Cat 3.10 Problems

Disaster1Disaster1
edited December 2003 in Science & Tech
Anyone having problems with CAT 3.10 drivers? I keep having VGA Recovery come up and tell me my graphics card isn't responding, at first it was happening around every 5-10 MINUTES! I haven't been able to use new drivers since CAT 3.7, which I reinstalled again. I tried everything to get the 3.10s to run, I followed the rage 3d guide for a clean driver install and everything. Tried write combining on and off, tried Fast writes and off. I am NOT changing my AGP to 4X, I didn't pay for an 8X board to turn it off, even if it doesn't affect speed its just the principle! I also updated my AGP drivers with VIA's Hyperion drivers. I am running:

Radeon 9800NP (BIOS Flased to PRO)
FIC AM39L Motherboard
Antec 350W Power Supply (Not a power issue had the same system running fine on 250W PS that came with my system)
AMD 2700+
80 GB WDHD
DVD-CD/RW
DVD Rom
Floppy Drive

Also at times when VGA Recover doesn't come up, my monitor will go into sleep mode and tell me there is no signal. I have tried everything I can think of, exept for restoring windows, which I REALLY don't want to do. TIA
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Comments

  • panzerkwpanzerkw New York City
    edited December 2003
    Well can you try slowing to down to 4X just to see if it works?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    This is what I had, I had to change my AGP speed to 4x for it to work. You can try being stubborn, but it's not going to make your computer stop failing.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    I just don't understand why it won't work under 8X can't ATI make drivers that can work! I haven't been able to use any updates since 3.7, they work fine with my comp at 8X!! What is the speed difference between 4X and 8X AGP? I'm just upset that I spent more to get an 8X Mobo and a good graphics card and now I can't use it! I used a Geforce card that worked fine at 8X so it HAS to be the drivers!
  • panzerkwpanzerkw New York City
    edited December 2003
    Since games aren't really made to rely on the speed of the AGP bus, the difference from 4X to 8X will be negligible, you probably won't even notice it.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    The only speed increase you get using AGP 8x is maybe a few FPS, if you even get an increase at all, so spending more on AGP 8x really is a waste. The card, motherboard and drivers all have to play together for AGP 8x to work, if not then it isn't usable, it's hit and miss.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    why would CAT 3.7 work at 8x though and 3.10 doesn't? I guess i will just keep running 3.7.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Are you sure that SmartGart actually set it to 8x with the 3.7 drivers anyway? Normally it picks the best option, which is not always best, but it may have set it to 4x with the 3.7's by default.

    Going back to the 3.7's because of not being able to use AGP 8x is kinda pointless as you sacrafice buf fixes and general updates for about 2fps in games. Try using the catalyst uninstaller and then reinstalling the 3.10 drivers if it really matters that much.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    I guess I will try that tonight and see if I have the crashes/problems in 4x AGP.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    8x is mostly marketing hype.. It follows the same scheme as intel:

    "BIGGAR NUMBAR MEANS FASTAR STUFF!"
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Current games and technology can't even max out the bandwidth limits of the AGP 4.0x spec, but you'd think hardware makers would take better care of writing drivers.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    It seems to be working on 4X, but I haven't really had a chance to test it very much, since I HAVE TO WORK ON CHRISTMAS EVE!!!! hehe Oh well at least I get paid for doing nothing!
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Disaster1 had this to say
    hehe Oh well at least I get paid for doing nothing!
    YOU'RE FIRED!!! LOL j/k;D
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    Not on XMAS eve!!!
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Disaster1 had this to say
    Not on XMAS eve!!!
    ok not on christmas eve ...that would just suck too hard to be scrooged on christmas eve ...I guess you can keep your job afterall!!!:buck:
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2003
    What chipset does that FIC board have? If the chipset doesn't support AGP 8x, it won't work. The older versions of the SmartGart utility didn't work very well, and now that there's a working version, it could just be that you're asking it to do something it can't do.

    AGP speed is dependent on the motherboard, as well as the video card.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    The motherboard is an FIC AM39L, it is fairly new, I've updated the chipset drivers and everything. I changed it to 4X AGP and I am STILL getting random crashes. 1 of 2 things happens, I get a message saying that my Graphics Driver is not responding and has been reset by VGA recover, or my monitor just goes into standby mode. I can't figure out 1 specific thing that makes it happen, it just seems to be random. I admit it doesn't seem to happen as much under 4X but it still happens, too often in my opinion. I know it is not the MOBO because I have a NVIDIA card that was working fine before this card. Don't think it is the card either to be honest, because I had a 9600 before this and it did the same thing (I exchanged it becuase i thought that card was bad) Everything seems to run fine under 3.7, I can run 8X APG with no problems, I am probably just going to revert to them, or is everyone having these random crashes from time to time???
  • ginipigginipig OH, NOES
    edited December 2003
    I was just wondering.. does uninstalling Agpart make any difference? Ati's Control Panel incorrectly detects my 9800pro at 4x, while bios' readings seem to differ.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Is the card overclocked at all?

    Also, try setting the AGP rate to 2x if you can...
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    The BIOS are flased to a Pro, why would that cause problems though? I will try clocking it back and see if that helps...
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Because it may not be able to deal with the speeds that the pro BIOS specifies...
  • ginipigginipig OH, NOES
    edited December 2003
    Didn't know that there was a recommended way to upgrade catalyst drivers. Thanks to all of you for referring me to the forum thread's manual deinstallation.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    Well I flashed back to the original BIOS hopefully that will help.
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited December 2003
    I guess this means, that the 3.10's are almost as much of a failure as 3.8's. ATi has been bent on making us mad, ever since after the 3.8's. :grumble:
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    Ok I have tried everything I can possibly think of to get the CAT 3.10s to work at all with my system. I think it is a case of bad drivers again. I tried an NVIDIA card just to make sure and they work fine with the detenator drivers at 8X AGP. I have tried:

    3.10s With:
    Write Combining= ON
    Write Combining= OFF
    Fast Writes= ON
    Fast Writes= OFF
    VPU Recover=ON
    VPU Recover=OFF
    AGP=4X
    AGP=8X
    I reflashed my BIOS to the original BIOS and tried all of the above with them, still no luck, I get CONSTANT VPU recoveries. There is no BIOS flash available for my motherboard. I have updated the MOBO drivers from both the FIC sight and the VIA sight, they wound up being both the same drivers. I even completly wiped my system and reinstalled windows to see if it was a conflict and that didn't work. I am very tired of dealing with this, I had a 9600PRO and had the same type of problems. Once again I reiterate that NVIDIAS 5900 card will work fine in my system with no problems, NOT ONE CRASH AT ALL, once I put my Radeon in and use 3.10 I get CONSTANT systems crashes. I have posted on other Forums and I KNOW I am not the only one having these problems. Unless these driver problems get fixed soon I am going to be buying an NVIDIA card as my next graphics card Purchase...YOU HEAR ME ATI! Sorry all for the frustration, I guess I will never be able to updated my drivers, going back to the 3.7s because they are stable...
  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Have you tried just turning the VPU Recover off. I had problems with that kicking in everytime I played a game for a while on my 9800 pro. Turned it off and I havnt had a problem since.

    Mine is running AGP 8x and with Fastwrites on with the CAT 3.10.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    I tried everything mentioned above with every combination possible. It is ridiculous either way...why should I have to fool around with the settings in order to get my $300 graphics card to work! Thats why I said for my next card I am going NVIDIA, It may not be quite as fast, but at least all I have to do is put it in and it WORKS. I really wish someone would explain to me my an Geforce FX works in my comp (my friend let me borrow his) at 8X AGP, but an ATI card causes all kinds of problems. Sorry this is REALLY frustrating, I am tired of being ATI's beta tester...
  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Disaster1 wrote:
    I tried everything mentioned above with every combination possible. It is ridiculous either way...why should I have to fool around with the settings in order to get my $300 graphics card to work! Thats why I said for my next card I am going NVIDIA, It may not be quite as fast, but at least all I have to do is put it in and it WORKS. I really wish someone would explain to me my an Geforce FX works in my comp (my friend let me borrow his) at 8X AGP, but an ATI card causes all kinds of problems. Sorry this is REALLY frustrating, I am tired of being ATI's beta tester...

    But have you turned the VPU recover off? This is what you say is kicking in. Also you are asking why should you have to fool around with the settings to get it to work right. Do you have any idea of how many different hardware combinations there are? A company has to cover as many bases as possible when they release a new driver. A friend of mine had no end of trouble with a Geforce 4400 and his new machine. Its not just ATI.
    VPU.jpg 53.2K
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited December 2003
    I also had to turn off vpu recovery to get call of duty to stop crashing, and after i played the game, turned it back on. And now i can play it without a problem.
  • Disaster1Disaster1
    edited December 2003
    I tried it both on and off and still crashes...games just freeze with VPU recover off. Back to 3.7's and they work fine. Yes Necro I realize there are TONS of different hardware configurations, and ATI can't possibly test with all of them. I just hate missing out on the updates because I can't upgrade. Like I said part of my post was just in frustration and I was venting. My card is great with the 3.7's and all my games seem to work fine. Hopefully the next release will work, or VIA's next drivers. Who knows its all really a crap shoot hehe. :)
  • DisvengeanceDisvengeance
    edited December 2003
    Unless you have an XT card, theres no real reason, yet, to go past using the 3.7's.
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