VideoHelp Forum




+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 20 of 20
  1. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    We built a new computer (pentium 4, 2.4 gig, 500 meg memory); then re-installed our ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro card..

    We previously had ATI Media Center 8.1 installed - BUT since my wife put the original cd away, quote- "Someplace where it wouldn't get lost".. she has since forgotten where she put it.. (in other words, it's LOST) - SO.. we downloaded the ATI Multimedia Center 9.6 and installed that.

    Everything works EXCEPT the CAPTURE function.. when I click on the little video camera.. immediately a box pops up identifying itself as the "RManager" and stating that "the Parameter is incorrect"... when I "right click" on the video camera, the "Show Recording Panel" is "GREYED OUT".

    Soooo. I'm baffled.. The capture function simply won't work. The ATI Media Center 8.1 worked extremely well, on the old computer.. BUT this new ATI Media Center 9.6 doesn't seem to work at all in regard to captureing.. which - frankly - is what we have mostly used it for in the past.

    Anyone have a good idea regarding how to get the capture function to work again ? Thanks !
    Quote Quote  
  2. Aging Slowly Bodyslide's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    A Different Timeline
    Search Comp PM
    If I'm not mistaken you also need to download and install the CATALYST 5.3 , this includes the Capture Driver.

    https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27

    Another Good Link on the ATI
    http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33738545
    Quote Quote  
  3. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    dFAQ.us/lordsmurf
    Search Comp PM
    Go get ATI MMC 8.7 .... they have previous downloads on the ATI site.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    Thanks for your reply; well... I dunno. My wife is a network engineer, she installs everything around here; I was out of the room when she installed the ATI software..I LOOKED, yes.. the CATALYST 5.3 HAS been downloaded.. BUT I don't see it listed in the "Add and Remove Programs" in the control panel.. maybe she downloaded it;got distracted during the installation process.. and failed to install the catalyst 5.3 driver. Yeah, I know..but it's happened before.

    She's at work at the moment.. I'll call her.. BUT - if she doesn't remember if she installed it, can I install the Catalyst Driver again OVER the present installation ? OR should I just uninstall ALL of the ATI software, and start over ?

    Thanks again for your help ~

    Ring-a-ding-ding!
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    LordSmurf. I LOOKED for ATI's Multimedia Center 8.1 on the ATI site.. but I cannot FIND anything BUT the ATI media Center 9.6, OR the older ATI media Center 7.xx series..

    Ummm; ..can ya throw me a link to the specific page where the ATI Multimedia Center 8.7 might be found ? 'cause I've LOOKED, but ya know- the way the ATI site is set up, it's a wonder that anyone can find anything they're looking for !

    Thanks again for your help !~



    Ring-a-ding-ding!
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    Lordsmurf, Never mind that request.. I found it - I've a question though..what should I also download in addition to the ATI MMC 8.7 ? There's a buncha software packages in that section..ooo I probably should UN-install the newer ATI software that I have now, before I install the 8.7 version, right ?

    Thanks again ~

    Ring-a-ding-ding!~
    Quote Quote  
  7. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    greatsinatrafan,

    You can download the older versions of the Catalyst drivers and control panel here:

    http://www2.ati.com/drivers/wxp-w2k-7-95-031028m-011774c.exe
    http://www2.ati.com/drivers/control-panel-7-95-031028m-011774c.exe

    And the MMC software here:

    http://www2.ati.com/drivers/mmc-8-7-0-0.exe

    You'll be out of luck for the DVD player without the original CD. However, that's solved easy enough with WinDVD. Which, buy the way, has a much better MPEG2 codec for captures. I noticed a huge difference doing this. Much smoother (less jagged edges) and richer colors.

    I'd recommend downloading the MMC 8.7 package and using that. Its a very solid build. To install the package. You should first uninstall ANYTHING that's been installed by ATI currently and go for a fresh new install. To clean things up, I'd recommend this:

    http://www2.ati.com/drivers/cat-uninstaller.exe

    It'll make sure things are clean. Here's the steps you should take:

    1 - Set your video card to generic VGA.
    2 - Uninstall all your ATI software.
    3 - Run the cleanup utility to make sure.
    4 - Install your Catalyst driver software.
    5 - Install WinDVD (I guess PowerDVD or anything else that provides an MPEG2 codec will do. Not sure, I've only done it with WinDVD v4).
    6 - Install MMC.
    7 - Rebuild your presets as necessary and capture to your hearts desire.
    8 - Get rid of the kids, pets, relatives; Aquire a nice bottle of wine. Then explain to your wife what she owes you for making you go through all this trouble for 'putting the disc in a safe place'. Because now, you have something you want to keep in her 'safe place'.
    Have a good one,

    neomaine

    NEW! VideoHelp.com F@H team 166011!
    http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=166011

    Folding@Home FAQ and download: http://folding.stanford.edu/
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    Thanks much for your advice, neomaine..I think I've downloaded everything in that section..including the capture driver, which; since it doesn't seem to be installed, might be the very thing that that won't allow me to capture..

    .. will do exactly as you've recommended.. ~~!

    Thanks again..


    Ring-a-ding-ding!
    Quote Quote  
  9. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    Neomaine, I've done everything as you have suggested above..I've UNinstallled all of the ATI software, then, installed the Catalyst drivers, then installed the ATI MMC 8.7, as LordSmurf suggested earlier. however.. the "Show Recording Panel" is STILL "greyed out".. and I STILL cannot record or capture anything at all.

    I'm stumped. I dunno what else to do ! Any other suggestions, ya'll ? Lordsmurf.. what do you think may be the problem ?

    Pardon if I can't respond for a while.. I have to run some errands, but I'll be back later.

    Thanks again !

    Ring-a-ding-ding !
    Quote Quote  
  10. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    dFAQ.us/lordsmurf
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by neomaine
    Which, buy the way, has a much better MPEG2 codec for captures. I noticed a huge difference doing this. Much smoother (less jagged edges) and richer colors.
    No. This is all wrong.

    ATI MMC captures with it's own encoder system which is heavily based on Ligos. Nothing can change this. You really don't want to change this. ATI's hardware and software is what creates those excellent MPEG files.

    The ATI DVD Player is based on Cineplayer, which has a crappy playback codec. The WinDVD codec (Intervideo) is probably not all that much better. Cyberlink (PowerDVD) is definitely cleaner, but PowerDVD has errors with playing back certain authors (which are still 100% compliant). Use whatever works best. Hardware decoders (DVD players) are a better choice. Watching on the computer sucks.

    Originally Posted by GreatSinatraFan
    I'm stumped. I dunno what else to do ! Any other suggestions, ya'll ? Lordsmurf.. what do you think may be the problem ?
    Find the uninstall tool at ATI. They moved stuff around recently, so don't ask me where it is. Just go look around. That's how I found ATI MMC 8.7 earlier.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
    Quote Quote  
  11. Member GreatSinatraFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Dallas Texas
    Search Comp PM
    Hey ya'll... I found the "CONTROL PANEL DRIVER" at the ATI site.. and it stalled THAT.. then took at shower while the computer rebooted.. when I came back.. I pulled up the ATI tv.. and hit the record button,...and whaddya know ! The thing FINALLY worked !!!

    Thanks Neomaine, and Lordsmurf for all your help this morning.. couldn't have figured out what was wrong without ya ~!




    Ring-a-ding-ding!~
    Quote Quote  
  12. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    lordsmurf,

    Well, it can't be all wrong. Though I understand that ATI is 'hardware assisted' mpeg encoding, here is what I ran into. Maybe you can help me understand how it worked or what the real answer is. Please don't pick a fight I'm just trying to understand what I ran into.

    (I figure that greatsinatrafan has found his solution so that moderatly hijacking his thread should be too bad...)

    The first time I ran into this (using WinDVD, so I think anyway) was when upgrading MMC to version 8.x, or around that version (it may of even been 7.7). Anyway, I was under the impression that you couldn't record mpeg2 without the DVD player software installed.

    This seemed to be confirmed when I went to go reinstall a downloaded MMC and DVD player software to be used with a trusty AIW 32mb DDR. The DVD player would not install without an original CD. I had the one (v7.0?) from my original purchase that no longer fit the install requirements, too old. I figured, so what, I'll use WinDVD anway for watching movies and installed it. Everything worked just fine. That is, I was still able to capture mpeg2. Didn't think anything of it, but did see a noticeable jump in capture quality. Figured the new drivers and such have helped things out.

    However, a while later, I lost my hard drive and had to rebuild. Not a problem, I've been through this before. (The wonderfull early days of ATI installs...). So I install my capture software, control panel and MMC. Didn't really care about watching DVDs so I didn't bother with installing WinDVD. However, I had no mpeg2 option in MMC!!

    Then I checked out videohelp.com for possible answers and ran into someone who used WinDVD. This rang a bell with my previous setup so I installed WinDVD again and now was able to capture to mpeg2 once again with the quality I was used to.

    Now, using my AIW 9600XT, I've got the same setup. No ATI DVD Player but using WinDVD.

    So, I still stand by the fact that you cannot capture mpeg2, via MMC, if you don't install DVD software. Regardless if its ATIs DVD Player or (that I know of) WinDVD.

    PS: I'm building a couple of new machines in the next week or so and plan to test this scenario out again. I don't like feeding wrong information any more then you probably like reading it. I'll report back regardless of the outcome.
    Have a good one,

    neomaine

    NEW! VideoHelp.com F@H team 166011!
    http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=166011

    Folding@Home FAQ and download: http://folding.stanford.edu/
    Quote Quote  
  13. Neo - This is interesting, SFAIK the hardware-assisted features of ATI cards work only with their Ravisent Mpeg codec.

    From what I see, you have not tested cap with ATI codec versus WinDVD codec. You have tested MMC 7.x versus MMC 8.x. Only way to test codec difference would be to install and uninstall the two codecs with the SAME version of MMC.

    I have capped with same MMC both before and after installing WinDVD, though I did not at that time uninstall the Ravisent codec. Did get much better playback thru WinDVD, fewer pauses and better audio synch.

    I remember at one point removing the ATI codec, though I no longer remember why or what the results were. Don't recall any significant cap improvement, though. Those changes I keep.
    Quote Quote  
  14. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    dFAQ.us/lordsmurf
    Search Comp PM
    "codecs" are for decoding.

    The ATI encoder cannot be changed anymore than you can change Procoder or TMPG or MainConcept. It's integrated, and nothing you do will change this.

    The ATI MMC is needed for the hardware assist.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
    Quote Quote  
  15. Not certain about the integration, but it is self evident that "CoDec" is for Coding/Decoding.

    What, you never made a Divx or Xvid Encode using the appropriate CoDec?
    Quote Quote  
  16. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    If anyone is still interested, I've continued the latest discussion in this thread:

    https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=262193
    Have a good one,

    neomaine

    NEW! VideoHelp.com F@H team 166011!
    http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=166011

    Folding@Home FAQ and download: http://folding.stanford.edu/
    Quote Quote  
  17. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    dFAQ.us/lordsmurf
    Search Comp PM
    But not for MPEG ... AVI yes, MPEG no
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!