Not sure what exactly is going on...

I’ve gone through MANY posts trying not to have to start a new thread, but I couldn’t find someone with the same problem as myself.

Here is my system:
Shuttle SN41G2 (nForce2 mobo), 1GB RAM, AMD 2600+, ATI Radeon 9800 128MB vid card.

I cannot seem to play some games, but others are ok. None of them “crash” in the sense that they stop responding and Windows getting pissy. When loading Counterstrike, or any of the Half Life-based games, I get a black screen, though I know that the meny has loaded, because when I move my mouse around, I can hear the sound it makes when a button is moused over. I can also click them just fine (and can quit the game because I remember that the bottom button is “Quit”) I have no idea what is going on. Same thing with Unreal Tournament. Blank screen, but I can click buttons. This is odd because Jedi Knight 2 works great, and it’s based off of Unreal.

I am hoping someone has had this problem before and can help me resolve it. Thanks in advance.

anyone have any idea what’s going on?

I don’t think it’s an OpenGL issue.

So you have to determine if there is perhaps a software issue… or more seriously, a hardware issue (probably the card itself).

Are you using the latest drivers for your MOBO and Video Card?
www.ati.com http://us.shuttle.com/support.asp

Could it be that the game switches into a videomode that is not supported by your monitor i.e. 1280x1024@80Hz while your monitor can only handle 1280x1024@75Hz?

Most monitors will just cut the signal and display nothing at all if the incomming signal is out of range.