garykowk

alexl55
how to pm you in chinese?
give me you msn?
you have some question need you help.
hoho
good luck all.....^^

Randomness

Hello:

Finally, with some time off, i was able to play around with the drivers, and some dvd decoders for the Radeon IGP 320M. I have finally figured out a solution that seems to work, and seems to follow with the previous information this thread has presented.

1) Catalyst drivers newer than Catalyst 4.10 have overlay / frame buffer issues specific to this older chipset (IGP 300 series). Unfortunately, i cannot reverse engineer such driver code, outside of simple modding, to fix the problem (because of legal, and technical reasons).

2) Different computers use different DVD Decoders. Some decoders strickly use DirectX 9.0 componenets, like DXVA 9, dispite acceleratin settings listed in WMP10 and other popular players. (Albiet MPC 6.4 seems to get around this, probably because it has its own decoder). As previously said, this chip isn't very fond of DirectX9.0. I have found that InterVideo is one of these decoders that DOES NOT allow overlay, or its DirectX9 to be disabled, simply by its design. Despite what options may appear to be available in WMP10 or Intervideo's own player.

WMP10 does not have its own decoder, it uses the decoder from an installed
DVD program or plugin such as Intervideo, PowerDVD....etc. ; And WMP10's acceleration settings are not always keyed to certain decoders installed.

3) I have had success with installing Catalyst Mobility 5.13, and using the PowerDVD SE decoder. My BIOS UMA setting is 128MB for the Radeon IGP 320M and i have 896MB Ram with Athlon-XP Mobile 2800+. Display settings at 1024x768 at 32bpp. WMP10 --> Tools --> Options --> Preformance --> Video Acceleration --> Advanced --> Use the following settings:
Check--> Use Video Mixing Rendering (VMR)
UNcheck--> Use overlays
Check--> Use high quality mode
Check ALL under legacy video renderer
Under DVD video:
Check--> Use VMR
UNcheck--> use overlays
Check --> Enable full screen controls, and Enable full screen mode switch.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will probably encounter problems if you disable VMR and/or high quality mode, where the movie will be choppy, or not play at all. Make sure VMR in Video acceleration and DVD playback is enabled.

You may also Check any preferred options on the upper right hand side with regards to video smooting, full screen controls, Frame Drop/AV sync.

THE KEY ISSUES lie in 2 specific places:
1) The driver not properly supporting video overlays
2) The system's installed DVD decoder not properly disabling use of overlays through acceleration settings. Usually because of the decoder's program design/implimentation.
So far Intervideo has been problematic, and has not properly played DVD with newer Catalyst drivers. However:

Successful playback with PowerDVD SE (an older version of the newer PowerDVD), and it is also likely that CinePlayer Plugin DVD decoder would work too. I would strongly recommend DVD decoders that do not have DirectX 9 as a minimum requirement, and the lowest processing requirments.

Despite overlays being disable, the functional decoders still take advantage of the IGP's DVD processing abilities (i.e. with iDCT, de-interlacing, and so forth), and processing usage shouldn't go about 40% on average.

Hope this is helpful, and maybe brighten's your outlook into using the IGP 320M and related chips.

Have fun, good luck, and take care.

- Randomness.

nerothos

First of all, a big THANK YOU, to everyone posted in this forum. I got many answers on questions I ve been having for months (if not years). I was so suprised to come across this forum while googling for some help on oub beloved 340m. I am a happy owner of an Evo n1020v, (specs: pentium m 1.8 256 ddr266 removable --in which I added another 512--, radeon igp 340m) which has kept completelly satisfied for the 2,5 years I have it. Like many others, I do not have any money to spare to get a new notebook (desktops is out of the question cause I am travelling a lot). So instead I spared some euros and got an extra 512mb memory. So now I have a 512 + 256 (-64 for the 340M) of memory.
I have bought wow and before activating (I need to pay an extra 30 for the gamecard) I had no idea if it would play or not. Now I think I might be ok..
I went to the link that alex55 recommended and I downloaded the catalyst drivers. But then I clicked on mobility, and in the window it had the catalyst 6.2 drivers. (?!!?>!?) Whats up with that? Is there something I didnt notice? They were uploaded some days ago. What do you say ?

Also with my current specs, you think I d be ok in wow? Up until now I have faced no sort of problem with the drivers in dvd playback or in the wow video that plays before the game.

Again, meaning it will all my heart, a big THANKS to you guys. Alexx55 and Randomless. You are the reason I registered in this forum.

luixyz

Thanks alot for you guys findings, it is nice to share knowledge especially good ones.

I have been playing with the 320M / U1 since I first got my presario 908EA.

Years back, I have tried to use unsupported driver with this and have some luck like using 7200 driver to run the 320M. Then run 3dmark 2001 to show its functioanlity. There is slight increase in marks but the main thing is that to prove the driver will work with gaming envirnoment.

Now I am following with DHmodtool3 mod and other works with the chipset. I am using the driver with intregrated chipset for ATI motherboard 6.14 and the mod, first to install the 320m chipset driver, get the 320m platform working, then run 3dmard and CS to check the functionality.

However there is a problem with OpenGL mode on CS but no problem with 3dmark01. And Direct 3D mode is not smooth ~ which I am sure 320m can deal with cs smoothly.

Then using the old trick again force install the radeon mobility 7500 driver. This is achieved by just clicking undate driver from the driver's tag. Why not install the 7500 driver in the first place? There is possibility that the system will crash if you install 7500 straight away due to 320m IGP is responsible for other system interconnects as well.

Then CS can be run in OpenGL mode, and I have installed Doom 3 just to check for the interesting party that it will run Doom3 with all the advance features turned off (playable but not recommended) This proves that the driver mod for mobility 7500!

I am unaware of the MPEG2 problem, maybe this can solve the driver problem for 320M just let me know if you can be bother to try this mod, surely it is worth a try.

PS, my compaq presario 908EA only can support share memory upto 64MB, is there anyway to mod the bios to support 128MB? Or will I have anyluck to flash my bios with the nx9005 one?? I dont want to kill my laptop yet, anyone knows?

Randomness

Hello:

nerothos --> When you Go to this website http://www.station-drivers.com/page/atidriv mobility.htm, You will need to scroll down to "--- Pack Catalyst 5.13 (8.203) ---" ; the details are listed in french. I will try to link to the file here:
http://www.station-drivers.com/telec...-2kxp-whql.exe
After some testing with 3DMark2001, i have found using patje's V3 mobility modder and Catalyst 5.9 provides better preformance than the newer 5.13, but only according to 3dMark2001. I have also noticed that the IGP 320M tends to operate slower on the newer Catalyst drivers (6.x), but I have not started investigating this issue....and i doubt it would make too much of a difference, anyway. It seems Catalyst 5.6 to 5.9 provide the best preformance, anything older or newer tends to score lower on 3DMark2001.

From what I have heard from the posts on this thread, Catalyst 5.13 and this chip seem to be able to handle WoW. But i cannot guarentee this. I would also recommend a lot of memory, as it seems to help.

luixyz --> I am not sure what yo meant by:
"Now I am following with DHmodtool3 mod and other works with the chipset. I am using the driver with intregrated chipset for ATI motherboard 6.14 and the mod, first to install the 320m chipset driver, get the 320m platform working, then run 3dmard and CS to check the functionality. "
The version 6.14 is usually referring to 6.14.10.xxxx with regards to the internel 2D primary driver file of the Catalyst driverset. Which makes it difficult to narrow down its catalyst version.
I have also encountered some probelms with OpenGL when modded drivers are not installed properly. Usually the best fix is to unistall and clean out the drivers, re-install your notebook drivers, and than "update" those said drivers through Driver manager with modded drivers. I would not recommend using the Catalyst 6.xx versions....yet.
Using drivercleaner Pro after a normal unistall usually provides better results.

Like i said earlier, the DVD playback problem is specific to the computer's DVD decoder software being able to render playback without the use of overlay, or newer directX features. Some decoders, like those from Intervideo, strickly use overlays and DirectX 9 DirectShow components. The best way to find a new software decoder if to look at the system requirements. Usually older CinePlayer plugin for WMP10, or powerDVD versions work well with modded drivers as they use the DirectX 7 or 8.1 directShow functions, and they allow the option to disable the use of overlays.

With regards to the Compaq Presario 908EA, the newest BIOS i could find is from 2003, and is version "F.0B", and i am unsure if that allows for 128MB of ram. Please also note than some of the older BIOS will allow 128MB only when enough memory is installed. I would think that 512MB should be enough to allow the option for 128MB to be set for the IGP's UMA. Unfortunately it could also simply be a a limitation by motherboard's design, or the version of the IGP's own BIOS, which updates for are next to impossible to find.

For the record, the IGP 320M Graphics core was based on the R100/RS100...etc related cores, which is the fundamnetal core of the Radeon 7000/7500 and early 8000 series cards. That would probably be why you've had luck by forcing that catalyst driver configuration on them. Plus the catalyst driver model itself is pretty much the universal for all Radeon chips, aside from a few tweaks specific to certain chips here and there. But i should also point out: that by using the desktop Radeon 7500 configuration would disable any power-saving feature that the IGP 320M has, and may shorten battery life.

Anyway, Hope this was useful. If you need any more information, just ask. Take care, good luck. Have fun.

luixyz

Hi Randomness

Yes I get what you mean as I know 320m is based on 7500 architecture and driver is universal, that is what I wanted to point out but my literature was bad, forcing 320m to 750 mobility was what I had done and it will work with games, and the problem still lies on overlay and MPEG2 playback as you have explained detailly. I think this is due to the fact that ATi changed the core source code that used to work with our beloved chipset. By reading other articles in the forum, some people are experiencing problems with the mobile firegl chipset, they are having problem with the opengl features as well, so I am starting to wonder is that possibly a "bug" inside newer catalyst?

Thanks for your reserach on my 908, I have already have the latest bios long time back, and I have 512MB ram but there is still no luck with 128MB UMA but that is life...

One last question, so it is best to install catalyst 5.12 with mobility mod? Will that version provides opengl capability with smooth MPEG2 playback without problem? (I meant the latest stable catalyst version for 320M)

Many thanks

Randomness

Hello Again:

All Catalyst driversets have OpenGL support / modules. And in theory should work with the chip, but you may need to clean out any debris from previous driver installations. I would recommend drivercleaner pro.

It would seem that the Catalyst 5.13 mobility that Alexl55 found, and its file link posted in my last reply, would work for OpenGL for CS and WoW ; However MPEG2 playback would be relative to the installed DVD decoder software, and its ability to run without the need for overlay. If you have PowerDVD or CinePlayer plugin or some other DVD software decoder that doesn't require strict overlay support, or DirectX 9, you should be able to play MPEG2 and DVD's with the Catalyst 5.13 Mobility by enabling VMR ( video mixing renderer) and disabling use of overlays.

The newer Catalyst drivers has 2 OpenGL driver components built in, and i think you can get a utility to switch which one the chip would primarily use. The second (larger filed size) seems to work better with the IGP320 ; The OpenGL components of the driver have the file names atioglxx and atioglx1 or something of the similar.

Good luck. Take care, have fun.

patje

Hey guys,

There is something I've noticed between the normal catalyst files beiing modded by me and the mobile catalyst drivers provided by ATI.

The thing is, some cards use an extra OpenGL driver file, named ATIOGLGL.DLL
So far i've learned the following cards use the extra file:

Cards that use it:

MOB RAD. 9500/9600/9700 (M10)
MOB RAD. FIRE GL T2/T2E (M10GL)
MOB RAD. X300 (M22)
MOB RAD. V3100 (M22GL)
MOB RAD. X600/ X600SE (M24/M24C)
MOB RAD. X700 (M26)

Cards that don't
MOB RAD. X800 (and X800 XT)
MOB RAD 9550
MOB RAD 9800

So aside from both Atioglxx.dll and Atioglx1.dll some cards use an extra file.
At the moment i'm unsure what the extra file will do.
I only have mobilty radeon 9000 I can test with and I'm not sure if this card is one of those that use the extra file.

UPDATE: I've installed the Moblie 6.3 drivers on my Laptop (after slight modification).
The driver installed the ATIOGLGL.DLL however everything seems the same as before.


/goes back to the batcave..

__________________

Randomness

Hello:

It is an interesting puzzle about how OpenGL is implemented in the ATi Catalyst drivers.
I have found that the atioglgl.dll has been mentioned in the Catalyst Mobility 5.13 INF, but its registry settings are nulled, and the file isn't included with the driver package.
However it does make reference to FireGL cards / chips, and any PRO or other "special" edition of various cards including the following cores:
M9, M10, RV250, M22, M24/C/GL, M26/GL, R300GL, R350GL, RV370, RV380, R4210, R423, RV410
* wrt to only the Catalyst Mobility 5.13 that Alexl55 discovered earlier in this thread.

In theory it was supposed to be used with 9000 Series (RV250) and newer, but again, it was nulled in the Catalyst Mobility 5.13 that I have been recently playing with. I suspect that it is a suppliment file for CAD programs intended to be run with the FireGL cards or certain "special" edition radeons from 9000 series and newer. Perhaps ATi changed their mind in the newer 6.x versions about supporting certain cores i listed.

luixyz:
At the moment i have encountered a similar OpenGL error that you discribed, it just took a a more detailed diagnostics. It has something to do with the registry settings employed for OpenGL from a modded Catalyst driverset. For some reason the OpenGL driver from ATi is not initialised properly, and the system ends up using the Windows renderer....which barely supports OpenGL 1.1.
It would seem that this Epic legacy is still on going. I am hopeful that after studying the INF code from original and modded drivers i can trace the bug, and perhaps provide some insight for future mobility mods.

Anyway, Good luck, stay tuned, and take care.

Randomness

Hello:

I have discovered that Windows Vista will probably provide driver support for these chips (significantly newer drivers based on the later 5.xx catalyst driversets), and with the new WDDM, it is likely that future Catalyst driversets for Vista will be able to be easily adapted to be used with these chips. Although i cannot confirm this, so it would seem we'll have to wait and see when the new OS ships later this year.

In other news, i have explored an interesting glitch previously posted by luixyz, and patje. OpenGL components in the newer driver models aren't initialised properly when modded. Unfortunately i have yet to route out the complete cause, and have temporarily reverted to my original notebook drivers until i get more time to play with the INF file. ATi has changed their OpenGL component module at least 3 time from versions 4.4 to 6.2, and i still can't completely figure out why some cards require different / more modules, while others don't.

I have tested my original idea on replacing indivudal components of the drivers with newer ones. i.e. put in a newer Direct3D module into an older driverset, and haven't found much improvement in 3D proformance. I am guessing the miniport and the main display driver need to be updated inorder to take avantage of the newer code.

Anyway, take care, and have fun.

- Randomness

Goldbird

Hello guys,
I've managed to locate the dll which is reasponsible for the video playback crashes.It is the ativvaxx.dll .I've installed the latest omega drivers (2687) which are based on 6.2 catalyst drivers and there was an increase to graphic performance according to 3dmark.(the previous were 4.10 catalyst drivers).Then, in safe mode, i replaced the new dll with the old one (from 4.10 catalyst drivers dated 20 january 2004) and video playback run perfect . I've tested PowerDVD 6.0 and mediaplayer (whith overlay enabled) and everything run smoothly! Then i run 3dmark2001 and WoW and the performance was as if i run 6.2 catalyst(and eaven better). I'll try with 5.9 and 5.13 ati catalyst to see which driver performs better on our chipset. If someone wants to try and cant find an old dll, i can e-mail him my ativvaxx.dll.
Take care

patje

Hi Goldbird, wow, if that can help others you did a great job!
Curious if this will work for the others...
thanks for the info

__________________

Randomness

Hello Goldbird:

The ativvaxx.dll is the "Universal Radeon Video Acceleration" Driver component. So it would definitely make sense if this is the problem with the driver. I well run a few tests soon, and hopefully be able to confirm your success.

Unfortunately, i have been busy lately with assignments, and have managed to get myself further distracted by playing arround with Fedora Core 5. Although i can say that i have had some success with the new ATi XOrg proprietary drivers and DVD playback. Albiet i don't have any intense 3D games to test it with.

If you have a game or diagnostic utility that can Use OpenGL, could you check and see if it works properly ; ie// using the OpenGL component of the ATi driver rather than the less happier version built into WindowsXP. I have been investigating a rather spontaneous glitch in some driver mods where OpenGL doesn't register properly with certain installations.

Thanks, and take care.

alexl55

Awesome!!!! I'll test this on 5.13 after work.

UPDATE:
My inital results are positve. Overlay works now. I'm not sure if the frame buffer value is fixed now, since I don't have control center installed anymore. Good discovery Goldbird.

So Patje can this "hack" be implemented in the new Mobility Modder? Maybe like the soft-mod option in Omega drivers, where it asks whether to install the hacked or non-hacked version.

__________________
Laptop
~~~~~
Compaq Presario 2100 series
AMD mobile Athlon XP 2200+ @1.8GHz
Infineon 2x256MB PC2100 2.5-3-3-? @ 133MHz
ATI Radeon IGP 320m w/ 32MB Shared ram
Laptop LCD @ 1024 x 768
Hitachi 5400rpm 80GB HDD
Windows XP Home SP2

Desktop
~~~~~
AMD Opteron 146 @ 2.80GHz (10x280MHz) + Zalman CNPS7700-Cu CPU Cooler
OCZ Gold 2x512MB PC3200 2-2-2-7 1T @ 233MHz 5/6 divider
DFI Lanparty-uT nF4 Ultra-D
256MB X800GTO@12p PCI-E Flash modded to X800XT@16p 540/560 + ATI Silencer 5 VGA Cooler
Dell 2001 FP @ 1600 x 1200 x 32bit @ 60Hz
Thermaltake Sviking Chassis + Antec Smartpower 500W
250GB Hitachi T7K500 SATA300 + 320GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA300 + 200GB Maxtor IDE
NEC ND-3240A DVD Burner
WIndows XP Pro SP2 + Mac OSX 10.4.7 JaS install (99% working)

tdp

Hello Randomness/all,

I'm glad I have managed to find this forum. I'm looking to make Sony Vaio a Linux only unit. At the moment, I'm using the elive 0.42 distro. Debian based, X.org 6.8, Cedega CVS, with enlightment as a frontend/window manager.

Anyway, you stated above that you are trying o use the IGP3XX chipset with linux. You can try this configuration - just edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf with the following:-
Section "Device"
BoardName "RS200 4337"
Driver "radeon"
Option "AGPFastWrite"
Option "RenderAccel"
Option "EnablePageFlip"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
VendorName "ATI"
EndSection


Hope this helps you in your quest. This config is stable and works well both in 24bit (v.slow) and 16bit mode (much faster). If you can suss out any further stable performance boosts let me know. I know of a couple of other configs that add an additional 30% performance boost (figures based on output from glxgears), but these will crash your system within 10-40 seconds - graphics do fly during that period though - so maybe there is more to be gained from this chipset, under linux.

Peace out.

P.S.

Try Amercias Army - it's commerical quality. I have not tried it yet, but from what I have seen it will give your IGP chipset a good work out. BTW - it's free!!!!

Randomness

Hello all,

I am sad to report a lack of success by using Goldbird's suggested mod. I got a fanatastic BSOD when attempting to play a DVD. It would seem that the older ativaxx makes the new driverset rather unhappy. I should note that i am currently using an intervideo software decoder.
WMP10 uses the plugin software decoders from the DVD software to playback DVDs, and i am unsure how its "video acceleration" affects the acceleration settings of a system's software DVD decodr.

If one tries an older DVD decoder such as PowerDVD for example, in theory one wouldn't encounter such, as the older software DVD decoders do not strickly use overlays as the primary image rendering/acceleration.

I have reverted to using my notebook driver for the time being.

My original method of using PowerDVD with a simple mod of Catalyst 5.9 seems to works well for DVD playback however i have encountered a rather odd issue with OpenGL, and occasional re-installations of the driver have led to some rather odd anomalies. ( I have picked 5.9 because it has yeiled the best 3dmark2001 score on my notebook so far) I have not had time to route out the cause, but i suspect it is some obscure Windows Registry key.

With regards to Linux....I am using Fedora Core 5 (using the 2.6.16.1-2080 kernel)
and the X.org X server X11R7
I currently have had success with the following settings in my xorg.conf file using the DRI radeon drivers:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility U1"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "AGPFastWrite" "on"
Option "BusType" "AGP"
Option "ColorTiling" "on"
Option "RenderAccel" "on"
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
# XAA or EXA (EXA faster, but haven't tested yet)
Option "DMAForXv" "on"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "on"
EndSection

I know some of the Option entries are redundant in some sense, but i remind myself how stubborn this chip can be. So far i have achieved 275-ish frames per second with the glxgears application.

There are a few more options i am going to be experimenting with, which will hopefully improve preformance further.


Anyway, once more into the breach, my dear friends....
take care, have fun, and good luck.

Randomness

Hello:

In my continued random efforts to understand and get the IGP 3xx chips working with newer catalyst drivers, i have uncovered some interesting characteristics about them:

1) The Radeon IGP 320 desktop Counter part does not suffer from the same playback issues with new catalyst driver as the mobility version

2) The IGP 320M is based on the RS100 core, which is similar to the design of the Radeon 7000/7500 cores. Curiously enough, the Mobility 7000/7500 do not seem to suffer from playback issues with new Catalyst driver upto (and possibly newer) than version 5.6

3) The IGP 320 comes in three known flavours

IGP 320 uses Device ID 4136 with no specific SUBSYS parameter, and uses the "A3" configuration of the catalyst driver
IGP320M with Device ID 4136 SUBSYS 0024103C also uses the "A3" configuration in notebook versions of ATi's catalyst driver
IGP320M wuth Device ID 4336 SUBSYS 0024103C uses the "U1" configuration in the notebook versions of ATi's catalyst driver.

3) For the IGP 34x and IGP 350, they all use the Device ID: 4337, with a wide array of SUBSYS parameters:
(as far as i know...but there is probably more out there)
IGP 340M uses SUBSYS 002A103C or 00560E11
IGP 345M uses SUBSYS 0850103C
IGP 350M uses SUBSYS 005A0E11
These chips are all based on the RS200M core, which seem to be similar to the 8000/8500 radeon chips.

I have found that the IGP 350M supports Catalyst 5.6 and possibly higher, without DVD playback issues.

This has led me to conclude that the chips themselves aren't the problem with the DVD playback, but possible something to do with how they are implimented on any given notebook's motherboard. It would seem that the fundamental issue that lie with 1 of 2 possible things in the notebook's design than

i) the implimented southbridge chip (ideally, no issues should be encountered if an ATi IXP 200 or IXP250 southerbridge is used if this was the case)
ii) A fundamental glitch in the Catalyst driver to properly use the UMA configuration
(but if this was the case, how does the SUBSYS relate to the memory bus architecture? Especially if the desktop counter parts do not suffer from the mobile versions' issues)

At the moment, installing a DVD software decoder that doesn't rely strickly on overlays, such as older versions of CinePlayer DVD Decoder plugin or PowerDVD seems to work (with 'hardware acceleration' disabled, and 'VMR enabled') ;
Or more drastically, replacing the ativaxx.dll ('Universal' Radeon Video Acceleration module) of a newer Catalyst driver set with the notebook's original Catalyst version. However i have been unable to duplicate success with this. From past experiments i have successfully used newer ativvaxx.dll's in hybrid driversets with DVD playback.

Originally i found the problem seems to lie with either the core 2D main driver, miniport, or the memory managment module components....or a combination of all three.

And from what has been posted, the ativvaxx.dll mod has been only tested with PowerDVD, which seems to be tolerant for DVD playback with regards to the type of video rendering it can use.
i.e. WMP10 can have the "use overlays" option set, but it uses the PowerDVD software decoder to playback DVDs, and as stated, doesn't necessarily use overlays depending on what it detects available from the hardware.

Interestingly enough, i have successfully used the newer proprietary Linux drivers in Fedora 5 with the chip, and they seem to provide excellent DVD playback.

*****UPDATE****
I have isolated the odd issue about problems with OpenGL and modded drivers to the INF,
and i shall post a more detailed solution soon. In a nutshell, make sure
1. you have the following in your registry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\OpenGLDrivers\ati2dvag]
"Version"=dword:00000002
"DriverVersion"=dword:00000001
"Flags"=dword:00000001
"Dll"="atioglxx.dll"
if not, create the necessary sub key in the OpenGLDrivers called ati2dvag, and make the nescessary dwords, and string values.

2. Make sure you have atioglxx.dll and atioglx1.dll in your windows\system32 directory.
you may need to do this in safe mode. If you need to use the files from their packed form in the catalyst driver set in the form of atioglxx.dl_ ; use the command 'expand atioglxx.dl_ atioglxx.dll' appropriately for both files.

This solution may be incomplete, and is currently untested, but this a brief overview of the OpenGL issue. I shall try to more accurately explain it when i have more time to go over the INF code more throughly.

With regards to patje's original post regarding the odd extra OpenGL files for certain Radeon cards:

Apparently certain radeon cards support their own unique number of OpenGL extensions. For example:
The Mobility Radeon 9000 supports 80 OpenGL extensions, where the Mobility Radeon 9100 supports only 74 extensions.
Or more drastically : Some 9600 cards support 84 extensions and some seem to support upto 100 extensions or so. And the fireGL series cards of course support a lot more extensions. Normally it took 1 driver component to support all the OpenGL library extensions for a given chip, than 2, and now apparently there are three OpenGL driver component files to support newer cards that implement newer standards in OpenGL (for example, the extension library for OpenGL 2.0).

In my experiments and research i have encountered some oddities with my notebook which has slowed progress. As of current, i cannot duplicate my original posting about using Catalyst 5.9 and an old version of PowerDVD decoders. I have traced part of the problem to the ATi GART driver which was apparently missing altogether.

The newest version of the GART for the A3/U1 AGP bridge (Device ID:700F) was last release with Catalyst 5.6 ; it is version 5.1.2196.1009. You can find it here from ATi's website:
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...e&folderID=293
Expand WindowsXP on the left, expand Motherboard IGP drivers, goto previously release drivers and find the page for Catalyst 5.6 ; The GART download can be found in the 'low-speed' download list.

***Update to the Update
I have successfully gotten OpenGL, DirectX, and DVD playback working with the Catalyst Mobility 5.13 driver that alexl55 posted earlier. I installed CinePlayer DVD decoder plugin version 1.5, disabling hardware acceleration, and enabling VMR. Setting WMP10 settings to not use overlays, but use high-quality. Oddly, still uses low CPU power, which will be good for battery life.
Time for a break.....

Anyway, until next time, have fun and take care.

plattnnum

hey guys, ive read the all the previous posts and its good stuff...
im running a sony vaio pcg-k15 2.8 p4 with a 345m.
I recently installed catalyst 4.1...while running simcity 4 the game still seems to crash to desktop. I'm currently using directx 9.0c, maybe I should downgrade to 8.1??

Also after installing catalyst 4.1 my internal DAC for my 345m changed from 350mhz to 400mhz in the direct x diagnostic tool?

Randomness

Hello:
1) Check to make sure you have all your system updates, including drivers and BIOS from sony here:
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-li...r=3&SelectOS=7
2) Check at update.microsoft.com that you have all the service packs.
3) If you do intend on using a modded driver, try using the Catalyst mobility 5.13b driver Alexl55 posted on page 3 or 4 of this thread. I'll try to direct link it here:
http://www.station-drivers.com/telec...-2kxp-whql.exe

Don't worry about your DAC frequency change, this is generally a normal occurance with newer drivers, and does not relate to the Graphics Core speed. Your DAC is responsible for digital-to-analog signal conversions used for CRT and S-Video displays.

DirectX 9.0c cannot be easily removed from WindowsXP unless you have the appropriate restore point in your System restore calendars, or by simply by reloading the system from scratch. However DirectX 9.0c shouldn't be giving you problems.
You can try to run a re-distributable directx 9.0c package to repair/update any files that may be causing problems, by getting it from microsoft here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en
I will require a little more detail about "while running simcity 4 the game still seems to crash to desktop". Does the program completely close, or is it still in the task bar next to the startmenu?
I would also recommend installing any game update patches that may be available for the game.

If you have enough memory, in your BIOS, set the Video UMA to 128MB (usually i would recommend at lest 768 MB of install RAM, but you could try this with only 512MB).

Are there any entries in your system event logs? Start --> Run --> "%SystemRoot%\system32\eventvwr.msc /s"
Look under System, and Application for any Red X entries that relate to the time the game crashes.

Anyway, hope this helps starting you off troubleshooting. If you post more info, i'm sure we can figure something out. Good Luck, and take care

- Randomness

ptou

On my Compaq presario 920ea (Mobility Radeon U1 = IGP 320M with shared 64mb RAM), I suddenly had problems with blue screen and BAD_POOL_HEADER on ati2dvag.dll, not resolved even by changing the RAM. I decided then upgrading my drivers.

The drivers I used were Omega drivers based on Catalyst 4.5, and stangely, they worked well for 1 year. 3D, DVD playback worked fine but some issues on dual screen support. Before sticking to them, I tried earlier drivers that had very poor 3D.
All newer Omega drivers (Catalyst >= 4.6) had the DVD playback problem. I also tried UniAn, and UniAn based on Catalyst 4.7 was the latest working driver for me.

Now I tried the newer drivers, as suggested in this thread.

I had problems installing any of the original drivers with Patje Mobility Tool.
I alway receive bad INF or hardware not compatible problems. I also tried some mobility Catalyst and Catalyst 8 (?) from http://www.voodoofiles.com/15773 with the same resuts: nothing.

Omega seems to be the only working for me.
I now installed the latest Omega drivers based on Catalyst 6.3. 3D had a major boost, but DVD and other video playback had problems, as expected.
1) However on such an old notebook, maybe an earlier Catalyst based driver is better? I read about Catalyst 5.6 - 5.9.

Thanks to the posts in this thread, I configured Media Player Classic and Windows Media Player not to use overlay, and video/DVD playback goes fine.

However the system hangs when I try Realplayer, Quicktime, Flash video.
2) Does anybody have the settings also for these formats?

Thanks
Pietro

Randomness

Hello ptou:

First, i am going to assume your running the newest BIOS for your system, which i believe is Version F.0B ; If it isn't this version you can update it here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...tem=hb-18063-1
Second, i am also going to assume you installed the Catalyst 5.13b Mobility driver that Alexl55 posted earlier.

So from what i understand, you have installed this driver, and have managed to convince your computer to play DVDs properly, but other video formats do not playback?

This seems to be a rather tricky issue....but here is something you can try

Download DriverCleaner Pro, from www.drivercleaner.net
Uninstall your ATI drivers through the Add/remove software applet in control panel, reboot and run than cleaner. Do not let your computer automatically install drivers.
Next:
Install the Latest ATi GART Driver that works for the Radeon IGP 320M
You can get this GART driver from ATi here:
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...estionID=19553
under the lowspeed-dial up file list.
You can double-check that it installed by going to the hardware manager, and expand the "System devices" section, and double click on the A3/U1 Accelerated Graphics Port enrty. Under the Driver infomation tab, you should see version 5.1.2196.1009 for 06/01/2004

Than download and install the ATi Catalyst Mobility 5.13b driver that alexl55 posted. You can the http file link in one of the previous posts.
Install it. You do not need to use a mod tool to make it compatible.
If you have access to, as i stated in my last post, install the CinePlayer DVD decoder plugin ; its some good software that can be used with this chip and DVD playback. simply disable hardware acceleration, and enable VMR ;
In WMP10: enable High quality mode, and disable overlays in the video and DVD sections in the Video Acceleration menu. This menu can be accessed throught the Tools-->Options-->Preformance Tab ; Make sure that "Use mixing renderer" is enable in WMP10 or playback won't work well.

Quicktime uses the DirectShow APIs, and shouldn't encounter any problems if this install went well. If you still have trouble, go to Quick time's configuration applet in control panel, under advanced (or video settings) uncheck any DirectDraw acceleration options. If all else fails try the "Safe mode / Use GDI" option.

I am unsure about RealPlayer at the moment, but if you look in its options under any video settings available, make sure overlays are disabled, and Video mixing rendering is enabled.

If all else fails, i would recommend a full-reformat of your system. For the Drivers you spoke about to randomly stop working suggests there may be something more a play in your current Windows installation.

Hope this is helpful, Take care, and good luck.

plattnnum

I tried downloading the service updates from the windows website, however my windows is not activated because my product key wouldnt work therefore I couldnt get the new patches. It could be a possibility that the previous owner the laptop already used the product key which is why it will not work now, but I am unsure...any ideas?

Randomness

Hello:

Are you having trouble "Activating" Windows, or "Validating" Windows?
With regards to Activating, you have 30 Days to activate windows before it stops working.
If you are having trouble Validating it with the Windows Genuine Advantage, it is likely that the key that was used for your windows installation is pirated or already identified with another computer on Microsoft's servers.

Make sure your System data and time are set properly when trying to validate windows in Windows Update. This is a common cause for valid installations not being validated properly.

If you still have the Installation CD and the Licence sticker key on the laptop, you should be able to call microsoft, and convince them to either re-instate your key's validility, or they may even send you a new one.

However, with regards to your last post, you could always skip this suggestion.

Hope this helps. Take care, and good luck.

plattnnum

yeah im having trouble activating windows, i guess im just going to have to contact them through phone...

plattnnum

I was wondering if anyone knew a way to make the "fn" keys operational because I purchased the laptop from another user and I dont have the sony cds which came originally with the computer itself. Any ideas?

Thanks

Randomness

Hello,

Try Sony's support website for your system here:
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-li...ype=Everything
Look for software regarding Notebook Control and Utilities, and any other piece of software that may be useful in that general area.

good luck and take care.

heron_al

Hi Randomness
I've been following closely and the work you've been doing is great.
I have a Compaq Presario 2500 with an IGP 345m card.
The notebook has a 2.66Ghz pentium 4, and 1024Mb of RAM, 128 of which i have devoted to the video card. I did a clean reinstall and then installed all the drivers from HP's site.
I have been able to view DVDs and other videos on my hard drive fine, but when I try to play C&C generals, it has an extremely low frame rate. Also I have a usb DV TV stick and when watching that it freezes momentarily.
I have upgraded to Catalyst 4.10 using patje's modder but the problem persists.
I'm not really concerned about the TV, i just want to watch dvd's and play generals. What do you recommend.
Thanks
Alex

Randomness

Hello:

Have you tried using the driver discovered by Alexl55 in one of the earlier posts? You can download it directly from here:
http://www.station-drivers.com/telec...-2kxp-whql.exe

if this link doesn't work, reference the posts on page 5 on this thread for more information on how to get it.

I am also going to assume that you have updated your system BIOS from the ones available from the HP website.

Sadly, if C&C Generals is directly dependent on DirectX 9.0c Hardware Accelerated APIs, you may run into trouble with the game no matter what driver you use. However the newer usually the better.

Unfortunately, all newer drivers seem to be stubborn to run DVDs, however you could try the solutions posted by Goldbird. I have not had luck with his method, however others seem to have. Otherwise, you would have to change the installed software DVD decorder to something more compatible with this chipset, and newer drivers. The problem seems to stem directly from the use of overlays to produce motion video. Any DVD decoder that doesn't use this as its primary method of playback should do the trick. I have had luck with Cine DVD plugin.

Good luck, things have been busy here, and i will try to look into the porblem when i get time.
Take care

Randomness

Hello:

I have been doing some additional research on the Radeon IGP 320M from other countries, which has curiously led me to station-drivers.com , the same place that had the mysterious WHQL certified copy of 5.13 mobility catalyst driver that Alexl55 discovered.

I have been reading the forum (i should point out it is in french), and discovered this post pretaining to the Radeon IGP 320M:
http://www.station-drivers.com/forum...light=igp+320m
It basically recommends the Catalyst 5.2 driverset to work with this chip set. Has anyone had luck modding it and having successful DVD playback with it? The thread itself was referring to the use of external monitors, but its just a thought.

Although i have successfully used the previously posted 5.13 moblity driver and get DVD playback without the use of overlays. I have noticed the occasional tear in video playback, which has slowly gotten on my nerves.

A windows beta testing friend of mine let me play with Vista on his computer, and it would appear that it has a freshly updated Radeon IGP 3xx series drivers (albiet authored by Microsoft, and not ATI), which may provide some preformance gain from the updated code. But i haven't been able to confirm this. But i am hopeful.

Anyway, take care, and have fun.

Randomness

Hello:
Found this article pretaining to the Radeon IGP 320M used in various Linux or X.org server based graphics systems.
Mildly useful reference:
http://axljab.homelinux.org/ATi_Radeon_320M
have fun.