GDI Generic Video Card Error?

When trying to start Second Life, after the program detects hardware and begins to load, I get the following error:

"Your video card appears to be a GDI Generic, which Second Life does not support."

The error goes on to discuss the need for at least 32MB video memory and a GeForce or Radeon chipset.

My hardware consists of an nVidia GeForce FX 5500 Dual Head PCI video card with 128MB of RAM. I am running on a Dell Optiplex 160L computer with onboard video (Intel 845G/GL) that I have disabled in the Windows XP Device Manager. The Dell BIOS would not let me completely disable the onboard video, only giving me the choice to set Primary Video to Auto or Onboard.

Background: I had problems with this when I originally set up SL on this PC. I merely installed the latest nVidia drivers and the problem when away. However, today I logged out of SL after having been loggied in for a while, and immediately attempted to log back in. I have not been able to get on since as a result of this error.

I called Linden Tech Support. They told me to look for a new SL release today before noon that addresses this very issue. I downloaded and installed it (1.7.4.7). No joy. I downloaded and reinstalled the very latest nVidia drivers, motherboard chipset drivers, DirectX drivers, and Windows Updates. Still no joy. I called Dell tech support and was told that there is no way to completely disable the onboard video on the MBoard so that the OS cannot even see it.

Why does SL hang up on the onboard video? Why doesn't it see the nVidia GeForce card? Why can't it ignore the useless card and simply use the correct one? Is there some way to fix this issue?

Thanks in advance!

Is the video disabled in the Device Manager?

Hi Wesley,

I used to get this error quite a lot with new patches, on a machine with a Radeon card that didn't have integrated video on the motherboard.

I *think* what I did to fix it was to go into Preferences > General and uncheck the checkbox that says 'Auto-detect graphics hardware at next startup'. You should be able to get there from the main login screen.

Hope this helps.

Quoted from my original post:
I am running on a Dell Optiplex 160L computer with onboard video (Intel 845G/GL) that I have disabled in the Windows XP Device Manager.

Numa, thanks for the idea. I will try that next time I can get in. Only problem is I cannot even get to the login screen. SL calls it quits before it even gets there.

Derr...that's right. I forgot about the error popping up before anything else.

I know it sounds extreme, but have you tried completely uninstalling 1.7.4(7) and then reinstalling it after a reboot? I know, I know...it shouldn't make a difference, but I've seen a lot of funky things get fixed like that.

Sorry, missed that part. One more suggestion desktop/properties/display properties/settings. Is the nVidia listed as default?

Numa, I haven't tried this, but it sounds like a good next step. I will not be back to this computer until Monday, so I'll try it then.


Weedy, the nVidia is the only active one in Windows Display Settings dialog. It still shows up in the device manager (as disabled), but if I uninstall the drivers, it simply reinstalls upon the next Windows bootup.

One more piece of info: as this is a dual head video card, I have two flat panel monitors connected to it. I have used the Windows Display Control Panel to extend the Windows desktop onto the second monitor. I have been running in this configuration for a while without a problem, but now this issue has reared its ugly head.

Additionally, the Second Life Wiki said I should verify that the hardware accelleration sliders were set to full right, which the were. Still no help.

Thanks for continuing to assist!

(as disabled)? or did you mean as default? Or did you mean on-board video?

Having used the dual monitor system successfully in the past, I suggest finding a utility which strips windows of the on-board video drivers. Uninstalling does not necessarily remove the the ability to auto detect the on-board video. As you know, you only have two choices in BIOS, on-board or Auto. Whilst in auto, Windows auto detects and sets up the on-board as default. Windows retained enough driver info, even after uninstalling.

If you were to reformat the drive, you would probably have to install the CD to get the video running up to speed, anytime after that, Windows would know what drivers to install.

So......if you get a driver cleaner, or reformat the drive, this might workaround your issue. This way, you won't be hinting Windows to default the on-board video.

Or, you may try foregoing one of the dual ports, in favor of the on-board port and setting that as secondary.

I'm not 100% sure, but these might be worth a try.

Intriging problem indeed. Good luck.

Weedy, you were right, this time I misspoke. The onboard card is disabled, not the nVidia (duh).

So the answer ended up being a complete uninstall of SL, a PC shutdown and restart, and reinstall of SL. I guess I'll have to add this to the top of the list of troubleshooting tools I have in the kit.

Thanks guys for the help. I really appreciate it!

I was in the same boat... Drivers were up to date. I have a Geforce 7900GTOC (suffice it to say this is one the top of the time video cards), and the slider in video properties was set to full. Nothing was working until I came across this post.

And it worked Weedy!

1. Complete uninstall of SL
2. Restart
3. Reinstall of SL

Bing! SL runs.

I'm also not sure if this helped but I ran DriverCleaner Pro, reinstalled NVIDIA’s older 84.21 drivers. I'll probably later on run DC and reinstall the latest drivers, but for now looks like everything is up and running.