting my preferences for the main monitor are dumped and it opens up in a default view. The second monitor is not affected, its settings remain as they should. I was sure it had to be video card related but Dell says no after swapping out the card and driver.