Problem: x850 XT PE and DirectDraw

northwest · Jul 29, 2007, 02:53 PM

Computer: Dell XPS Gen 4
OS: WinXP ME SP2
Display: ATI X850 XT PE, Dell 2005FPW
Directx: 9.0c

I was running Catalyst 6.3 drivers for quite awhile with no problems but decided to update to Catalyst 7.7. Unfortunately, I forgot to uninstall my 6.3 drivers first. I rebooted my computer and the 7.7 drivers seemed to install okay. CCC was updated and Control panel showed that I had the new drivers.

After the drivers installed I tried to run a 3d game but the screen went black shortly after starting. I started dxdialog and ran the directdraw tests. The first two tests ran fine. When I started the third test (full screen bouncing ball), the animation displayed for about 2 seconds and then the screen went black. I had to reboot. When I test direct3d, the same thing happens; I can see the image for about 2 seconds and then the screen goes black. Sometimes after reboot I receive a windows crash message but not always.

If I disable all hardware acceleration all the tests pass but, obvioulsy, I don't want to run my system that way.

I've tried everything I can think of. I've uninstalled all the ATI stuff and reinstalled the 6.3 drivers but the problem persists. Additionally, I've:
- updated bios
- updated chipset drivers
- reinstalled monitor drivers
- ran drivercleaner on ATI and ATI CCC but nothing else
- verified that I have all the updates for Windows including .Net Framework 1,2,and 3
- ran checkdsk and defragged
- tried Catalyst versions 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.6, and 7.7 - currently running 6.2

I appreciate any suggestions for getting my video card working again.

Thanks,
Steve

Dyre Straits · Jul 29, 2007, 03:03 PM

Greetings and welcome to DriverHeaven!

Try the 7.7 Catalyst drivers again and, before you run any tests, go to Microsoft Downloads and get the latest release of DirectX 9.0c

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

northwest · Jul 29, 2007, 03:56 PM

Hi Dyre Straits. Thanks for the welcome and for your help!

I followed the link you provided and installed the latest Directx update. I also installed the Catalyst 7.7 drivers. Unfortunately, the problem persists.

It seems strange that DirectDraw test #3 will work for a few seconds and then the screen goes black. I would think that if I had a bad file it wouldn't work at all but there are probably things going on far beyond my understanding.

If you have any other suggestions, I'm sure open to trying anything to get this card working again.

Thanks again,
Steve

Dyre Straits · Jul 29, 2007, 06:45 PM

Boot up into Windows Safemode and try installing the drivers for the video card. If anything goes wrong, just use the Device Manager, Driver Update option and then point to the directory where the current drivers are extracted....usually: C:\ATI\Support\

Good luck!

kn00tcn · Aug 2, 2007, 04:22 AM

ouch... could it be vpu recover? what if you disable it

Dyre Straits · Aug 2, 2007, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northwest

Hi Dyre Straits. Thanks for the welcome and for your help!

I followed the link you provided and installed the latest Directx update. I also installed the Catalyst 7.7 drivers. Unfortunately, the problem persists.

It seems strange that DirectDraw test #3 will work for a few seconds and then the screen goes black. I would think that if I had a bad file it wouldn't work at all but there are probably things going on far beyond my understanding.

If you have any other suggestions, I'm sure open to trying anything to get this card working again.

Thanks again,
Steve

Something else just came to mind: Is the fan on your video card working properly?

These cards are made to work differently between 2D and 3D applications. If the problem is only happening in 3D, it could be that the card isn't properly 'switching' to the 3D mode. Not sure if that makes sense, but, test this across several 3D programs to see if it happens in EVERY 3D app.

Then, does it EVER happen just browsing the Internet or using your usual programs that aren't 3D?

Jul 29, 2007, 02:53 PM	#1
northwest DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Washington State Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Problem: x850 XT PE and DirectDraw Computer: Dell XPS Gen 4 OS: WinXP ME SP2 Display: ATI X850 XT PE, Dell 2005FPW Directx: 9.0c I was running Catalyst 6.3 drivers for quite awhile with no problems but decided to update to Catalyst 7.7. Unfortunately, I forgot to uninstall my 6.3 drivers first. I rebooted my computer and the 7.7 drivers seemed to install okay. CCC was updated and Control panel showed that I had the new drivers. After the drivers installed I tried to run a 3d game but the screen went black shortly after starting. I started dxdialog and ran the directdraw tests. The first two tests ran fine. When I started the third test (full screen bouncing ball), the animation displayed for about 2 seconds and then the screen went black. I had to reboot. When I test direct3d, the same thing happens; I can see the image for about 2 seconds and then the screen goes black. Sometimes after reboot I receive a windows crash message but not always. If I disable all hardware acceleration all the tests pass but, obvioulsy, I don't want to run my system that way. I've tried everything I can think of. I've uninstalled all the ATI stuff and reinstalled the 6.3 drivers but the problem persists. Additionally, I've: - updated bios - updated chipset drivers - reinstalled monitor drivers - ran drivercleaner on ATI and ATI CCC but nothing else - verified that I have all the updates for Windows including .Net Framework 1,2,and 3 - ran checkdsk and defragged - tried Catalyst versions 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.6, and 7.7 - currently running 6.2 I appreciate any suggestions for getting my video card working again. Thanks, Steve

Aug 2, 2007, 04:22 AM	#5
kn00tcn DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Toronto Posts: 649 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	ouch... could it be vpu recover? what if you disable it __________________ PM me if i dissappear from helping you in a thread XP - Athlon XP-M (Barton @ 2.4ghz) \| 2x1024 Mushkin ddr400 DC \| x800XT-PE + Zalman VF700-CU \| Abit AN7 \| Seasonic S12 E+ 550w 2K - Pentium4 (Northwood @ 2.3ghz) \| 2x512 OCZ \| 9800pro + Iceberq5 \| Asus P4S333-VM \| 300w (~20A) generic

Jul 29, 2007, 03:56 PM	#3
northwest DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Washington State Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Hi Dyre Straits. Thanks for the welcome and for your help! I followed the link you provided and installed the latest Directx update. I also installed the Catalyst 7.7 drivers. Unfortunately, the problem persists. It seems strange that DirectDraw test #3 will work for a few seconds and then the screen goes black. I would think that if I had a bad file it wouldn't work at all but there are probably things going on far beyond my understanding. If you have any other suggestions, I'm sure open to trying anything to get this card working again. Thanks again, Steve