roadrunner2022

hi guys (and girls),



i've tried your installation and ... ok well. when in try to start the CCC it will hang up. but i have already installed the .NET framework?



what have i made wrong?

Ero_Senin

HI everybody...

Randomness/others first of all thanks for the great work that you have done here.

Second....I got a question.

Is the catalyst 5.13 better than the catalyst 4.10??

I mean the 5.13 is much faster?

I dont understand this:

I dont know what you mean by BIOS UMA, im using a Compaq Presario 900 with an AMD Athlon-XP Mobile 1900+ , with 496MB RAM, and my Graphics Card is an Radeon IGP 320 (U1).

I only want to know, I have to do what you did there (the UMA thing) to make my Graphics Card faster? or this is only for the DVD PLayback? (that i actually dont care because my DVD-ROM doesnt work at all).

Thanks

Randomness

Hello:

The Mobility Catalyst 5.13b driver that is hosted by www.station-drivers.com was discovered much earlier by Alexl55. I tend to recommend this driver to people using the Radeon IGP 340M or newer, or if they are only looking for simple game-play improvements.

The Mobility Catalyst 5.13b driver that Alexl55 found is the only driver that i know of on the internet that is WHQL certified (for what ever reason) and includes all the abandoned older notebook ATI graphics chips. Unfortunately, it does not provide very good support for iDCT acceleration with the Radeon IGP 320M, and as such, causes DVD playback issues when the DVD software decoder uses "Overlay Rendering". However if you have a DVD decoder that can use "Video Mixing Renderer (VMR)", you will have normal DVD playback, but you may notice slight increase in CPU usuage / image tearing. Such DVD players that support VMR like Media Player Classic, and CinePlayer DVD Decoder pack, in older versions of PowerDVD, would work fine with this Driver.

Catalyst 4.10 was the last known catalyst version to be compatible with the iDCT acceleration features, and provide support for Overlay Rendering. However, these driver need to be modded manually, and for inexperienced users this could be somewhat difficult.

Patje mad a mobility modder, which you can get at www.driverheaven.net/patje and use this program to modify the Catalyst 4.10 drivers, but in some odd cases, you may run into OpenGL support problems. This can be easily corrected, please reference my previous posts on this issue.

Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) ------------------------------------------------------------

Because the Radeon IGP 3xxM series chips are also the system memory controllers for the processor, they have exclusive access to the system's installed RAM. This allows the graphics core to use the system memory as its own graphics memory.

Normally, in a Compaq Presario system, you can enter the BIOS when the system is first powered on, and press F2 at the Compaq Logo. There will be a "UMA" setting which allows a user to control how much of the system's installed RAM can be used for graphics memory. The more graphics memory available, the better the Radeon IGP 3xxM chip can hadnle 3D intensive games, or high-resolutions.
In a system with 512MB of RAM installed, 448 MB will be available to the Operating system, and 64MB will be allocated to the Radeon IGP 320M by default. You can change this setting up to 128MB, however, keep in mind, Windows XP does require a significant amount of memory to stay...happy. If you have more than 512MB installed, than its recommended you change the UMA to 128MB if you do a lot of gaming, graphics work with CAD, or photoshop. If enough memory if installed, the BIOS usually assigns 128MB to the graphics chip on its own. If not enough memory is installed, some of the higher UMA settings, such as 128MB will be hidden from access.

Please keep in mind, that it is always best to have installed the Latest version of your BIOS to improve system preformance, and compatibility.

SO-----------
If your gaming, and have more than 512MB installed, i recommend 128MB as the UMA setting in the BIOS. Whether you set it to 64 or 128 MB will not affect DVD playback. (unless you want to do it at high resolutions)

Catalyst 4.10 is the latest driverset available for Both gaming and DVD playback, but needs to be modded. If your looking for just gaming improvements, i recommend the Catalyst 5.13b mobility driver from the station-drives website.

Make sure your running the newest BIOS version for your notebook, and also makesure your have installed the newest AGP Bus driver, to insure proper hardware acceleration. For the Compaq / HP notebooks that use the Radeon IGP 3xxM chips, you can get the latest from here:
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...oad/21127.html

Hope this answers your questions. Good luck, and take care.

- Randomness.

Randomness

Hello roadrunner2022:

With regards to CCC, i personally have found it not fully compatible with the Radeon IGP 3xxM series of chips.

I would recommend uninstalling the CCC, and installing the newest (and last) Catalyst control panel, which you can get from the "Low-speed" download list for Catalyst 5.11.

Goto www.ati.com, click on "Drivers and Software" (don't click on an operating system yet), there will by a list of menus in the left hand side. Expand the "Drivers and Software", expand "Windows XP", expand "RADEON" and click on "Previous Drivers and Software". Navigate to Catalyst 5.11, download the Catalyst Control panel in the "Low-Speed" download list.

I will post a direct link to the page you need, but it might expire within a day. If it doesn't work, you'll have to navigate there yourself.
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...estionID=20923

Again, the CCC is not fully compatible with the Radeon IGP 3xxM, you'll probably find the Catalyst Control Panel much better, both in preformance, and accessibility.

Good luck, and take care.

matasvytautas

Hi...I tried the steps on your page and screwed up my computer royally (no fault of yours) Now I need to download the GART driver and cannot find it on the ATI site (the link you offerred is dead) Maybe you can help me out? (I killed all the ATI drivers using the cleaner because I picked all of them). So thats about it..Hope you can help me out here..The HP recovery drivers did not help..and I get the blue screen effect...I have the Compaq 2199US with the 340M I think...so help me out or my laptop will become a paperweight..

Ero_Senin

Ramdomness

I have to install the Catalyst 5.13b with the patje's mod tool right?

Randomness

Hello:

matasvytautas ------
You can get the newest ATI GART aka the ATI AGP BUS driver for the U1 and RS200M (ie the Radeon IGP 320M/340M) from here:
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...oad/21127.html

You will need to install these first, and restart before you can install any ATI-OEM drivers, or modded drivers.

Ero_Senin --------

The Catalyst Mobility 5.13b that was discovered by Alexl55 are located here:
http://www.station-drivers.com/telec...-2kxp-whql.exe
They DO NOT need to be modded in anyway. The INF will support installation on the Radeon IGP 3xxM chips.
Keep in mind that DVD overlay rendering is still an issue when using anything newer than Catalyst 4.10.

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

RDA2

If gaming is the primary concern, I would highly recommend leaving the 5.13 cats strictly alone. The 6.4's are MUCH better. This is the last set to officially support the IGP3x series, and the 3D performance compared to older drivers is night and day. Support for games such as Neverwinter Nights and WoW are also much better in this set.

I have posted instructions on how to install them. Added benefit is that you don't have to mix and match GART drivers... the IGP driver package includes everything.

With regards to CCC, it runs fine over here. Performance has been getting steadily better too.

My $0.02

Ero_Senin

ok I intalled it, now i have a bug:

"CLI.exe - Aplication Error

The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application."

This is common? (appears also when im trying to open the ATI CCC).

But well....i think besides that it works perfect.

Thanks.

EDIT:

RDA2

really? it works perfect? where did yu post that? (the instructions)

EDIT 2:

The driver doesnt want to run a game aplication (the program is called, There, from www.there.com if anyone knows what it is) I dont need so much power to run that application even with the default drivers i can handle the aplicatio but has lots of bugs (runs well but have a lots of bugs), I updated the driver of my GPU I used the Ati Catalyst 5.13 I also put the UMA from 16mb to 32 that its the limit, and when i start windows first give me a Error with the CLi.exe then i try to run There and my pc frezes and i have to turn it off.

I made a Restore point so now I am like before i installed the 5.13b driver. I want to know if anyone who have also the 5.13b driver and can runs There or if anyone knows what is my problem, if not work, well i will try to just update to 4.10 (I hope this dont gives me problems).

RDA2

search this thread for my posts... you'll find it.

matasvytautas

Thanks guys..but I just plain rebooted windows and installed the drivers that came with the compaq. It seemed to work fine until I installed the WinSP2 CD..Strangely enough I get the blue screens all the time and sometimes I get a blank black screen with Hearts or a skull and crossbones or some numbers or letters or something.. I have had this problem for over a year now so I am used to it. HP had a go at fixing it and didn't succeed so they sent me a new computer to compensate but it also had a fault so I got to keep both of them..the new one I fixed..but this computer is giving me the willies..I downloaded a pirate copy of Vista on it and my troubles started after that...The vista download and install was a fake that has taken over my computer..I even flashed the bios..no luckk.. then HP had a go at it and interestingly enough they installed the BIOS and now a HP logo appears on startup (did they make a boo boo?) After that they said there is a memory problem with the computer, but suprise they couldn't find the solution...maybe it's just bad ram..I don't know. Even during the boot up and installation of Windows I got the blue screen...so maybe it is a memory problem...I have not tried the modded drivers..maybe they will solve the problem..I will try them later..as of now I'm happy that the thing is up and running albiet unstable..

matasvytautas

Can you give me the link to that page with the drivers 6,4? I can't find them on the ATI site..

matasvytautas

Since my system is extremely fickle in accepting a video driver I have this..I have this to report about video playback since I am not a gamer..

I have a compaq presario 2199US with 512 RAM..
I have installed the windows version that came with the computer..it is winsp1..no sp2..and the driver disk that hp supplied with the compaq....I installed the K-lite codec pack which has a BS and Media Player Classic. Also I used the media player 11 and set the playback settings as instructed above by Randomless (who should receive many laudations for his efforts..) I also installed VLC player..(just as a comparism) So without any updates all of these players worked fine although the video quality was not so hot on some of them..but no freezes or any other mishaps.

After installing Windows service pack2 ( microsoft sent me a disk so it's as good as I can get for installing purposes) the system SOMETIMES showed a blue screen with the atiduag.dll warning...If so then the problem could be that SP2 somehow is interferring with video card performance (hmmm..I know nothing about this but am stating this purely out of experience) All video players worked fairly well, but the blue screen did appear...most oftenly with the VLC player.

After this I downloaded the update from the HP site and installed it on my computer...once again the blue screen appeared often,,,but relative stability was achieved.

Then I discovered this site..(THANK YOU ALL FOR THAT) and have discovered that many more people have had problems with this video card...So I downloaded the various versions of catalyst drivers 5.11, 5.13b ,6.4, 6.7 some from the ATI site and the 5.13b from the french site which Igor Pavlov takes credit for...
The results...6.7 will not work on my computer...modded or otherwise..
6.4 wil work but only windows media player 11 with the video settings as mentioned earlier in this thread for wmp10. Media player classic and bs player freeze up and reboot is required..the blue screens of death (BOD) are frequent...but mostly on startup (and the computer tries to turn over many times until it actually revs up..)
5.13b- interestingly enough the Presario will turn over many times- i then remove the RAM and replace it..I have to do this about three times and then the computer will turn on and stay on with extremely good stability..Why this is so is beyond my comprehension...WMP11 does not lock up and BS and Media Player Classic will Freeze but can be turned off without having to reboot. (A major improvement for me..)
Since I am no computer expert, I have no idea why this thing works flawlessly with SP1 and why it is so stubborn when I try to change the video driver...with one that supposedly works flawlessly...

I have also noticed that the driver cleaner cannot clean out the registry once I have installed service pack2..the files keep reappearing...after cleanup...

So my two cents is that the 5.13b driver is the most stable for video playback with various media players...and offers better playback quality...(for comparism I used simpson cartoons that I downloaded from the internet...5.11 had poor playback quality compared to 5.13b...the stock drivers playback was the most stable..but quality was extremely poor..So as to the individual who got the 6.4 up and running without any glitches is extremely lucky...

I will eventually be doing a complete wipe and reinstallation on this laptop and have a few questions for the experts..

If I totally erase the hard drive and reinstall windows do I need to reinstal the U1 driver before installing the 5.13b? Will the system work if I just install the 6.4 drivers after reload without installing the U1 from the HP driver's disk? I have had problems with this computer for almost two years now..and now all I want to do is have a stable and half decent computer that will not crash 10 times a day and force me to remove the RAM and reinstall it to get it running again...So thanks to all of your help I am on my way from misery to happiness....at least it looks that way...

matasvytautas

Hello,

I also did a Vista install in this machine...but after updating it via windows update it states that Hardware acceleration is not supported..This was after a clean install and playing hearts was quite a task for it (as I only have 512RAM..not near enough RAM for vista build5384..So that build is just too much for my machine.....I will wait until a version comes out that is not so memory hungry....

Randomness

Hello matasvytautas:

Your system sounds like it has a rather "interesting" personality. Assuming...and very strickly assuming that your system isn't suffering from a virus....here are a few things you can try:

You said you are using a Compaq Presario 2199US. I would strongly suggest you install BIOS version KA.M1.60.
You can download a WinFlash version of of the BIOS from here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/g...reg_R1002_CAEN

Or you can search HP.com for sp30514.

Set the UMA setting in the BIOS to 64MB or 128MB (i would only recommend 128MB if you have more than 512MB)



IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that nothing disturbs the computer during the flash process. Have a battery pack installed and charged, and also have the system plugged into the AC outlet. DO NOT touch the touchpad or keyboard, and disable any automatic background programs before flashing (including antivirus and internet). I also Strongly recommend doing the BIOS flash in windows XP. It is possible to do it in Vista...but its very tricky.

And again, you do this under your own risk / responsibility.

Uninstall any current ATI drivers through the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Restart your system. Download Drivercleaner Pro from www.drivercleaner.net when you run the program, use the "Select multiple filters" feature, and include all and any ATI products in the filter list (esp the ATI and ATI IGP). You may need to restart your system in safe mode and run the Drivercleaner to completely erase any previous driver files that may have become corrupted.

Now to install a new driver ---------------------------------------------------

To help clear the air of some confusion about the recommend drivers that have been posted in this thread :

Catalyst 4.4 or 4.5 ---> any OEM or modded versions of these drivers tend to provide "true" WHQL compatibility with the Radeon IGP 3xxM chipsets.

Catalyst 4.10 ---> This is the last known (through testing) Catalyst version to provide DVD Overlay rendering, OpenGL and Direct3D support for the Radeon IGP 3xxM chipsets. However you will need to modify the INF file, either by hand, or by Using patje's Mod tool available here: www.driverheaven.net/patje
Please read the previous posts in this thread regarding OpenGL if you do encounter any OpenGL issues using patje's mod tool.

Catalyst 5.6 - 5.9 ---> I have found these catalyst drivers to provide the best Direct3D acceleration for the Radeon IGP 3xxM chips. I have concluded this after several benchmarks and diagnostics....and some random gaming. (5.9 provides the best Direct3D preformance according to 3DMark2001)

Catalyst 5.13b from station-drivers ---> this is a driverset that is WHQL certified....whether ligitamately or not .... and provides INF set-up compatibility with the Radeon IGP 3xxMs. So its easy to install, and provides significant Direct3D and OpenGL improvements, and fixes several glitches in many newer games. Keep in mind that DVD Overlay rendering is not support well in this driver (or any newer than 4.10) and tends to freeze, lockup or cause a BSOD. The ATI CCC (Catalyst Control Center) is not fully compatible with the Radeon IGP 3xxM chips, and it is recommended you uninstall the ATI CCC, and replace it with an ATI Control Panel from Catalyst 5.11. You can find this download in the "low speed" download list in the "Previous Software and Drivers" under the RADEON download menu on the left side at http://support.ati.com

Catalyst 6.1 - 6.4 ---> These drivers are still "relatively" compatible with the Radeon IGP 3xxM, however it seems that the power management configuration may cause the system to run hotter. I usually recommend using the older drivers because some notebooks like Acer can run into Direct3D errors or BSOD. Using these drivers also require modifications to the INF, either by hand, or using patje's tool.

In any case....whether you choose to mod the Catalyst 6.4 or simply download an use the 5.13b, you FIRST need to install the newest ATI AGP Bus driver (aka ATI GART driver). You can get a copy from here:
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...oad/21127.html
The GART driver that comes with the ATI Catalyst 5.7 or newer takes out support for the Radeon IGP 320M (the some 340M models are still supported.). The newest GART is available from wither that HP post above, or in Catalyst 5.6 IGP. (also take note that the GART driver in catalyst 5.7 and newer is an older version...oddly.)

Please MAKE SURE YOUR INSTALL THE GART DRIVER first, otherwise you will run into several acceleration related problems.

Assuming you have a clean installed system of Windows XP (SP1 or SP2), you'll need to first:
1) clean out the old drivers (add/remove programs and/or drivercleaner pro)
2) install a compatible and updated GART driver
3) install a compatible OEM, modded, or the Catalyst mobility 5.13b driverset.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 does not have any compatibility problems with the driver itself, however i have heard that older ATI CCC versions run into run time errors. Either update the ATI CCC or remove it and replace with a friendly ATI Control panel from the newest (last version) in catalyst 5.11.

If you want a completely stable driver, i recommend Catalyst 4.10 or older.
If you want something that will improve gaming preformance, try modding Catalyst 5.9.
If you don't want to mess around with modding and INF files, try the Catalyst Mobility 5.13b from station-drivers. OR you can try Omega Drivers (although i've heard some people run into trouble with them with these chips)
If your looking to correct a glitch or improve preformance slightly with the newest games available, than modding the Catalyst 6.x IGP drivers would be recommended.

Keep in mind that the Radeon IGP 3xxM chips do not provide hardware specific extentions for DirectX 9.0 (ie, no Pixel Shader 2.0, etc and so forth). So some games that rely on these features may run poorly, or not at all. Any and all DirectX 8.1 hardware based games should run very well if you have enough memory and system resources available.

I hope this well help answer some of your questions. Good luck, and if you need help, driverheaven.net is where you can always find some.

Take care.

-Randomness

alexl55

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/02/32OPcurve_1.html

check out the last paragraph of that article. If AMD is gonna open-source the ATI drivers then we might be able some fixes for the aging IGP320 chipset. yay!!!

__________________
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)

RDA2

does anyone happen to know what driver set the ones available on windows update are based on? I ask because I'd like to download the corresponding version of control panel and take them for a spin...

Randomness

Hello:

The Radeon IGP 320M drivers available for Windows XP on the Microsoft Update site are based Catalyst 4.4, which also seem to be the newest drivers available from HP.

The drivers available for Windows Vista from Microsoft are based on Catalyst 5.10

Take care.

- Randomness

matasvytautas

Thanks Randomness. I will try your suggested fixes. As of now I have the newest Omega Drivers installed and they provide relative stability on my system. I am most interested in stable video playback. At this time, I have stable playback through Media Player Classic and MP10. I will try that new bios update for that other notebook, and maybe it will help. HP lists 1.59 on its site for my particular model..but I will try to flash it with the version you have suggested. I will post how things turn out..It is running with more stability.. However, I think I have a virus that has infiltrated the BIOS on my machine and have no idea how to fix that problem (if at all fixable...) What province are you from Randomness? I was born in Ontario and lived there until I was 23. Just wondering...Bye for now...

Randomness

Hello:

The KA.M1.60 BIOS is compatible with all Presario 2100 Series with an AMD processor, and sporting the Radeon IGP 320M. If you think you have a virus in your current BIOS, or if your current BIOS was somehow corrupted, that HP WinFlash utility will erase the entire BIOS and flash in brand new code, so the virus or corrupted BIOS code will no longer exist.

You said you have "stable" playback through MP10. Is this on the machine with the Radeon IGP 320M and the newest Omega Drivers? By chance do yo know if you can play back DVD using overlays? i.e. are you using the "high quality mode" or "overlays"?

I was also born in Ontario.

Take care. Good luck.

Randomness

Hello again....Has any one read this article?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_R100

It makes the Radeon IGP 320M seem rather....low end. When compared to todays standards, i suppose it is.

The article did give some insight into why the CinePlayer DVD decoder I use on my Presario 2197ca works very well with this chip. Ravisent Cinemaster DVD was later changed to CinePlayer when Sonic software aquired Ravisent....or something of the business sort.

What i don't get is the conflicted Hardware specifications about the Radeon IGP 320M.

In most articles on the internet...that one can find...the Radeon IGP 320 is stated to be Based on the Radeon 7000 VE. The Radeon 7000 VE doesn't support "Hardware Transform and Lighting" (T&L), but every Graphics diagnostic i have run stated that this chip supports it. On another computer that is known not to have T&L support, the Windows game "Halo" states that there is no T&L support with the integrated Intel 845G graphics chip. But Halo does not state a lack of T&L support with the Radeon IGP 320M or related models (ie// tested on a IGP 345M chip i had access to on a friends Sony VIAO notebook)

The standard R100 chip, which defines the Radeon 7000...later renamed to 7200 for what every reason, according to the article, supports T&L.

According to 3DMark2001, the Radeon IGP 320M supports the following 3D Capabilities:

AGP Texturing ; Additive Texture Blending ; Anisotropic Filtering ; Bilinear Filtering ; Cube Mapping ; DXT Compressed Textures ; Dot3 Texture Blending ; Edge Antialiasing ; Environmental Bump Mapping ; Factor Alpha Blending ; Full-Screen Anti-Aliasing ;
Hardware Transform and Lighting ; Mipmap LOD Bias Adjustment ; Multiplicative Texture Blending ; Point Primitive Support ; Point Sampling ; Positional Lights ; Projected Textures
Range Fog ; Rendering to a Window ; Specular Gouraud Shading ; Stencil Buffers ; Subpixel Accurate Rasterizing ; Subtractive Texture Blending ; Texture Alpha Blending ;
Texture Clamping ; Texture Mirroring ; Texture Wrapping ; Trilinear Filtering ; Vertex Alpha Blending ; Vertex Fog ; Volume Textures

That said, the Core speed of the Radeon IGP 320M has been reported to be 160MHz, async. with the memory bus ( memory bus runs at different speed), which is similar to the design of the Radeon 7500, but i am not sure if the Radeon IGP 320M is based on the R200 core. Although i think the Radeon IGP 340M and above use an RS200 core design.

An OpenGL diagnostic also states that the core of the Radeon IGP 320M is a "Radeon 7000/7200 Rendering Platform". It brings into question the 1x3 (Pixel Pipline to Texture Mapping Unit (TMU) Ratio), and think its more likely it use the 2x3 configuration of the original Radeon 7000. But according to the Radeon IGP 320M spec. sheet, it does have 3 TMUs which reflectes the PIXEL TAPESTRY™ architecture.

Although this information doesn't help be get anywhere with designing a functional mod for newer catalyst driver, it is still a little irrating about the conflicted information regarding this chipset, which makes it difficult in customizing the INF configuration for improved preformance. For now, i'll stick to the Registry settings described in the HP - ATi OEM drivers for reference.

Take care, and Good luck to all.

- Randomness

nerothos

Just a question that s not so directly connected with the chipset itself; to all those World of Warcraft players out there who play on the laptop, how do you face the over heating phenomenon? After an hour or so the laptop is ready to cook an egg on top or something!
And something else, I am using also the 5.10 Alex recommended before. Just for plain gaming, has someone seen any improvement using other newer drivers?
Thank you all again and especially Randomness who gave my laptop some more years of life!
Take care

Randomness

Hello:

Just about any notebook these days can be used to cook an egg after some 3D intense gaming. The temperature tolerances for most notebook CPUs and onboard circuits are around 90 degress Celsius. I remember my notebook would heat up considerable after a few hours of Multiplayer gaming with Halo. I have even noticed old games, like starcraft are able to heat up my system as well.

I would recommend one of those cooling platforms for notebooks to help keep it cool. At the very least, keep it on a flat surface, and keep the vents clean.
If the system is suffering from overheating, you will notice the system will start slowing down, and possibly freeze or crash. But almost any notebook these days are expected to run hot.

Have you ever noticed that the term "laptop" have been offically changed to "notebook"?

I have not found the newer 6.x Catalyst drivers to provide much preformance increases with older games. If anything i have found the 6.x drivers to slow things down with the IGPP 320M. But i have note tried any of the new games out there on the market. I've given up on F.E.A.R., and Doom 3 can be run on this chipset after a fair amount of tweaking....but the graphics ability of these chips are limited, and after seeing Doom3 on both an Radeon 9600 and a Radeon X1600....well....when you play the game on the IGP 320M...it makes you want more.

I would only recommend the newer drivers if your looking to correct an issue with a newer game.

Take care. Have fun.

- Randomness.

RDA2

I can't comment on WoW, but for Neverwinter Nights, which I'm currently hooked on, version 6.4 is the best. This is an Open GL game and ATI has completely rewritten the OGL driver for the newer releases. With Neverwinter, performance in areas with lots of fog improves greatly over the 5.x series drivers.

You might want to check the release notes for a particular driver set to see what improvements it contains prior to installing.

matasvytautas

Randomness,

Yes that's right, the most stable drivers are the Omegas-no tweaks or changes in the settings of MP10..
Since I started playing with this computer. I decided to do a fresh install of Vista..(and just Vista)...To my surprise, the system is extremely stable...and the best thing is that any video player that I instal will work for CD's. And VLC player has no problems rendering DVD movies..However the media center will not work stating that the video card is basically too ancient...(which in fact it is) And the funny thing is that although the media player that came with windows is not partial to DVD's VLC player does not have any playback problems..

Interestingly enough, when I was dual booting, Vista groaned and complained about the video card (hardware acceleration etc..) but does not do this with just vista installed. No aero glass, but if you really want vista on your system..(I would not suggest it) whatever driver windows has in there is good for this card...A word of warning though...if you play with any drivers on vista it will do something incredibly interesting...it will reinstall a driver automatically if you uninstall it in safe mode and reboot. (it did this with my sound driver)..If you use dialup or motorolla..then forget vista...it is impossible to find a driver that will work on it..(even the intel wireless cards are bunk on this system)
Stick with XP...Vista does not offer any advantage on this system if it is working right in the first place....

matasvytautas

Oh another thing..Vista claims the speed of the card is 400Mhz...Why it does this is beyond me...

Randomness

Hello again,

You had said that you have gotten WMP10 DVD playback working with out tweaking anything using the newest Omega drivers.

Could you post the exact version of the ati2dvag.dll stated in a directX diagnostic.

Second, what DVD decoder to you have installed. Keep in mind that WMP10 does not have its own built in DVD decoders, and generally borrows the codecs from other DVD software on the system like PowerDVD or InterVideo. Although there are DVD decoder plugin which you could also use, like Sonic CinPlayer DVD decoder Pack.
With regards to Vista, i have been dual booting with it since the public release came out, and i haven't encountered any Hardware problems on my Presario 2197ca. Although, i had helped someone with a similar model. He had difficulty with just about every system driver, and it turned out a BIOS update fixed Vista's driver issues.

I have been unable to get any of my favourite DVD programs installed and working in Vista, although i can confirm that VLC and InterVideo WinDVD will install and work (in their own players, but not in WMP11)

The Vista drivers included for the Radeon IGP 320M are based on Catalyst 5.10. The driver is also considerably stripped down, and is missing the OpenGL modules. Although these drivers can be modded to include the OpenGL files from the Original Catalyst 5.10, and everything works fine. Oddly....when i added OpenGL support to the driver...Vista's preformance advisor stated that the device had "Gaming" memory for 256MB....

Curiously, if you install an Catalyst driver known to cause DVD playback issues in Windows XP (Catalyst 4.11 or newer), DVD playback is normal in Vista. Although i have noticed a signifcant amount of CPU usuage (50% average) in Vista. With CinePlayer and Windows XP using Catalyst 4.5 i only have CPU usuage averaging about 25% or less.

I haven't had trouble using Windows XP drivers with Windows Vista, and am uncertain why you would be having difficulty. Although Vista is still quite buggy, and several revisions have been made to the newer builds (i.e. newer than the Public Release build 5384.4)

If you post more technical information about your hardware, i may be able to suggest compatible drivers that you could try in Vista.

Anyway, take care, and good luck.

- Randomness

For Future reference, Here is detailed information about the notebook i am using:

Presario 2197ca from HP-Compaq 2100 Series.
BIOS version KA.M1.60 04/05/2005
Installed memory: 1GB (512MBx2)
Hard drive: WD Scorpio 80GB (with firmware update)
Optical Drive: Slimtype/LITEON SOSW-852S
Wireless: 802.11g Broadcom mini-PCI BCM94306MP
Processor: Mobile AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2800+
North Bridge: ATI Technologies - A3/U1 - S2K CPU to PCI Bridge
Vendor: 0x1002 - Device: 0xCAB0
South Bridge: Acer Labs Inc. - M1535+ - PCI South Bridge
Vendor: 0x10B9 - Device: 0x1533
Video Card: ATI Technologies - rs100 - Radeon IGP 320M (@ 128MB Shared UMA)
Vendor: 0x1002 - Device: 0x4336
Sound Card: Acer Labs Inc. - M5451 - Ali Audio Accelerator (aka Conexant AMC Audio)
Vendor: 0x10B9 - Device: 0x5451
Ethernet Card: National Semiconductor - DP83815/16 - MacPhyter 10/100 Mb/s Ethernet MAC & PHY
Vendor: 0x100B - Device: 0x0020

If you are looking for newer drivers for the ALi/ULi M1535+, goto Nvidia.com, and look for ULi in the download section (i.e. newer IDE Ultra-ATA driver)

My system will share similar hardware with the following HP models using an AMD processor:
HP Pavilion ze5600,ze5500,ze5400,ze5300,ze5200,ze4700,ze4600,z e4500, ze4400,ze4300, ze4200, ze4100, nx9010, nx9008, nx9005, nx9000 notebooks.
Compaq Evo Notebook N1050v and N1010v Series
Compaq Presario 2500, 2100, 1100 and Some 900 Series notebooks.

Carl-XTC

Hi, i recently bought a emachines computer from Comet ( a uk based shop! ) and it was pre-loaded with windows xp media edition, and i'm on tiscali internet ( 8mb ), and it kept disconnecting me from the internet.. so i decided to reformatt the pc and have a fresh install of windows xp professional, so anyways installs fine.. then i needed to download the gfx drivers for a ATi Radeon Xpress 200 card, so i do that.. installed fine.. then i wanted to play some music and when i tryed to play some it said i didn't have the driver installed.. so i installed the driver and then it was playing the song's but i didn't have any sound. altho it say's i have my sound driver installed.. wondering if anyone could help me? thanks in advance! :o)

__________________
i will live and i will die for just a little bit of hardcore!

Randomness

Hello Carl-XTC,

I will need more information regarding your system. Model # ; BIOS version ; the exact name of the system devices you are having trouble with. If possible, the device hardware codes (VEN and DEV codes in the "details" tab of properties box in Hardware manager.

Take care, have fun, and good luck.

TheRemedy

I have tried to install the 5.13b drivers and recieve a severe error with not having the VGA bus inststalled. I have SP28073.exe version, but my graphics card is the IGP 345M, is this possible that it can't work. I've been working on this to long for one day, and read all the posts on this topic. and about 6hrs later I've gotten nowhere. My driver is up to date w/ the device manager the system info says the version is 6.14.10.6436. I'm frusterated and tired right now, so if anyone could guide me through the steps to correct this problem it'd be great. I am on a HP Pavillion Ze5400 with 512mb Ram 2.4ghz intel, IGP 345M graphics card 64mb. I was trying to get somewhat decent quality on video playback, and am not that concerned w/ battery usuage at this time. I a willing to use the VMR in order to get better 3D game performance. I was tryng to get guildwars to work, and the game play is extremely choppy with what I have now and what I think was the 4.9 driver I had installed. I am thinking about playing WoW, and wanted to have the possibility to play it on my laptop. SO to summerize I would like a usuable video playback that is good quality, and also have the possibility to play games like GW and Wow. Is the 5.13 the right driver I need, and if so, how can I get past the error message I encountered. I tried finding just the VGA driver but was unsuccsessful, if anyone could give me a step by step on how to get where I want to go I would appriciate it greatly. Thanks in Advance.