According to the mandrakelinux.com site, the nvidia 440 video card is one of the only ones to be certified for linux (mandrake 9.1). Yet after nearly a year of trying everthing suggested on the forums I've never had x working nor 3d accelerated graphics.
Has anyone else had problems with the MSI mobo and SiS 645 chipset? Could this mobo be the culprit? Is there a way to find out where lays the problem without wasting valuable money on a new vga card that may not work with linux?

Cheap debugging suggestion: Try booting a Knoppix CD - it excels at hardware detection.

Yup, not a bad idea, I've got one knocking around somewhere. Any ideas what I should try out?

Stick it in your CD drive and see if it boots. If successful, you should end up looking at an X session. At that point you can examine the XF86Config-4 file for configuration ideas.

I booted up with the Knoppix cd and got a lovely 1024x768 (lots of coulors) screen but no ps/2 mouse, (detected but not working). I vimmed XF86Config-4 and found that the driver used is the bog standard "nv".
How do you know if my video card & mobo are capable of x-window 3d stuff? All the config files are on the volatile ram disk so they are reinitialised with each boot, what do you suggest?

Congratulations, now you know it is you and not your hardware .

Running tuxracer is a good basic test of 3D acceleration. Depending on your version of Knoppix, you may find other 3D games (DukeNukem, battleflag, etc.) that will also test your system.

Copy the XF86Config-4 file off to some place you can access later (e.g., floppy), reboot your Mandrake installation, and start experimenting with the working XF86Config-4 file from Knoppix.

When I am troubleshooting X, I boot to a non X init level (probably init level 3 in Mandrake, since it is derived from RH), and manually attempt to start X using startx. I take a look at the error messages echoed to the console from the failed attempts, and peruse the /var/log/XFree86.0.log log files for clues. Then I tweak XF86Config-4 and try again.

I'll dig out a copy of the log file, but all I'm doing now, I've already done several times six months ago. Maybe you however can figure out what I'm not doing right.
Btw, without a working mouse in knoppix, what's the key stroke to launch the start menu and get to the games? Or the console command?

If that is the case, then I apologize for not understanding your question. In your original post you said that you never had X working. You now have X working, and a working XF86Config-4 file to experiment with.

The mouse problem is most likely a loose cable, though you might want to check the Knoppix site for similar issues.

<ALT><F1> should open the start menu.

I think I'm right when I say I haven't got x running as in mdk when I try to start the gui of Main Actor (video editing) it complains of no x, and when I start Tux racer it runs at less than 1fps. Anyway just a reminder, this is with the supplied mdk nv driver, (framebuffer?)

I can boot up the Knoppix cd and I've checked out the x config file(ram disk), Knoppix also runs a nv driver. I can't work out how to run any games with a detected but ignored (working) mouse.

To get back to the nitty gritty, I've tried the current nvidia drivers and all going way back, but none work, just a grey screen and the pc crashes. I've tried all the suggested options, together and seperatly, I still do not know which part of my system is giving the problems. That's what I need to know. The ideal would be some sort of compatibility utility which tests hardware??
Is this clearer now?

Despite your application error message, you are wrong - you are running X. This is only significant in that you can't ask for help effectively if you provide misleading information.

You might try reposting your question, this time asking for help getting the proprietary Nvidia drivers working - a significantly different problem than getting X to work.

Ok point accepted, but I have said several times that I wasn't sure If x was running or not...re app error messages; and that I could not get the drivers to work.
Several people including a moderator offered lots of tips i the last 6 months and in effect nothing has ever worked. Hence my doubts as to whether my hardware was actually capable of running x or not and hence my original post.

You seem to be sure that x is running, despite the contrary message from Main Actor. Is there a way to find out if my hardware will support the nvidia drivers? It's the only mdk certified graphics card so it should?? (geforce 4 mx 440)

Despite searches, nobody has posted any problems with my mobo (msi 645 ultra-c, sis 645/961 chipset).

I know I've tried everything suggested including older drivers going back a good three years, the only thing left to try was x hardware compatiblity and functionality hence these posts...

I refuse to give up without at least knowing why I can't get the drivers working. I'm a bit fed up with being obliged to use windows for all my video editing and gaming.

I apologise for any confusion but it isn't easy knowing how to formulate questions sometimes when you are already confused and in the dark.

Thanks for your time taken in replying so far and if you can't help it doesn't matter, I'll keep on doing without.

You talked about running X based applications (e.g., tuxracer, start menu). If you are running such applications, then X has to be running.

I don't have an Nvidia card, so I am afraid I don't have any experience getting the proprietary Nvidia drivers working. I have had experiences with using video chips that were reported as supported (by the XFree86 release notes), but which would not work for me.

Both cases were caused by the board manufacterer's implementation of the chipset. In one case, I was able to get the manufacturer to supply a sample to the XFree86 developers for testing, and then I got a patch from the XFree86 developer which fixed the problem. In the second case, the manufacturer of the board had a binary driver that they provided to me which fixed the problem.

I probably had a bit more leverage with the vendors than you will have, but my point is that just because a chipset is supported doesn't mean every implementation of the chipset will work.