Radeon 9550 Extreme - big driver problem

Molokko · Jun 15, 2005, 06:31 PM

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I'm new to radeon graphic cards. Recently I've bought Radeon Gecube 9550 Extreme 128MB and I have a problem with drivers, because only the original ones that were bundled with the card seem to work properly. I have downloaded newest drivers from ATI site and newest Omega drivers, but with both after rebooting my computer runs in the lowest VGA resolution mode, and there is a message saying that the system was unable to load the drivers (with Omega drivers it said that the drivers were older than the system or something like that, with ATI I just don't remember what it said).

Is there any way I can fix it, or am I doomed for the next 3-4 years for the drivers from the original package until I change the graphic card. Please help me.
(i'm using Win XP if it's relevant here)

PS One more thing I forgot. I think i don't have ATI control panel (or whatever it is called) installed. It was bundled with the drivres from ATI site but this control panel also crashed after reboot. I have only hydravision installed (except for the drivers).

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 15, 2005, 07:21 PM

Uninstall everything and run driver cleaner, that should clear up such issues.

daedal · Jun 15, 2005, 08:08 PM

To resume your situation, no, you're not stuck with the retail drivers.

Download DH DriverCleaner and install.
Uninstall your previous Driver set from the Add/Remove section of your Control panel
(there should be something called ATI uninstall Utility - use that)
Once the driver is uninstalled, it should prompt you to reboot. Do so and press F8 during the boot up (before the Windows loading splash shows up) which will prompt you to select your boot type.
Select Safe Mode. Once you're in Windows Safe Mode, run DriverCleaner and select "ATI" from the Pulldown menu and click on Start.
Once it's done it's stuff, reboot your PC as normal.
Install the most recent driver version and reboot as prompted.
It's normal that when you load Windows after, it takes about a minute until it settles because it runs "self-tests" the first time a new driver is installed. Just let it run until your Windowns animations (start menu) run smooth and clean. That's it.

Basically, DriverCleaner will erase all traces of previous driver installations which might have been in use when the ATI uninstall utility was run and therefore could not be uninstalled which can cause problems. Post back if you run into any more issues!

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 15, 2005, 08:43 PM

You forgot to tell him to use CAB Cleaner after cleaning the ATI Drivers

Molokko · Jun 16, 2005, 03:31 AM

Thank you very much, i'm so grateful. I did it point by point as you said and it worked. Now i have omega drivers installed and i'm now browsing through this forum to learn how to setup these drivers. By the way, rhich drivers would you suggest - omega drivers or ATI drivers from their site, or maybe still some other drivers? Once again, thank you for not leaving me with my problem on my own, as it often happens in many other forums.

ChoGGi · Jun 16, 2005, 04:33 AM

go for omegas, dh zero, or ngo.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 16, 2005, 10:20 AM

Omegas are usually the best overall....most people seem to like them

Molokko · Jun 16, 2005, 11:48 AM

I don't know, maybe it's just a coincidence, but after installing omega drivers GTA SA seems to crash more often. It did crash with retail drivers as well, but not so often I think. During a 2h play it suspended the system twice and once the computer rebooted on its own. Though, it is too short a period to assess, I'll have to try it for a longer period. Maybe it was just a bad luck.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 16, 2005, 09:18 PM

GT:SA has problem with ATI drivers period so its no surprise