Man, that's heavy burden about the sink. Sink to GPU got unglued. Just the thought of trying to get the old glue blob off, whew tricky! It would be easier to look for a replacement retaining pin: they snaps neatly into a corresponding card hole, one each on diagonal corners. I can maybe use a twist-tie or rather non-conducting mono-filament or somehow, something... I won't be overtaxing the device, I know, so it might not get hot.

Well there are other cards for $10 -- all I need is the VGA output port. Rest assured I will attempt to adapt this card, if only for the practice.

[Edit: and I might add, the missing retaining pin is not found inside the plastic case, so it was messed up before shipping]

Well I finally got the manual:

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub...ta/23p1170.pdf

Under the BIOS they do not detail all the options but I would look under "Devices" or "Advanced" for any PCI graphics options.

Obviously this computer was not intended to do what you want but that does not mean that it cannot.

I would suggest installing the card and see how it goes.

You will of course need drivers for it.

ForceWare Windows XP/2000 32-bit

Afterwards you will need to right click your Desktop then click Properties then Display then Advanced.

If all went well here you should see options to setup dual monitors.


As to the heatsink I would reiterate my previous post as to using a thermal paste.

Terrific, many thanks. I'll post again probably in a day or 2 with the outcome

Many thanks Jephree, I'll consider a donation. Though I did finally decide on a different solution, it was genuinely heartening to realize that the scheme was feasible!

I searched a tad more diligently, and found some Honk Kong suppliers with a (certainly rare) low-profile PCI video card, brand new in retail pkg and very cheap. Citation here. I'm going with that. The other thing was quite frustrating, especially considering the complication of the loose sink (loose but it budges barely a cm awry) and my bitterness at the merchandiser, 5rprocessors.com

It's been swell, as they say

Wha -- I mean I'll get back about how that flies in 7 to 10 days

Thanks for the update. Card looks good and again a great price.

Let us know how it goes.

Is there any interest in further chat? I have some things to report.

The site where I bought the defective card has issued me an RMA. They quibbled about the long bracket not violating the "low-profile" spec, and I pointed out there seemed no provision for a screw-on shorter bracket. Certainly, I'd have to buy my own short bracket, which isn't horribly burdensome. And now I've finally come to realize that the existing bracket can indeed be readily removed, because the only thing that holds it to the card is the two little machine screws that secure the VGA connector. Arghh!

And I made a good solid repair -- temporarily -- to the loose heat sink. I passed an ultra-small plastic cable tie through the hole where the missing retaining pin went, and wrapped that tie around the short dimension of the card (carefully pinching the tie to conform at the bend and wrap points rather than just pulling it), avoiding the side with the contacts, and locking the end through the 'ratcheting' receptacle where the loop started; and that has secured the sink quite snugly! I was careful to handle the card mercifully and daintily and not over-tighten the cable tie.

I downloaded the driver, 40MB. I shut down the PC, opened the case, installed the card without any bracket, securing the contacts strip firmly in the slot ...and rebooted!

Alas though, the card must have sustained further damage is all I can figure. Or else someone was mistaken when they implied to me that the bracket isn't critical in forming a ground, because that card I just installed is simply NOT recognized as even being there. I get no alert from WXP, and the driver balks about not seeing a pertinent device, and the Device Manager shows no new PnP add-on. I even tried forcing a rescan but no, nothing.

Meanwhile, I await the arrival of the other card from Honk Kong.

Any feedback appreciated!

The bracket simple holds the card in place. It severs no function as a "ground" or anything else.

So in your Device Manager there is nothing?

Perhaps under "Display adapters" or "Other devices" or "Unknown devices"?

If none of the above try "System devices".

Really, I believed you all along about the bracket isn't a ground. Forgive me, as I'm grasping at straws a bit here.

No, I expanded the entire tree and it doesn't appear. I'd attach the full readout as a text file, but it won't help, I fear. You know, the system should be rigged to detect and announce a newly-installed PCI card, regardless of whether or not WXP has the means to identify what the hell it is or what drives it. Alas, there's no big yellow question-mark showing and I haven't missed anything. The nVidia driver would certainly have rooted it out if present.

I suppose, when I get more time, I'll try this card in another PC and see if it gets detected. I'll carefully inspect the circuitry for physical damage. This might be a bust, plain and simple.

I'll post again ...eventually

1. Thanks for being there -- I've made a modest donation

2. It's just possible that I destroyed the card in my awkward attempts to use it. When I first installed the card, I was intent on attaching the VGA cord to the graphics card, and then to my converter box and then to a TV. I was intent on that because I figured the main display could very well go blank when booting with a new graphics controller present, and I wanted to ensure there'd be an immediate means of visually seeing the outcome. I struggled to attach the VGA cord to the card's output. The narrow geometry of my casing near the PCI slots made it difficult. With NO bracket present to steady things, I realize now that I definitely loosened the contacts out or awry when I struggled to affix that VGA cord on my first attempt to employ this device. Booting with the card partially out of the socket may very well have cooked the circuitry.

I tried several more attempts at install without affixing the VGA cord, but the device stubbornly refuses to be detected. I tried removing my obsolete modem card and using that slot instead, but no go. I haven't yet tried the card in a different PC as that's a whole other undertaking, and plenty more grief. I've scrapped this trial and fortunately, my NetVista is alive and kicking and unhurt from these nasty encounters. Whew!

I'll post again, eventually.

Thank you!