Installing ATi Drivers w/SP2

[CAG]

Well, I finally got around to installing the ATi Catalyst 4.8 drivers on my SP2 system and I had no problems whatsoever. I've read a hundred different ways to install these drivers (safe mode, DriverCleaner, etc.) but I thought I'd share my way with you (its worked for as many iterations of Catalyst as I can remember):

1.If you don't have an AIW card, d/l only the drivers and control panel...you don't need the WDM capture stuff...you'll need to go to ATi's main site, choose "Drivers & Software", choose your OS, etc., and when you get to the 4.8 page, choose the Low Speed d/l, File 1 of 3 and 2 of 3. Of course, if you have an AIW card, d/l the whole package.

2. D/l the Catalyst Uninstaller found on this page http://mirror.ati.com/support/drivers/misc/catalystutils.html I've used all of the other methods (safe mode, DriverCleaner, etc.) and this little app works the best...it uninstalls everything ATi on your machine (including any ATi wallpaper/screensavers you may have).

3. Go into the Device Manager and disable your internet connection (sometimes, Windows will attempt to access the net to d/l other drivers...don't ask me why...it just works) . To do this in Device Manager, click on the "+" sign next to "Network adaptors", right click on your network connection, choose "disable" and wait a second or two until a red mark appears next to it.

4. I have my SP2 firewall disabled. If it enables itself again after the next step (uninstalling the old drivers, etc.), disable it again,,,imo the less SP2 involvement, the better. I have a 3rd party firewall (Kerio) and I left it enabled...During the installation process, the ATi driver/control package attempts to access the net on numerous occasions and when the permission windows popped up, I gave permission even though I was disconnected from the net. In any event, these access attempts are apparently unnecessary to a successful installation.

5. Run the Catalyst Uninstaller and restart your machine when prompted. Close any Hardware Found or Hardward Installation Wizard boxes that pop up after restart. Disable the SP2 firewall if it enables itself.

6. Assuming you've only installed the drivers and control panel, install the drivers first. When you get to the end and are asked if you want to restart the computer, choose NO and don't restart.

7. Install the control panel and, at the end, restart the machine when prompted.

8. Go back into Device Manager and enable your internet connection.

Worked for me...hope it works for you.

CAG

[AJK1]

Thanks for this CAG. I tried this--twice-- but I still can't install the Cat 4.8 drivers. I just get an error message saying "compatible hardware does not exist on this system". But luckily when I reinstall 4.7, I have no trouble. Btw, I have an X800 Pro card, so I'm thinking it's the card detection. Hopefully it's something ATI will fix with Cat 4.9!

AJ

[CAG]

AJ,

You might want to search over at Rage3D or Driverheaven to see if anyone's got a thread going on it.

[AJK1]

Thanks CAG, I took a little wander over to Rade3D but I didn't find anything like my problem. What's the url for Driverheaven?

For the heck of it, I tried installing 4.8 *WITHOUT* uninstalling 4.7 first...but that didn't work either. Maybe I'll try the Omega drivers. Anyone tried those?

AJ

[CAG]

http://www.driverheaven.net/ Haven't tried the omega's...I usually stay with the ATi stock drivers...Just a thought but maybe you should d/l the SP2 file again...maybe you got a corrupt d/l the 1st time around.

[AJK1]

Thanks for the URL CAG. I never thought of a bad SP2 download. Good thinking. I also had a 'bright' idea that maybe it's not detecting my AGP port correctly with SP2. With Cat 4.7, my AGP port is automatically set to running at 8x. I'm thinking I might try setting it to 4x in the bios and seeing if that makes any difference to the installation. Maybe it's SP2 and the AGP port detection screwing up...

AJ

[CAG]

You may want to just set all of your video card settings to their default settings for the SP2 installation. After that , the only thing I can suggest is a format, partition, and clean install of XP...a fairly drastic cure for a driver upgrade but the fact that ATi is somehow fubar'ing your install may mean there are other conflicts that need to be resolved...just a thought.

CAG

[AJK1]

Could be, CAG. I just d/led a new SP2 file and slipstreamed it into XP to make a bootable SP2 version of WinXP. I am going to try a clean install with that, and see where that takes me! ;)

AJ

[AJK1]

An update to my misadventures:

I just did a clean install of XP/SP2, using a slipstreamed cd (so that I only installed the SP2 updates, not the original files that then needed to be updated). Unfortunately, it did not help my problem with installing the Cat 4.8 drivers. Instead of going to Cat 4.7 (which give no trouble), I found I could manually install 4.8 via Device Manager, but that doesn't give me a lot of the ATI control panel stuff (btw, anyone know if I can download and install that separately?), but it at least allows me to update my graphics drivers. Since my graphic drivers were the first thing I tried to install on a clean XP installation, I can only imagine this is a problem with X800Pro cards and SP2. I just hope it's a problem that gets fixed with the next driver release.

If anyone has a better idea, let me know!

AJ

[CAG]

AJ,

Check out my "How-To" at the beginning of this thread...it talks about d/l'ing the drivers and control panel separately. Since you don't have an AIW card, you don't need the one (bigger) package that includes the AIW stuff.

CAG

[AJK1]

CAG,

Thanks, but I STILL cannot get v4.8 to install! I tried the 4.7 control panel, and that works just fine...so at least I have something. For some reason, nothing 4.8 (drviers, control panel) will install for me. I get the same error each time, even on my clean install of WinXP SP2, that no compatable hardware can be found.

I DO NOT have this problem with 4.7. 4.7/X800Pro/SP2 works just fine and dandy. So it has to be something with 4.8/X800Pro/SP2.

At the moment, I have 4.7's control panel and 4.8 drivers (installed manually via Device Manage), and my fingers crossed for a fix in 4.9!

Thanks for all the help,

AJ

[CAG]

What's error message you're getting?

[AJK1]

Not word for word, but:

"No compatible hardware can be found on this system. Please check you have [compatible hardware]."

As I said, not verbatim, but to that effect. It is not detecting my card as an ATI X800 in 4.8. 4.7 does not have this problem and the installation continues are normal after this checkpoint, which btw is right before the red ATI splash screen.

AJ

[CAG]

I googled your error message and checked the Rage3D forum again and couldn't find anything :( Maybe its something that'll be cured in the next driver release.

[AJK1]

Thanks for helping out CAG. I checked the Rage3d forum too (even posted a message) but alas, no one else seems to be having this particular problem. And yes, I sure hope 4.9 fixed things! I did email ATI feedback, so hopefully they will take note. I really thought the clean WinXP install might help, as you suggested. And if I were having trouble with other Cat drivers, I would say it was a quirk of my system and SP2. But as I keep saying, 4.7 installs without a hitch. It's just 4.8.

OT: Btw, to all the FL forum members, best of luck with Hurricane Frances. As I watch the Weather Channel right now, there's currently nowhere in our state that looks as if it might escape the forecast track. Here's hoping everyone rides it out safely.

AJ