The 'Reality' Behind The Great ATi Monitor Flameout of 2003
Want to Know the Truth behind the great ATI Monitor Burnout of 2003?
As a user of the AIW9700 (and the 3.8 drivers) I was pretty intrigued by the wild accusations flying around about ATI's drivers causing all sorts of mayhem. Like most of you I saw the flurry of cross-references and links to all these other sites that had reports of the same weird phenomena. The sum of it was that all these "credible sources" seemed to be pointing to an "ever growing mountain of evidence" that Cat3.8 drivers were in danger of blowing a monitor or perhaps even setting the house on fire.
The situation just did not reflect any common sense in my view, so when that happens, I like to try to at least dig under the layers of B.S. and find out where all the 'noise' is originating from. So what's the truth? After laboriously going through ALL the relevant threads posted at Rage3dnet (the source that everyone cites), I came to a pretty unsuprising conclusion:
This whole stupid controversy essentially begins and ends with one significant poster and at most, a couple of well-meaning and mostly clueless accomplices.
This poster's name is ' The MonkeyBoyz'. I should state, I will not doubt his sincerity or intent. Let's assume all his experience and claims are true - at least from his point of view. I don't want to imply that he deliberately waged a campaign of misinformation for other purposes. What I do see him commiting however, is an act of wishful thinking and whipping up mob hysteria - which seems to have blocked out any degree of objectivity and his ability to seek out a rational explanation to his problem.
How do I come to this conclusion? It's easy - just go back and read ALL the original posts that started this and read on and on through successive pages and you'll see a very clear case of ONE PERSON ON A SINGLE-MINDED CRUSADE; determined to prove to the rest of the world that his bizarre and unique problem is really an epidemic that all of us should be fearful of. He even concocts his own techical theory as to the cause. But more than anything else, he is obsessed with rallying people to his cause and converting 'non-believers." Psychologists have very apt descriptions of this type of pathology and of course the internet is the ideal transmitter of of such craziness.
So let me share with you the details behind my conclusion.
I searched for, read , collated and copied EVERY post at R3d where someone stated that their monitor was destroyed recently. You've all no doubt also seen posts from other sources stating that "... so far, 183 monitors have been damaged... and the list continues to grow." In all the relevant threads where the subject was discussed, there have been exactly THREE people who have claimed that their monitors were damaged due to "bad" Catalyst drivers- Only ONE of those who made that claim said he was using the Cat3.8 drivers: that is 'TheMonkeyBoyz" The other two posters who claimed to have suffered monitor damage, experienced it while using ver 3.6 and 3.7- so their experience far preceeds the release of the supposedly evil drivers.
Bottomline, This is NOT 183 cases of monitor damage.- this is at most, THREE. Yet, all these other people have been pointing to the Rage3d threads as the source of all these posts where a veritable 'mountain of evidence' was building. On the contrary, what actually happened was that MonkeyBoyz apparently sat at his computer seemingly nonstop; posting away and fanning the flames of ignorance, fear and doubt. Go back and follow his posts, and you'll see a picture of someone totally obsessed with enlarging the scope of his isolated little problem - i maybe in hopes that he has stumbled onto some corporate malfeasance on a grand scale? After all, what's more heroic (and dramatic) than being the ONE who single-handedly uncovers some insidious threat to our common well being.
Let me not forget to mention the 'contributions' from some other clueless and self-aggrandizing accomplices. One that stands out head and shoulders above all is 'Simguy' at Shortmedia. He comes out with this rather officious sounding summary and "user alert' that runs down the list of awful problems. He states as fact, two major assertions about the Cat3.8 drivers and the dangers in using them, yet fails to provide any specific evidence or source for his statements - except for pointing back to the R3D threads. So what happens next? His uninformed and hysterical nonsense gets re-circulated back into the R3d forum; which gets cited again as further evidence that someting truly monstrous is unfolding.
This in turn gets reposted back out to other hardware forums and again cited as evidence. This is a wonderful example of people getting stuck in their own little 'feedback loop." People, this is 'mob stupidity' and the speed of the internet working hand in hand to try to shut off one's ability to use whatever powers of reason they can muster; by spreading hysterical, unsupported assertions strictly for the purpose of getting attention. And it is flat out wrong to do it.
For those of you who don't want to wade through the volumes of 'misinformation' and drivel spread throughout the relevant threads at R3D, I've copied and pasted every one of the posts that specifically states a firsthand instance of "monitor burnout." I did not count posts where someone mentions someone else's monitor burnout. In every case, I put in parentheses, the date it was originally posted and the name of the poster. For brevity's sake, I use 'MB' to denote posts authored by 'MonkeyBoyz." (by the way, if so inclined, DON'T take my word here - conduct your own search and draw your own conclusions.
Here is all of it, listed in sequence:
1. Well the CAT 3.7's fried my monitor!!!
I am so pissed right now - I cannot post details. Will do so tomorrow after I cool off... Good thing I have 4 monitors here...
(Fatalexception Sept6)
2. I also found that with the 3.8's, it seems that the screens kind of "twitch" when changing resolutions/color depths and
activating 3d games. My 21" monitor totally twitched out and is now broken - signal went "click" and boom, have a vertical
line down the middle now. I moved the 19" PS790 Viewsonic from my 3rd machine over to this one as I prepare to send
my 2.5 year old P225 back via RMA, and it also "blinked" in and out when activating Links 2001 with AA on. I went back to
Catalyst 3.5 and no problem. Is it possible that something in the 3.8's is causing the card to emit strange
voltages/frequencies? (MB-Oct.10)
3. same stuff here,refreshrates and brightness are auto changing since cat3.6,roling lines problem got much worse,hell
today my 19inchSonyFlatscreen even switched itself off after the brightness went crazy...
PS:i have 13! monitor drivers in the registry,2 active....wtf... (Oct10- Bakurin)
4. I just wanted to say thank you for this new driver. Personally, it did fix all the problems I had wich were basically GLUT
giving a divide by zero error when minimizing and the OpenGL 16-bit texturing mode. They are all fixed now
Btw, my Sony G410 19" monitor broke last day (it has already been fixed by Sony ! ) during bootup. Don't know if it had a
relation with the card but it doesnt with the drivers because it happened after the bios splash screen ! Bad luck I guess,
some resistor and capacitor were burned. (Thor_Sevan.)
5. Another monitor affected... Very odd.
If it was just one, I would not be so surprised, as it would be a coincidence, but there are a number of us now whos
monitors and/or cards have been damaged after installing these 3.8's.
Could it be coincidence? Or is it possible something in the code is causing frequency or signal issues?(MB Oct10)
6. To TheMonkeyBoyz: I just want to specify that my monitor broke BEFORE when I was using the 3.7 drivers. I really
don't think it has a relation but I cannot verify or test so by default I assume that ATI isn't at fault. If it happens that they are
responsible, then they have to fix it asap ! heh Thor_Sevan (Oct 10)
7. The problem with the Catalyst 3.8's causing monitor failures is REAL.
Viewsonic received my monitor today and indicated that the failure was caused by the monitor being sent, in rapid
succession, a series of unsupported refresh rate/resolution requests far beyond what it could handle. The monitor INF file
was in place, as it has been for the last 2.5 years since I got the monitor, and it worked fine under Catalyst 3.5.
Viewsonic has said they will work to replicate the problem. I asked them to get in touch with ATI to discuss it, but they
would not commit to that.
It looks as though there is in fact a problem with Catalyst 3.8's and refresh rates. I would encourage anyone who has had
this problem, particularly if it caused your monitor to fail, to report the incident to ATI asap. (MB- Oct17)
8. I would still like to see ATI pull the Catalyst 3.8's until they can figure out what is up. Pull them, warn users not to use
them and maybe that can prevent future damage and in the long run save ATI money from cards they may have to RMA
and monitors they may have to pay for. (MB- Oct 20)
9. I really hope ATI can deal with this. In the main Cat 3.8 thread I have been reading about cards failing - and this is
probably a contributing factor.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthr...readid=33715865
Monitor failures in that thread too.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthr...readid=33716791 (MB Oct 15)
10. I guess I'm getting torqued over the monitor failure and now the fact that Catalyst Maker is trying to deny the problem
even exists.
Did you see that front page quote?
quote:
Monitors. We have spent a great deal of time trying to reproduce this problem and analyzing the driver code. There is
nothing to be found.
At this point we are working very closely with an ATI Beta Tester who experienced a monitor loss.
There have been zero reports in our customer support of monitors dying.
There is NOTHING TO BE FOUND? Why yes there is, CM. Check the threads. (MB Oct17)
11. never in a million years would have thought it to be the cause, but the day the 3.8's were released, i of course,
updated. two hours later, after my first reboot, my 22" viewsonic died. p225fb, NOT a cheap monitor. no reforce, no lock,
just when it "clicks" while switching refresh/resolution, it "clicked" excessively and smoke and fire, no lie, FIRE!
a quick unplug and it's history. thank god it's under warranty, but i'm freaked out that it MIGHT have been drivers that
caused this.
monitor is still here if ATI wants me to ship it to them instead of viewsonic. of course, i would expect a timely replacement.
9800 pro 128meg and NO overclocking. dual monitor setup, both using plug and pray drivers. one crt (r.i.p.) and one lcd.
thank goodness lcd is still working.
p.s. paid $640 for the crt a year ago, so no claiming it's "cheap" (Lothodon Oct 17)
12. My monitor popped after installing CAT 3.7's. I posted in the sticky post current catalyst issues here one.
This IS a legitimate problem somwehere, I was fortunate enough to get my monitor replaced under warranty, so I did not
contact ATI 'customer support'. Perhaps the issue cannot be re produced because the 'testing' facilities are not using the
monitors that are having the issues.
Here is what I was using:
CTX PL-9 19" (18 viewable)
1600x1200x75Hz Max NI
Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB, CAT 3.7
KT266A Chipset
Windows 2000 Pro SP2 (Fatal exception Oct21)
_________________
Bottomline, is that this dumb instance is a revealing example of what happens when people stop using their brains and start spreading rumors they cannot verify. Sure, the root issue here is really a big nothing in the whole scheme of things- it's just a piece of computer hardware we're talking about. The larger lesson here, is that the same type of dim-witted, 'herd' mentality that made this "something" out of nothing, can also be used to spread lies that can do some REAL damage in issues where the stakes are much, much higher. This goes for not only for the individuals who post questionable assertions without having command of the facts (or just plain igore them); but doubly so for the websites that choose to jump on the bandwagon and broadcast them, in hopes of scoring some sort of a pathetic 'ratings' coup. Think about this next time before you blithely pass on second and third hand information.
As a user of the AIW9700 (and the 3.8 drivers) I was pretty intrigued by the wild accusations flying around about ATI's drivers causing all sorts of mayhem. Like most of you I saw the flurry of cross-references and links to all these other sites that had reports of the same weird phenomena. The sum of it was that all these "credible sources" seemed to be pointing to an "ever growing mountain of evidence" that Cat3.8 drivers were in danger of blowing a monitor or perhaps even setting the house on fire.
The situation just did not reflect any common sense in my view, so when that happens, I like to try to at least dig under the layers of B.S. and find out where all the 'noise' is originating from. So what's the truth? After laboriously going through ALL the relevant threads posted at Rage3dnet (the source that everyone cites), I came to a pretty unsuprising conclusion:
This whole stupid controversy essentially begins and ends with one significant poster and at most, a couple of well-meaning and mostly clueless accomplices.
This poster's name is ' The MonkeyBoyz'. I should state, I will not doubt his sincerity or intent. Let's assume all his experience and claims are true - at least from his point of view. I don't want to imply that he deliberately waged a campaign of misinformation for other purposes. What I do see him commiting however, is an act of wishful thinking and whipping up mob hysteria - which seems to have blocked out any degree of objectivity and his ability to seek out a rational explanation to his problem.
How do I come to this conclusion? It's easy - just go back and read ALL the original posts that started this and read on and on through successive pages and you'll see a very clear case of ONE PERSON ON A SINGLE-MINDED CRUSADE; determined to prove to the rest of the world that his bizarre and unique problem is really an epidemic that all of us should be fearful of. He even concocts his own techical theory as to the cause. But more than anything else, he is obsessed with rallying people to his cause and converting 'non-believers." Psychologists have very apt descriptions of this type of pathology and of course the internet is the ideal transmitter of of such craziness.
So let me share with you the details behind my conclusion.
I searched for, read , collated and copied EVERY post at R3d where someone stated that their monitor was destroyed recently. You've all no doubt also seen posts from other sources stating that "... so far, 183 monitors have been damaged... and the list continues to grow." In all the relevant threads where the subject was discussed, there have been exactly THREE people who have claimed that their monitors were damaged due to "bad" Catalyst drivers- Only ONE of those who made that claim said he was using the Cat3.8 drivers: that is 'TheMonkeyBoyz" The other two posters who claimed to have suffered monitor damage, experienced it while using ver 3.6 and 3.7- so their experience far preceeds the release of the supposedly evil drivers.
Bottomline, This is NOT 183 cases of monitor damage.- this is at most, THREE. Yet, all these other people have been pointing to the Rage3d threads as the source of all these posts where a veritable 'mountain of evidence' was building. On the contrary, what actually happened was that MonkeyBoyz apparently sat at his computer seemingly nonstop; posting away and fanning the flames of ignorance, fear and doubt. Go back and follow his posts, and you'll see a picture of someone totally obsessed with enlarging the scope of his isolated little problem - i maybe in hopes that he has stumbled onto some corporate malfeasance on a grand scale? After all, what's more heroic (and dramatic) than being the ONE who single-handedly uncovers some insidious threat to our common well being.
Let me not forget to mention the 'contributions' from some other clueless and self-aggrandizing accomplices. One that stands out head and shoulders above all is 'Simguy' at Shortmedia. He comes out with this rather officious sounding summary and "user alert' that runs down the list of awful problems. He states as fact, two major assertions about the Cat3.8 drivers and the dangers in using them, yet fails to provide any specific evidence or source for his statements - except for pointing back to the R3D threads. So what happens next? His uninformed and hysterical nonsense gets re-circulated back into the R3d forum; which gets cited again as further evidence that someting truly monstrous is unfolding.
This in turn gets reposted back out to other hardware forums and again cited as evidence. This is a wonderful example of people getting stuck in their own little 'feedback loop." People, this is 'mob stupidity' and the speed of the internet working hand in hand to try to shut off one's ability to use whatever powers of reason they can muster; by spreading hysterical, unsupported assertions strictly for the purpose of getting attention. And it is flat out wrong to do it.
For those of you who don't want to wade through the volumes of 'misinformation' and drivel spread throughout the relevant threads at R3D, I've copied and pasted every one of the posts that specifically states a firsthand instance of "monitor burnout." I did not count posts where someone mentions someone else's monitor burnout. In every case, I put in parentheses, the date it was originally posted and the name of the poster. For brevity's sake, I use 'MB' to denote posts authored by 'MonkeyBoyz." (by the way, if so inclined, DON'T take my word here - conduct your own search and draw your own conclusions.
Here is all of it, listed in sequence:
1. Well the CAT 3.7's fried my monitor!!!
I am so pissed right now - I cannot post details. Will do so tomorrow after I cool off... Good thing I have 4 monitors here...
(Fatalexception Sept6)
2. I also found that with the 3.8's, it seems that the screens kind of "twitch" when changing resolutions/color depths and
activating 3d games. My 21" monitor totally twitched out and is now broken - signal went "click" and boom, have a vertical
line down the middle now. I moved the 19" PS790 Viewsonic from my 3rd machine over to this one as I prepare to send
my 2.5 year old P225 back via RMA, and it also "blinked" in and out when activating Links 2001 with AA on. I went back to
Catalyst 3.5 and no problem. Is it possible that something in the 3.8's is causing the card to emit strange
voltages/frequencies? (MB-Oct.10)
3. same stuff here,refreshrates and brightness are auto changing since cat3.6,roling lines problem got much worse,hell
today my 19inchSonyFlatscreen even switched itself off after the brightness went crazy...
PS:i have 13! monitor drivers in the registry,2 active....wtf... (Oct10- Bakurin)
4. I just wanted to say thank you for this new driver. Personally, it did fix all the problems I had wich were basically GLUT
giving a divide by zero error when minimizing and the OpenGL 16-bit texturing mode. They are all fixed now
Btw, my Sony G410 19" monitor broke last day (it has already been fixed by Sony ! ) during bootup. Don't know if it had a
relation with the card but it doesnt with the drivers because it happened after the bios splash screen ! Bad luck I guess,
some resistor and capacitor were burned. (Thor_Sevan.)
5. Another monitor affected... Very odd.
If it was just one, I would not be so surprised, as it would be a coincidence, but there are a number of us now whos
monitors and/or cards have been damaged after installing these 3.8's.
Could it be coincidence? Or is it possible something in the code is causing frequency or signal issues?(MB Oct10)
6. To TheMonkeyBoyz: I just want to specify that my monitor broke BEFORE when I was using the 3.7 drivers. I really
don't think it has a relation but I cannot verify or test so by default I assume that ATI isn't at fault. If it happens that they are
responsible, then they have to fix it asap ! heh Thor_Sevan (Oct 10)
7. The problem with the Catalyst 3.8's causing monitor failures is REAL.
Viewsonic received my monitor today and indicated that the failure was caused by the monitor being sent, in rapid
succession, a series of unsupported refresh rate/resolution requests far beyond what it could handle. The monitor INF file
was in place, as it has been for the last 2.5 years since I got the monitor, and it worked fine under Catalyst 3.5.
Viewsonic has said they will work to replicate the problem. I asked them to get in touch with ATI to discuss it, but they
would not commit to that.
It looks as though there is in fact a problem with Catalyst 3.8's and refresh rates. I would encourage anyone who has had
this problem, particularly if it caused your monitor to fail, to report the incident to ATI asap. (MB- Oct17)
8. I would still like to see ATI pull the Catalyst 3.8's until they can figure out what is up. Pull them, warn users not to use
them and maybe that can prevent future damage and in the long run save ATI money from cards they may have to RMA
and monitors they may have to pay for. (MB- Oct 20)
9. I really hope ATI can deal with this. In the main Cat 3.8 thread I have been reading about cards failing - and this is
probably a contributing factor.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthr...readid=33715865
Monitor failures in that thread too.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthr...readid=33716791 (MB Oct 15)
10. I guess I'm getting torqued over the monitor failure and now the fact that Catalyst Maker is trying to deny the problem
even exists.
Did you see that front page quote?
quote:
Monitors. We have spent a great deal of time trying to reproduce this problem and analyzing the driver code. There is
nothing to be found.
At this point we are working very closely with an ATI Beta Tester who experienced a monitor loss.
There have been zero reports in our customer support of monitors dying.
There is NOTHING TO BE FOUND? Why yes there is, CM. Check the threads. (MB Oct17)
11. never in a million years would have thought it to be the cause, but the day the 3.8's were released, i of course,
updated. two hours later, after my first reboot, my 22" viewsonic died. p225fb, NOT a cheap monitor. no reforce, no lock,
just when it "clicks" while switching refresh/resolution, it "clicked" excessively and smoke and fire, no lie, FIRE!
a quick unplug and it's history. thank god it's under warranty, but i'm freaked out that it MIGHT have been drivers that
caused this.
monitor is still here if ATI wants me to ship it to them instead of viewsonic. of course, i would expect a timely replacement.
9800 pro 128meg and NO overclocking. dual monitor setup, both using plug and pray drivers. one crt (r.i.p.) and one lcd.
thank goodness lcd is still working.
p.s. paid $640 for the crt a year ago, so no claiming it's "cheap" (Lothodon Oct 17)
12. My monitor popped after installing CAT 3.7's. I posted in the sticky post current catalyst issues here one.
This IS a legitimate problem somwehere, I was fortunate enough to get my monitor replaced under warranty, so I did not
contact ATI 'customer support'. Perhaps the issue cannot be re produced because the 'testing' facilities are not using the
monitors that are having the issues.
Here is what I was using:
CTX PL-9 19" (18 viewable)
1600x1200x75Hz Max NI
Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB, CAT 3.7
KT266A Chipset
Windows 2000 Pro SP2 (Fatal exception Oct21)
_________________
Bottomline, is that this dumb instance is a revealing example of what happens when people stop using their brains and start spreading rumors they cannot verify. Sure, the root issue here is really a big nothing in the whole scheme of things- it's just a piece of computer hardware we're talking about. The larger lesson here, is that the same type of dim-witted, 'herd' mentality that made this "something" out of nothing, can also be used to spread lies that can do some REAL damage in issues where the stakes are much, much higher. This goes for not only for the individuals who post questionable assertions without having command of the facts (or just plain igore them); but doubly so for the websites that choose to jump on the bandwagon and broadcast them, in hopes of scoring some sort of a pathetic 'ratings' coup. Think about this next time before you blithely pass on second and third hand information.
0
Comments
Is there something in the monitor that keeps a record of the last commands it receives?
No. The monitor looks at the speed of the signal it is receiving, and matches that frequency. There is no stable memory in a monitor that has the capacity to hold data after the power has been cut.
Also, monitors made since ~95 will disallow viewing of a refresh rate higher than it could handle. So if this were true, this could only destroy pretty old monitors.
I think this is nothing but a load of crap. A rumor.
All the monitor know is its MAX refresh at certain resolutions.
I met up with S-M as a result of this Catalyst issue and I like the civilized way the forum is handled. I am a retired EE, software developer and circuit designer.
As hardware for PCs is commotized, and there are hundreds of possible configurations as well as thousands of permutations of software environments, it becomes quite difficult to characterize when multiple users have similar problems at roughly the same time.
The Catalyst 3.8 drivers were targeted in this case. I have a Radeon 9000 on this machine so am aware of ATi drivers which I have to say is a bit of a nightmare to deal with.
Reminds me of the old Win3.1 -Win98 days of soundcards. Driver integration was difficult at best.
To be perfectly honest, I believe that MS has made it very hard for hardware manufacturers to develop effective and efficient drivers. Case in point is here where ATi says they do not use INF files for configuration information but MS requires INF files to become compliant.
My thought is that if you have not OC the vid card and it failed ... RMA it to ATi and if your monitor has failed, make the monitor manufacturer accountable as well.
Best as always
Taco
Actually they do have memory in them that is used for storing the screen settings in, i.e. placement, size, alignment, rotation etc, otherwise everytime I disconected my monitor from the mains I would have to reconfigure the screen to be the right size and position.
Don't think they store any more than that though. Though it is monitor dependant, most do.
BTW, I said 1995 as a ballpark figure initially, dont take it as gold, but it seems roughly right.
NS
But once you unplug your monitor from the power outlet, these settings go away.
Monitors are about the tweakiest hardware for a computer there is, they fail alot, its the nature of their design..
This whole thing was probably started by an NVIDIA employee.
stop running willy nilly around the web...
Gobbles
The PC and everything worked fine, but no screen. Just my Menu on the Monitor Saying "OUT OF RANGE". Went into Safe Mode and put my Refresh Rate back to 85Hz and all is cool.
I was upset though, I payed $600 for this Monitor and it only does 85Hz
When all this happened, I was using Catalyst 3.7 on my All in Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro with my ViewSonic P225fb.
First off, I'm using the old Leading Interactive screensavers on my PC, because I haven't seen a lorenz attractor screensaver that's better than theirs. The only problem is that the screensaver tends to crash under Windows XP (it was designed for 98), which will bring the monitor out of DPMS-Off when it crashes. I'm betting that's what caused the next part.
One day, I was working on one of my Macs in the neighboring room and starting to nod off (extracting the gcc tarball takes forever) when I hear a BANG-snap-fizzle sound from the next room over. I run back and find black smoke pouring out of MY ViewSonic P225fb. RMA'd that a few days later.
Switched back to my old Dell 17" Trinitron, and 3d graphics were fscked up after that. Constantly-shifting vertical green lines and corrupted textures in OpenGL and DirectX fullscreen, green artifacts all over DirectShow windows, complete lack of 3d performance. Finally RMA'd my All in Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro, and the replacement doesn't give me that crap.
Anyway, my hunch is that when the monitor went nova, there was a power surge in the signal lines that zapped my All in Wonder. From the smell and the sound, I'd say one of the filter capacitors blew in the monitor's power supply, but I wasn't ready to void the warranty on my dead $700 monitor by taking it apart.
All that's over and done with now, but in reflection I'll say that I never want to have to pay shipping for an 80lb. 22" monitor again.
-drasnor
Your immature "flaming" of those that are having a problem that you don't consider legit just because you don't have the same problem yourself, is a real testament to your immaturity. No, not everyone was born with a motherboard in their hand. We all started somewhere and there was a time when you to did not know a capacitor from a regulator. People come to forums for help because they "do not know everything". I suggest that you give them a break and try to help versus jumping on the conformist flaming bandwagon.
I know computers and electronics pretty well. I don't know WHY my monitor was losing a signal because of drivers but it happened and it WAS the result of the 3.8 drivers. If you work with computers at all you should know that sometimes an undocumented problem occurs and it takes trial & error along with an open mind to figure out a solution. I also suggest that you try the latter. If I had been so quick and close minded in my aviation career I wouldn’t have gone that far or I'd probably be dead by now.
I'm sure there may have been a small number of folks out there that unjustly complained about the 3.8 drivers but there sure were enough people having legit problems that started a discussion on the topic and compelled SimGuy to post his warning. We'll probably never know if there was a real programming error or just a rate glitch with those drivers. I'm sure ATI for legal and marketing reasons will never discuss it. Besides that fact I find it real irritating that people like you somehow find satisfaction in making fun of people. It's not nice, mature, or appreciated by anyone.
Good day.
Have you gotten the issue resolved tubby?