ATi AIW 9600 Problems

[Neon612]

I've had a 9600 for a while now. it worked fine for about a year after we bought it, then it all went downhill. it just plain wouldn't work, i would get the splash screen but nothing else. so i just left it alone.

Sometime last summer my hard drive crashed so i had to completely reinstall all my programs, including the drivers for the Video Card. And to my astonishment it worked fine until somewhere in October when my comp did something funny, like it couldn't find Windows or something. But anyway, after that little incident was over it worked fine again until about the beginning of February. I got the splash screen and an unable to start TV dialog box, so i reinstalled the software again, it worked for two weeks. then the only "TV" it could find was Video In. I reinstalled it again. It worked for a week. Unable to start TV, reinstall work for a few days, unable to start TV, reinstall, install updated drivers, works for one day. ONE DAY.

IS there anyway i can fix this that does not involve getting a new video card? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Nelson37]

Several possibilities.

The hard drive crash, (was it replaced? Need more information), coupled with windows doing "something funny", coupled with erratic software operation, points to a significant possibility of hard drive error. Run extensive and thorough diagnostics for 24 hours or so.

When ATI software screws up, it is best to completely remove all traces of it and start over from a clean installation. Complete instructions available at Rage3d.

The fact that it fails, then works after a re-install, then fails again repeatedly points not to the card, but to the software installation somehow being corrupted. Couple that with reported serious hard drive errors, seems like a possibility.

Usually if a card is bad it will fail and then never work again.

[sanlyn]

Sounds like hardware...sort of. If your crash of a while back involved the hard drive you're still using, don't re-use it. Get a new one.

I had a similarly mysterious problem with ATI a couple years back: TV would not initialize and MMC lost all my capture/recording setups and refused to remember new ones. I later traced this to (probably) optional, non-critical stuff from Windows Update-- "new" ATI drivers, "new" MDAC updates, etc., from Windows' update site. NEVER use drivers from this site, go for the Windows critical or security updates only. For drivers, go to the people who made your device.

I note you stated your computer "couldn't find Windows" at one time. That would -NOT- be a gaphics software problem. That's hardware, period. Could be the hard drive, the drive controller, a drive cable (mmm, that's a possibility. Don't use IDE drive cables longer than 18"). Did you take a look at Device Manager and check if any devices have interrupt or memory address conflicts? If you have lots of RAM chips, many hard and/or optical drives, multiple USB plug-in devices, 5 USB memory cards sticking out of your computer, etc., etc., and you are still using the 250-watt power supply that came with your PC, then you have very serious voltage problems. Get, at the very least, a high-quality 400-watt power supply or bigger.

Having repaired a few hundred PC's myself, I'd say you need to take your puter to a good shop (not Circuit City, for god's sake) and have them look it over. Reinstalling ATI drivers, or even reinstalling Windows, won't solve it.

If you have a Dell PC, well.....

[dj4monie]

That's strange...

I've had the same ATI card for almost 3 years with no major problems that I haven't caused myself.

What WDM drivers and MMC are you using?

[edDV]

I find that ATI MMC/DAO/MDAC software gets corrupted over time and needs periodic reinstall at first signs of problems. It won't heal itself.

In order to get rid of it all Catalyst and GuidePlus must be deleted and reinstalled as well. ATI now has a total removal tool. I hope that works. GuidePlus is only found on the original CD for older AIW cards.

[lordsmurf]

I doubt the hardware is bad, sounds more like erratic ATI drivers. It happens. Trust me, I just re-did all my own ATI drivers/software on my main system. First time in about 2 years.

[edDV]

I doubt the hardware is bad, sounds more like erratic ATI drivers. It happens. Trust me, I just re-did all my own ATI drivers/software on my main system. First time in about 2 years.

Pray tell which versions we should use for a complete reinstall. I hope to do this tomorrow but I dread it.

My ATI list is:

AIW-8500DV
Saphire Theatrix 550 Pro tuner
Radeon 9550

I've been to Rage3D but they don't help much steering to the optimal versions for older cards.

[sanlyn]

I doubt the hardware is bad, sounds more like erratic ATI drivers. It happens.

True, and it's happened to me and others. But that doesn't answer some other strange behavior mentioned, such as not being to find Windows at bootup, etc. Even naughty ole ATI wouldn't cause that. Removing and reinstalling any card's drivers made by just about anyone requires a following a specified sequence -- not doing so could also cause problems. But I don't think it would involve failed bootup.

I was getting a blue-screen and page_fault errors. Thought it was Internet Explorer (that's usually when the blue screen popped up, when I'd go to a new site). Then, I thought it was ATI. Reinstalled a number of times. But no. Turned out it was my 200-w power supply. Replaced it with a better unit. No blue screen ever since. That was 4 years ago. I'd say those specific problems were likely not ATI's fault.

But...removing and re-installing improperly would explain the ATI tuner init problem. Also, I've found installing the "very latest" ATI drivers causes weird effects. Even ATI will tell you to use new drivers only if you're suffering the symptoms described in the docs for the new download (which we all read thoroughly, right?). I had a similar tuner init problem once, solved by going back to the original ATI CD and re-starting from there.