Drivers for HP DC7800

[MoBert2017]

Ok. First off, I know this is probably an impossibility.

I bought an old school HP Compaq DC7800, and decided to chuck Windows XP on it, simply for the joy of playing old school (1990s-2000s) games on it. Now, I cannot for the LIFE of me, find drivers for the video card. Windows shows it as "generic VGA adapter" which of course, it is not. I've tried downloading and installing all 4 video drivers on this site for my parameters, and each time, the install fails, saying "the hardware specified is not found".

Does anyone have any help for an old schooler?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Please post the hardware ID for the vga controller.

To find the hardware ID, click on the vga controller with the ? mark in the device manager.

Then click on the details tab at the top of the device window.

Post the string of characters that you see there that begins with PCI\VEN, and then I will post the link to the XP driver you need for it.

[MoBert2017]

PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6771&SUBSYS_21201028&REV_00\4&30B33096&0&0008

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Someone put in a much newer graphics card in there than it would have come with from HP.

The hardware ID decodes to an AMD Radeon HD 8490 graphics adapter.

This should be is the XP 32 bit driver you need...I see the hardware ID in the driver setup information file (first file listed).

Install and restart the PC.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows%20XP%20-%20Professional/Home&RenderOnServer...

[MoBert2017]

Will do. I'll report back in ... 5 minutes. 😛

[MoBert2017]

THANK you, sir. That worked! 

Now... On to audio. There's nothing working there, either. Ideas?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You need a two step approach for the audio driver.

First you have to install the msuaa driver and restart the PC.

This package contains version 1.0a of the Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) high-definition audio class driver for the supported desktop models running the supported Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.For more information about this issue, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 88811, "Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) High Definition Audio class driver version 1.0a available for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000."NOTE: This SoftPaq supersedes SoftPaq Number SP30301. However, users who did not have any installation issues with SoftPaq SP30301 do not need to install this SoftPaq (the Microsoft deliverables are the same in both SP30301 and SP32395).

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp32001-32500/sp32395.exe

Then you have to install the soundmax audio driver and restart the PC.

This package contains the driver for the ADI High-Definition (HD) Audio CODEC in the supported desktop models and operating systems.  NOTE: For important information regarding the installation of this driver, see the Prerequisites section. Users creating their own disk images must first install the Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) driver before installing the ADI driver. The Microsoft UAA driver provides the necessary support for the HD audio bus used by the ADI HD audio CODEC. Users who are upgrading to this newer driver on an existing system, should ensure that the UAA driver is already installed on your system.

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp45501-46000/sp45614.exe

There is also one other quirk...that video card you have in there...if it has an HDMI port, if the previous owner didn't re-enable the onboard audio, then that would be why you don't see any audio devices needing drivers.

So, if you install the two drivers above and no sound, then restart the PC, tap the F10 key to get into the BIOS's setup menu.

Select the Advanced tab, Device Options menu, find the onboard audio device.  If it is set to disabled, enable it.

Save the setting where you made the change and again when you exit the BIOS.

Then upon reboot and returning to windows, the onboard audio should be back (or you can now install the two drivers I posted above).

I'll check on the outcome tomorrow.

[MoBert2017]

A quick scan and reply to the audio issue.

There IS an HDMI port on it, and I will do the BIOS searching thing.

Also, the audio is DEFINITELY the on board audio. There is no extra card.

I'll do those things tomorrow and let you know.

Thanks again. My Civilization 4 craving thanks you, too.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Yes, what happens on those old PC's is that when someone installs a video card with a HDMI port, the PC thinks not only did you install a video card, but it also thinks that you installed an audio card because of the hdmi audio chip on the video card.

That is why the onboard audio disappears when a hdmi video card is installed.

If the PC needs audio drivers, in XP, there will be two devices, a Multimedia audio controller and a some kind of HD audio bus device.

If you don't see those, then the onboard audio has been disabled in the BIOS.

[MoBert2017]

BINGO!

Thank you VERY much. So, the HDMI was mudding things up, I enabled onboard audio again (although will remember that I have HDMI as an option in the future, in case I want to use it), installed the first driver pack you linked, rebooted, installed the second, rebooted, and lo and behold, the glorious WindowsXP startup noise almost deafened me.

Thanks again! To be entirely honest, I wasn't expecting a response. Let alone one that would WORK. 😛