AFAIK no. Acknex was always DirectX.
But till version 5.24 it had supported Software Rendering too (so you need no 3D graphics hardware)

i would create a new empty project with no level. the screen should be blue. then i would load a level and check if it were displayed. so you could check if its a general problem with acknex and your video device or if its a problem with the project.
if you ask me, i bet its a problem with your project. i had a similar problem a few years ago. i updated A6.40 to A6.60 (while development) and the screen was black. if you know the engine version under that you´ve developed your project, try this version (it should be enough for a presentation).

do you use shaders in your project?

ps: i can not remember the cause of the problem