ATI 9800 AIW w/ Windows 2003 Server?

iolaus · Jul 26, 2005, 09:21 AM

Hey all,

I'm having a hell of a time getting my ATI 9800 AIW to play nicely with Windows 2003 Server in the media server I'm trying to build. I've managed to get all the AIW components recognized in device manager using XP drivers (because ATI makes no mention of windows 2003 drivers ANYWHERE) but have not been able to get the TV tuner card to initialize correctly.

My plan was to use the server and BeyondTV to stream television to clients but thus far I have had no luck. The ATI TV application spits an error at me every time I try to start it about not being able to initialize the TV tuner. It subsequently runs a diagnostic check and everything passes (except a couple warnings about such and such drives might not be in DMA mode... which they are). I have DirectX 9c installed and Win2K3 is fully up-to-date. Has anyone else had any experience getting this type of setup to work? Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ryan

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jul 27, 2005, 09:28 AM

It doesn't officially support server O/S's and you may as well use a standard Windows XP install to do this...or better yet use Linux, its more stable hehe.

To cut it short I don't think it will play nicely with an O/S it was never designed to support.

mrwolfe · Jul 27, 2005, 10:58 AM

I feel for your frustrations as I too have had similar problems for sometime now. I was able to get it all working again last night after a long hiatus (so yes it is possible with a few compromises). The trick is to not try and use the latest software releases for the MMC and Catalyst Control Panel (it's solely a nice GUI for the masses).

Forget about any comments on Win2K3 being a server OS that is not supported. This is IMHO a lame excuse and some of us have our reasons for running such a platforn (I will respectfully decline from going into this any further). Anyways here is what you need to do:

1. Assuming a clean install (i.e. no previous ATI drivers/software - a simple search will yeild lots of clean routines listed on this forum if need be ), install the latest Win2K3 patches; Update .Net Framework; Install DirectX 9C; enable sound and hardware acceleration in the OS (you may have to do this after the drivers and the control panel are initially installed - see below)

2. Download the latest XP ATI 9800 Drivers and control panel from ATI.com (Currently Catalyst 5.7; Note: get the one without the catalyst control panel; approx 25 Megs). Download just the DAO/MDAC and DVD encoder for MMC 9.08. Download the MMC 9.0 (note this is an earlier version of the multimedia center; some later versions may work but I was not very successful in my attempts) from http://www2.ati.com/drivers/mmc-9-0-0-0.exe

3. Unpack and install the XP Catalyst 5.7 Drivers and the Control Panel and reboot; You may have to use the device manager to manually browse to the folder where you unpacked the drivers to satify all the "found new hardware" requests (be patient and do not search the Web for updates when prompted - you can even unplug your NIC if so desired as a reminder)

4. Install the 9.08 DAO/MDAC and DVD encoder; reboot. Unpack and install the 9.0 MMC and reboot.

5. Install any supplimental application like the Remote as desired.

6. Enjoy. Everything should be working from 3D capabilities to the TV card

Remeber just take your time and be patient. Feel free to drop me a line or post your findings as well.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jul 27, 2005, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrwolfe

Forget about any comments on Win2K3 being a server OS that is not supported. This is IMHO a lame excuse and some of us have our reasons for running such a platforn (I will respectfully decline from going into this any further).

..... a lame excuse is using windows for a server. Servers need to be reliable and Windoze isn't. Linux would be the best solution IMHO.

So there

iolaus · Jul 27, 2005, 11:50 AM

mrwolfe,

You sir, are a superstar! I look forward to getting home today to try out your method. Thank you very much for the clear step by step instructions! I will most certainly let you know how it turns out.

-Ryan

redsolar · Jul 27, 2005, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

..... a lame excuse is using windows for a server. Servers need to be reliable and Windoze isn't. Linux would be the best solution IMHO.

So there

If you ever tried running Linux with an AIW card, whether ATI or nVidia you would not even dare to say this

. In addition to that, we still have ways to go with ATI and Linux drivers - they are getting better, but there is always room for improvement.

There are very good reasons to run win2k3 server if you can afford it, so pull your head out of your butt about Linux vs Windows. I successfully run and use both, and both have their goods and bads. There is no panacea for anything, it's all about choice, compromise and available time.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jul 27, 2005, 05:31 PM

I suppose...head wasn't in the butt about Linux though. And I have run an AiW card with Linux, I just never used it for a PVR is all which I can see being a problem.

iolaus · Jul 28, 2005, 07:08 AM

Well,

Unfortunately... even with a brand new install of Win2K3 w/ SP1, all upgrades, and following instructions exactly the DAO/MDAC driver wouldn't install correctly. The setup.exe would load a bit and then just hang (msiexec.exe still running indefinately in task manager). Couldn't seem to figure out what was causing the problem but without that driver there isn't much hope of getting the tuner to work properly.

Any ideas?

-Ryan

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jul 28, 2005, 12:43 PM

Maybe you don't have the Windows Installer service running or its set to disabled?

mrwolfe · Jul 28, 2005, 12:50 PM

Yeah I ran into that too. A couple of things you might try...

First, you can always browse into the folder where you unpacked the install files and execute the dao.exe, mdac.exe, etc manually (This is what I had to do).

Second, (worse case) download an earlier version (MMC 9.0 maybe) of the DAO/MDAC or install it from the original installation CD. The only time I had to use the orig CD was to verify itself for downloading the DVD Decoder.

It may not be related but I am assuming you have all the terminal services and remote access disabled (apparently these AIW does not play nicely with these services???).

Hang in there.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jul 28, 2005, 12:53 PM

The DAO/MDAC doesn't really change, I think the last release was like 9.0 or around there anyway. I ran into that with a stock Windows XP install

iolaus · Jul 28, 2005, 02:41 PM

Thanks for the tips guys. The only problem I see with method 1 mrwolfe, is the uci file (uci.msi) that will not run by itself. It throws an error message about how it is supposed to be installed via setup.exe (thanks for that ATI). Do I need to install that? As for method 2, do you happen to know where I could find version 9 of DOA? I have absolutely no idea where my original ATI CD got to.

Thanks again,
Ryan