ATI radeon 9800 drivers problems +HELP+

[Ayura]

SPEC = AMD athlon 2500+
512mb 400hz ram
Abit motherboard
500 PSU


It seems I am having trouble with the drivers of my graphics card. Whenever I try to install either omega or catalyst drivers, I keep getting random crashes, and sometimes the machine just automatically restarts itself.

Any Help Please

 

[vegasgmc]

Did you remove all the old video drivers first?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

As vegasgmc says you should remove the old driver first before installing a new one.

Also it`s a good idea to disable your antivirus softwear before removing or installing drivers as it can seriously cause problems if you don`t.

Regards Howard :grinthumb

PS Hello and welcome to Techspot. :wave: :wave:

 

[george_b]

ATI radeon 9800 Pro problems...

Hi Howard,

I have the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and have found that whenever I have Limewire running, the computer will just restart randomly and then when I log back on, I get a message from the Microsoft Online Crash site saying that the error was caused by a device driver problem. This first happened a while back and then seemed to be cured when I installed an ATI driver update which appeared on the windows update service.
The exact same problem started happening again recently however, when I installed a Tevion TV Tunder card, (so, this is the first problem). Second problem: To try to solve this problem I decided to download Catalyst, but didn't realise that that I needed to remove the old driver first. Since, that whenever I have Limewire running, the computer restarts randomly as before but the message now says the error was caused by a Graphics driver problem.

Does this mean that Firstly, it was not the graphics card which was causing the problems in the first place, and Secondly, is this now a new problem caused by installing a new driver over an old one?

Please help, as you can probably tell, I'm not very good at this stuff!

Thanks in advance for your time.

George

 

[Syndrome]

hey guys

I had this exact same problem with my ATI Radeon 9600XT. It would randomly freeze my computer, display would shut off, and the computer would reboot for no reason.

I did extensive research, and to my knowledge it seems to be a conflict with the ATI chipset, and the VIA chipset of some motherboards. If you have recently got a new motherboard which has the VIA chipset, that could be part of the problem.

I also found that, if you DO NOT install any service packs with windows XP, the problem magically goes away. So I was starting to think it may have been the AGP driver that is given with the VIA Chipset package.

Mind you, I had an a7v8x-x motherboard, with a VIA chipset, and it ran flawlessly, but as soon as i upgraded to a Abit Av8 with a VIA chipset, BAM problems from day one.

I never did find a way to fix it... i tried EVERYTHING out there.. from video drivers, to new AGP drivers, to tweaks, to registry editors... nothing seemed to fix the problem.

All I did was go out and buy an XFX GeForce 6600GT (same price as the 9800xt) and wham, all problems are gone. So it MUST have been some kind of conflict with the ATI drivers at some point...

weird
my two cents
-Syndrome

 

[dgower2]

I don't remove old drivers, and no problems

I have a Radeon 9600 Pro and an Intel chipset. I've upgraded my Radeon drivers several times without uninstalling the old one first and I've never had any problems.

 

[Sabacca]

Same problem :[ I have a Radeon 9800. When I am playing, the cmpuyer is restarting randomly...

 

[Mugsy]

ATI tech support no help

Same problem :[ I have a Radeon 9800. When I am playing, the cmpuyer is restarting randomly...

It seems like there are a lot of us experiencing trouble running Radeon cards on WinXP machines with the VIA chipset.

I tried asking ATI for help, but they just tell me "it's probably a configuration issue". I'm a PC tech of over two decades. I've changed everything you can change (both hardware and software), tried reformatting and clean installs, new drivers and rolling back to old ones. You name it, I've done it. Even sent my card back to ATI for repairs.

I did find *one* thing that helps a little: If you dial down Video Accelleration one step (right click desktop, click Settings Tab, Advanced button, and on the ATI Troubleshooting Tab), I find I crash less frequently.

I also have a Linux installation (same machine, dual boot) that is rock solid. I've installed ATI's Linux driver on it, but since I'm running Fedora ("X-Server" kernal, which they don't support), I get no accelleration.

If ATI doesn't acknowledge that they have an issue with VIA chipsts, they are going to loose a lot of customers to nVidia. :suspiciou

 

[alexandre71]

solution i found

When i got this card(ati radeon 9800) and started playing games with it, my computer would either freeze, restart or display random stuff on the screen.
I tried uninstalling drivers and installing them again.. that didnt do the job.
I researched through a bunch of different forums and it seemed like lots of people were having the same problems.
I just bought a VGA silencer for less than 20 bucks and was playing NFSU2 on
High resolution and all the settings i put on max.
The game didnt freeze at all and it didnt seem like it was having any problems
here is the link for the silencer i bought:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186110
hope that helps..
good luck to all

 

[Mugsy]

It shouldn't be heat, but...

I just bought a VGA silencer for less than 20 bucks and was playing NFSU2 on High resolution and all the settings i put on max.
The game didnt freeze at all and it didnt seem like it was having any problems
here is the link for the silencer i bought:

I keep my system pretty cool. I run with the case side off and a small fan blowing on my drives (you shouldn't point the fan directly at the motherboard because it will interfere with the fans on your cpu and video card), and the system reports running well within temperature limits (below 50'C most of the time), but there is no way to read the temp of the video card and I'm still using the stock HSF (heatsink/fan), so maybe it is an over-heating problem, though if it is, that's a serious design flaw with the card. It shouldn't be over-heating under these conditions.

Most ATI cards run well under their limit so that the fan that comes with them should be more than enough. But after three crashes in just the past 4 hours, I'm about ready to try anything.

Did you have to remove the stock HSF to attach the new cooler?

 

[kimbo.ati]

well i have far worse problems. At least you can "enter windows"
i have a sapphire 9700pro ultimate edtion. Straight after i finished windows install my computer resetted like it should,but when the login screen i meant to show up my screen is blank with the mouse in the middle, i cant move it then the screen goes completely black and resets in 10mins.

i overcame this problem by installing a nvidia card then updating everything.
put my at icard back in then it would do the exact same thing as before BUT i got round it by using the last known settings that worked in my boot options.

 

[alexandre71]

re: It shouldn't be heat, but...

Did you have to remove the stock HSF to attach the new cooler?

Yes. you have to remove the stock heatsink and fan. It took me less than 10 min to do it all(remove old heatsink and install the new one).
After posting here for the first time, I went and played nfsu2 for a couple of hours to see if it would crash and it didnt even glitch once.
I am very happy with my video card now.
I believe heat is the biggest problem for all these crashes. I think the stock HSF is way too small for that video card. And plus your fan could be having problems. when i removed mine i noticed that it was having problems rotating and ive only
had this card for a few months.
You should try that silencer out man.

 

[Mugsy]

Only one this stop me...

when i removed mine i noticed that it was having problems rotating and ive only had this card for a few months.
You should try that silencer out man.

I'm about 95% sure you are right, but one thing doesn't support this: I have a rock-stable Linux installation on the same PC.

I have a dual-boot system with Fedora (Red Hat) on the same computer. The only significant difference is that the ATI Linux driver doesn't support Red Hat (which uses the "X-Server" kernel, while the ATI driver only support "X-Free86" and "X-Open" kernels). I installed it anyway, but get no acceleration. My Linux setup has *never* crashed. If the problem was "heat", Linux would be crashing too. It's not.

That is why I'm still convinced it's a driver issue (though a better HSF couldn't hurt).

 

[pixxell]

Via Chipset + Radeon Resolution

I'm not sure if it will work in all cases, but I was having terrible problems with a via PM800 chipset and a radio 9800 which ironically share very similar numbering. ANyway, I think the one way to resolve it, apart from installing the latest hyperion drivers from via is to set the AGP settings to 4x instead of 8x.. it seems to work, I also disabled DMA and sidebanding for what it's worth, though I'm not sure if that affects stability. Anyway, reducing the agp to 4x seems to do the trick, for what it's worth.. it doesn't seem to cause such a performance hit so one can live with it maybe.

 

[cracknugget2003]

It seems like there are a lot of us experiencing trouble running Radeon cards on WinXP machines with the VIA chipset.

I tried asking ATI for help, but they just tell me "it's probably a configuration issue". I'm a PC tech of over two decades. I've changed everything you can change (both hardware and software), tried reformatting and clean installs, new drivers and rolling back to old ones. You name it, I've done it. Even sent my card back to ATI for repairs.

I did find *one* thing that helps a little: If you dial down Video Accelleration one step (right click desktop, click Settings Tab, Advanced button, and on the ATI Troubleshooting Tab), I find I crash less frequently.

I also have a Linux installation (same machine, dual boot) that is rock solid. I've installed ATI's Linux driver on it, but since I'm running Fedora ("X-Server" kernal, which they don't support), I get no accelleration.

If ATI doesn't acknowledge that they have an issue with VIA chipsts, they are going to loose a lot of customers to nVidia. :suspiciou

did u try fixing ur registry... i found that when u instal a 9800 pro it usualy puts a wrong registry value for the LargePageMinimum
just hit start, run, type in regedit, then [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management] after u get there right click on
"LargePageMinimum" dword and make the value ffffffff it worked for me

 

[Kev32]

I use the Radeon 9800 Pro as well. After the first hour or so of installing the new Catalyst 5.7 my PC ws extremely unstable. I verified this by uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them to be put through another hour of crashes. After about 2 hours though the PC's general stability returned. Still I've heard of problems with the new catalyst 5.7 drivers, especially with San Andreas and Farcry.....I have general problems with San andreas purely because it's been put together very shoddily from the XBOX version into the PC version. Farcry works lbrilliantly on all graphics set on Very High.

The crashes are what you pay for when you get mid-range to high range tech, very unstable. My other PC's a pure budget machine and is remarkably stable even though it's shoved in one of the hottest rooms in the house and has my bro playing Rome : Total War on it the whole day!

 

[scott100]

9800 xt

Again similar problems and it is now doing my head in. I'm about to buy a new ATI X800 but since all the problems I'm thinking of going Nvidia as well.

I'm trying to play Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion and it just keeps freezing over a 10 to 30 minute period. The screen then goes black and then I have to manually shut down system.

I have a K8 upgrade Motherboard and Athlon 64 FX 3400 processor. I've tried all the catalyst drivers and I have even reverted back to the original drivers on the Cd which I got with it, but it still freezes.

Looking at all the previous threads it doesn't look as if anything will sort it though I think heat may be a contributing factor. I heard one person mention that they made sure the powerlead into the Vid. Card was only connected straight to the PSU and nothing else. (hdd, CD, etc). It worked for them apparently, and just when I thought it might be working for me... FREEZES!!!

Been asked before but can someone help?

 

[Mugsy]

Radeons have serious heat problems.

Again similar problems and it is now doing my head in. I'm about to buy a new ATI X800 but since all the problems I'm thinking of going Nvidia as well.

I'm trying to play Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion and it just keeps freezing over a 10 to 30 minute period. The screen then goes black and then I have to manually shut down system.

Hey Scott,

When the screen goes black like that, there is about a 75% certainty that the video card is over-heating (the other, less-likely possibility is a cracked trace somewhere that breaks contact when the PC overheats). My system is pretty stable now since I discovered I had a flakey CPU and replaced it. But if I push the vidcard hard for more than 20 minutes, my computer will likely crash. But in my case, 3D accelleration slows to a crawl first, giving me fair warning.

When the video GPU overheats, the card shuts down to prevent damage, and I think this is what is happening to you.

You didn't mention which card you have now, but assuming it is a 9800 Pro or below, there is no thermal probe on the card to tell you how hot it is getting, making diagnosis difficult. I'd hate to tell you to spend extra money on a GPU cooler when you plan on upgrading soon anyway. That would be a waste.

The latest nVidia cards are also prone to overheating, which varies greatly depending upon the maker (nVidia sells the chips so others can make their own cards, thus the wide price range for the same chip level).

My advice, get the new card (ATI's X800 is probably fine) and see if the problem returns. The new cards have a thermal probe in them, so you'll know if it is overheating, and if so, after-market coolers are pretty cheap nowadays.

 

[scott100]

Your advice is very helpful. Thank you so much.

I have to admit the problems seem to have occured more when I upgraded to a more powerful motherboard and CPU seemingly putting more demand on the Vid. card when I'm playing games.

By the way my card is a MSI ATI 9800 XT.

I will try the X800. The thing is I'm not sure whether to buy the cheaper 128 or go for the 256 MB version?

 

[Mugsy]

The XT should have probe

By the way my card is a MSI ATI 9800 XT.

I will try the X800. The thing is I'm not sure whether to buy the cheaper 128 or go for the 256 MB version?

Hey Scott,

IIRC, the 9800XT was the first version to include a thermal probe under the GPU (the 9800 Pro being the last w/o), so you *should* be able to see the chip temp from within your Radeon software (check the tray app).

My recommendation is to check your temps before and after heavy 3D use (run a good 3D test like Mad Onion's "3DMark" for about 15 minutes). If the GPU temp is spiking, just get a good aftermarket cooler and keep your 9800 until you buy a game that really taxes the card where only something newer will perform like you need.

When you finally do upgrade, go for the 256M. If you have a game that needs that much horsepower to run effectively, it'll demand a lot of VRAM too.

 

[scott100]

Thanks

I've had this problem with CPUs before but I never thought heat was a graphic card problem. I thought the built in fan would be designed to keep it cool.

So how does a aftermarket fan work. Where do you attach it?

 

[Mugsy]

Aftermarket coolers

I've had this problem with CPUs before but I never thought heat was a graphic card problem. I thought the built in fan would be designed to keep it cool.

The stock fan on most high-end cards nowadays are typically only good enough to keep the card cool under "typical" daily usage. But the more graphics intensive your work is, the harder the card must work and the hotter it gets. Soon, that tiny fan just isn't enough.

So how does a aftermarket fan work. Where do you attach it?

That depends on which one you get.

The two most common are the Zalman GPU cooler and Artic Cooling's "VGA Silencer". Of the two, the Artic is both better and cheaper.

Both coolers require that you remove the stock HSF on the card and install theirs. This is a relatively simple proceedure for anyone that knows their way around the inside of their computer.

The Zalman looks like a giant CPU cooler that sits atop the GPU. The "VGA Silencer" encloses one entire side of your card and blows air across it from the side and out the back though a slot vent, thus blowing the excess heat right out of your case. Fan speed is also switchable (Hi/Lo) to reduce noise, if needed.

Here is a decent short comparison:
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/arctic_cooling_vga_silencer_3.php

For the 9800XT, you'd need Artic's Rev 3 cooler:
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=11

Both can be had for around $30 online.

 

[Amigosdefox]

I just recently bought a athlon 64 3500 with an nforce chipset. I have a radeon 9800 pro and games make the computer freeze after a couple of minutes of play. First I thought it might be a psu problem but it seems to happens with some games more often than with others. With age of empires 3 demo it almost always freezes before 6 min of playing, sometimes even before I load the map (in the splash screen). With half life 2 i can usualle play for about 15 minutes before it freezes, same with chronicles of riddick demo. With doom 3 demo it doesnt seem to crash at all. I have a 350 watt cooler master psu and I only have 1 hdd, 1 dvd, and 1 memory dimm installed so Im pretty sure is not a power issue.

 

[Mugsy]

More tests needed.

I just recently bought a athlon 64 3500 with an nforce chipset. I have a radeon 9800 pro and games make the computer freeze after a couple of minutes of play. First I thought it might be a psu problem but it seems to happens with some games more often than with others.

Hey "Amigos",

It certainly sounds like the card is overheating (a chronic problem with the 9800), but I can't say for sure based on what you've told us. Your PSU, at a mere 350watts, is WAY too small, and when the 9800 starts doing heavy 3D, it starts pulling more electricity, so it may very well be your PSU. Anything under 450watts just is not acceptable by today's standards.

However, "freezing" is more indicative of a "software" problem (like a bad driver) rather than hardware/electrical (which would cause a crash/reboot). Are you running the latest drivers and are your games patched (if necessary)? Hardware failure "typically" does not seize up your computer. Any interruption in the flow of electricity usually has some "physical" effect. The exception is, of course, a video card crash (the computer keeps running but all comminication with the video card ceases).

Besides games, do any other programs crash? Have you run any 3D tests to see the result? What are your CPU and Case temps?

I'm inclined to suspect your problem is an overheating 9800, but upgrading the PSU, even if it's not the problem, wouldn't hurt. It *would* help you rule it out as a possible cause though.

 

[Amigosdefox]

Thanks for the reply. I have the latests drivers for the video card and the motherboard. If my problem is overheating and not psu would that mean that I have to add a special fan for the video card? If it means anything, my case has a large cooling fan at the back and a small one at the front, my cpu has a cooler master hyper 48 heatsink and fan and the cpu always runs at about 40ºC. BTW, 3dmark 2005 can run all the tests without crashing.

I think I found what is causing the problem. I left the campaing of age of empires 3 demo running by itself and it didnt freeze after 30 mins. then i disconnected the keyboard and played only with the mouse and again didnt freeze at all. After reconnecting the keyboard and playing for only a few more seconds the game froze. Maybe there is an irq conflict with my ps2 keyboard?