ATI X600 - MMC and drivers that work?

[JefeQuickTech]

Has anyone discovered a combo of Catalyst drivers and the MMC software that function (not crash) with the AIW X600 PRO 256M PCIE?

I am experiencing system crashes on every scheduled recording. Not intermittent crashes...it crashes every time. Stuttering audio on one-touch recordings. Stuttering audio when opening the Guide.


Here's what is not working now (this is the straight CD Install that came with the package):
MMC v9.03
Drivers v6.14.10.6490
ATI Control Panel v6.14.10.5131
ATI Decoder v3.02
ATI Display Driver (from Add/Remove) 8.072-....
ATI Remote Wonder v2.5.0.0
DAO v 3.5


I've also tried:
Drivers that came with the CD and MMC versions 9.06, 9.08, 9.13 (not successful)
catalyst v6.3 with MMC 9.13 (not successful)
Catalyst v6.3 with MMC 9.08 (not successful)
Catalyst v6.3 with MMC 9.06 (not successful)

The complete Windows XP SP2 system has been reloaded fresh (twice) from the disk format level. Everything else on the computer works very well.

Losing the Gemstar Guide is not an option. The Guide and unlimited HD size are the only reasons for owning this product instead of a stand alone unit.

I have used the ATI 8500DV on another system. It actually worked very well for me as a PVR. The Catalyst drivers and MMC 9.06 worked fine. My point: Is the X600 PCIE a real dog of a product? I can still return this product.

Have I contacted ATI tech support? If you've dealt with ATI in the past, you know that I might as well talk to my coffee mug...I'll get a slightly better response.

System details:

Product: ALL-IN-WONDER X600 PRO
Bus Type: PCI Express
Operating System: WINDOWS XP SP2 (All current updates though 3/18/2006)
System Manufacturer: CUSTOM BUILT
Motherboard Manufacturer: INTEL D945GTPLR
Processor: Pentium IV 3.0 GHZ
Memory Amount: 2.0GB
Sound Card Manufacturer: Intel Motherboard w/Audio
CD / DVD Manufacturer: LG ELECTRONICS
CD / DVD Model: GSA-4167BBLK

Help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[JefeQuickTech]

First I'd like to actually commend ATI Tech Support. Yes, apparently things have changed. I called, and after a short time on hold I talked to the first-tier tech support guy. He didn't know the answer. He immediately transferred me to the second tier. The second-tier guy knew exactly what had happened and what I needed to do to fix it.

Only one suggestion for ATI:
Why didn't you have the fix posted on the website? Was it in your best interests for me to spend 20 hours of battling and reloading over the weekend?

Here are the answers to make your ATI X600 PCIE work:

• Use Catalyst v6.2
  Use MMC 9.06.1

If you have already done the install before, you will need more information to get rid of the potential conflicts that will be lurking on your system. Here's how to clean all prior installs:

• Remove all ATI software from add/remove programs individually.
  
  If a Remote Wonder is used make sure the USB receiver is plugged in and then go to the Device Manager. Uninstall any entries for the Remote under USB Devices. Unplug the USB Receiver. Restart.
  
  Now run the ATI Uninstall Utility. Restart
  
  Go to registry and remove any ATI entries left under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
  
  Check for any ATI entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall and look at each GUIDs display name for ATI entries remove the GUID if found.
  
  Check for any ATI entries under
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products look at each GUID and the InstallProperties key, look at the Display Name for any ATI entry, if found remove the whole GUID.
  
  Exit Registry editor.
  
  Now browse to C:\Windows\INF and remove any OEM#.inf and the corresponding OEM#.pnf files that reference ATI. You look only in the OEM#.inf file.
  
  Next remove the C:\Program Files\ATI Multimedia Center folder and C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies folders if present.
  
  Restart
  
  Now you’re ready to install in the software bundle in the following order:
  1) Catalyst 6.2
  2) Dao/mdac
  3) DVD Decoder
  4) Multimedia Center 9.06.1

[DarrellS]

Thanks for the information, JefeQuickTech.

This should probably be pinned to the top for everyone who's having problems with newer ATI cards. My brother bought an ATI 9600 2006 Edition and has had nothing but problems since he bought it two months ago. We kept uninstalling and reinstalling the CD and even tried a couple of updates but nothing fixed the problems. He couldn't capture anything without crashing the system. The remote never worked right and he kept getting blue screen error messages that we couldn't make heads or tails from.

I saw your post and followed all the instructions to a tee and now everything works like a charm. All the different capture modes we tried look great. I wish I could get my old 64MB AIW VE (7500) to run on this setup but so far, the only thing that I can get it to work right with is the MMC 7.9 that's on the original disc and the TV reception isn't very good with that one.

[JefeQuickTech]

I am glad it helped you, DarrellS.

As I reread my post, I realized I did miss one aspect. You will still need to install the Gemstar Guide off of the original CD. (Although, you probably already did that.) Go to the Gemstar folder on the ATI Install CD to find the setup for it.

[DarrellS]

My brother was hoping he could get rid of the Gemstar feature anyway so it's perfect for him.

Thanks again for all the info.

[drak23]

JefeQuickTech - your post will be very helpful to me as well. The latest ATI catalyst drivers (6.5) may (or may not) resolve some of these issues but there is a new "feature" that caused me to spend several wasted hours troubleshooting.

I also had a good experience with ATI tech support (which goes a long way in having to deal with these issues). According to the person I spoke with, the new catalyst drivers do not pass through the audio to the sound card via the external "audio in" port on the sound card. As I'm sure you know the X600 (and most AIW's I think) comes with an integrated patch cable that goes from the AIW to the sound card's audio input. According to the tech, the new versions use the system bus as the old way was "too confusing for users".

However, the result of this is that 3rd-party capture software (such as VirtualDub and VirtualVCR) is not able to record the audio. Unless, of course, you cable the audio from your source directly into your sound card. This is what I'm currently doing, but then you can't take advantage of MMC's features (because now it doesn't get the audio). So you have to re-cable every time you use one or the other.

Most frustrating. I'm hoping the versions you describe will re-enable the old behavior so I can use MMC AND VirtualDub. Or maybe someone has a tweak or workaround...

Regards,