Installing Catalyst XP Drivers for ATi 1900 -- A Precautionary Tale

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Level 1

42 points

Installing Catalyst XP Drivers for ATi 1900 -- A Precautionary Tale

I downloaded the latest X1900 drivers for XP (running via BootCAmp) after I installed my X1900 - I didn't use the XP drivers CD made when Boot Camp runs.

It completely trashed my installation -- I simply couldn't get my two displays to function properly. One was always displaying a horizontally-squashed screen, or just not even getting to login. I tried booting into Safe Mode and using the Mac XP Drivers CD there -- not even the InstallShield could run properly. I tried installing the ATi Catalyst drivers in Safe Mode -- no way. "correct driver not found..." (I'd uninstalled the ATi drivers previously).

I ended up having to wipe my BC partition and re-install. Then use Mac XP drivers CD to install ATi drivers.

Now, every time I change an Appearances setting I get a message saying that "This driver is meant for an older version of Windows. The default VGA driver is being used instead." Which it isn't -- I have all the ATi options.

Anyone had any luck using driver updates direct from ATi's site?

Any idea why I'm getting this message?

TIA,

Mac Pro 2.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.9) 6GB RAM, 160/320/320/320 HD, GeForce 7300 / ATi X1900 XT

Mac Pro 2.0 GHz, Mac OS X (10.4.9), 4GB RAM, 160/320/320/320 HD, GeForce 7300 / ATi X1900 XT

Posted on May 2, 2007 2:05 AM

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Answer 1

Fortuny

Level 7

21,461 points

May 2, 2007 4:17 AM in response to TimDanaher

Hi Tim,

I got my X1900 together with my MP and did install an ATI Catalyst 6.10 after installing XP (I just wanted the Control Center) and they are working up to now.
I don't have any issues, so I'm not in the need to install newer ones.
Before I installed them, I also completely uninstalled any ATI related software.

Your post doesn't say it but I presume that you had XP installed with the Nvidia 7300 ?
Did you completely deinstalled any Nvidia Software prior to installing the X1900 ?

Another guess, the Catalyst Drivers need to have the .Net-Framework 2.0 or 3.0 from Microsoft installed before their own installation.

What BC version is your Driver-CD made of ?

Stefan

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Answer 2

TimDanaher Author

Level 1

42 points

May 2, 2007 4:54 AM in response to Fortuny

Thanks, Stefan --

I didn't de-install the nVidia drivers!!! D'oh...on the OS X side, I can just swap between the cards at will, the correct drivers get loaded.

Also, I didn't know about the .NET requirement...the Catalyst installation didn't say anything about that...although it did say I needed DirectX 8 -- but since I don't play games, I assume that I can skip that part?

Also, how are you coping with the noise? My silent cooler is working very nicely...

TIA,

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Answer 3

Fortuny

Level 7

21,461 points

May 3, 2007 1:34 AM in response to TimDanaher

Thanks, Stefan --

I didn't de-install the nVidia drivers!!! D'oh...on
the OS X side, I can just swap between the cards at
will, the correct drivers get loaded.

Yeah, one of the advantages of OSX over Windows. Windows tend to react very weird when changing graphics card and not deinstalling everything related to the old one beforehand.

Also, I didn't know about the .NET requirement...the
Catalyst installation didn't say anything about
that...although it did say I needed DirectX 8 -- but
since I don't play games, I assume that I can skip
that part?

Usually the Catalyst installation doesn't mention the .NEt, but when you want to use the Control Center it comes up with an error.
DirectX is a bit more than just for games, as it is a sort of layer between the application and the real hardware (e.g. graphics card), so I would propose getting the latest DirectX 9 package from the Microsoft website.

Also, how are you coping with the noise? My silent
cooler is working very nicely...

Coming from a long range of graphics card im my PC heydays, I had cards that were more silent and ones that were louder.
In fact before my switch to the MacPro in October 06 I had a PC with AMD 64-CPU and an ATI X1800 graphics card and in comparison the MacPro is less noisy.
And the ATI fan only kicks in, when I'm stressing it, so I can live with that.

TIA,

You're welcome (BTW: when do you come to Cologne ?)

Stefan

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Answer 4

TimDanaher Author

Level 1

42 points

May 3, 2007 10:13 AM in response to Fortuny

Ich fliege am 17. mai dahin -- für 'ne kurze Strecke -- meine Frau ist schon da -- seit einem Paar Tage. Ich muss danach hier ein Paar Wochen zurückbleiben um dem Möbeltransport uzw. zu erledigen -- und auf dem deutsch fleissig zu pauken ;0);0);0);0)

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Answer 5

Fortuny

Level 7

21,461 points

May 3, 2007 9:50 PM in response to TimDanaher

Hallo Tim,

dann wünsch ich Dir schon mal eine schöne (kurze) Zeit in Köln.
Hoffentlich bleibt das Wetter so schön wie es zur Zeit ist.

Viel Spass

Stefan

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