ATI Radeon HD 2X00 (2400,2600,2900) series owners thread

[Kelvin1965S]

I have yet to read of anyone having good luck getting either card to work smoothly with h.264/MPEG4 content via a Satellite card.
grusome

I have a Skystar II satellite card and 2600PRO AGP and I can watch live and recorded BBC HD programs which use H.264. I am using DVBViewer, CoreAVC 1.0, AC3Filter 1.46b and the drivers that came with the 2600 (as nothing else will install:mad:) plus the registry updates posted waaaay back on this thread somewhere. The picture is smooth even during pans, where my old 9600 was juddering. I don't use hardware accelaration, but my overclocked E6300 (@2.1Ghz) copes at 60-70% CPU.

[emilot]

I have a Skystar II satellite card and 2600PRO AGP and I can watch live and recorded BBC HD programs which use H.264. I am using DVBViewer, CoreAVC 1.0, AC3Filter 1.46b and the drivers that came with the 2600 (as nothing else will install:mad:) plus the registry updates posted waaaay back on this thread somewhere. The picture is smooth even during pans, where my old 9600 was juddering. I don't use hardware accelaration, but my overclocked E6300 (@2.1Ghz) copes at 60-70% CPU.

Technotrend 3200 HD. I can watch hd h264 with no problem, on my old P4 3.00Ghz HT, with HD2400 but only through 7.8Beta RC3 drivers...
Dvbviewer Pro with Cyberlink the decoder of course!

Anything else driver i tried, ruined everything...even with uninstall everything runnigh driver cleaner,etc.etc!!!

And of course with the registry tweaks!!

[upcast]

greetings all!

i finally decided to register and sympathize with you guys. :D

i have the same problem with ExDeus... i can play videos and games all day without a hitch but when i browse the web. Bang! :) random crashes happen. i also often get crashes when using yzdock (or any other dock for that matter). just a few minutes ago, i got a BSOD caused by ati2dvag.dll. is there no fix for this? this is getting really annoying.

by the way i've set the PCIex payload equal to the ram of the vid card (256MB).

+ + + + + + + + + + + + +

here are my system specs:

Intel P4 2.66Ghz
Jetway 775GT2 LOG SLi
Palit HD 2600 Pro Sonic (Catalyst 7.9 display driver only, i did not install CCC)
2*512 DDR2 533Mhz
Ultra X Connect 500W
WD 80GB
Win XP SP2 with updates.

and a desk fan blowing right beside the machine

[Gravling]

Anyone have any tip or pages to refere to for 5.1 channel audio over HDMI, only getting 2 channel to my amp at the moment.

Didn't get along very well with the search function... :(

[king_lemmiwinks]

**Bump**

Has anyone here used the 2400 pro for standard defintion(SD) DVD playback of anime, what was the quality like (e.g. comb effect due to bad deinterlace, ect..)?

[millerbrad]

Anyone have any tip or pages to refere to for 5.1 channel audio over HDMI, only getting 2 channel to my amp at the moment.

Didn't get along very well with the search function... :(

I managed to get 5.1 audio using the ffdshow codec (http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/). Once installed, open the audio codec config program, and go to Mixer->Output. Check "AC3" and choose "640" for Bitrate.

If you're using Media Center, follow these instructions (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11275803#post11275803) to get Media Center to use the ffdshow codec for audio.

Boom-shakka-lakka! 5.1 audio!

[Gravling]

Thanks heaps millerbrad!

[millerbrad]

Thanks heaps millerbrad!

No problem.

Also, if you haven't already, I'd suggest downloading and installing the Realtek ATI HDMI audio device drivers here (http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false).

[DPlettner]

I managed to get 5.1 audio using the ffdshow codec (http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/). Once installed, open the audio codec config program, and go to Mixer->Output. Check "AC3" and choose "640" for Bitrate.

If you're using Media Center, follow these instructions (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11275803#post11275803) to get Media Center to use the ffdshow codec for audio.

Boom-shakka-lakka! 5.1 audio!Can you up the bitrate to 1536 Kbps? AC3 should support this bit rate, and it will sound a little better. BTW, I think you can do the same thing with AC3 Filter.

This is a lossy solution, since 5.1 PCM is being converted to 5.1 AC3 before being transmitted over HDMI. If you are watching DVD, Blu-ray, or HD DVD discs, you are still better off selecting S/PDIF as the audio output in your player software, thereby sending the native AC3 or DTS stream directly to your receiver untouched. Otherwise, you are just decoding and re-encoding in the PC, resulting in a loss of quality.

-Dave

[Gravling]

Think I got that one but I'll get it again to be sure.
Btw, are those instructions for XP or Vista? When I browse my registry I dont have Decoder under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Media Center\ :)

[millerbrad]

Think I got that one but I'll get it again to be sure.
Btw, are those instructions for XP or Vista? When I browse my registry I dont have Decoder under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Media Center\ :)

Vista... Not sure if I can be much help with XP.

[millerbrad]

Can you up the bitrate to 1536 Kbps? AC3 should support this bit rate, and it will sound a little better. BTW, I think you can do the same thing with AC3 Filter.

This is a lossy solution, since 5.1 PCM is being converted to 5.1 AC3 before being transmitted over HDMI. If you are watching DVD, Blu-ray, or HD DVD discs, you are still better off selecting S/PDIF as the audio output in your player software, thereby sending the native AC3 or DTS stream directly to your receiver untouched. Otherwise, you are just decoding and re-encoding in the PC, resulting in a loss of quality.

-Dave

I think 640 is ffdshow's ceiling. Maybe there's a hack out there that proves me wrong. Haven't tried AC3Filter. I like ffdshow's option to trigger a certain sound profile for certain media, so I've stuck with it.

I haven't been able to send 5.1 PCM over the HDMI connection, since I don't think these cards support it.

Basically, I'm sticking to HDMI AC3 for my audio right now, because it works for me. I don't want my amp on all the time, and with the 7.7 drivers and a pair of ATI's DVI-to-HDMI dongles, I can output sound to my TV and amp at the same time using both DVI plugs. This lets me relatively easily switch between TV-sound and 5.1-sound.

Unfortunately, ATI dropped dual-HDMI in later drivers. I asked via support ticket if it'd be reinstated. Their reply: "We don't even advertise that feature, so quit asking." (okay.. maybe I paraphrased a little, but you get the idea :p )

EDIT: FYI, with the ffdshow 640 AC3 setting, my receiver does correctly recognize Dolby Digital and DTS Surround as such. And yeah, lossy solutions irk me, too. Maybe I'll stumble upon a better solution eventually.

[DPlettner]

EDIT: FYI, with the ffdshow 640 AC3 setting, my receiver does correctly recognize Dolby Digital and DTS Surround as such. And yeah, lossy solutions irk me, too. Maybe I'll stumble upon a better solution eventually.Sounds like a great configuration if you are passing through AC3 and DTS untouched from a source, and encoding everything else to AC3. Basically, that is what I have now using nVidia Soundstorm.

It's too bad that ATI did not add the option to pass 6 and 8 channel LPCM over HDMI. That feature would have gotten ATI a lot of extra sales.

-Dave

[ExDeus]

ExDeus
Thanks for your .vbs-script! BUT, I didnt find my GUID for my Powercolor 2600 PRO, so I used the .reg instead, much better picture-quality _o/
Is there any chance to have a "change-log" on the download-site? Would be great.
Thanks again!
You ran the program and looked at every device, and none of them had a description for a 2600?

I will add a changelog, but the basic functionality hasn't changed. Mostly I've made changes to work better with Vista, to check permissions to add/edit registry keys before adding them, and to show the user the settings at the end.

[ExDeus]

I have a similar problem with sapphire 2400 pro in XP pro. I get the crashes only with websurfing. The VPU crashes become more frequent as the temperature on the card increases. Someone suggested placing a fan to cool the card reduced the crashes. I can't do this due to the small case Antec NSK 2400 with a Hauppauge 150 TV card next to the video card.

I'm tempted to upgrade to the 2600XT if someone could tell me that the crashes would stop.
I haven't had a passively-cooled card. Both my 2400Pro OC and 2600Pro with fans have had issues with crashing.

So far I haven't had any issues with the 8.0 betas (8.42), but I haven't done a lot of web browsing.

[originalsnuffy]

I think it is a feature of PowerDVD; but anyway with PowerDVD I am getting 5.1 PCM sent over HDMI from the 2400 to the 905.

[DPlettner]

I think it is a feature of PowerDVD; but anyway with PowerDVD I am getting 5.1 PCM sent over HDMI from the 2400 to the 905.Just curious, how are your verifying this? Does the 905 indicate 6 channel PCM when you press the Display button on the remote?

-Dave

Edit: By the way, the 905 will only say PCM, but if you look at the little icons in the upper left corner, you can see how many channels are being received.

[Steve Young]

Can anyone tell me if this (http://www.shopati.ca/product.asp?sku=3526142) ATI HDMI dongle will work with the Gigabyte (http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/VGA/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2586) GV-RX26T256H HD 2600XT card? It says on the Gigabyte web page "HDMI and 5.1 surround audio(by optional adapter), but they don't seem to offer an adapter?
Also, if it does work, would I be able to just run the video to the TV via the HDMI and use my motherboard's coaxial spdif output to my receiver for 5.1?

Thanks

[grusome]

I have a Skystar II satellite card and 2600PRO AGP and I can watch live and recorded BBC HD programs which use H.264. I am using DVBViewer, CoreAVC 1.0, AC3Filter 1.46b and the drivers that came with the 2600 (as nothing else will install:mad:) plus the registry updates posted waaaay back on this thread somewhere. The picture is smooth even during pans, where my old 9600 was juddering. I don't use hardware accelaration, but my overclocked E6300 (@2.1Ghz) copes at 60-70% CPU.
Thanks for the information. I wonder if DVBViewer will work with North American Sats? Guess, I had better look for it and find out!!
grusome

[originalsnuffy]

DPlettner;

The 905 has a red light on the display that says PCM, and shows icons for the 5.1 speaker configuration.

I am assuming that the unit means what it says. Plus I have verified manually (by walking around) that each speaker is actually going. Like I said, I had to choose the 6 speaker option in PowerDVD for this to work (somewhere in the PowerDVD manual it said that that is their idea of 5.1).

Steve Young;

As long as you are running a PCI-E card you have two sound options with the ATI dongle. You can choose coax spdif OR you can send PCM signals over the HDMI. This of course may be a function of your playback software and/or receiver. But I do not think there is very much sophisticated about having 5.1 (or 7.1) PCM over hdmi. I think powerdvd dumbs down the audio sampling rates to something like 48khz. Not that I could hear much above 20 khz anyway (which this equates to).

[aludal]

Thanks for the information. I wonder if DVBViewer will work with North American Sats? Guess, I had better look for it and find out!!
grusome

It might -- if you play with just Twinhan/don't care about HD and/or don't have a Genpix contraption.

Seriously, the app deserves a Genpix driver. Until then, a nice toy for playing outside NA.

On a more sober note, who would help Genpix to create Genpix BDA driver for AltDVB, I wonder... In the same tune, has anyone in Europe a good experience with ALtDVB parsing/playing their (MBAFF) H.264 channels? Anyone?

[Brucemck]

I have the 2400 Version of that card and the adpater I ordered from ATI has worked well for me. Hope that helps..

[Brucemck]

Can anyone tell me if this (http://www.shopati.ca/product.asp?sku=3526142) ATI HDMI dongle will work with the Gigabyte (http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/VGA/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2586) GV-RX26T256H HD 2600XT card? It says on the Gigabyte web page "HDMI and 5.1 surround audio(by optional adapter), but they don't seem to offer an adapter?
Also, if it does work, would I be able to just run the video to the TV via the HDMI and use my motherboard's coaxial spdif output to my receiver for 5.1?

Thanks
Oops sorry for the double post... I forgot to quote the message.. I have the 2400pro version of that card from Gigabyte and the adpater has resolved my Audio issues.

Hope that helps

[goldgin]

Hello,

Another one joined to Home Theater Computers forum... of course with a problem...

I can't seem to ever get fullscreen support for my hdtv using the ati adapter and hdmi cable. I have tried different resolutions to no avail. Apparently my pc sees the tv as a max 720 or 740 or something (vertical) instead of the maximum 768 because no matter what resolution I put (up to 1080) the desktop has a 1/2 inch (2 cm) black border (same length to all resolutions).

a) do i need drivers for my bravia just as i need for other monitors to support all resolutions? where do i find these?

b) what else can i try? for all resolutions there seems to be a slight problem: i don't know how you call it but simply put the letters don't seem correct on my tv, they looked "zigged"? if such a word exists

HDTV: Sony Bravia KDL-32U2530
GFX: ASUS EAH2900XT

And a tip from me to contribute to other newcomers because I was looking for it for quite a while and asus and ati don't seem to have a proper manual for it:
If you want sound to your tv over hdmi with this gfx card, connect the tv to the INSIDE dvi out (the one closer to the motherboard). ATI calls it the BOTTOM one which doesn't really help now does it? To enable sound, open audio properties, find ATI HD audio output and set it as default. Restart your audio application too after this, as it remembers the old sound card. :cool:

[mattdon]

Hi all,

I've searched and search here (and elsewhere), but not seeing anyone with my issue:

I just bought the hd 2600 Pro and installed it on a PC running Vista Ultimate. I am fine with VGA video to my computer monitor, but I'm not getting anything from the component output (via the s-video adapter) when connected to my Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver. My display is a Mitsubishi HC-900. I'm running component from the Yamaha to the Mits.

I assume I'm doing something dumb....??

Any thoughts?

Thansk in advance,

Matt

[protovision]

Hi all,

I've searched and search here (and elsewhere), but not seeing anyone with my issue:

I just bought the hd 2600 Pro and installed it on a PC running Vista Ultimate. I am fine with VGA video to my computer monitor, but I'm not getting anything from the component output (via the s-video adapter) when connected to my Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver. My display is a Mitsubishi HC-900. I'm running component from the Yamaha to the Mits.

I assume I'm doing something dumb....??

Any thoughts?

Thansk in advance,

Matt

On older Radeons and CCC, you had to go to the display manager, and then assign one of your displays to the component out port. I had to do that using the hacked 'Omega' drivers to get my laptop x1300 video to component using the S-video port and the ATI 9-pin to component cable.

p.

[ExDeus]

a) do i need drivers for my bravia just as i need for other monitors to support all resolutions? where do i find these?
No.

b) what else can i try? for all resolutions there seems to be a slight problem: i don't know how you call it but simply put the letters don't seem correct on my tv, they looked "zigged"? if such a word exists
Follow ATI's instructions (http://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=26076) for creating a custom HDTV resolution. Instead of using the 'Component Video Properties', just select the device for whatever it calls your TV, i.e. 'DVI Panel 4'. Try creating custom resolutions for both 1080i and 720p and see which you prefer.

[ctdish]

On my 2600 I don't get component out if I connect to #1 DVI connector with the VGA adaptor. I can get it if I connect to #2 DVI. You also need to make sure you are running a video resolution/rate that is compatable with your TV. Try starting with only the component adaptor connected. That way I got video at boot up including the post screens.
John

[millerbrad]

DPlettner;

The 905 has a red light on the display that says PCM, and shows icons for the 5.1 speaker configuration.

I am assuming that the unit means what it says. Plus I have verified manually (by walking around) that each speaker is actually going. Like I said, I had to choose the 6 speaker option in PowerDVD for this to work (somewhere in the PowerDVD manual it said that that is their idea of 5.1).

Steve Young;

As long as you are running a PCI-E card you have two sound options with the ATI dongle. You can choose coax spdif OR you can send PCM signals over the HDMI. This of course may be a function of your playback software and/or receiver. But I do not think there is very much sophisticated about having 5.1 (or 7.1) PCM over hdmi. I think powerdvd dumbs down the audio sampling rates to something like 48khz. Not that I could hear much above 20 khz anyway (which this equates to).

Personally, AC3 is the only way I've managed true 5-channel sound with my 2600. Maybe PowerDVD has pulled it off, though.

With ffdshow, if I switch to LPCM mode, all I get is loud static - both over my TV, and through my Denon AVR-987. All of the PCM modes (I assume they're PCM --16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit, 32-bit FP) only output 2-channel sound, which my receiver uses ProLogic-II to convert into "pseudo-5-channel".

Are you sure that your receiver isn't just converting 2-channel into 5-channel? Over PCM, my receiver also shows all of my speakers lit up (on the right side of the display), but only because it's re-processing the data and outputting sound through all of the speakers. The left side of my receiver shows the 2 fronts and the LFE lit up, because it's receiving 2-channel data (and the LFE is apparently always lit up for how I have it set up). Also, the "PCM" indicator lights up on my receiver as well, but only because it's receiving 2-channel PCM.

[originalsnuffy]

Millerbrad--

Sound output over HDMI involves at least three components...the receiver, the computer, and the playback software. So there is certainly room for me to be off-base. If I set Power DVD up for 6 channel output over HDMI; is there reason to think it is only sending a 2 channel signal encoded for prologic II? Certainly the front panel of the receiver says it is receiving PCM, and shows red indicators for 5.1. Maybe DPlettner knows what buttons to press on the receiver to know for sure. I am willing to verify further.

[protovision]

I can't seem to ever get fullscreen support for my hdtv using the ati adapter and hdmi cable. I have tried different resolutions to no avail. Apparently my pc sees the tv as a max 720 or 740 or something (vertical) instead of the maximum 768 because no matter what resolution I put (up to 1080) the desktop has a 1/2 inch (2 cm) black border (same length to all resolutions).


Check inside CCC for the 'adjust underscan/overscan' option, for me its under the 'DVI' branch on the left.

p.

[ExDeus]

Hi all,

I've searched and search here (and elsewhere), but not seeing anyone with my issue:

I just bought the hd 2600 Pro and installed it on a PC running Vista Ultimate. I am fine with VGA video to my computer monitor, but I'm not getting anything from the component output (via the s-video adapter) when connected to my Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver. My display is a Mitsubishi HC-900. I'm running component from the Yamaha to the Mits.

I assume I'm doing something dumb....??

Any thoughts?

Thansk in advance,

Matt
Can you use an S-Video -> Component adapter on this card? I think that's only for specific cards that support that adapter.

Perhaps you want the DVI -> Component adapter (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041901&p_id=2398&seq=1&format=2).

[goldgin]

No.


Follow ATI's instructions (http://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=26076) for creating a custom HDTV resolution. Instead of using the 'Component Video Properties', just select the device for whatever it calls your TV, i.e. 'DVI Panel 4'. Try creating custom resolutions for both 1080i and 720p and see which you prefer.

Thanks, even though the ATI link does not work for me (Your support portal session has expired due to inactivity) I think I know what you mean. basically I have resolved the black border issue using this (thanks) but the 1:1 pixel ratio (i know it's not called "zigging" now) still remains because by using the "add" custom resolution method makes it a 1232*712 which is scaled to the native 1366*768. I also tried toying with the scaling options to see if I can have the black border but 1:1 pixels, with no success.

It is definitely better than before but now I am sure it is an ATI driver related issue, or a Sony hdmi-pc-support related issue which I may never resolve.

By the way, even though my tv supports 1080 hdmi input the only available option is 1080i30hz (or 25hz) which even though is better, produces a flicker. When I add 1080p60hz I get blank screen (not supported?) so I cannot add a resolution based on the 1080 standard without flicker.... oh well.

[millerbrad]

Millerbrad--

Sound output over HDMI involves at least three components...the receiver, the computer, and the playback software. So there is certainly room for me to be off-base. If I set Power DVD up for 6 channel output over HDMI; is there reason to think it is only sending a 2 channel signal encoded for prologic II? Certainly the front panel of the receiver says it is receiving PCM, and shows red indicators for 5.1. Maybe DPlettner knows what buttons to press on the receiver to know for sure. I am willing to verify further.

I don't know the ins-and-outs of your receiver (heck, I can only barely navigate my own), so I'm clueless as to whether you've pulled off multichannel PCM or not.

If I set the ffdshow mixer to any of the multichannel PCM modes (i.e. 5.1), the sound apparently successfully transmits to the receiver. But the sound data for all but the 2 main speakers is stripped-out somewhere along the line. As a result, my receiver only gets a 2.0 stream, which it then converts to 5.1 with PLII. For me, this unfortunately seems to substantiate ATI's claims that this card only transmits 2 channel PCM sound. (Seriously... if it can do 5.1 AC3, why not 5.1 PCM??)

If DPlettner can help you figure out if you've pulled off 5.1 PCM, I might think about shelling out for the full version of Power DVD... :)

EDIT: Do you happen to have any DVDs with the THX AV setup stuff on it? Pixar & Lucasfilm movies often have this. You could use the audio tests in this to verify if you're actually getting 5.1 and not 2.0. My Indiana Jones DVDs helped me out alot when I was setting up and calibrating my HTPC.

[mattdon]

Can you use an S-Video -> Component adapter on this card? I think that's only for specific cards that support that adapter.

Perhaps you want the DVI -> Component adapter (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041901&p_id=2398&seq=1&format=2).

Hi,

Yes, this card supports the adapter -- came with it free....for $30 more than the other hd 2600 pro cards ;-)

Per the other helpful responses I will look into creating a display using CCC that matches my projector's resolution(s) and try booting with only the component cable connected.

Matt

[Calathia]

Hi guys!

I've been close wathing this topic for some time now. I own Sapphire Radeon 2400pro and some hd files are not working even with proper registry tweaks. Also I have vpu recovery errors etc...I have installed a fan to my radeon so heat is not the issue, nor it will be on 2600 also.

Well now I have an opportunity to upgrade my card to Sapphire radeon 2600pro! Do you think I should do it? I heard/read that 2600 xti excels all kinds of HD video, does 2600pro excel also? I believe this is also without any registry tweaks!

So what do you guys think should I change from (note: my shop allows me to change only to 2600pro, not to xti):

Sapphire Radeon HD2400pro -> Sapphire Radeon HD2600pro

Thanks in advance!

[arfster]

So what do you guys think should I change from (note: my shop allows me to change only to 2600pro, not to xti):


The 2600pro is fine, unless you need to turn on every type of processing known to man (mpeg2, VA deinterlacing, denoising, scaling to 2500*1600, etc).

[DPlettner]

Millerbrad--

Sound output over HDMI involves at least three components...the receiver, the computer, and the playback software. So there is certainly room for me to be off-base. If I set Power DVD up for 6 channel output over HDMI; is there reason to think it is only sending a 2 channel signal encoded for prologic II? Certainly the front panel of the receiver says it is receiving PCM, and shows red indicators for 5.1. Maybe DPlettner knows what buttons to press on the receiver to know for sure. I am willing to verify further.We have the same receiver, so this should be easy. Here is the left part of the 905 display:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4898/clip0005fh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The PCM light in the upper right corner should be on. By the way, the PCM light on my 905 is aqua colored, not red.

The boxes represent the speakers you are using, and the contents are illuminated if the source is sending data for these channels.

For example, I have a 5.1 configuration, so the FL, C,FR, SL, LFE, and SR boxes are present. The SBL, SB, and SBR boxes are not present. When I send the 905 2-channel PCM, the PCM light is on, but the only boxes with text are FL and FR. The other boxes do not have text.

If you are sending 6-channel PCM, you should see the PCM light, and there should be text in the FL, C, FR, SL, LFE, and SR boxes.

If you are really sending 6-channel PCM using ATI's HDMI audio, I suspect that many people would be interested in know whether you can send 8-channel PCM. Perhaps you could temporarily add two more speakers to you 905, configure the 905 for 7.1, and configure PowerDVD for 8-channels.

If this works, you should post in the HDMI soundcard thread. 8-channel PCM from a PC over HDMI is a bit of a Holy Grail for HTPCs at the moment.

-Dave

[ptr727]

I just got my ATI / VisionTek HD 2600 XT:
http://www.visiontek.com/products/cards/retail/2600XT_PCIe_512.html

I installed the card in my HTPC case and the fan is really loud.

I am now looking for third party fan / cooler solutions.

I've seen some posts in this thread on using the Zalman VNF100, but I don't think the heatpipes will fit in my case (Antec Fusion Black):
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=278&code=013

I am looking for a cooler that sits on the side of the card and does not extend past the top of the card. I am also only interested in noise reduction, I am not planning on any overclocking.

The Zalman site does not list any HD 2xxx compatible coolers.

Any recommendations?

Regards
P.

[grusome]

It might -- if you play with just Twinhan/don't care about HD and/or don't have a Genpix contraption.

Seriously, the app deserves a Genpix driver. Until then, a nice toy for playing outside NA.

On a more sober note, who would help Genpix to create Genpix BDA driver for AltDVB, I wonder... In the same tune, has anyone in Europe a good experience with ALtDVB parsing/playing their (MBAFF) H.264 channels? Anyone?

I have both the Twinhan and a genpix device. Have been using DVDDream 1.3c with both. Watching h.264 and using CoreAVC 1.5, is ok, but, hogs the cpu big time, and there is a noticable lip sync problem as well. Eventually it crashes. I was hoping to use a 2400 or 2600 to help that. But, have yet to find anyone who has had any luck doing so.
grusome

[demariners]

I have a HD 2600XT pci card and I am not getting anything under device manager for the HD audio out of the HDMI. I have a vista 64-bit computer and the video is working just fine. I still howveer am unable to see a audio device under sound, video, and game controllers. PLEASE HELP.. thanks

[RedTee]

I guess heat isn't the problem then. I also get VPU crashes when I use my Hauppauge PVR150 card in full screen mode (not in windows mode however). Maybe it is only the drivers as the cause, but I haven't heard many folks with a 2600xt suffer from VPU crashes that plague the 2400pro. I think I will wait to upgrade to the RS780 when it comes out and hopefully the drivers will be better by then.

I haven't had a passively-cooled card. Both my 2400Pro OC and 2600Pro with fans have had issues with crashing.

So far I haven't had any issues with the 8.0 betas (8.42), but I haven't done a lot of web browsing.

[indieke2]

Well I upgraded to the 2600 xt for that. I hope the sapphire is not too loud.

Now one question. I used the exdeus program. Now with the new card i will install from scratch. So if I use the program again, which drivers are the best to install for the moment?

[Musekal]

Hi everybody. After a great amount of searching you folks seem liek the best out there to help me...

I just installed the Sapphire 2400 PRO card in my XP machine. Here's the problem:
I run the signal to my Sharp 26" LCD TV. I use a DVI-to-HDMI cable. Picture is great.

I do not want to send audio to the TV so there's no problems there. I use a nice 5.1 speaker system that's plugge dinto the sound card.

The screen looks great, for pretty much everything I could throw at it. But I have lost my audio. No sound at all. I have tried everything I can think of to. It seems that Windows wants to use the 2400 as the sound card and I can not figure out how to get it to use my existing card.

Full disclosure: I know precious little hardware-wise. Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.

[Beefcake]

musekal, check out my post in this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11742414#post11742414

[augiedoggy]

I have both the Twinhan and a genpix device. Have been using DVDDream 1.3c with both. Watching h.264 and using CoreAVC 1.5, is ok, but, hogs the cpu big time, and there is a noticable lip sync problem as well. Eventually it crashes. I was hoping to use a 2400 or 2600 to help that. But, have yet to find anyone who has had any luck doing so.
grusome

I'm hoping to get a genpix soon but so far my asus 2400eah has been great once I got the right drivers....I will say I have to disable the cyberlink hardware accel. to get it to switch channels and switch between the different resolutions and channels without the video going blank.....but even in software mode this card kicked both my old 9600 and gforce 5600 cards butt.....hardly and cpu usage and video at least is now great on hd-dvd in software or hardware mode.

[augiedoggy]

Hi everybody. After a great amount of searching you folks seem liek the best out there to help me...

I just installed the Sapphire 2400 PRO card in my XP machine. Here's the problem:
I run the signal to my Sharp 26" LCD TV. I use a DVI-to-HDMI cable. Picture is great.

I do not want to send audio to the TV so there's no problems there. I use a nice 5.1 speaker system that's plugge dinto the sound card.

The screen looks great, for pretty much everything I could throw at it. But I have lost my audio. No sound at all. I have tried everything I can think of to. It seems that Windows wants to use the 2400 as the sound card and I can not figure out how to get it to use my existing card.

Full disclosure: I know precious little hardware-wise. Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.

I think im going to have this issue now...(i have no audio pluged into my system yet since i was still configuring it but I have read if you disable the ati hd audio device in the device manager it will give you your audio back...

[originalsnuffy]

I would check the simple things...like the audio playback device defaults in windows itself, and the audio playback requested in the preferences for your favorite playback software.

Remember to use set default when making changes using windows. Otherwise the changes do not stick.

[blingo]

Just a quick question.
I have a ATi X1800XT in my HTPC at the moment, would it be worth it to get the 2600XT? Am not worried about Hardware acceleration, i just need to know if it will improve the picture quality because of avivo HD.

[ExDeus]

Well I upgraded to the 2600 xt for that. I hope the sapphire is not too loud.

Now one question. I used the exdeus program. Now with the new card i will install from scratch. So if I use the program again, which drivers are the best to install for the moment?
The 8.0 betas from station-drivers.com are working well for me, with acceleration working for AVC, HD-DVD (VC-1), MPEG-2. The only issues I've seen are with MPEG-2, where there is some pixelation/break-up at the beginning of playback for a stream (tolerable), and some red-shift (need to fix that).

I used my program to add the registry tweaks for everything but SORTOverrideVidSizeCaps and VForceMaxResSize (I haven't needed those settings).

[protovision]

I replaced my Sapphire 2400Pro with an Asus EAH2600Pro (HTDI ver, w/dongle), and so far its MUCH better performing than the 2400Pro.
EDIT: for those wondering, the fan is whisper quiet, I have to put my ear on my case to hear it.

Question: In CCC, when I go to hardware info, it reports my Asus as having 512MB, but the box (and price) says its only 256DDR2. It also reports 600mhz engine, 500mhz memory.

Mispackaged (woot!), or misreported by CCC? anyone else have an EAH2600Pro?

p.

[salajm]

I just got my ATI / VisionTek HD 2600 XT:
http://www.visiontek.com/products/cards/retail/2600XT_PCIe_512.html

I installed the card in my HTPC case and the fan is really loud.

I am now looking for third party fan / cooler solutions.

I've seen some posts in this thread on using the Zalman VNF100, but I don't think the heatpipes will fit in my case (Antec Fusion Black):
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=278&code=013

I am looking for a cooler that sits on the side of the card and does not extend past the top of the card. I am also only interested in noise reduction, I am not planning on any overclocking.

The Zalman site does not list any HD 2xxx compatible coolers.

Any recommendations?

Regards
P.

I have Palit HD 2600 Pro Sonic and have answer from Zalman that their VF-900 CU is compatible, so I ordered it. I will post my experience this weekend

[ExDeus]

I updated the ATI HD2x00 Registry Tweaks page (http://exdeus.home.comcast.net/ati-hd2x00/) with a changelog for those that wanted to see it.

For the most part, there's nothing very interesting. The changes have all surrounded making the program work better on Vista.

If it already worked for you, then there's no reason to run it again. If it didn't work for you before, you might try it again. If you don't understand the changes, don't worry about it.

[kk_nadella]

Hello All... I am new to this awesome active forum!
Kudos to ExDeus for making such a nice script!

Here is my configuration: Sapphire 2400 Pro | SONY 1080p RPTV | E2140@2.4Ghz | Intel P965 | 2GB RAM

Now, What OS / Driver combo do you guys suggest for my configuration.
I do not watch TV on my PC - I watch DVD's most of the time, sometimes HD content stored on my HDD.

Are there any pros / cons for using Vista vs XP?

And which version of Catalyst works the best with ExDeus script?
I do see that 8.0 was suggested but it is not clear for which OS.

Also, which version of PowerDVD is working out the best (in terms of reliability - I hate crashes)

At the moment, I have the 2400 running on Cat 7.9 / Fresh install of Vista / PowerDVD 3104a and have applied the tweaks using ExDeus's vbs script.

The problem I am having is when I try to play any content (h.264 in m2ts / vc-1 in ts), I am getting a BSOD - atimkdag.sys

Can anybody point out what I might be doing wrong?

Kudos again to everybody who is contributing to such a wonderful forum!

I updated the ATI HD2x00 Registry Tweaks page (http://exdeus.home.comcast.net/ati-hd2x00/) with a changelog for those that wanted to see it.

[Beefcake]

Ok, the next release of the Catalyst drivers will NOT BE 8.0! People pay attention to the last 4-5 years....it will be 7.10 (year.month).

[arfster]

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=29811
737-29811: Radeon HD 2xxx Series - Posterization while playing back MPEG-2 file with default deinterlacing mode in CCC


Sounds like they've confused different issues a bit.

[gtgray]

I have found this to HD2600Pro to be quite an adventure running with PowerDVDUlta. I had had no problems with HD DVD playback.. but I kep getting some minor tearing in DVD playback running with Vista. Maybe the HD DVDs I have tried are all VC1 or AVC.

I finally determined that for some reason my Dolby Digital Live card/driver and the Cyberlink provided audio codec do not get along. I had used a utility to change the codecs for Vista Media Center. I used it to set up the Cyberlink mpeg video decoder as he default decoder in Media Center.
I left the MS audio decoder as the default decoder as the Cyberlink decoder immediately caused Media Center to lock up. After switching back to the MS audio decoder I stopped testing in VMC.. leaving the Cyberlink video decoder installed.

I further messed with ATO driver settings etc. Everything seemed okay except in very fast action or complete screen changes a frame was dropping or something and I would get some horizontal tearing. Overall the video looked decent.

Just for grins I went back in VMC and the tearing was gone. In fact the PQ was dramatically better. Right on par with my XA2 and better than my PS3. So now it looks like all my DVD playback will be through Media Center. I don't understand why it video so much better in Media Cener. I can see how that the Cyberlink audio codec and the Dolby card driver don't get along. This would account for no more tearing in VMC, but this ioverall mprovement is far beyond that... the deinterlacing is way better, the levels which were set in VMC seem spot on and they were not in the PowerDVD program. Video noise and clarity are much improved. I use Two Against Nature as my torture test. It is a great performance but an absolutely awful piece of film with focus, color, lighting problems and lots of diagonal lines. If a DVD player does this piece of film well it is doing something. I have several other reference testing DVDs and playback on each was head and shoulders better in VMC than in PowerDVD with the same Cyberlink mpeg codec. This codec by the way does a much better job than the MS VMC video codec does.

Really the difference between SD DVD playback in PowerDVDultra and in VMC with the same Cyberlink decoder is night and day. I still have a problem though. Even the MS decoder does not like the Dolby Live card driver. You have to run it full volume in VMC and control the Volume in the reciever. This should be expected with the receiver doing the decoding but you can lock VMC if you change the volume level form the VMC mixer. Another oddity is that if you select DTS in PowerDVD the receiver says DD+, but the in VMC the MS stream shows up as DTS on the receiver.

What is even funnier is that the Pinneer receiver VS82 detects the audio stream from the XA2 as DTS, but the not the stream out of the PS3. Anyway more fiddling. I think I am finally getting somewhere.

The fan on the VisionTek HD2600Pro is incredibly loud. I will have to do something about that.

[originalsnuffy]

In general, I think that if we want to share highlights of an ATI tech advisory session, we will have to cut and paste it here. The two links that I have tried simply do not work. I think they are customer log-in specific.

[ToughRowToHoe]

Hi everybody. After a great amount of searching you folks seem liek the best out there to help me...

I just installed the Sapphire 2400 PRO card in my XP machine. Here's the problem:
I run the signal to my Sharp 26" LCD TV. I use a DVI-to-HDMI cable. Picture is great.

I do not want to send audio to the TV so there's no problems there. I use a nice 5.1 speaker system that's plugge dinto the sound card.

The screen looks great, for pretty much everything I could throw at it. But I have lost my audio. No sound at all. I have tried everything I can think of to. It seems that Windows wants to use the 2400 as the sound card and I can not figure out how to get it to use my existing card.

Full disclosure: I know precious little hardware-wise. Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.

Have you tried reinstalling the software yet? I had the same problem with my Sapphire Pro 2400 in Vista 32 and a clean install fixed it. I was trying to use the spdif out. I had changed the defaults in the applet, and even tried disabling the Vista sound driver in the device manager, with no luck. I had read through everything I could find, and there just weren't any issues I could see . While I was waiting to hear back from ATI, I just decided to run a clean install (run the uninstall program, boot in safe mode and run driver cleaner and then reboot and run the install). It worked fine. When I went into the sounds applet again and changed the default from HDMI sound to spdif, I was able to get sound out of the onboard sound no problem. Install errors are always a potential issue with any software.

[protovision]

I would check the simple things...like the audio playback device defaults in windows itself, and the audio playback requested in the preferences for your favorite playback software.

Remember to use set default when making changes using windows. Otherwise the changes do not stick.

Musekal, your setup is the same as mine, 2X00 radeon, and doing AC3 5.1 through SDPIF instead of the HDMI. The above instructions are correct, you have to go to control panel, Sound And Audio Devices, then the 'Audio' tab, and select your SPDIF device as Sound Playback / Default device, for me its the SoundMax HD.

You didn't mention which player sw you use, but for PowerDVD, start it *without* a movie, and then go to its configuration, audio, and select 'Use SPDIF'. In MPC you need to use AC3Filter.

p.

[karrih]

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=29811
737-29811: Radeon HD 2xxx Series - Posterization while playing back MPEG-2 file with default deinterlacing mode in CCC


Sounds like they've confused different issues a bit.

Yes, the title is only partially correct, but at least the workaround is correct. Didn't we see the very same picture here first? Anyway, being annoyed by the very same issue I am kind of pleased as the journey to recovery begins by acknowledging problems.

[arfster]

New XP/Vista drivers on ATI site:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=29837


Version is 8.413.2, build 53867.

Edit: they have the latest (July) AVIVO codec.

[akmofo]

Why does the link say "Catalyst 7.9 Hotfix for Windows Vista" but the driver version is 8.413.2, build 53867.?

[arfster]

Why does the link say "Catalyst 7.9 Hotfix for Windows Vista" but the driver version is 8.413.2, build 53867.?

ATI have a weird driver numbering system. "Catalyst 7.9" refers to a driver package released in 2007, 9th month. The other numbers are just internal driver versions/builds.

[RichB]

New XP/Vista drivers on ATI site:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=29837


Version is 8.413.2, build 53867.

Edit: they have the latest (July) AVIVO codec.

What do these drivers do for HD playback?

- Rich

[ExDeus]

In general, I think that if we want to share highlights of an ATI tech advisory session, we will have to cut and paste it here. The two links that I have tried simply do not work. I think they are customer log-in specific.
You just have to have a session already started with the server in some cases. When the link doesn't work, try navigating the ATI site yourself, doing a search or going into the knowledgebase area. Then retry the link. You may need to use a tabbed browser, like Firefox, IE 7, or Opera, that can share session information across tabs.

[ExDeus]

Ok, the next release of the Catalyst drivers will NOT BE 8.0! People pay attention to the last 4-5 years....it will be 7.10 (year.month).
Fair point. I was just going by what station-drivers.com listed. I didn't think about it any further than that.

[ExDeus]

New XP/Vista drivers on ATI site:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=29837


Version is 8.413.2, build 53867.

Edit: they have the latest (July) AVIVO codec.
XP drivers at station-drivers are build 53074, and the build from that page at ATI is 53786 for XP, so that's the latest available at ATI.

[originalsnuffy]

DPlettner has asked me to verify whether 5.1 audio can be sent through HDMI as PCM.

Right now I would have to say that DPlettner is right, the 905 is only showing 2 channels in PCM not 5. Either the dolby prologic II is very good, or the unit can receive 5.1 discrete but only show 2 channels. Some posts on the 905 thread make me think the latter might happen, but for now I will say that DPletter is correct, and that I was incorrect.

I am finally (but probably temporarily) getting a clean, non-problematic HD dvd playback with Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra 7.3, the 2400, with the card set on 1360 x 768 resolution, HDMI into the Onkyo 905, audio over spdif. How long this will last, I don't know!

[augiedoggy]

I replaced my Sapphire 2400Pro with an Asus EAH2600Pro (HTDI ver, w/dongle), and so far its MUCH better performing than the 2400Pro.
EDIT: for those wondering, the fan is whisper quiet, I have to put my ear on my case to hear it.

Question: In CCC, when I go to hardware info, it reports my Asus as having 512MB, but the box (and price) says its only 256DDR2. It also reports 600mhz engine, 500mhz memory.

Mispackaged (woot!), or misreported by CCC? anyone else have an EAH2600Pro?

p.I have the same card...it is a 512mb card but only has 256onboard memory...It uses 256 of your ram for the rest...it actually has ddr2 memory running at like 600mhz defalt but with the smart doctor utility it came with you can overclock it to 1000mhz and the engine to like 600 or 800mhz I think... by the way I got this card to work with power dvd 7.3 with the 3411 patch and still output to spdif by disabling the ati hd audio device it installs.
Now if I could just get my desktop sounds and mp3's to have audio through my spdif connection...for some reason thiers nothing except video sound?

[swiim]

I use an DVI2HDMI cable but my screen keeps saying "No signal" can this be some HDCP issue? It works thrugh DVI2VGA. What can i do to fix the problem?

[gatorwes]

New XP/Vista drivers on ATI site:

...

Edit: they have the latest (July) AVIVO codec.

Previous posts have indicated that the AVIVO codec could be found on the driver CD, but my MSI install CD apparently did not contain them. I have since installed the official ATI 7.9 drivers. Does this mean that I do now have the codec installed? What is the file name so that I may verify/force Zoom Player to use it? Thx.

[vmajor]

To all those that wondered if ATI customer support is able to help with the multitude of issues surrounding the 2400PRO AGP cards, do not waste your time.

ATI customer service is worse than useless. After over a month of telling them what the problems are and them ignoring the issues and wasting my time by misdirecting me they finally had audacity to threaten me when I pointed out to the CS person that he did not read my carefully prepared bug report and the attached problem.txt file that was generated by their utility that they made me download and run in order to create the bug report.

ATI customer support is useless. They will waste your time and solve nothing. And if you are especially privileged to have spent your money to buy their product, like I apparently am, they will insult you and treat you with contempt.

If anyone requests, I can PM you the entire customer service log for your enjoyment. The one on the website has been edited by the last customer service person, deleting his amazingly arrogant remarks.

When I decide to waste some more time on ATI, I will report that person and the entire customer service department to their supervisor, and the marketing and PR departments.

In the meantime, I am hoping that Catalyst 8.0:

1. Acknowledges that I have an ATI card installed in my machine and installs the drivers
2. I finally get HW acceleration of ANY video content
3. Enables my card to drive my LCD flat screen without amazing overscan and pixel interpolation issues

Cheers,

Victor

[Beefcake]

just as an FYI - 8.0 version of catalyst drivers will NEVER exist. The naming format is year.month, so the next release is going to be 7.10. This has been going on for at least a few years.

-Brian

[topcaser]

Hi,

i have got a question regarding temps of the GPU. I have got a time where temps are really good at 65-67 degrees over several hours (fan rotates controlled at 35% at my Palit 2600 XT). Nevertheless the temperature rises at a certain time. Dont know the reason for that. It rises to 82-84 degrees.

Does anyone has the same issue?

[VogonPoet]

I apologize if this is covered elsewhere -- I've read 30 pages of posts and searched, and didn't find anything relevant.

And if this newbie question is either inappropriate, or in the wrong thread, please let me know.

I've installed a new VisionTek HD 2600 PRO AGP on an eMachines system with Vista Home Premium. Everything seems fine except that I can't get Windows Media Player to play any WMV, AVI, or MPG files. The audio plays, but WMP just displays one of the built in visualization as if I'm playing an MP3 file.

Curiously, Media Player Classic seems fine. PowerDVD Ultra works on a DVD from a hard drive, but it takes a long time to start up.

I wiped my drive and installed the OS cleanly, updated Windows, then tested WMP, using the default Vista driver, and not having installed anything from ATI or VisionTek. No problems -- I could play videos, as well as DVDs from a hard drive.

I installed the 8.41 driver set from VisionTek. I've got two monitors connected -- a ViewSoniq VX910, and a Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK. I can operate in Windows fine with both monitors as an extended desktop.

I haven't tweaked any settings in CCC, nor have I installed arfster's registry tweaks (do I need to with a 2600?). I've tried to eliminate as many unknowns as I can by not installing any other players (e.g., ZoomPlayer or TheaterTek). I've got WMP, MPC, and PowerDVD Ultra and that's it.

I should mention this is my third time through (wiping the drive and starting from scratch), so to say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. The first two times I tried too many things and feared I was introducing complexities such as random codecs.

On a previous install, when I uninstalled the ATI/VisionTek drivers, used drivercleaner to clean the registry, and used just the default video card driver that comes with Vista, WMP worked fine again. So (I think) I know that it's the install of the ATI driver/software that's causing the problem.

On earlier runthrough, I also tried installing just the ATI driver without CCC, and reproduced the problem.

I would be happy to reinstall WMP, but I'm getting a "your version is newer than this version" error message when I try from microsoft's site. I've got v11.0.6000.6336 of WMP -- I'm guessing that Windows Update patched it and changed the version number.

I've also just updated the driver with the latest Vista hotfix from the ATI website. Still no luck.

I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks, and I apologize again if this is a repeat question that I just couldn't find elsewhere.

specs:
AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 2.2 GHz
eMachines T3092
Vista Home Premium v6.0.6000 Build 6000
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD TCB427G, 5/12/2004
RAM: 1.023 GB

[Beefcake]

VogonPoet -

that's a pretty slow Athlon XP 3000+ 2.2 MHz? I think the original 8088 beats you at 4MHz, but your IPC is much better. Not to mention the support for >8 bit registers.

Just a joke... we all know you meant GHz, not MHz.

-Brian

[robgrobg]

Hi all... I can appreciate the very complicated setups I'm reading about in this thread - some nasty problems people are trying to overcome for sure. I almost think mine is rather trivial compared to some but I've not found a solution from all the reading I've done here so far.

I dropped a Gigabyte HD 2600 Pro into my new HP a1740n pc, Vista Home Premium. The pc has a Realtek ALC888-based audio controller on board and, prior to the installation of the video card, showed up in the Deivce Manager as "Realtek High Definition Audio Device" and worked just fine. I was simply using 2-channel anaolg audio to a pair of desktop speakers.

After the video card goes in, I see only "High Definition Audio Device" in the Device Manager, which I now understand represents the ATI HDMI audio device. It may well be working (I see level activity in the mixer when audio is playing), but I don't have the special ATI dongle to get the audio out of the pc and into something.

Why did my on-board default audio device disappear? I don't understand how I can be expected to abandon my desktop spearkers just because this new HDMI audio device showed up by virture of installing the video card. I'm further disappointed by this because both of these audio devices are made by Realtek, so one would think their respective drivers should be able to co-operate together. So just to reiterate, I have only one audio device available to me in the Control Panel Sound app - the ATI HDMI device. There's no other device for me to switch back to. As a result of the video card going in, Vista no longer recognizes/detects the on-board audio.

I've read lots of posts about people tring to get their HDMI audio working, and needing to get the ATI HDMI driver from Realtek, going into the Control Panel Sound app and settign the HDMI audio as the default, etc. I'm trying to go the other way - I just want my destop speakers to work again. I'm not ready to connect this pc to my a/v system yet.

Thanks in advance for any tips anyone can provide.

[Beefcake]

1) go download the latest realtek drivers for your chip (from realtek.com)
2) in device manager, disable the High Definition Audio Device for the ati graphics card.
3) install the realtek drivers you just installed
4) reboot
5) be happy

-Brian

[robgrobg]

1) go download the latest realtek drivers for your chip (from realtek.com)
2) in device manager, disable the High Definition Audio Device for the ati graphics card.
3) install the realtek drivers you just installed
4) reboot
5) be happy

-Brian

Hehe - I'm fairly certain I've "been there - done that" already, but I will follow your instructions to the letter and see what happens. Previous experience rendered me having no devices after I disabled the Hi-def audio device.

Anyway, thanks... I'll try it now. Will report back.

---

Ok, as I suspected, I now have *no* audio output devices to choose from. When I hoover over the Volume icon in the system tray, it reads "No audio output device is installed".

Question - you didn't intend for me to install the AC97 driver right? I had a Realtek hi-def driver in there before, so that's the one I installed this time. Version 1.78. Only other thing I can think of it to install the Realtek driver that HP provides instead of the 1.78 from Realtek.

[ExDeus]

Now if I could just get my desktop sounds and mp3's to have audio through my spdif connection...for some reason thiers nothing except video sound?
When I was messing around with the install of the HDMI driver, something muted every output but SPDIF on my sound card. Windows and programs that use your Windows settings instead of accessing DirectSound or your audio card directly don't use the SPDIF output mixer, but the Wave output mixer. See if your Wave audio is muted in Windows.

[ExDeus]

I use an DVI2HDMI cable but my screen keeps saying "No signal" can this be some HDCP issue? It works thrugh DVI2VGA. What can i do to fix the problem?
Yes, it could be a handshake issue, but the Windows desktop itself shouldn't require HDCP. In the CCC, under Displays Manager, is that display enabled when connected via DVI->HDMI?

[ExDeus]

I haven't tweaked any settings in CCC, nor have I installed arfster's registry tweaks (do I need to with a 2600?).
If you want any of the tweaks, yes, but the tweaks for the 2600 apply more to getting proper settings than to getting DXVA to work. Read my page (http://exdeus.home.comcast.net/ati-hd2x00/) to see which settings are for each card. Read arfster's post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11659897&postcount=2121) to see what the settings do.

One of the key things it gives access to, is the WMA hardware acceleration option under CCC > Video > All Settings. Try turning that off to see if it helps.

[ExDeus]

I've read lots of posts about people tring to get their HDMI audio working, and needing to get the ATI HDMI driver from Realtek, going into the Control Panel Sound app and settign the HDMI audio as the default, etc. I'm trying to go the other way - I just want my destop speakers to work again. I'm not ready to connect this pc to my a/v system yet.
In Device Mgr, under 'System devices', find the Microsoft UAA bus driver device. Right-click and disable it. Reboot. See if your sound card is available again.

[ExDeus]

Previous posts have indicated that the AVIVO codec could be found on the driver CD, but my MSI install CD apparently did not contain them. I have since installed the official ATI 7.9 drivers. Does this mean that I do now have the codec installed? What is the file name so that I may verify/force Zoom Player to use it? Thx.
I'm not sure that the driver installs the AVIVO codecs. ATI does release an update to the AVIVO package with each new Catalyst driver. I've always installed that as well. You can find it at http://game.amd.com/. Navigate to "Drivers and Utilities". For Vista, select the "ATI Catalyst X.X Display Driver for Windows Vista" (the first option) and then click "Avivo Package" under "Additional Downloads". For XP, select "ATI Catalyst X.X Drivers and ATI Multimedia Software for Windows XP Professional/Home Edition" (the second option), then "Complete Avivo Suite for X1000 series products" under "Optional Downloads", then click "Complete Avivo Package".

The AVIVO codecs are all bundled under a single DLL, installed in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\ATI Technologies\Multimedia\atidvcr.dll". Check there to verify it is installed.

It supports the FourCC codes: DIVX, DX50, H264, MP4V, mp4v, vids/KSDATAFORMAT_SUBTYPE_MPEG2_VIDEO (MPEG-2).

Note that avc1 is not supported, so for common H.264 files, you may need to change the FourCC to "H264" to get it to work.

To have ZoomPlayer use the AVIVO codecs, go to the MediaAutoGraph folder in the ZP installation folder. I used the CCCP, so mine is in "C:\Program Files\Combined Community Codec Pack\Zoom Player\MediaAutoGraph\".

Edit the appropriate viddecoder.profiles files to add the AVIVO codecs, my files look as follows. I've also added some Nero, MainConcept, and Cyberlink/PowerDVD profiles, but you can see the ATI decoder at the bottom of each list.

After editing the files, open ZP and go to Options | Smart Play | Video decoders, and select your chosen decoder for each format.

I also use Haali Media Splitter (http://haali.cs.msu.ru/mkv/) for all possible formats (download "MatroskaSplitter").

H264.viddecoder.profiles
decoder(subtype={48535356-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}|{31435641-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}|{34363248-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}|{34363278-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71},renderer=-1,url=http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/formats/h264.shtml)
addprofile(name=ffdshow Video Decoder,filterdata={04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}|ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=CoreAVC Video Decoder,filterdata={09571A4B-F1FE-4C60-9760-DE6D310C7C31}|CoreAVC Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD7.x),filterdata={F2E3D920-0F9B-4319-BE87-EB94CCEB6C09}|CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD7.x))
addprofile(name=Nero Video Decoder,filterdata={C0BA9CF8-96E0-4C34-B5DE-E92C3FC05ED6}|Nero Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=Nero Video Decoder HD,filterdata={4EF5A4EB-0596-47AE-8297-E87975A137E2}|Nero Video Decoder HD)
addprofile(name=Elecard/Moonlight H.264 Video Decoder,filterdata={04B31EE9-EC66-4CED-8FF4-A9E7E22D1D8B}|Moonlight H.264 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=Videosoft H.264 Decoder,filterdata={6931C7E7-75B7-4729-A153-A8AD99BDF70B}|Videosoft H.264 Decoder)
addprofile(name=MainConcept H.264 Decoder,filterdata={7C0D0342-71D5-4E7E-A77F-2059A2E5AF57}|MainConcept H.264 Decoder)
addprofile(name=MainConcept AVC/H.264 Video Decoder,filterdata={96B9D0ED-8D13-4171-A983-B84D88D627BE}|MainConcept AVC/H.264 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=ATI MPEG Video Decoder,filterdata={37A4D808-E76C-11D2-935C-00A024E52661}|ATI MPEG Video Decoder)


MPEG2 Transport Video.viddecoder.profiles
decoder(subtype={e06d8026-db46-11cf-b4d1-00805f6cbbea},renderer=-1,ext=M2T|PVA|TP|TRP|TS|TSP,url=http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/formats/mpeg2.shtml)
addprofile(name=DScaler MPEG2 Video Decoder,filterdata={F8904F1F-0371-4471-8866-90E6281ABDB6}|DScaler Mpeg2 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=OpenSource MPEG2 Video Decoder,filterdata={39F498AF-1A09-4275-B193-673B0BA3D478}|OpenSource Mpeg2Dec Filter)
addprofile(name=ffdshow MPEG Video Decoder,filterdata={04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}|ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=GPL MPEG2 Decoder,filterdata={CE1B27BE-851B-45DD-AB26-44389A8F71B4}|GPL MPEG-1/2 Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=InterVideo Video Decoder,FilterData={0246CA20-776D-11D2-8010-00104B9B8592}|InterVideo Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=CyberLink Video/SP Decoder,FilterData={9BC1B781-85E3-11D2-98D0-0080C84E9C39}|CyberLink Video/SP Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=CyberLink Video/SP Decoder v6+,FilterData={8ACD52ED-9C2D-4008-9129-DCE955D86065}|CyberLink Video/SP Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Moonlight/Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder v4 and Newer,FilterData={BC4EB321-771F-4E9F-AF67-37C631ECA106}|Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Moonlight/Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder v3 and Older,FilterData={F50B3F13-19C4-11CF-AA9A-02608C9BABA2}|Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Sonic Cinemaster DS Video Decoder,FilterData={D7D50E8D-DD72-43C2-8587-A0C197D837D2}|Sonic Cinemaster DS Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=NVIDIA Video Decoder,FilterData={212DC710-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}|NVIDIA Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=NVIDIA Video Decoder v3+,FilterData={71E4616A-DB5E-452B-8CA5-71D9CC7805E9}|NVIDIA Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=RAVISENT Cinemaster DS Video Decoder,FilterData={4F8BDCBE-1CE2-4496-8CFC-5691AA254E47}|RAVISENT Cinemaster DS Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=MainConcept Video Decoder,filterdata={2BE4D140-6F2E-4B3A-B0BD-E880917238DC}|MainConcept MPEG Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=Dvico MPEG2 Video Decoder,filterdata={5D3BD380-84D5-11D5-840F-00C0CA306EAA}|Dvico MPEG2 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=ATI OEM PowerDVD Video/SP Decoder,FilterData={5CAE8739-5CAA-4484-A06A-A84CF88EC039}|CyberLink Video/SP Decoder)
addprofile(name=ATI MPEG Video Decoder,filterdata={37A4D808-E76C-11D2-935C-00A024E52661}|ATI MPEG Video Decoder)


MPEG2 Video.viddecoder.profiles
decoder(subtype={e06d8026-db46-11cf-b4d1-00805f6cbbea},renderer=-1,extignore=TP|TS|TSP,url=http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/formats/mpeg2.shtml)
addprofile(name=DScaler MPEG2 Video Decoder,filterdata={F8904F1F-0371-4471-8866-90E6281ABDB6}|DScaler Mpeg2 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=OpenSource MPEG2 Video Decoder,filterdata={39F498AF-1A09-4275-B193-673B0BA3D478}|OpenSource Mpeg2Dec Filter)
addprofile(name=ffdshow MPEG Video Decoder,filterdata={04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}|ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=GPL MPEG2 Decoder,filterdata={CE1B27BE-851B-45DD-AB26-44389A8F71B4}|GPL MPEG-1/2 Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=InterVideo Video Decoder,FilterData={0246CA20-776D-11D2-8010-00104B9B8592}|InterVideo Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=CyberLink Video/SP Decoder,FilterData={9BC1B781-85E3-11D2-98D0-0080C84E9C39}|CyberLink Video/SP Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=CyberLink Video/SP Decoder v6+,FilterData={8ACD52ED-9C2D-4008-9129-DCE955D86065}|CyberLink Video/SP Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Moonlight/Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder v4 and Newer,FilterData={BC4EB321-771F-4E9F-AF67-37C631ECA106}|Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Moonlight/Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder v3 and Older,FilterData={F50B3F13-19C4-11CF-AA9A-02608C9BABA2}|Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Sonic Cinemaster DS Video Decoder,FilterData={D7D50E8D-DD72-43C2-8587-A0C197D837D2}|Sonic Cinemaster DS Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=NVIDIA Video Decoder,FilterData={212DC710-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}|NVIDIA Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=NVIDIA Video Decoder v3+,FilterData={71E4616A-DB5E-452B-8CA5-71D9CC7805E9}|NVIDIA Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=RAVISENT Cinemaster DS Video Decoder,FilterData={4F8BDCBE-1CE2-4496-8CFC-5691AA254E47}|RAVISENT Cinemaster DS Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=MainConcept Video Decoder,filterdata={2BE4D140-6F2E-4B3A-B0BD-E880917238DC}|MainConcept MPEG Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=Dvico MPEG2 Video Decoder,filterdata={5D3BD380-84D5-11D5-840F-00C0CA306EAA}|Dvico MPEG2 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=ATI OEM PowerDVD Video/SP Decoder,FilterData={5CAE8739-5CAA-4484-A06A-A84CF88EC039}|CyberLink Video/SP Decoder)
addprofile(name=ATI MPEG Video Decoder,filterdata={37A4D808-E76C-11D2-935C-00A024E52661}|ATI MPEG Video Decoder)


MPEG4 ISO.viddecoder.profiles
decoder(subtype={7634706D-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}|{5634504D-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71},renderer=-1,url=http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/formats/ffdshow.shtml)
addprofile(name=ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder,filterdata={04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}|ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=3ivx D4 Video Decoder,filterdata={0E6772C0-DD80-11D4-B58F-A86B66D0611C}|3ivx D4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=Nero Video Decoder,filterdata={C0BA9CF8-96E0-4C34-B5DE-E92C3FC05ED6}|Nero Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Elecard/Moonlight MPEG-4 Video Decoder v4 and Newer,filterdata={FC86AD6C-894A-44E9-A283-4B5A9DD6CA65}|Elecard MPEG-4 Video Decoder)
AddProfile(Name=Elecard/Moonlight MPEG-4 Video Decoder v3 and Older,filterdata={78766964-0000-001B-8100-00AA00389B71}|Moonlight MPEG-4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=HDX Video Decoder,filterdata={4444BBA8-4D61-492B-B650-EE19B5E69821}|HDX4 Video Decoder)
addprofile(name=ATI MPEG Video Decoder,filterdata={37A4D808-E76C-11D2-935C-00A024E52661}|ATI MPEG Video Decoder)

[robgrobg]

In Device Mgr, under 'System devices', find the Microsoft UAA bus driver device. Right-click and disable it. Reboot. See if your sound card is available again.

Already went looking for it. I don't have one. Are you sure that applies to Vista? From the bit of reading I've done it seems to me it applies more to Windows XP, whereas Vista has this "built-in" so it doesn't show itself (which sounds weird, I know). That's not to say I have no references to UAA at all - I went searching thru the registry and there's a bunch of stuff there. I just don't see any interface to it to be able to disable it. Yes, I made sure "Show hidden devices" was enabled while I was in the device manager.

Oh, almost forgot - I *do* have a "High Definition Audio Controller" present in the System Devices section. I've also tried disabling that before as well with no success. As soon as I disable that one the corresponding "High Definition Audio Device" in the "Sound, Video, Game Controllers" section literally disappears (as opposed to just showing disabled, or whatever).

Thanks for the info tho...

[gatorwes]

I'm not sure that the driver installs the AVIVO codecs. ATI does release an update to the AVIVO package with each new Catalyst driver. I've always installed that as well. You can find it at ...

Extremely helpful post. Thanks!!! But the link doesn't seem to work. Sorry to be dense, but I don't see anything on the ATI website that looks like the filename in that link, either. Am I looking for the "Encode Package"?

[protovision]

With regards to the (still?) improper color/level expansion, does anyone (arfster, wozio?) have good advice as to what settings to use for VMR9 in XP and EVR in Vista to get the best visual results from HD material?

If I understand the issue correctly, the driver is accidentally expanding the video to pc levels, and banding and other color artifacts can and are being introduced.

Are there any tips for MPC (and PowerDVD if possible) to eliminate or reduce the effect?

thanks,
p.

[dastrong]

Hi All

I have installed the 7.9 drivers with all the registry tweaks and HD acceleration is working perfectly. However when content is shown on my flat panel at 1920 x 1080 25hz or 30hz i get green flashes and macro blocking. Is there any way or changing this? If I use a lower resolution at 60hz everything is fine. The cat control panel says my Samsung screen is capable of 1920 x 1080 at 60hz interlaced though not progressive. Any sugesstions anyone

[arfster]

With regards to the (still?) improper color/level expansion, does anyone (arfster, wozio?) have good advice as to what settings to use for VMR9 in XP and EVR in Vista to get the best visual results from HD material?

If I understand the issue correctly, the driver is accidentally expanding the video to pc levels, and banding and other color artifacts can and are being introduced.


Fortuntely there's none of that, the levels conversion is done well. You just need decide which levels you want. Not sure about XP, you might need to experiment some there. However for Vista it seems more consistent. See the stuff in my sig for more details.

[augiedoggy]

When I was messing around with the install of the HDMI driver, something muted every output but SPDIF on my sound card. Windows and programs that use your Windows settings instead of accessing DirectSound or your audio card directly don't use the SPDIF output mixer, but the Wave output mixer. See if your Wave audio is muted in Windows.

I just used system restore to go back to right after i loaded the latest ccc drivers....it works now.
now if i can only get powerdvd to play an entire hd-dvd without crashing.....very frustrating either in hardware or software mode it crashes in the middle of the movie....and forget trying to navigate through the scenes ....btw I tried the registry tweaks and it gave me all sorts of issues and made things unstable so i reloaded the latest drivers from asuses site...(2400eah card) funny thing is that during all this my cpu usage stays fairly low?

[augiedoggy]

Hi All

I have installed the 7.9 drivers with all the registry tweaks and HD acceleration is working perfectly. However when content is shown on my flat panel at 1920 x 1080 25hz or 30hz i get green flashes and macro blocking. Is there any way or changing this? If I use a lower resolution at 60hz everything is fine. The cat control panel says my Samsung screen is capable of 1920 x 1080 at 60hz interlaced though not progressive. Any sugesstions anyone

I get the green flashes as well.....funny when i installed the registry tweaks i couldnt even get powerdvd to play long enough to get to the main dvd menu on king kong....plus regardless of whether hardware accel was on or off i would loose video when switching between HD and sd channels....without the tweaks it only behaves this way with hardware accel on....i'm playing at 720p 60hz BTW.

[ToughRowToHoe]

Already went looking for it. I don't have one. Are you sure that applies to Vista? From the bit of reading I've done it seems to me it applies more to Windows XP, whereas Vista has this "built-in" so it doesn't show itself (which sounds weird, I know). That's not to say I have no references to UAA at all - I went searching thru the registry and there's a bunch of stuff there. I just don't see any interface to it to be able to disable it. Yes, I made sure "Show hidden devices" was enabled while I was in the device manager.

Oh, almost forgot - I *do* have a "High Definition Audio Controller" present in the System Devices section. I've also tried disabling that before as well with no success. As soon as I disable that one the corresponding "High Definition Audio Device" in the "Sound, Video, Game Controllers" section literally disappears (as opposed to just showing disabled, or whatever).

Thanks for the info tho...

robgrobg, this should be there by default in Vista. You need to install the ATI version to get the HDMI sound to work in XP, but ATI uses the Microsoft UAA bus driver in Vista.

[ToughRowToHoe]

Already went looking for it. I don't have one. Are you sure that applies to Vista? From the bit of reading I've done it seems to me it applies more to Windows XP, whereas Vista has this "built-in" so it doesn't show itself (which sounds weird, I know). That's not to say I have no references to UAA at all - I went searching thru the registry and there's a bunch of stuff there. I just don't see any interface to it to be able to disable it. Yes, I made sure "Show hidden devices" was enabled while I was in the device manager.

Oh, almost forgot - I *do* have a "High Definition Audio Controller" present in the System Devices section. I've also tried disabling that before as well with no success. As soon as I disable that one the corresponding "High Definition Audio Device" in the "Sound, Video, Game Controllers" section literally disappears (as opposed to just showing disabled, or whatever).

Thanks for the info tho...

robgrobg, I'm pretty sure the High Definition Audio Controller is your Realtek controller.

[topcaser]

Hi,

i have got a question regarding temps of the GPU. I have got a time where temps are really good at 65-67 degrees over several hours (fan rotates controlled at 35% at my Palit 2600 XT). Nevertheless the temperature rises at a certain time. Dont know the reason for that. It rises to 82-84 degrees.

Does anyone has the same issue?

No One?

[Sevlar]

Hi all,

I recently built a new system.

AMD 64 X2 6000
4gb OCZ DDR2 800Mhz Ram (4x 1Gb)
MSI (manufactured) ATI Radeon HD2600XT Diamond PCIE Video
MSI (manufactured) ATI K9A Platinum (ATI Crossfire chipset) motherboard
Thermaltake 520 Watt PSU with power station
Vista Home Premium 64 Bit

Every game I play suddenly gets a black screen adn then resumes. When I Alt-Tab out to windows desktop I get an error that says
"Display driver (insert driver name here cuase I forgot it) stopped responding, but has succesfully recovered"

I called ATI and they admitted that their drivers have not been all that great for the 2x00 series cards and said the Catalyst 7.9 has even created more problems.

I have tried version 7.4 (came with the card on the CD) 7.7, 7.8 & 7.9. Out of all these drivers it seems that 7.7 is the one that has the least occurances of this error but it still makes some games unplayable.

Seems to be alot of complaints onlin with this issue but no real solutions and I was hoping sonmeone here may have an idea.

I have RMA'd the card today and will put in the new one but my gut feeling is that its a driver issue. Sadly I have no idea how to resolve it. Sadly you can't even disable the VPU recovery feature in Vista so that is not an option. :(

[dreaddan]

Has any one used a dvi splitter (cable/unpowered) on these cards?

[robgrobg]

robgrobg, I'm pretty sure the High Definition Audio Controller is your Realtek controller.

Remember, this is in the System Devices section. I'm not sure if there's a one-to-one relationship of devices (or controllers, as the case may be) in here with the actual devices present in the Sound, Video, Game Controllers section or not. There is something I didn't mention earlier - maybe because I had not known at the time.

Presently I now have the "Realteak High Definition Audio Device" present in the Sound, Video, Game Controllers section (Yay - some success!), but it is yellow-flagged. So while disabling the High Definition Audio Controller in System Devices caused the "High Defnition Audio Device" (the HDMI one) to disappear, it did not affect the presence of this Realtek-specific one, which I assume is my on-board device. (This is why I'm not so sure I believe your comment above to be true.) Every attempt to install the original HP-supplied or Realtek-available drivers to make this device work has failed. It just sits there yellow-flagged.

Just getting the Realtek device to show up at all was basically a miracle. I attempted to add the device as a "legacy" device and pointed it at one of the various drivers I had. Depending on which driver I use I get either a BSOD memory dump or a request to reboot to complete the installation. After the reboot however, there's no change. The Device Manager details indicate the device could not be started (Code 10). Now that I at least have a device in the device manager to play with I try to update the driver from the device manager either automatically or manually or by running the installer and I get the same thing... either a BSOD failure or request to reboot with no change afterward.

If I uninstall/remove the device from the device manager I have to jump through hoops to get it to show up again, whereas removing the HDMI one will cause to to be rediscovered next reboot, and then I need to re-disable it or whatever. I'm back to where I started with no device for my on-board audio.

This is completely perplexing given that both these things are Realtek devices! They should be able to co-operate. I should be able to install that video card with out having this damn HDMI audio thing get installed at all!!!

By the way, I did do a system restore back to before I applied the ATI Catalyst drivers, etc at all. No change. the mere presence of this video card introduces that HDMI audio device and I have no apparent way to prevent that from happening to give my on-board audio a chance to work.

[robgrobg]

robgrobg, this should be there by default in Vista. You need to install the ATI version to get the HDMI sound to work in XP, but ATI uses the Microsoft UAA bus driver in Vista.

I just don't know what to say to this... I have nothing called Microsoft UAA Bus Driver in my "System Devices" section, and, like I said, I ensured I could see hidden devices in the list.

It's a brand new HP a1740n, Vista Home Premium. Should I see that device if the video card is *not* installed? Or are you suggesting the HDMI capability of this video card is what should be making it appear? I'm tempted to take the card out and see if that device shows up. In fact, I'm tempted to take it out just to get my on-board audio back into a working state anyway with the latest Realtek drivers. Then I could repeat the procedure and hope for better luck.

thanks.. -Rob

[sub]

Can anyone help me out? I've had a nvidia 7600GS card in my machine which I'm trying to replace with my newly purchased Visiontek ATI 2600 pro. I've installed various versions of the ATI software trying to get the card working on Vista (32 bit), and even though it claims the driver and cc have installed ok, it never seems to starting using the driver even after a reboot. I'm stuck with the default Vista display driver at 800x600.

I've tried installing the Catalyst 7.6 software that came with the device, the 7.9 software, and a hot fix driver from the end of September, none of which seemed to do anything.

What critical step am I missing? How to get my drivers to work?

[jim808]

Does anyone know the heatsink dimensions for the Sapphire 2400 pro? I feel this card runs a little hot and would like to purchase a new VGA cooler. I need something of similar size so it doesn't overtake my pci-e slot for which I'm using for my TV tuner.

Any reccomendations on a good cooling unit would also be appreciated.

Thanks

[ToughRowToHoe]

Remember, this is in the System Devices section.

Right. I believe you should have both. I believe the Microsoft UAA Bus Driver should be there in your Device Manager by default in Vista. (Can't say I ever checked without the video card installed so I don't know.) I disabled the UAA driver with no luck when I was trying to get my onboard sound working. I will double check this evening if nobody else replies.

[augiedoggy]

Remember, this is in the System Devices section. I'm not sure if there's a one-to-one relationship of devices (or controllers, as the case may be) in here with the actual devices present in the Sound, Video, Game Controllers section or not. There is something I didn't mention earlier - maybe because I had not known at the time.

Presently I now have the "Realteak High Definition Audio Device" present in the Sound, Video, Game Controllers section (Yay - some success!), but it is yellow-flagged. So while disabling the High Definition Audio Controller in System Devices caused the "High Defnition Audio Device" (the HDMI one) to disappear, it did not affect the presence of this Realtek-specific one, which I assume is my on-board device. (This is why I'm not so sure I believe your comment above to be true.) Every attempt to install the original HP-supplied or Realtek-available drivers to make this device work has failed. It just sits there yellow-flagged.


Just getting the Realtek device to show up at all was basically a miracle. I attempted to add the device as a "legacy" device and pointed it at one of the various drivers I had. Depending on which driver I use I get either a BSOD memory dump or a request to reboot to complete the installation. After the reboot however, there's no change. The Device Manager details indicate the device could not be started (Code 10). Now that I at least have a device in the device manager to play with I try to update the driver from the device manager either automatically or manually or by running the installer and I get the same thing... either a BSOD failure or request to reboot with no change afterward.

If I uninstall/remove the device from the device manager I have to jump through hoops to get it to show up again, whereas removing the HDMI one will cause to to be rediscovered next reboot, and then I need to re-disable it or whatever. I'm back to where I started with no device for my on-board audio.

This is completely perplexing given that both these things are Realtek devices! They should be able to co-operate. I should be able to install that video card with out having this damn HDMI audio thing get installed at all!!!

By the way, I did do a system restore back to before I applied the ATI Catalyst drivers, etc at all. No change. the mere presence of this video card introduces that HDMI audio device and I have no apparent way to prevent that from happening to give my on-board audio a chance to work.

I also have the onboard realtec HD audio and I can tell you the hdmi hd audio is called ati hd audio device and the onboard is called the realtec hd audio device and you can go into the device manager under driver properties and disable one without the other.....at least you can with my hdcp complient asus 2400eah card. (ati 2400pro).

[beefaronee]

I have the same issue, I am getting sound over HDMI with a HDMI-DVI cable but the sound quality is horrible. Did the ATI dongle resolve you distortion issues?

I finally received the dongle and tried hooking up via HDMI cable, but still have the same issue. System sounds are clear and crisp, but all other audio is distorted. It may be a faulty card then.

[robgrobg]

I also have the onboard realtec HD audio and I can tell you the hdmi hd audio is called ati hd audio device and the onboard is called the realtec hd audio device and you can go into the device manager under driver properties and disable one without the other.....at least you can with my hdcp complient asus 2400eah card. (ati 2400pro).

Until I install the ATI HDMI driver (available from Realtek) my HDMI audio is simply named "High Definition Audio Device". After I install that ATI driver from Realtek it shows up as ATI HDMI audio, or something like that. So perhaps you have installed that ATI driver?

It doesn't (appear to) make a difference whether I've installed the ATI driver or not... problems are the same. Thanks for the info...

[ExDeus]

Extremely helpful post. Thanks!!! But the link doesn't seem to work. Sorry to be dense, but I don't see anything on the ATI website that looks like the filename in that link, either. Am I looking for the "Encode Package"?
Sorry, their deep links suck monster nuts. You can find it at http://game.amd.com/. Navigate to "Drivers and Utilities". For Vista, select the "ATI Catalyst X.X Display Driver for Windows Vista" (the first option) and then click "Avivo Package" under "Additional Downloads". For XP, select "ATI Catalyst X.X Drivers and ATI Multimedia Software for Windows XP Professional/Home Edition" (the second option), then "Complete Avivo Suite for X1000 series products" under "Optional Downloads", then click "Complete Avivo Package".

[ToughRowToHoe]

Until I install the ATI HDMI driver (available from Realtek) my HDMI audio is simply named "High Definition Audio Device". After I install that ATI driver from Realtek it shows up as ATI HDMI audio, or something like that. So perhaps you have installed that ATI driver?

It doesn't (appear to) make a difference whether I've installed the ATI driver or not... problems are the same. Thanks for the info...

robgrobg, I stand corrected. I have a GA-P35-DS3R motherboard with an onboard Realtek ALC889A Audio controller. I too am running Vista. The Windows UAA audio driver shows up as High Definition Audio Device in the Device Manager. The Realtec controller is named Realtec High Definition Audio. Don't know what problem you are havving, but you should have seperate controllers in the Device Manager.

[robgrobg]

robgrobg, I stand corrected. I have a GA-P35-DS3R motherboard with an onboard Realtek ALC889A Audio controller. I too am running Vista. The Windows UAA audio driver shows up as High Definition Audio Device in the Device Manager. The Realtec controller is named Realtec High Definition Audio. Don't know what problem you are havving, but you should have seperate controllers in the Device Manager.

Yip, ok... that jives. (Did you happen to check if you actually see UAA in your "System Devices" list or was I right on that one too? ;) Jumping through enough hoops I can get the Realtek one to show up alongside the other one, but it is permanently yellow-flagged. Best case I encountered was that a driver got installed for it without BSOD and after reboot it reported "Device cannot be started (Code 10)." Prior to putting in that vid card everything was perfect.

I hate the thought of burning my last pci slot for a damn audio card that still might not work. :-( I may pull the vid card for now or I may try to obtain that ATI dongle. Hey - if the digital audio over hdmi works then I'm all set anyway. Just means I have no sound until I finally set this pc beside my HT setup.

Thanks again for the help.

[av999]

Sorry, their deep links suck monster nuts. You can find it at http://game.amd.com/. Navigate to "Drivers and Utilities". For Vista, select the "ATI Catalyst X.X Display Driver for Windows Vista" (the first option) and then click "Avivo Package" under "Additional Downloads". For XP, select "ATI Catalyst X.X Drivers and ATI Multimedia Software for Windows XP Professional/Home Edition" (the second option), then "Complete Avivo Suite for X1000 series products" under "Optional Downloads", then click "Complete Avivo Package".

please explain briefly the benefits of installing this in addition to the catalyst software suite

[arfster]

please explain briefly the benefits of installing this in addition to the catalyst software suite

There's some other crap included, but the principle thing most of us are using it for is the mpeg2 decoder. Using EVR in Vista the cyberlink mpeg2 decoder doesn't deinterlace properly since cat7.8, but the ATI one does. It' also does a number of other things properly that cyberlink never did, like detecting PAL film flags within a 50hz broadcast.

[ToughRowToHoe]

Yip, ok... that jives. (Did you happen to check if you actually see UAA in your "System Devices" list or was I right on that one too? ;) Jumping through enough hoops I can get the Realtek one to show up alongside the other one, but it is permanently yellow-flagged. Best case I encountered was that a driver got installed for it without BSOD and after reboot it reported "Device cannot be started (Code 10)." Prior to putting in that vid card everything was perfect.

I hate the thought of burning my last pci slot for a damn audio card that still might not work. :-( I may pull the vid card for now or I may try to obtain that ATI dongle. Hey - if the digital audio over hdmi works then I'm all set anyway. Just means I have no sound until I finally set this pc beside my HT setup.

Thanks again for the help.

This is in the Device Manager (i.e., Control Panel/System/Device Manager). The UAA driver is the one that you were disabling.

Sorry I can't help more, but I knew there were at least two controllers in there under sounds and it was real obvious which one was the UAA driver. I was wrong in that the Realtec one was the obvious one.

I did check something for the board. I have a standard DVI D Dual Link to HDMI adapter. I get no sound whatever over that adapter. I have no problems at all getting sound over the ATI adapter. I cannot test the pins without and HDMI cable to sacrifice, but I believe ATI is telling the truth about their adapter being unique. Unless my adapter is defective, their adapter is not standard.

[pc1984]

I want to get a 2xxx card but which one? I am leaning towards a 2600 pro. Is it a better choice over a 2400 pro? I have a core 2 e4400, gigabyte DS3 motherboard and 2 gigs of ram. Will be running Vista Media Center 32 bit.

Does the gigabyte 2600 pro with passive cooling get to hot? Should I stick with an active cooled card such as the ASUS Radeon HD 2600 Pro PCI-E 256MB 128BIT (which comes with a HDMI Adapter), or the Sapphire ATI RADEON™ HD 2600PRO (which may or may not come with a HDMI Adapter)? Does anyone have any experience with any of these cards? or any suggestions.

Sorry for all the questions but I have read over 30 pages of this thread and my head is spinning.

On another note, the Sapphire site has a PDF relating to HDMI with 5.1 surround sound audio for Vista and XP ("using the Active DVI-HDMI converter which may have been included in the box.")

"If you intend to use the HDMI output as your primary output and want the audio routed along the HDMI cable then you will need to change the default audio device from the Windows Vista Control Panel. Please note that by doing this audio will no longer be routed to your existing speakers, only down the HDMI cable, until you reverse the procedure."

May be of some help to someone.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/productfiles/Catalogue_HDMI_Sound_output.pdf

[grubi]

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=29811
737-29811: Radeon HD 2xxx Series - Posterization while playing back MPEG-2 file with default deinterlacing mode in CCC


Sounds like they've confused different issues a bit.

This is really a pain. If those guys are not even able to describe the problem correctly (questionalbe if they even understand it completely) do anyone really believe they will be able to fix it?

:mad::mad::mad:

grubi

[arfster]

Yeah, the guys on the frontline support and writing these issues seem to be a long way disconnected from the actual engineers. Probably inevitable, given 99.999% of support issues will be really basic clueless-about-computer stuff.

Anyway, I've talked with someone involved a bit wth the actual writing and passed on a bundle of details about the deinterlacing issues. They seem to be moving towards the position of acknowledging hardware limitations on 2400 deinterlacing - this is good, because then you have the possibility of getting decoders that work with the limtation to best effect, rather than being completely crippled by it (eg hardware deinterlacing without hardware acceleration is the perfect solution for the 2400 and mpeg2).

[grubi]

Yeah, the guys on the frontline support and writing these issues seem to be a long way disconnected from the actual engineers. Probably inevitable, given 99.999% of support issues will be really basic clueless-about-computer stuff.

Anyway, I've talked with someone involved a bit wth the actual writing and passed on a bundle of details about the deinterlacing issues. They seem to be moving towards the position of acknowledging hardware limitations on 2400 deinterlacing - this is good, because then you have the possibility of getting decoders that work with the limtation to best effect, rather than being completely crippled by it (eg hardware deinterlacing without hardware acceleration is the perfect solution for the 2400 and mpeg2).

That issue from it's visual appearance looks quite similar to the deinterlacing problem on PAL when noise reduction is enabled. Is there any acknowledgment from ATI about this issue as well.

BTW: the deinterlacing probem described I also have with my HD2600XT Ultimate, so should not be a 2400 hardware limitation.

Regards,
grubi

[arfster]

That issue from it's visual appearance looks quite similar to the deinterlacing problem on PAL when noise reduction is enabled. Is there any acknowledgment from ATI about this issue as well.


Not to my knowledge - it only happens with PAL interlaced, and only with trdenoise on?

[grubi]

Not to my knowledge - it only happens with PAL interlaced, and only with trdenoise on?

OK to clear things up.
I have a quite similar artifactial picture on two different situations.

1.) On interlaced material when using motion adaptive (forcing normal adaptive solves the problem).

2.) On interlaced material when noise reduction is enabled (TRDenoise != 0) (Disableing noise reductions solves the probelm).

As I only have PAL material I cannot judge if it is an important factor.
Card is a HD 2600XT Ultimate passive.
Catalyst is 7.8 or 7.9 (doesn't matter).

Regards,
grubi

[robgrobg]

I want to get a 2xxx card but which one? I am leaning towards a 2600 pro. Is it a better choice over a 2400 pro? I have a core 2 e4400, gigabyte DS3 motherboard and 2 gigs of ram. Will be running Vista Media Center 32 bit.

Does the gigabyte 2600 pro with passive cooling get to hot? Should I stick with an active cooled card such as the ASUS Radeon HD 2600 Pro PCI-E 256MB 128BIT (which comes with a HDMI Adapter), or the Sapphire ATI RADEON™ HD 2600PRO (which may or may not come with a HDMI Adapter)? Does anyone have any experience with any of these cards? or any suggestions.


I've got the Gigabyte HD 2600 Pro. I haven't really put it thru many paces yet because it's only been installed less than a week and it's given me problems with my on-board audio, which is perhaps not a big deal given what this pc will be used for, eventually. As long as the digital audio over hdmi works I should be fine, but I haven't tested that yet.

How would you like me to test it for you? Just measure the internal case temperatures before/during/after some heavy-duty 1080p video playback, or what? Is there a "best way" to measure these things?

[BigTony]

Does nero 8 blu-ray hddvd plugin (showtime) support ati hd2000 hardware acceleration?
How about MKV support?

I am really curious, if better than powerdvd, I might buy it.

Powerdvd (3104a.1) works for me now under xp, visiontek 2400 pro AGP and latest driver (hotfix_8.413.2_xp_32-64_53786), no more blue screen of death during hddvd and blu-ray playing. Although no hardware acceleration for most 720p and 1080p x264 files, which I watched most of times, mainly tv shows.

BigTony

[dazzo17]

This has probably been answered but is 256 ram on the video card enough for 1080p output or should I go 512?

[blingo]

256mb will do the job fine. You dont need to have 512mb.

[originalsnuffy]

So with the latest hotfix from ATI, the vbs registry tweaks (the second to last worked better with the my 2400 than the most recent one), and the latest PowerDVD, and running hd-dvd files from the hard drive, I do have everything working pretty much.

I have gone to spdif for audio, after agreeing with dplettner that the pcm audio is in fact just 2 channel over hdmi.

The only glitch right now is periodic "sparkly" blotches over the video, usually in the lower portion of the picture. Often green, and they do go away. I don't know what the technical term is for these. I assume that they are related to using the 2400pro with a relatively slow core duo notebook style chip in the HP slimline PC.

For what it is worth, at Micro center yesterday I noted that the 2600 pro boxes said 1080p, but not the 2400 pro. And the AGP boxes said nothing about hdmi audio.

[Gravling]

Now 5.1 sounds works for me under Windows XP / MCE, got a tip to install AC3Filter and once that was done it works like I want it to! Yey.

[Demi9OD]

Worth mentioning that new Omega Drivers have been released based on the BioShock Hotfix (7.9.1) drivers. Probably not big news for 2400/2600 owners but as a 1900 owner that likes to play games, I've always hated CCC but dislike the lack of 3D settings control without it. Since I can't do hardware based HD decoding anyways, I cannot comment on their functionality there, but they are definitely worth testing.

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

[ditcho]

Does anyone have an idea which of these passively cooled cards - Gigabyte Radeon HD 2600XT and Gigabyte Radeon HD 2600 Pro dissipates heat better? I know that the XT should be hotter because of the higher clock frequency, but the heat sink on the XT version looks more "advanced" to me, so I'm wondering which of the two is less likely to overheat in not so ventilated environment.

[grubi]

Does anyone have an idea which of these passively cooled cards - Gigabyte Radeon HD 2600XT and Gigabyte Radeon HD 2600 Pro dissipates heat better? I know that the XT should be hotter because of the higher clock frequency, but the heat sink on the XT version looks more "advanced" to me, so I'm wondering which of the two is less likely to overheat in not so ventilated environment.

I'm running a Sapphire HD2600XT Ultimate (passive) in my HTPC and did not encounter any temp problems so far.

grubi.

[ExDeus]

I want to get a 2xxx card but which one? I am leaning towards a 2600 pro. Is it a better choice over a 2400 pro? I have a core 2 e4400, gigabyte DS3 motherboard and 2 gigs of ram. Will be running Vista Media Center 32 bit.
That's an easy choice, go with the 2600. There have been many more issues getting DXVA to work on the 2400 as compared to the 2600, and the 2400 doesn't quite have enough headroom to do all the acceleration and deinterlacing for 1080i content. For a good all-around HTPC card, you need at least a 2600pro, and for PCIe, the 2600XT is even better.

I'm using AGP, so I don't have many options (I don't know if there are any passively cooled ones), but I tried a 2400 and a 2600, and with a relatively small cost difference, the benefits have been huge with a VisionTek 2600pro.

[ExDeus]

the vbs registry tweaks (the second to last worked better with the my 2400 than the most recent one)
How do you mean? Which version of Windows? Which versions of the VBS file?

I'm mainly interested b/c there are no differences in active code b/w 0.8 and 0.9.

[ExDeus]

Now 5.1 sounds works for me under Windows XP / MCE, got a tip to install AC3Filter and once that was done it works like I want it to! Yey.
I'm curious, did you mak