Using CATALYST on a Notebook, Mobility 9200

  • Thread starter Thread starter Good Man
  • Start date Start date
G

Good Man

i have a question...

i'm now running the new catalyst drivers on my new notebook (thanks to the
tips at rage3d.com), and while i love the video quality, i am wondering if
i am still getting PowerPlay (low power consumption) technology:

"MOBILITY RADEON 9200 uses the least power, dynamically adjusting power
consumption based on user activity, resulting in longer battery life."

is that built into the hardware of the card? have i left behind all the
little notebook tweaks of the 9200 by using regular Catalyst drivers and
not the mobility ones that come with the notebook?
 
Did you use "DH Mod tool" on regular drivers?

If not, download DH mod tool, look on google. Also called Mobility modder
tool.


Run catalyst package, after it's finish extracted files, cancel
installation. Then apply modifications by DH tool, don't chose to install
now!!!

Now go to where Ati drivers are located.
c:\Ati\... driver\2kxp_INF\ <-


Look for a file called CX_*****.INF if using winXp (** are some numbers,
changing with driver version), open it in notepad.

Now, use search and look for this line ..(it's near the end of file)

[ati2mtag_M9_SoftwareDeviceSettings]

now below this, look for these lines: (changes to be made)

HKR,, DALRULE_POWERPLAYOPTIONCOLORDEPTHREDUCTION, %REG_DWORD%, 0
(change 0 to 1)
HKR,, DALRULE_POWERPLAYSUSPENDSUPPORT, %REG_DWORD%, 0 (change 0 to 1)
HKR,, DALRULE_SETMODEAFTERPOWERSTATECHANGE, %REG_DWORD%, 0 (change 0 to 1)
HKR,, DALRULE_USEOLDPOWERPLAYINTERFACE, %REG_DWORD%, 0
(make sure it's 0)
HKR,, DALRULE_USEOLDPOWERPLAYPROPERTYPAGE, %REG_DWORD%, 0
(make sure it's 0)

-- also look for these:

HKR,, ExtEvent_EnablePowerPlay, %REG_DWORD%, 1 (leave as it is, 0 to
disable powerplay)
HKR,, DALRULE_MOBILEFEATURES, %REG_DWORD%, 1 (leave as it
is, 0 to disable powerplay)
HKR,, DALRULE_POWERPLAYOPTIONENABLEDBYDEFAULT, %REG_DWORD%, 1 (leave
as it is, 0 to disable powerplay)
 
Did you use "DH Mod tool" on regular drivers?
Click to expand...

yep, that's exactly what i already used. but now that i've already done
that, am i screwed since i was supposed to do those changes before? any
registry hunting tips?
 
I've been in this situation before. What you need to do is simply install
the driver (now with self modified values) again. You don't need to
uninstall previous one. Doing this will solve problem without messing with
registry.

I figured these tweaks out accidently, when trying to combine catalyst 3.4
with driver supplied by laptop manufacturer. This was before I found out
about "mod tools". Amazingly, this method still works.
 
I've been in this situation before. What you need to do is simply
install the driver (now with self modified values) again. You don't
need to uninstall previous one. Doing this will solve problem without
messing with registry.
Click to expand...

cool, well i re-installed the driver with the changes you supplied, and no
big crash ;)

is there a way to test whether or not poweplay is indeed working? there's
no tab on the control panel or anything.....


I figured these tweaks out accidently, when trying to combine catalyst
3.4 with driver supplied by laptop manufacturer. This was before I
found out about "mod tools". Amazingly, this method still works.
Click to expand...

sweet... assuming powerplay is really working, you rock!

thanks!!
 
Hmm.. Actually i never mananged to see powerplay tab when using Mobility
Radeon 9000. It almost similiar to 9200.
When I installed the *same* self-modded driver on my new laptop, with a
sweet Mob.Rad.9600 pro, the tab showed up!?

Well.. you can try 1 more tweak...

HKR,, DALRULE_USEOLDPOWERPLAYPROPERTYPAGE, %REG_DWORD%, 0
(Try with 1, see if the tab shows up now, i doubt however)

And to test it:
Connect the power to laptop, start it, run 3dm2001se.
AFTER it finishes, note results (mine was around 6900-7500).

Remove the power, and Make sure your battery is below 25% charge! Import as
this is default threshold for powersaving mode on Powerplay tab, (if you can
see it you can change this value). Run 3dmark2001se again, now see the
results. They should be much lower this time.
If so, then you've got mobility on your radeon in action! I hope i helped
you somewhat.
 
Back
Top