The BS just never f'n ends with ATI

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matt Ion
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Matt Ion

So I got sick of Guide+ crashing and endless fruitless attempts to remove and
reinstall it, so I tried updating the ATI drivers to the latest version, and
then updating my MMC 9.08 to 9.15. Despite almost everyone here always saying
you have to completely remove all ATI software before upgrading, I got one
response to my last rant saying that he never uninstalled before updating... so
I tried simply updating MMC. It SEEMED to work... except the TV app was still
stuck at 9.08, and Guide+ STILL didn't work.

So I did a complete removal, using the appropriate removal tool, checked that
all affected folders and registry keys were properly removed, then reinstalled
the latest Catalyst drivers (WITHOUT the bloated CCC POS), then the UCI, XCODE,
DVD, and MMC components (in that order), rebooting when instructed to.

Great... now the TV won't start up AT ALL. Instead I get the splash sceen -
after about 30 seconds - and then 30 seconds after that goes away, the good ol'
error box, "Unable to start TV: The TV player failed to initialize. Check the
Windows Device Manager to ensure that the correct vieo driver has been installed
and is working properly before attempting to restart the TV."

Well the Device Manager shows something new under "Sound, video and game
controllers": "ATI T200 Unified AVStream Driver". WTF???

Just what the hell does it take to make this shit WORK???

This Radeon 9800 AIW is about 10 seconds from going out the window...

Or better yet, maybe I should grind it into a nice little pile of white powder
and mail it back to ATI.
 
Matt Ion said:
So I got sick of Guide+ crashing and endless fruitless attempts to remove and
reinstall it, so I tried updating the ATI drivers to the latest version, and
then updating my MMC 9.08 to 9.15. Despite almost everyone here always saying
you have to completely remove all ATI software before upgrading, I got one
response to my last rant saying that he never uninstalled before updating... so
I tried simply updating MMC. It SEEMED to work... except the TV app was still
stuck at 9.08, and Guide+ STILL didn't work.

So I did a complete removal, using the appropriate removal tool, checked that
all affected folders and registry keys were properly removed, then reinstalled
the latest Catalyst drivers (WITHOUT the bloated CCC POS), then the UCI, XCODE,
DVD, and MMC components (in that order), rebooting when instructed to.

Great... now the TV won't start up AT ALL. Instead I get the splash sceen -
after about 30 seconds - and then 30 seconds after that goes away, the good ol'
error box, "Unable to start TV: The TV player failed to initialize. Check the
Windows Device Manager to ensure that the correct vieo driver has been installed
and is working properly before attempting to restart the TV."

Well the Device Manager shows something new under "Sound, video and game
controllers": "ATI T200 Unified AVStream Driver". WTF???

Just what the hell does it take to make this shit WORK???

This Radeon 9800 AIW is about 10 seconds from going out the window...

Or better yet, maybe I should grind it into a nice little pile of white powder
and mail it back to ATI.
Click to expand...

ATI acknowledges that Guide+ doesn't work with 9.08. I don't know of any
real advantage of using 9.13-4-5 with an AIW9800 over 9.06.1, which does
work with Guide+. Theirs also a couple of more good reason not to use the
newer versions.

If you don't want to use CCC, use a version of Catalyst that doesn't require
it. If you stick with Cat6.1 or previous it won't have the Unified driver.
Just look for a version that still has Control Panel. It may be possible to
upgrade without uninstalling one time but after trying and failing a few
times it will look more like a waste of time. It's really a bad idea when
going to an older version.

Mailing powder, these days, would be a very bad idea!
 
Matt Ion said:
Well the Device Manager shows something new under "Sound, video and game
controllers": "ATI T200 Unified AVStream Driver". WTF???
Click to expand...

That driver controls the VIVO functions, I think of the Rage Theater chip
(or whatever they call it nowadays).
This Radeon 9800 AIW is about 10 seconds from going out the window...
Click to expand...

The modern way of disposing unwanted property is listing it on eBay...
Or better yet, maybe I should grind it into a nice little pile of white
powder and mail it back to ATI.
Click to expand...

It'll probably create an anthrax scare. :-) "Al Qaeda targeting US
high-technology assets overseas."
 
First said:
That driver controls the VIVO functions, I think of the Rage Theater chip
(or whatever they call it nowadays).
Click to expand...

Well, in this case, it isn't. It shows as all working properly in the Device
Manager, no yellow exclamation points or red X's, but now nothing can actually
use the "Theater chip".
The modern way of disposing unwanted property is listing it on eBay...
Click to expand...

Why would I want to inflict that kind of pain on some poor sap?
It'll probably create an anthrax scare. :-) "Al Qaeda targeting US
high-technology assets overseas."
Click to expand...

That's exactly the idea.
 
T said:
ATI acknowledges that Guide+ doesn't work with 9.08. I don't know of any
real advantage of using 9.13-4-5 with an AIW9800 over 9.06.1, which does
work with Guide+. Theirs also a couple of more good reason not to use the
newer versions.
Click to expand...

People keep telling me it doesn't work, but what pissed me off is that it DID
work. For MONTHS. And then out of nowhere started having issues.
If you don't want to use CCC, use a version of Catalyst that doesn't require
it.
Click to expand...

Well I've installed the full CCC now... still doesn't work. It's not the CCC
that's the issue, it the drivers for the tuner/video-in.
 
Well, the last set of drivers I could find that actually listed the
Control Panel version as a separate download was 5.9, so I'm
reinstalling those now... after once again, of course, doing a complete
removal of all old ATI software.

And so yet again we go through what's nearly an HOUR-LONG process for
the sake of experimenting with various combinations of drivers and
software versions to TRY to find something that will work reliably.

What really pisses me off now is that IF I should need to upgrade the
drivers for any OTHER reason, I can't do so without BREAKING the TV
functionality again.

MOTHERFUCKERS. This will be the last ATI product I ever buy.
 
Well, the last set of drivers I could find that actually listed the
Control Panel version as a separate download was 5.9, so I'm
reinstalling those now... after once again, of course, doing a complete
removal of all old ATI software.

And so yet again we go through what's nearly an HOUR-LONG process for
the sake of experimenting with various combinations of drivers and
software versions to TRY to find something that will work reliably.

What really pisses me off now is that IF I should need to upgrade the
drivers for any OTHER reason, I can't do so without BREAKING the TV
functionality again.

MOTHERFUCKERS. This will be the last ATI product I ever buy.
Click to expand...

Well there is always Nvidia.

Ill remain neutral here and say that you DO have other choices. There are
also lesser known 3D card options out there if you look hard enough.
 
This will be the last ATI product I ever buy.
Click to expand...

Well, of course, they are AMD now :-).

I don't have any problems with the straight video cards, but ATI
should scrap the All-In-Wonder line totally. If I ever want TV
on my PC, a separate tuner card from some company that only makes
tuner cards will be the way to go. The TV stuff is an afterthought
for ATI, and they have never gotten the software to all work as
advertised at the same time.
 
Tom Horsley said:
Well, of course, they are AMD now :-).

I don't have any problems with the straight video cards, but ATI
should scrap the All-In-Wonder line totally. If I ever want TV
on my PC, a separate tuner card from some company that only makes
tuner cards will be the way to go. The TV stuff is an afterthought
for ATI, and they have never gotten the software to all work as
advertised at the same time.
Click to expand...

Tom, FWIW I think you quoted incorrectly.

I did not post the above. I think "soundy@" did.
 
Gonzo said:
Well there is always Nvidia.

Ill remain neutral here and say that you DO have other choices. There are
also lesser known 3D card options out there if you look hard enough.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that woulda been fine advice to someone shopping for a card. Small
comfort to someone who's already bought it and has been fighting with lousy
drivers and software for the better part of a year and a half.
 
Matt Ion said:
People keep telling me it doesn't work, but what pissed me off is that it DID
work. For MONTHS. And then out of nowhere started having issues.


Well I've installed the full CCC now... still doesn't work. It's not the CCC
that's the issue, it the drivers for the tuner/video-in.
Click to expand...

9.15 seems to be different from previous versions in that MMC, the Encoder
and CCC appear to be linked. The encoder not being installed gives the error
you mentioned. CCC not being installed probably wouldn't let the encoder
install correctly. You need to install in the correct order to be sure of
complete installation. Don't forget CCC requires .NET.
 
T said:
9.15 seems to be different from previous versions in that MMC, the Encoder
and CCC appear to be linked. The encoder not being installed gives the error
you mentioned. CCC not being installed probably wouldn't let the encoder
install correctly. You need to install in the correct order to be sure of
complete installation. Don't forget CCC requires .NET.
Click to expand...

Well, it's moot now, because I've gone back to CCP 5.9 and MMC 9.06.1. I
usually resist ATI's updates specifically because of these kinds of issues, but
I was having other problems with MMC 9.08 that prompted me to FINALLY attempt
this latest update... man, what a mistake that was. Complete clusterfuck that
took literally hours of installs, uninstalls, reinstalls, re-uninstalls, and
re-reinstalls, before finally correcting it by taking a MAJOR step backward.

Here's another thing that irks me... there have always been at least three
downloads required for MMC - the appropriate driver, the DAO/MDAC or whatever
else it's called now, and the MMC package itself - as well the DVD app, if
applicable... you HAVE to have the right version of EACH for them all to get
along, and you HAVE to do it in the right order... well, WHY NOT JUST PACKAGE
THEM ALL AS ONE INSTALL???

Seriously, this is some of the most half-assed software installation I've ever
seen.
 
this latest update... man, what a mistake that was. Complete clusterfuck
that
took literally hours of installs, uninstalls, reinstalls, re-uninstalls, and
re-reinstalls, before finally correcting it by taking a MAJOR step
Click to expand...
backward.

That is a hard lesson to learn but one that will save you lots of time in
the future. I'm at 9.08 and will never upgrade again until I get another
card.
Here's another thing that irks me... there have always been at least three
downloads required for MMC - the appropriate driver, the DAO/MDAC or whatever
else it's called now, and the MMC package itself - as well the DVD app, if
applicable... you HAVE to have the right version of EACH for them all to get
along, and you HAVE to do it in the right order... well, WHY NOT JUST PACKAGE
THEM ALL AS ONE INSTALL???
Click to expand...

Gotta know the secret handshake as well.
Seriously, this is some of the most half-assed software installation I've ever
seen.
Click to expand...

The key is to get a stable system, get MMC working correctly and then don't
upgrade anything... ever again. I'm not a gamer so the latest drivers don't
do anything noticeable for me anyway and I capture to avi so the latest and
greatest MMC doesn't do anything for me either.

After a while you learn your lesson.
 
Matt Ion said:
Yeah, that woulda been fine advice to someone shopping for a card. Small
comfort to someone who's already bought it and has been fighting with
lousy drivers and software for the better part of a year and a half.
Click to expand...

Well then return it. Simple as that. What do you want from us? Pity?
 
Matt Ion said:
Well, it's moot now, because I've gone back to CCP 5.9 and MMC 9.06.1. I
usually resist ATI's updates specifically because of these kinds of issues, but
I was having other problems with MMC 9.08 that prompted me to FINALLY attempt
this latest update... man, what a mistake that was. Complete clusterfuck that
took literally hours of installs, uninstalls, reinstalls, re-uninstalls, and
re-reinstalls, before finally correcting it by taking a MAJOR step backward.

Here's another thing that irks me... there have always been at least three
downloads required for MMC - the appropriate driver, the DAO/MDAC or whatever
else it's called now, and the MMC package itself - as well the DVD app, if
applicable... you HAVE to have the right version of EACH for them all to get
along, and you HAVE to do it in the right order... well, WHY NOT JUST PACKAGE
THEM ALL AS ONE INSTALL???

Seriously, this is some of the most half-assed software installation I've ever
seen.
Click to expand...

I agree installation plus cleaning is getting to be too much.
People have been able to do undocumented things like the registry hack for
TVoD and using the old drivers to keep from having the delay of digital
audio but when someone tries these thing they aren't always going to turn
out well. Installations are shaky enough without trying to do it without
required components.
All of the improvements I see in 9.1x have to do with the HDTV Wonder and
Multview. IOW, I'd be using 9.06/8 with just an AIW.
 
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