Vista and 7.3 Display driver atikmdag stopped responding error

Spyre · Aug 10, 2007, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaquatch

Thank you for the link.
I did this update last night. I still get the black screen flash and atikmdag not responding error. I can also turn up the fan with ati tool, but this only lasts for a little while and goes right back to the black screen flash.

Ah ok was worth a shot, I know it has fixed some peoples BSOD's but I guess it was too easy to think it would solve everyones.

Cwagle · Aug 11, 2007, 07:34 PM

Im suffering with this crash issue too with my Radeon X1600 XT, I had zero problems with it when running Windows XP so I don't think its a hardware problem.

The problem always happens when running a 3D game, but when it happens seems a little random, sometimes I can play for less then 5 minutes without the crashes happening, sometimes it can be 20 minutes after starting a game.

In the hope it helps the brand/manufacturer and the hardware id listed in device manager are listed below.

Brand/Manufacturer - Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT
Hardware Id - PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71C0&SUBSYS_0880174B

I also noticed that with the Windows XP drivers my card is listed as a Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT but with the Windows Vista Drivers its listed as a Radeon X1600 Series.

Spyre · Aug 12, 2007, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cwagle

Im suffering with this crash issue too with my Radeon X1600 XT, I had zero problems with it when running Windows XP so I don't think its a hardware problem.

The problem always happens when running a 3D game, but when it happens seems a little random, sometimes I can play for less then 5 minutes without the crashes happening, sometimes it can be 20 minutes after starting a game.

In the hope it helps the brand/manufacturer and the hardware id listed in device manager are listed below.

Brand/Manufacturer - Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT
Hardware Id - PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71C0&SUBSYS_0880174B

I also noticed that with the Windows XP drivers my card is listed as a Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT but with the Windows Vista Drivers its listed as a Radeon X1600 Series.

Doesnt matter about the Radeon X1600 Series vs Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT as the Vista driver doesnt have as many inf entries as the XP one so it just gets labeled as the closest match. This doesnt affect anything other than the name, its still running at the same speeds as before etc.

Yoyop · Aug 12, 2007, 01:38 PM

I have the same problem with my Radeon HD, atikmdag crashing each time i launch Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, for other games likes FEAR or Call of Juarez i don't have that same for 3DMark. I use Catalyst 7.7

An idea ?

Spyre · Aug 12, 2007, 03:29 PM

Check some other OGL games, its possible the drivers didnt install right.

vf- · Aug 12, 2007, 07:14 PM

How can they not install right? they either do or don't... I've never had a driver do an in between.

Has anyone tried turning the glass UI off, Aero and run any games etc to see if it still triggers this glitch?

Th3_VVr41th · Aug 12, 2007, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CATALYSTCATCHER

To: Th3_VVr41th

Thanks for getting back and I sympathize with the internet issue.

Based on your comments it would seem we are going to have difficulty getting to the botton of this problem. I agree that 2 virtually identical configurations with the same problem almost completely removes the concern over a hardware problem. (Sorry, I have seen too many wierd problems to ever be 100% positive. 99.9% is about as close as I get until we find the source of the problem)

I believe that ATITool is simply updating the fan table values which originate from the BIOS of the GPU. And probably does not restore these values correctly when ATITool exists. However that implies that the ati driver is still actually controlling the fan based on the table updates. Now that is a theory I will try to confirm the validity of this theory.

Of course the implication of that theory is that the fan table is not set correctly in the first place. That could be the VIDEO bios. Or possibly something that happens incorrectly when the bios is copied to ram and then initializes. This process is controlled by the system bios and the PnP init process.

Speaking of RAM, I hope all your trouble shooting is being done at default clock speeds??
Have you tried running with only 2Gig to see if there is a relation ship to the problem??

Please keep in mind that thess are troubleshooting steps not solutions. I can tell from your system config that no compromise will do as you are shooting for the top.

Also keep in mind that from our perspective there is not a wide spread issue with fan control otherwise we whould have been inundated with complaints. Which we are not.
Therefore there is something else at play here and we need to determine what that is.

That being the case we can't fix the driver because it already works in our environment. And contrary to what some may think we do have considerable staff testing these things. As do all the board partners.

I guess will need to think about the next step. Unfortunately that will have to wait until next week when I get back to the office.

Stay in touch.

CC

Again, sorry for the delay in my reply... I have had to resort to borrowing a friends wireless connection to get online, and they are just within distance, so I get a solid connection sometimes, most the time I don't though.

I have tried several different types of ram, all at default clock speeds. I have tried 256, 512, 1gb, 2gb, 4gb, etc... System is not OC'ed at all (no real need for it, no noticeable gains).

I have done every possible combination of troubleshooting tasks and setups all with the same results...

Without the use of ATI Tool, the fan on my card never spins any faster than 10% if that much. Any attempt of the driver trying to up the fan speed results in the error. This is only a Vista problem.

It just doesn't make any sense. Fan worked fine in vista with 7.1's, unfortunately, that release was plagued with other problems... What was changed in all the revisions after the 7.1's that related to how the driver dealt with the thermal/power controls?

Something to look into i think.

P.S. I'm still at a loss as to why under my advanced power management I still see a setting for ATI Powerplay, which only applies to mobility chips, which mine is not. And it still only has a setting for "maximum power savings". I wonder if this could be the issue with the problems some see (such as myself) with the fan...

shaquatch · Aug 14, 2007, 12:07 AM

I tried out the new 7.8's today. Half hour into my game and two Black screen flashes...

ksporry · Aug 14, 2007, 02:08 PM

Apple it IS then!!!!

shaquatch · Aug 14, 2007, 02:38 PM

Something else I was just looking at maybe someone else can replicate:
Do a Vista Sleep/Resume
Then
Goto:
-Control Panel
-Performance and Information Tools
-Advanced Tools

At the top under performance issues I have this which is clickable:
"Drivers are interfering with Windows resuming from sleep mode.View Details"

Once Clicked I get the following Dialogue Box:

These drivers are causing Windows to resume slowly
Name:ATI Radeon Kernal Mode Driver
Filename:atikmdag.sys

This is most likely a separate issue from the one we currently have, I'm just throwing this out there.

Spyre · Aug 14, 2007, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaquatch

Something else I was just looking at maybe someone else can replicate:
Do a Vista Sleep/Resume
Then
Goto:
-Control Panel
-Performance and Information Tools
-Advanced Tools

At the top under performance issues I have this which is clickable:
"Drivers are interfering with Windows resuming from sleep mode.View Details"

Once Clicked I get the following Dialogue Box:

These drivers are causing Windows to resume slowly
Name:ATI Radeon Kernal Mode Driver
Filename:atikmdag.sys

This is most likely a separate issue from the one we currently have, I'm just throwing this out there.

If you read the release notes under known issues:

Resuming from an S3 state may result in a longer than expected time for the Windows Vista operating system to resume. Further details can be found in topic number 737-25798

Spyre · Aug 14, 2007, 03:08 PM

Quote:

P.S. I'm still at a loss as to why under my advanced power management I still see a setting for ATI Powerplay, which only applies to mobility chips, which mine is not. And it still only has a setting for "maximum power savings". I wonder if this could be the issue with the problems some see (such as myself) with the fan...

Nope don't think so, its there for everyone regardless of if you have your issue or not. Just part of the standard install routine for the CCC & Drivers since the CCC was designed to be used on both laptops and desktop machines but obviously only laptops get the Powerplay thing fully active.

shaquatch · Aug 14, 2007, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyre

If you read the release notes under known issues:

Resuming from an S3 state may result in a longer than expected time for the Windows Vista operating system to resume. Further details can be found in topic number 737-25798

Ok thanks, good to know. I would like to know why ati has ommited 737-27116: Radeon™ Series - ATIKMDAG has stopped responding error messages. This is not something that was ever resolved.This is why I and many others are here and why so many others have created and responded to a myriad of threads across multiple forums. How can something that is an issue for so many not be listed under "Known issues under the Windows Vista Operating System"?

Spyre · Aug 14, 2007, 07:20 PM

not sure as I don't write the release notes, I would guess because its unknown as to the cause and while its still being investigated then it wont make the known issues.

ChaosMinionX · Aug 15, 2007, 02:38 AM

Issues been resolved with 7.8?

supreme · Aug 15, 2007, 04:06 AM

Hello guys!

This problem is not primary the driver problem. It's a vista's problem. M$ licensed VPU Recover technology from ATI , but do that not as good as it has to

I had this atikmdag stopped responding error too. I don't play any games, but this error was even when I was using adobe dreamveawer or stardock object dock. I hated my new PC for this error

But there is a solution. Microsoft made an update, and it really works for me! This update is not officialy released, and you still can't find it on windows update, but I know where you can find it

here: http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1290430/775222/

Install it and forget this problem

Sorry for my poor english

ChaosMinionX
No, I tried 7.8 yesterday, and it has not helped, but after installing this update for windows it works fine.

Karhis · Aug 15, 2007, 12:08 PM

A quick test with Catalyst 7.8, KB938194 Vista patch and Test Drive Unlimited and the problem seems to remain. Well, actually I didn't get the "Display driver stopped responding" error message, but after 5 - 10 minutes of gaming, graphical anomalities started to appear and finally the whole system locked up.

ksporry · Aug 15, 2007, 01:34 PM

karhis, Have you tried supreme's suggestion about teh beta file?

Karhis · Aug 15, 2007, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksporry

karhis, Have you tried supreme's suggestion about teh beta file?

Yes, It is the same thing as the Windows Vista KB938194 update I mentioned - if I have understood correctly.

Lord Dave · Aug 15, 2007, 04:38 PM

Hello everyone. I am yet another one of the poor people who have the "diplay driver failed to respond" problem.

Doesn't do it in windows itself unless I have a game running. I turned off problem reporting and that helped a bit. I turned on window mode ant that helped as well.

Now here is where it gets fun:
I don't have this problem in Half-Life 2. -Edit Ok, seems I do.
After reading through this problem I think I figured out why: This is a Direct-X 10 problem.
Many games use Direct X as the basis for their graphics. So if the Direct X is flawed then your more or less doomed. Games that can use Open GL (like Half-Life 2) will function much better, if not slightly bugged.
So we'll have to wait until Dirext X 11 before this will be fixed. (hopefully).
To be specific, it looks like a problem with the DirectDraw because it usually happens when effects are being used. Something colorful and flashy.

vf- · Aug 15, 2007, 04:51 PM

.......

Half-Life 2 uses DirectX 9 and how can it be a DirectX 10 issue when people are getting it on DirectX 9 video cards with no DirectX 10 games as well as the 2xxx series which are DX10 cards...

It's obviously an issue with the way Vista handles the VPU recovery rather than ATI's drivers handling it. Which has still not been rectified.

It's not just game related either, 3D apps trigger it as well as other apps that use 3D parts of the drivers.

Lord Dave · Aug 15, 2007, 05:17 PM

I do appoligze for my post: Seems it does have the issue on HL2. Strange since it didn't for the longest time.

I still think its a Direct X issue. But I'm going to have to test a few things since learning HL2 isn't working anymore.

vf- · Aug 15, 2007, 05:28 PM

Yeah thats what makes it so hard to find out whats wrong. Sometimes it does it when exiting games, sometimes not.
Sometimes when such 3D application game or 3D software it'll either give this error or lock up the system completely.

There's just no pattern to it. It's just so inconsistent.

Lord Dave · Aug 15, 2007, 05:42 PM

What I failed to mention, my appology, was that I had Vista issues that caused me to have to reinstall. Several times actaully. Prior to that, HL2 was running fine as well as all of my games except Halo 2, which had this very annoying bug. As I played Halo 2, it decreased in consistancy. Eventually it didn't really happen. After reinstalling, everything went to heck and back.
Also, when I installed the 7.8 CAT drivers, the problem got worse: Instead of resetting the video drivers, the whole program would crash.

Part of me wants to say its a buffer issue. Texture or video buffer gets overrun or something and the driver takes longer then vista likes to correct it. Vista resets the driver automatically.
I'd like to see what would happen if we removed the "feature" that caused Vista to reset the drivers. Or will that just cause a crash?

Spyre · Aug 15, 2007, 07:20 PM

KB940105 hotfix due out soon (23rd of August) will stop games using as much memory and system resources which will help some people with their problems I'm sure.

Lord Dave · Aug 15, 2007, 08:50 PM

What bothers me the most is they took out the buttons to test Direct Draw/ Direct 3D in the dxdiag tools.
Finding a program that'll do the same thing is not easy.

Lord Dave · Aug 15, 2007, 09:23 PM

I appologize for the double post but I think I"m onto something.

I just ran a Q3 engine game. It usues DirectX 7 and it ran fine except for times when the textures suddenly flickered and on certain areas of maps it did major slowdown.
So then I ran HL2 with forced Direct X modes. I went from 9 to 7. Only 7 worked without a problem.
So the conclusion is, something that's native to 8 and on but not 7 is causing the problem.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this theory?

shaquatch · Aug 16, 2007, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaosMinionX

Issues been resolved with 7.8?

There were some Vista issues that were resolved according to the driver release notes, however the Black Screen of Death flickering atikmdag issue remains in full force.

Spyre · Aug 16, 2007, 01:59 PM

@ Lord Dave

Quake 3 is OGL not DX7.
Vista doesn't have native DX8 or lower support everything is run through DX9 as DX9 is mostly backwards compatible.

As DX9 is Pixel Shader 2.0+ its possible that something is broken there on your card when using those features. Pixel shader 2.0 is higher precision and more intensive than PS1.4 and lower so is more likely to expose flaws in your card.

I would look to getting your card replaced as I would say its a hardware fault at the moment.

shaquatch · Aug 16, 2007, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Hello guys!

This problem is not primary the driver problem. It's a vista's problem. M$ licensed VPU Recover technology from ATI , but do that not as good as it has to

I had this atikmdag stopped responding error too. I don't play any games, but this error was even when I was using adobe dreamveawer or stardock object dock. I hated my new PC for this error

But there is a solution. Microsoft made an update, and it really works for me! This update is not officialy released, and you still can't find it on windows update, but I know where you can find it

here: http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1290430/775222/

Install it and forget this problem

Sorry for my poor english

ChaosMinionX
No, I tried 7.8 yesterday, and it has not helped, but after installing this update for windows it works fine.

This is the same file that Spyre posted earlier in the thread. Thanks again for posting that Spyre.You can get it direct from microsoft:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyre

For people having this issue it may be worth trying this new vista update:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=938194

Quote:

KB940105 hotfix due out soon (23rd of August) will stop games using as much memory and system resources which will help some people with their problems I'm sure.

I think you may be right:
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/the...s-using-vista/

Quote:

The Windows Display Driver Model, rewritten for Vista, is the culprit here. The explanation for the problem has to do with Microsoft making the memory management for the system video a part of the OS, and relieving applications from doing the management. The problem occurs when older games (at this point, nearly all of them)are used. The games are trying to manage memory, and setting aside a pool, while Vista is doing the same. The memory pool is doubled, and there is where the system runs out, and experiences strange behavior.

http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3034

Aug 12, 2007, 03:29 PM	#125
Spyre DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: England Posts: 1,217 Rep Power: 48	Check some other OGL games, its possible the drivers didnt install right. __________________ ATI Beta Tester game.AMD.Moderator

Aug 14, 2007, 07:20 PM	#134
Spyre DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: England Posts: 1,217 Rep Power: 48	not sure as I don't write the release notes, I would guess because its unknown as to the cause and while its still being investigated then it wont make the known issues. __________________ ATI Beta Tester game.AMD.Moderator

Aug 15, 2007, 02:38 AM	#135
ChaosMinionX USB 3 dot oh Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New York Posts: 2,182 Rep Power: 31 System Specs	Issues been resolved with 7.8? __________________ ::Heatware:: How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Aug 15, 2007, 04:38 PM	#140
Lord Dave DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	Hello everyone. I am yet another one of the poor people who have the "diplay driver failed to respond" problem. Doesn't do it in windows itself unless I have a game running. I turned off problem reporting and that helped a bit. I turned on window mode ant that helped as well. Now here is where it gets fun: I don't have this problem in Half-Life 2. -Edit Ok, seems I do. After reading through this problem I think I figured out why: This is a Direct-X 10 problem. Many games use Direct X as the basis for their graphics. So if the Direct X is flawed then your more or less doomed. Games that can use Open GL (like Half-Life 2) will function much better, if not slightly bugged. So we'll have to wait until Dirext X 11 before this will be fixed. (hopefully). To be specific, it looks like a problem with the DirectDraw because it usually happens when effects are being used. Something colorful and flashy. Last edited by Lord Dave; Aug 15, 2007 at 05:18 PM.

Aug 15, 2007, 04:51 PM	#141
vf- DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 47 Rep Power: 0	....... Half-Life 2 uses DirectX 9 and how can it be a DirectX 10 issue when people are getting it on DirectX 9 video cards with no DirectX 10 games as well as the 2xxx series which are DX10 cards... It's obviously an issue with the way Vista handles the VPU recovery rather than ATI's drivers handling it. Which has still not been rectified. It's not just game related either, 3D apps trigger it as well as other apps that use 3D parts of the drivers. Last edited by vf-; Aug 15, 2007 at 04:57 PM.

Aug 11, 2007, 07:34 PM	#122
Cwagle DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Im suffering with this crash issue too with my Radeon X1600 XT, I had zero problems with it when running Windows XP so I don't think its a hardware problem. The problem always happens when running a 3D game, but when it happens seems a little random, sometimes I can play for less then 5 minutes without the crashes happening, sometimes it can be 20 minutes after starting a game. In the hope it helps the brand/manufacturer and the hardware id listed in device manager are listed below. Brand/Manufacturer - Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT Hardware Id - PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71C0&SUBSYS_0880174B I also noticed that with the Windows XP drivers my card is listed as a Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT but with the Windows Vista Drivers its listed as a Radeon X1600 Series.

Aug 12, 2007, 01:38 PM	#124
Yoyop DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: France Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	I have the same problem with my Radeon HD, atikmdag crashing each time i launch Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, for other games likes FEAR or Call of Juarez i don't have that same for 3DMark. I use Catalyst 7.7 An idea ?

Aug 12, 2007, 07:14 PM	#126
vf- DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 47 Rep Power: 0	How can they not install right? they either do or don't... I've never had a driver do an in between. Has anyone tried turning the glass UI off, Aero and run any games etc to see if it still triggers this glitch?

Aug 14, 2007, 12:07 AM	#128
shaquatch DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	I tried out the new 7.8's today. Half hour into my game and two Black screen flashes...

Aug 14, 2007, 02:08 PM	#129
ksporry DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	Apple it IS then!!!!

Aug 14, 2007, 02:38 PM	#130
shaquatch DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	Something else I was just looking at maybe someone else can replicate: Do a Vista Sleep/Resume Then Goto: -Control Panel -Performance and Information Tools -Advanced Tools At the top under performance issues I have this which is clickable: "Drivers are interfering with Windows resuming from sleep mode.View Details" Once Clicked I get the following Dialogue Box: These drivers are causing Windows to resume slowly Name:ATI Radeon Kernal Mode Driver Filename:atikmdag.sys This is most likely a separate issue from the one we currently have, I'm just throwing this out there.

Aug 15, 2007, 04:06 AM	#136
supreme DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Russia Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Hello guys! This problem is not primary the driver problem. It's a vista's problem. M$ licensed VPU Recover technology from ATI , but do that not as good as it has to I had this atikmdag stopped responding error too. I don't play any games, but this error was even when I was using adobe dreamveawer or stardock object dock. I hated my new PC for this error But there is a solution. Microsoft made an update, and it really works for me! This update is not officialy released, and you still can't find it on windows update, but I know where you can find it here: http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1290430/775222/ Install it and forget this problem Sorry for my poor english ChaosMinionX No, I tried 7.8 yesterday, and it has not helped, but after installing this update for windows it works fine.

Aug 15, 2007, 12:08 PM	#137
Karhis DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Finland Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	A quick test with Catalyst 7.8, KB938194 Vista patch and Test Drive Unlimited and the problem seems to remain. Well, actually I didn't get the "Display driver stopped responding" error message, but after 5 - 10 minutes of gaming, graphical anomalities started to appear and finally the whole system locked up.

Aug 15, 2007, 01:34 PM	#138
ksporry DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	karhis, Have you tried supreme's suggestion about teh beta file?

Aug 15, 2007, 05:17 PM	#142
Lord Dave DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	I do appoligze for my post: Seems it does have the issue on HL2. Strange since it didn't for the longest time. I still think its a Direct X issue. But I'm going to have to test a few things since learning HL2 isn't working anymore.

Aug 15, 2007, 05:28 PM	#143
vf- DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 47 Rep Power: 0	Yeah thats what makes it so hard to find out whats wrong. Sometimes it does it when exiting games, sometimes not. Sometimes when such 3D application game or 3D software it'll either give this error or lock up the system completely. There's just no pattern to it. It's just so inconsistent.

Aug 15, 2007, 05:42 PM	#144
Lord Dave DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	What I failed to mention, my appology, was that I had Vista issues that caused me to have to reinstall. Several times actaully. Prior to that, HL2 was running fine as well as all of my games except Halo 2, which had this very annoying bug. As I played Halo 2, it decreased in consistancy. Eventually it didn't really happen. After reinstalling, everything went to heck and back. Also, when I installed the 7.8 CAT drivers, the problem got worse: Instead of resetting the video drivers, the whole program would crash. Part of me wants to say its a buffer issue. Texture or video buffer gets overrun or something and the driver takes longer then vista likes to correct it. Vista resets the driver automatically. I'd like to see what would happen if we removed the "feature" that caused Vista to reset the drivers. Or will that just cause a crash?

Aug 15, 2007, 07:20 PM	#145
Spyre DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: England Posts: 1,217 Rep Power: 48	KB940105 hotfix due out soon (23rd of August) will stop games using as much memory and system resources which will help some people with their problems I'm sure. __________________ ATI Beta Tester game.AMD.Moderator Last edited by Spyre; Aug 16, 2007 at 03:52 PM.

Aug 15, 2007, 08:50 PM	#146
Lord Dave DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	What bothers me the most is they took out the buttons to test Direct Draw/ Direct 3D in the dxdiag tools. Finding a program that'll do the same thing is not easy.

Aug 15, 2007, 09:23 PM	#147
Lord Dave DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	I appologize for the double post but I think I"m onto something. I just ran a Q3 engine game. It usues DirectX 7 and it ran fine except for times when the textures suddenly flickered and on certain areas of maps it did major slowdown. So then I ran HL2 with forced Direct X modes. I went from 9 to 7. Only 7 worked without a problem. So the conclusion is, something that's native to 8 and on but not 7 is causing the problem. Does anyone have any thoughts on this theory?

Aug 16, 2007, 01:59 PM	#149
Spyre DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: England Posts: 1,217 Rep Power: 48	@ Lord Dave Quake 3 is OGL not DX7. Vista doesn't have native DX8 or lower support everything is run through DX9 as DX9 is mostly backwards compatible. As DX9 is Pixel Shader 2.0+ its possible that something is broken there on your card when using those features. Pixel shader 2.0 is higher precision and more intensive than PS1.4 and lower so is more likely to expose flaws in your card. I would look to getting your card replaced as I would say its a hardware fault at the moment. __________________ ATI Beta Tester game.AMD.Moderator