Radeon 64 VIVO No Capture Problem

[Bogeybum21]

I have the ATI Radeon 64 DDR VIVO in my Winxp system. I cannot seem to capture for anything more than a couple of minutes, then the counter stops moving, and it no longer captures. Typically the video file created is not usable, as well. If I go to my dispplay properties, and change screen resolutions, and then back to the original res, it seems to "reset" whatever the issue is. Until, of course it does it a few captures later. Then, I have to do it all over again.
I am at my wits end. This thing has NEVER worked the way ATI had touted it, and I should've returned it when I had the chance.
Has anybody had this problem, and has found a fix? I have video tapes I need converted, and can't do so because of this piece of garbage. And of course ATI doesn't confess blame for it. All I get from them is:"We have found form past experience that capture issues are due to improperly configured systems"............Now, wouldn't I have looked into that first anyway?!!! IT's not the system. Many more have suffered the same fate, and noone I speak to seems to have a cure.
SO, what'll it be? Any answers? Oh, and for you ATI lovers, I know a place where you can get a Radeon 64 VIVO for a good price!

[Will Hay]

I have a Radeon 64mb ViVo and it's absolutely flawless, it's the best peice of hardware for the price I've ever had.
My system setup is virtually the same as yours soATI might just be right you know, it might not be the card.
What software versions are you using?
Have you tried any other capture software other than the ATII suite?
Will

[teddymines]

I don't think the card is at fault. What format/resolution are you capturing at? Uncompressed AVI will fill a drive quickly, and if you have a 5400rpm drive it might not keep up. Try capturing using the vcd template just to see if you can get longer captures. Be sure to clear the capture folder first. Also try using virtualdub's avi capture, but set the codec to something like mjpeg or huffyuv.

Last case: Try reinstalling the whole catalyst package as instructed on their web site. It requires directx 9.

[Bogeybum21]

Winxp, Two 7200 rpm HDDs. ATI driver version 6.13.10.6218. MMC 8.1. Capturing, using the DVD Recording preset. Problem acts up, not only in ATI software, but also in WinDVR. Am using Directx 9. Thunderbird 1.4 ghz. 512 meg of DDR ram. Trust me, the system can keep up.
Other people have reported this same problem with these older cards, and some have gone so far as to upgrade to a newer card, just to fix this problem. With that said, I don't know how it COULD be my system. It ran fine, as far as capturing, when under Win 98. The system hasn't changed, just the OS, and the ATI software.

[Will Hay]

The system hasn't changed, just the ....... ATI software.

I'm by no means an expert but I've read (on this very forum) later versions of the ATI software aren't as stable as earlier versions.
I know that doesn't give you much to go on but hey, it's a start.
Will

[Bogeybum21]

Yeah, and I even switched last night to the latest software. Now, I can't even get the capturing software to run! SO, now, what I 'm gonna do tonight is install a previous version of their software (one that onthers have claimed to fixed this issue), and try that. Also, I've gone ahead, and ordered a Separate capture card, so that I can phase out this piece of junk.

[lordsmurf]

One of my system rejects MMC 8.x, so I'm on 7.7 with it, and one top of that, don't use the presets. Those are horrible. Go to www.lordsmurf.com and read up on making your own preset.

[Will Hay]

........so that I can phase out this piece of junk.

Wouldn't it be ironic if your next card was a 'piece of junk' too?

W.

[FOO]

I might suggest observing your system load
during a capture.
Other things
DMA on HDD
Defrag
Other processes

Uninstall ATI stuff before install new stuff.

Check out/ turn down video display

[teddymines]

Bogeybum21: You didn't mention your configuration in your original post, so I had to ask. I actually have a very similar setup.

As others suggested, back out the catalyst drivers/apps, and reinstall an older version.

It is possible, but not probable, that your card is at fault.

[Bogeybum21]

Foo, that's a check on all suggestions. Been there, done that. Still no good.
Will, I've thought of that. I dread the thought!
My next step will be to uninstall what's there, and re-install Cat Drivers 2.3, and MMC 7.7, like others have, to fix the problem. Wish me luck.

[pepegot1]

Try these drivers:

MMC-7-7-0-1-noDVD
tv-capture-wdm-6-13-10-6125
wme-radeon-4-13-01-9039-efg

Later drivers have problems. went back to these when the failed. These will work just fine. Make sure you load them properly-goto ATI site for guidance

[FOO]

I'lll tell you what really sux.
ATI says to uninstall the video, and then install the new one
So you uninstall the video - which wants to reboot...
After the reboot XP immediately re-installs the video before
you can do anything

[Bogeybum21]

Yeah, Foo. Just ran into that problem, and, man, was it pissing me off!

Okay, here's the update. After quite a bit off tighting with XP (see above comment), AND the ATI software (to be discussed in a sec), I think I've managed to "fix" the problem. This is what I did:

Uninstalled all current ATI software
Re-installed Cat Drivers ver. 2.3, and associated software, including MMC 7.7

So far, I have managed to capture a 30 minute VCR tape recording, that, previously, was impossible to do. Right now, I am attempting to capture the other episode on that tape. Keeping my fingers crossed. Unfortunately, I have already ordered that other capture card, but, you know what? That's fine, cause I'm already halfway to getting rid of ATI for good. So much for ATI's comment about it being a "system congiuration" problem. ATI, fess up already! Will keep you guys posted. Hopefully, this fixes things, and I hope I can help others by posting what I did.

[FOO]

Well now when you get curious and go install all the latest ATI
software and it all works perfectly, how are
you going to explain the original problem ?

[lordsmurf]

ATI and Windows XP don't get along. It's Microsoft's fault.

[Bogeybum21]

Okay, here's the update. I have just successfully captured over 1 hour of video, with NO problems, and not a single frame drop. This is the best this card has EVER run. And here's an added bonus: Ulead DVD Workshop, which has been crashing since I updated my ATI stuff, is now working flawlessly. YEEHAAAAAA!
I wouldn't necessarily say it's Windows fault. If ATI and Windows XP don't get along: 1) Why would ATI claim their card are XP compatible? 2) Why would they release XP drivers? 3) Why was I able, through old ATI software, to get the capturing to work correctly?
I wish I knew which threads, where, and by whom, I have to thank for this fix. If, by chance you DO ead this, thank you.

[almostaborted]

so much for it being a piece of garbage huh?

[FOO]

I would say that Bill gates should be shot, but I'm
afraid I'll get another little yellow pillow for being mean.

[jdizzy40]

Can I get a little yellow pillow to see what it looks like. No just kidding. Glad to see you got it working. Alot of good suggestions by folks. I have several ATI AIW products. All top line 9700/8500DV/9000. Two run a dual TV Tuner setup. All perform flawless captures. I run a dedicated PVR box and use a WIN PVR 250. Best MPEG 2 TV capture card to use with a 3rd party TIVO program. My real beef is with NVIDA. Not to get off post but I spend 500 $$$$ for the FX 5900 Ultra and they can't give you a full version of NVDVD. They want another 25 bucks, to be able to capture clips and audio. Talk about getting clipped twice. Enough said. Yellow pillow please.

[Bogeybum21]

No, I STILL think it's a piece of garbage. Come on, the damn thing hasn't worked right since the day I bought it, till now, and you think that, all of a sudden, since it is finally working, that THAT is quality? No. Quality is taking it out of the baox, and it doing what the company said it would do. By the time I got it to work, it had become obsolete!

[lordsmurf]

No, I STILL think it's a piece of garbage. Come on, the damn thing hasn't worked right since the day I bought it, till now, and you think that, all of a sudden, since it is finally working, that THAT is quality? No. Quality is taking it out of the baox, and it doing what the company said it would do. By the time I got it to work, it had become obsolete!

No offense, but that's not the card's fault. It's yours. I remember being in the same boat myself for almost a year. I just didn't know how to use the ATI AIW cards. They're full of features, which the side effect is that it has a learning curve. It won't jump out of the box and just "do it for you" as we have both learned. I had to learn. In fact I learned a lot. And I wrote www.lordsmurf.com to help others out, and as a place where I could keep my own ATI notes online.

I'm trying to learn bass guitar right now. By your logic, it's a "piece of junk" because I can't get it to work right away. It's gonna take time and practice, this I know, and I accept it as part of my music hobby.

I would be a fool to think I could just "do it" right away, and I realize I was one when I thought I could be a DVD-making madman by merely buying a DVD burner and a capture card all those years ago, without learning video or practice applying that knowledge.

[FOO]

I think that ATI could have done better with software.
I'v had one for years and there has always been some
wierd irritating problem. I always get the latest versions.

Installs for example could just install without uninstalling
things.

I still have 3 issues pending.
1. Capturing AVI with PicVideo MJPEG always has a 650 ms audio offset.
That's easy to fix, but still irritating.
2. With Picvideo, sometimes the scheduled capture won't start. You have
been waiting months for a rare movie that comes on at 2 in the morning
and it doesn't get it.
3. Sometimes I get captures with a duplicated frame or 2 every second
without duplicated audio. That's hard to fix. That hasn't happend in months though

[almostaborted]

try different software...there are tons available...virtualdub, virtual vcr, so on so forth

you shouldn't expect to get everything working the first time and if you do that's actually kind of unfortunate cos you learn less that way

[lordsmurf]

I think that ATI could have done better with software.

Yeah, but that's to be said about anything.

On my ATI wish list is:
1. A capture log with dropped frames reporting. I don't always watch my captures.
2. Updates that will do the entire process, even if it includes uninstalling prior software.
3. Updates should function better, and not remove features that previously worked just fine. Of course Ahead (Nero) and Microsoft also suffer from that problem, just to name a few others.
4. Change the damned presets to something that isn't total crap, including turning off the deinterlace filter by default.
5. Fix VIA chipset problems. It's not like that's new or anything.
6. Attempt to add an audio sync feature for those having issues.
7. Allow the software to function with non-ATI cards. Smart software that can do pure software MPEG encodes when an ATI card is not present.
8. Better documentation. The books and pamphlets that come with the cards are good for little more than kindling in the winter.

To be fair though, ATI meant it's card to capture uncompressed AVI and MPEG1 and MPEG2, the MJPEG and other codec support is just a bonus. Most likely an afterthought altogether.

[Bogeybum21]

Smurf, don't take me for a fool. I DO know how to use it. Did you even read my post? I'm not using it any different now than I did before. It's just that now, it's working. I know EXACTLY how to use the features. Your bass would be a piece of junk if it didn't emit any notes, no matter what what you did, right? So why would my card be any different. What do you take me for? I'm not some newbie, who just came on the scene. I've been doing this for some time. At least three to four years, to be exact.
This condescending attitude with people that think "Oh, well they just don't know what they are doing, llike me" is getting old. If you ACTUALLY READ my post, you will see that I was simply hitting the record button (ohh, that's tough!), and the thing wouldn't actually RECORD. That is, until I rolled back to older drivers, and software. Still hitting Record the same way! Now, it workie!
By the way, I play bass, AND guitar, AND drums, AND sing. How's that for condescending?
Foo, I agree. ATI really needs to do better with their software. Prior to buying this card, I was told by several people to avoid ATI, and I should've listened.
Almostaborted, I DID try other software. WinDVR did it to me, as well. The issue is probably in ATI's drivers itself. I DON'T epext to get everything to work right the first time. However, I expect it to work eventually. But it's been 3 years that I have had this card, and this thing has given me different problems the whole way. At no point, till now, has this thing worked as it has supposed to. It took using drivers and software (some that were never approved for WInXP use) to get this thing to work.

[lordsmurf]

Your bass would be a piece of junk if it didn't emit any notes, no matter what what you did, right?

What if I didn't put the strings on correctly? That's the kind of analogy I'm going for. And our definitions and outlook on "condescending" must be different. I was honestly trying to help you, but at the same time trying to defend the reputation of a card that I know works. If you're so set on dumping it, go ahead, I won't bother trying to help you anymore. And now we part...

[Bogeybum21]

In what way did you help? You blamed either me, or Microsoft, instead of where the problem was, ATI.
Looking back, I agree the bass analogy was bad. I do think you are stretching it a bit with the incorrectly installed strings scenario, though. How about a car that, when you turn the key, doesn't start, even though it's brand new, and fueled up? Is it my fault? I put the key in right. I turned it right. Looking back at my notes, I did use this combination of drivers and software before, in WinXp. That was when it was last known to be working, and I did a DVD project for my family, and I was payed to do a DVD project of a wedding video for family of a friend. Then, I decided to update my ATI Software. After that, that is when the problem started.
How about a quote from someone else that had the same problem:

"I just upgraded to an 8500DV.

Before that, I had a 7200 AIW, and the combination of drivers you mention worked beautifully for me! In fact, it was the ONLY combination of drivers that would work for me in XP. Catalyst 3.x, forget it.

I'm glad I upgraded though. "

This is just one of many others with this problem. Do a search at Rage3D.com's forums, and you'll see.
Either way, the problem is solved