newbee needs help with ATI's AIW radeon video capturing...

[Webster]

Greeting all,

This newbee need major helps on how to set up to capture video with the ATI's all-in-wonder Radeon AGP. I've been trying to get it to work for the past 3 weeks since I received it! I've read all the posts concering the ATI's AIW card and so far none of them solved my problem.

First off, my set up:

Mobo = FIC AZ-11 (VIA KT133 with VT686A south bridge chipset) Mobo was updated with VIA's driver 4in1 version 4.33 (latest)
CPU = Duron 950 MHz
RAM = 512 Meg (PC133 @ CAS 3 Latency)
Graphic card = ATI's AIW 32MB DDR retail.
Hard-drive = Maxtor's 20.0GB Ultra DMA/100 IDE Hard Drive, 7200 rpm.
OS = window 98SE

What I have done:

1.) Installed using the CD which came with the card (MMC 7.1). I was able to capture MPEG2 at best quality setting for about 60 to 90 seconds then the screen went black and the computer froze. I can still hear the sound comming through but couldn't get the keyboard or mouse to work. At the best quality capturing, I've got about 10-12% frames drop.

2.) Trying to capture at VCD quality I have no frames drop. But still the same problem. The computer came up with a blank screen and mouse and keyboard is nonresponsive after 3 to 5 minutes. A coulple of time, I even get that dreaded blue screen warning some illigal function at some video address (can't remember exactly what the address is right now.)

3.) I can watch TV, play MPEG1, MPEG2, AVI, VCD clips with little trouble. Once in a while, the screen/computer does freeze up though.

4.) Thinking that the computer may have some other drivers which are in conflict with the ATI's drivers, I reformated and do a clean installation of Window 98SE. Installed the Drivers for the Mobo. Then installed in the following order:
a.) DirectX 8a
b.) Microsoft's DirectX-8 Video Capture Update.
c.) AIW Drivers - 4.13.7075 (I've also tried a bunch of older driver, still no luck.)
d.) ATI Multimedia Center 7.1
e.) No other program was install on this set up.

Result: still the same as above. The darn thing froze after a few minutes. At this point I'm thinking that the FIC AZ-11 is not compatable with the capturing card.

If anyone have any idea how to get this thing to capture correctly, please let me know. Otherwise, I think I'm going to have to get another Mobo and CPU for the video capture setup. Please let me know which MoBo and CPU set up you do have that is working. That way, I don't have to go thru this major headache again. This is extremely frustrating.

Sorry for the long post, and thank you for your time.

Webster.

[gimp]

Webster,
I have the same problems with my AIW 32MB DDR AGP also. The damn thing works fine in capture then all of a sudden it says $@*! you not working today. I have tryed different drivers, reinstalled windows 98SE, you name it I've done it. I am still trying to fix this thing. I'll keep you updated on progress. I'm also thinking about a different card altogether..

[Steve_h]

Webster: Welcome to ATI AIW hell. Your stay here will be one of frustration and torment until one day in the weeks or months to come you happen to accidently hit upon the right combination of drivers/hardware/OS/patches/bios settings/etc,etc. If you survive you might even come to like the card and will then be able to dispense advice to others that will not work for them.

The AMD/VIA chipset/Radeon combination means trouble but it can be made to work. Do a search on this site. I have this setup with Win98se. A few suggestions:
1) Set your bios and memory settings to conservative values until the Radeon card works. Then tweak the bios.
2) Keep the Radeon on its own interrupt. Keep the sound card separate in all ways from the Radeon card.
3) The 3063 driver is the only one that worked for me.
4) Use ctrl/alt/del to stop all processes except Explorer, Systray, and the ATI stuff before starting to capture.

I've got the AIW Radeon 32mb DDR with MMC7.1.

Good luck.

[next]

I run an AZ-11 with a 1.2 Thunderbird and an AIW pro 128 with no problems. Both the AIW 128 and the Radeon have the same Rage Theatre chip. I'm not sure how it would work with a Duron but I don't think it's your problem.

I looked at how you installed and you are missing some important things. There is a great guide for the AIW 128 (which should help with your Radeon as well) here:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/ATI_AIW_Guide.htm

I think your biggest mistakes are the following:

1. You should install the online version of MMC 7.1. Not the version that is included on the install CD.

2. It is very important to install DVD Player 4.1 which can be found at the ATI site. This fixes a number of capture problems. This should be installed even if you do not have a DVD Rom player.

3. Best quality you mention is 640x480 at 8 mps. That's asking way to much from your system. Yes you will drop frames like crazy with that setting.

4. You must also run your Radeon and your sound card on seperate IRQ's. Look in device manager and see if this is a problem.

5. You did not mention the brand of your sound card. SB Live cards can create all kinds of problems.

I've got AIW 128's running on three boxes with no problems. Follow the guide on this site and you should be OK.

edit -

I should add that I run into problems capturing mpeg2 at 480x480 or 640x480. MMC 7.1 has a tendency to freeze at these resolutions when you begin a capture. The common work around for this is to do a capture using the VCD default settings for about 3 or 4 seconds. Stop the capture and cancel the file save and then switch to your mpeg2 480x 480 or 640x480 settings. This will eliminate any freezing problems.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: next on 2001-10-02 16:27:22 ]</font>

[akbar56]

My soulution? Install WebTV for windows.
Cant explain why but it fixed all my capture problems running on my Radeon AIW.

[next]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-02 17:13:34, akbar56 wrote:
My soulution? Install WebTV for windows.
Cant explain why but it fixed all my capture problems running on my Radeon AIW.


</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

I've heard the same although I haven't given it a try because I have no problems. Good suggestion.

[patrickm]

install ATI DVD 4.1 update. it fixes a lot of the capture freezes. also turn off the VIA AGP driver viagart.vxd, that helps a lot of times as well.

[PC Master]

I too have an ATI AIW (mine's a 128 AGP 16MB). The problems I have read about almost always include a Duron (like I have) and a VIA chipset (usually the KT133 varieties like I have).

I had the same lockup problem. Uninstall all drivers & software. DO NOT UNINSTALL VIA AGP DRIVER! This will prevent any AGP card from installing properly! (I have the KT133 set and have used 4 diff. AGP boards) Reload the VIA 4-in-1s. Set the VIA AGP in standard - not turbo - mode. Reload DX and vidcap update. Reload all ATI drivers manually (INF method). Reboot. If the display does not show high resolutions correctly/at all, reload the 4-in-1s again. Reload software. Install DVD 4.1 update. This should fix your problem.

next,

I have a SBLive. I also have audio problems (other than sync issues). I have popping noises approx. every 1/2 second in any MPEG2 capture (particuarly interested in 480x480 SVCD). VCD works fine. I removed the SBLive, replaced it with both my onboard sound card, and with a Aureal Vortex2PCI board. Any other suggestions for fixing my problem?

[next]

PS Master -

I ran into serious sound popping problems when I set the VCD subkey in the registry to 1 for SVCD captures. It is important to make sure this subkey is set to 0 for SVCD captures. For XVCD mpeg1 captures setting this key to 1 works great but for SVCD mpeg2 captures it creates the popping you describe.

[energy80s]

SB Live cards don't work with VIA chipset motherboards. Creative Labs has known this all along but won't officially acknowlege it. Apparently the new cards (can't remember their name) will correct this. In the meantime, find the nearest dustbin and drop your SB Live card into it - that's all its fit for!

(mine's in the bin already!!)

[hyperwolf]

I had this kind of probs once & i have this "mystical " combination [amd-via-ati]. First i got rid of my sb live and it coorected all my audio probs , then i found out that somehow i had to update a driver for agp which is viagart or something like this to the latest version (see via site).
In my case it did the magic. By the way i had these problems in win98se & winMe , and now they both work like babies.....
Hope this can be of any help, i know the freekin' headaches it can give.

[neomaine]

Hi folks, another AMD/VIA/ATI user here. Like others I started in kaos and workd my way out to nirvana. Really, I couldn't be happier...

Here is what I have:
- Biostar M7MIA DDR, AMD 761/VIA chipset
- AMD 1.2/266 CPU
- AIW Radeon AGP 32DDR
- Using onboard sound (SB 64AWE in the can)
- WinME (upgrade from Win9

Here is what I used:

- VIA 4in1
- VIA Miniport driver (a must)
- MS DirectX 8a
- MS DirectX 8 Video Capture Update.
- AIW Drivers - 4.13.7075
- ATI Multimedia Center 7.1
- ATI DVD 4.1
- ATI registry hack for full VCD compliance.
- Defrag once a week (lots of captures and ripps)

Misc;
- Simca Copymaster ($39US) for macrofree captures. Now I don't worry about ATI's wonderfull macro issues or even wether or not my VCR or DVD standalone have macro (or have to buy another VCR or DVD with mods!). Be sure to use good cables though, made a big difference for me.
- 95% capture to VCD (using ATI registry tool and settings from this site).
- Nero to burn to CDRW. (Look at Circuit City for deals on CDRW's, usually only 5 packs, but the rebates make them virtually free!)

Now if only EXOTV will release v5 for north america...

[Webster]

Thanks to all those responsed to my post.

Steve_h, the only processes in my system are Explorer, Systray, and the ATI stuff. I tried to download 3063 driver from the Rage's unofficial site but have trouble doing so. Do you know of another site that have this driver?

Next, I did follow the procedure stated at http://www.vcdhelp.com/ATI_AIW_Guide.htm to the letter. Still no luck. I did used both of the online version of MMC 7.1. and the version that is included on the install CD. Same result on both, no go. As for the sound card, I used the Motherboard integrated sound (Sigmatel STAC9744T AC 97 CODEC). The DVD Player 4.1 is installed in my system. As a side note, I should also mention that I have the same problem capturing with VirtualDub-1_4_7 using the Radeon first driver (3056). I haven't try to do a VCD capture then switch to MPGE2 yet, I'll give it a try. But I'm not that concern about capture MPEG2 that much. All I want to do is capture in VCD format right now.

PC Master, up till now, I only installed using the turbo mode for installation. I'll give the standard mode a try to see if it work.

An addition note. I forgot to mention in my original post. After I istalled all the drivers, when the monitor is set at 640 x 480, the screen flickering constanstly. The flicker stop when I changed the resolution to something else other than 640x480. I don't think this is normal. Does anyone know what cause this?

I'll try to work to solve my problem with this card for a couple more weeks. If it doesn't work by then, I'll get myself a Pentium board and CPU. Any suggestion what I should get?

Again, thank you to all those responded. I'm kinda new at this, so please forgive my ignorance.

Webster.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Webster on 2001-10-03 10:42:08 ]</font>

[neomaine]

Forgive your ingnorance? NO WAY!!! That's what this site is all about!!

[Steve_h]

Webster, I downloaded my 3063 driver from somewhere on the http://www.rage3d.com site. While later drivers may work, this is the only one that enables me to capture MPEG-2 480x480 30fps with zero frame drops on my 1GHz Athlon. However, I haven't checked out any new drivers for the last couple of months.

[Webster]

Steve_h, that is the site I tried to download from. Everytime I click on the download link, I get the HTTP 404 error.
Cruser.

[Webster]

Hi all, just an update. ATI tech support contacted me. And after many emails/suggestion from them (and another week of installing/re-installing OS/drivers/patches etc...Sheese, what a waste of time!), I decided to give up on running the AIW card on the AMD/VIA/ATI combo. Just for the heck of it, I put the card into my old Pentium II 400MHz/ECS BX motherboard, 256MB PC100 and installed the ATI driver right out of the box. Imagine my shock when the darn thing work without a hickup!!! I was able to capture VCD without frame drop. I've changed the bitrate up to 3 using MMC_Reg_Tool by Stinky (thanks a lot Stinky and Next for this great little utility.) The thing capture without any frame drop. Burn to CD with Nero and watch CD in Apex 500W without problem.
And to think, I bought the FIC motherboard and Duron CPU exclusively for the video capturing with the AIW card (because of its speed and computing power) in the first place!!! LOL
Now it is time for me to start to experiment with different programs and setting.........

Webster.