Drivers and MMC for Radeo 8500 DV videocard

[pjayant]

I have been using the Radeon 8500 DV video card under XP on my Pentium
IV PC quite satisfactorily for the last few years with the 6.13.10.3286
drivers for Display, Control Panel and video capture.
Some months ago, I installed a DVD Writer for capturing directly on DVD
and installed Nero and SonyVision software which came along with the
DVD Writer. Even with those software packages, which recognized the
video capture device, I have captured whole 2 hour movies quite
satisfactorily.

Since wideband Internet connection required for Web TV is not available
here, I have been dependent on Cable TV for capturing programs and have
never tested the later versions of catalyst software which required
access to Web TV.

Recently, I opened the MMC 7.7.0.1 to capture a live program from the
Cable TV as I had done several times earlier and found that the MMC was
no more having the TV Tuner functionality. Only capture from Composite
VCR or S-Video sources was left under MMC with the title Video-in, in
place of the earlier title of TV. Removing the drivers and MMC and
reinstalling the earlier versions of software and MMC all over again
has not worked I am wondering if the installation of the DVD Writer
related software has caused this problem.

I tried to check on the availability of Drivers and MMC for Radeon
Cards but the ATI site has changed face completely and there was no
facility for downloading the correct software for my Card, any more.

Could any correspondent of this NewsGroup advise me how I can restore
the TV Viewer functionality on my MMC 7.7.0.1?

Thanks.

P. Jayant

 

[J. Clarke]

I have been using the Radeon 8500 DV video card under XP on my Pentium
IV PC quite satisfactorily for the last few years with the 6.13.10.3286
drivers for Display, Control Panel and video capture.
Some months ago, I installed a DVD Writer for capturing directly on DVD
and installed Nero and SonyVision software which came along with the
DVD Writer. Even with those software packages, which recognized the
video capture device, I have captured whole 2 hour movies quite
satisfactorily.

Since wideband Internet connection required for Web TV is not available
here, I have been dependent on Cable TV for capturing programs and have
never tested the later versions of catalyst software which required
access to Web TV.

There is no version of the ATI software that requires access to WebTV.

Recently, I opened the MMC 7.7.0.1 to capture a live program from the
Cable TV as I had done several times earlier and found that the MMC was
no more having the TV Tuner functionality. Only capture from Composite
VCR or S-Video sources was left under MMC with the title Video-in, in
place of the earlier title of TV. Removing the drivers and MMC and
reinstalling the earlier versions of software and MMC all over again
has not worked I am wondering if the installation of the DVD Writer
related software has caused this problem.

I tried to check on the availability of Drivers and MMC for Radeon
Cards but the ATI site has changed face completely and there was no
facility for downloading the correct software for my Card, any more.

Huh? You aren't able to see the button that says "Drivers and Software"?
Then you need to fix your browser.

Could any correspondent of this NewsGroup advise me how I can restore
the TV Viewer functionality on my MMC 7.7.0.1?

Are you in an area that uses the PAL standard? If so it's a known Microsoft
problem and you need to get the fix from them.

 

[patrickp]

There is no version of the ATI software that requires access to WebTV.


Huh? You aren't able to see the button that says "Drivers and Software"?
Then you need to fix your browser.


Are you in an area that uses the PAL standard? If so it's a known Microsoft
problem and you need to get the fix from them.

Yes, what J. Clarke is referring to here is DirectX 9.0b, which has a
now well-known - or long-forgotten - bug in that it breaks PAL (and, I
think, SECAM) tuners.

The likelihood is that you've installed DX 9.0b, possibly with a game
or application that requires it. There are fixes for the bug, but the
simplest solution is to upgrade to DirectX 9.0c, which has no such
problem. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/, just in case
you're unaware of where to get it.

JC is also, of course, correct in that no version of the Catalyst
drivers or MMC requires Web TV. There's no reason you can't use any
of the Catalyst drivers or any MMC up to 9.02 - versions after that
are only for 9xxx + cards. You should also bear in mind that you'll
need a Catalyst Software CD for validation if you want to use the DVD
Decoder from any MMC suite later than your 7.7.0.1 - they're neither
expensive or hard to obtain, though.

HTH Patrick

<[email protected]> - take five to email me...

 

[pjayant]

I have noted the comments made by J. Clarke, H T H Patrick and you and
appreciate them. I managed to get the Software and Drivers tab on the
ATI web-page but after going there, my disappointment was confirmed.
The page very clearly is for those having later versions of the ATI
videocards. The earlier ATI pages very clearly provided information on
what users of earlier ATI videocards should do. That information is
gone. And the version 9102 mentioned for earlier users is not available
for downloading. The oldest version available is 9103.

Meanwhile, I found from my Control Panel that all the drivers (Display
and the entire set of tv-video-audio etc.- from
6.14.10.6240/6462/6227-, except the TV tuner) were acceptable to XP.
Only the TV Tuner has a yellow token attached. So which TV Tuner driver
version would be appropriate for the wxp-radeon-7.81.021218a-007193c
set of drivers? And from where can I download it?

If I can get the answer to this question from any ATI rep, it would
solve my problem. Thanks.

P. Jayant

 

[pjayant]

I have noted the comments made by J. Clarke, H T H Patrick and you and
appreciate them. I managed to get the Software and Drivers tab on the
ATI web-page but after going there, my disappointment was confirmed.
The page very clearly is for those having later versions of the ATI
videocards. The earlier ATI pages very clearly provided information on
what users of earlier ATI videocards should do. That information is
gone. And the version 9102 mentioned for earlier users is not available
for downloading. The oldest version available is 9103.

Meanwhile, I found from my Control Panel that all the drivers (Display
and the entire set of tv-video-audio etc.- from
6.14.10.6240/6462/6227-, except the TV tuner) were acceptable to XP.
Only the TV Tuner has a yellow token attached. So which TV Tuner driver
version would be appropriate for the wxp-radeon-7.81.021218a-007193c
set of drivers? And from where can I download it?

If I can get the answer to this question from any ATI rep, it would
solve my problem. Thanks.

P. Jayant

 

[pjayant]

I have noted the comments made by J. Clarke, H T H Patrick and you and
appreciate them. I managed to get the Software and Drivers tab on the
ATI web-page but after going there, my disappointment was confirmed.
The page very clearly is for those having later versions of the ATI
videocards. The earlier ATI pages very clearly provided information on
what users of earlier ATI videocards should do. That information is
gone. And the version 9102 mentioned for earlier users is not available
for downloading. The oldest version available is 9103.

Meanwhile, I found from my Control Panel that all the drivers (Display
and the entire set of tv-video-audio etc.- from
6.14.10.6240/6462/6227-, except the TV tuner) were acceptable to XP.
Only the TV Tuner has a yellow token attached. So which TV Tuner driver
version would be appropriate for the wxp-radeon-7.81.021218a-007193c
set of drivers? And from where can I download it?

If I can get the answer to this question from any ATI rep, it would
solve my problem. Thanks.

P. Jayant

 

[pjayant]

I have noted the comments made by J. Clarke, H T H Patrick and you and
appreciate them. I managed to get the Software and Drivers tab on the
ATI web-page but after going there, my disappointment was confirmed.
The page very clearly is for those having later versions of the ATI
videocards. The earlier ATI pages very clearly provided information on
what users of earlier ATI videocards should do. That information is
gone. And the version 9102 mentioned for earlier users is not available
for downloading. The oldest version available is 9103.

Meanwhile, I found from my Control Panel that all the drivers (Display
and the entire set of tv-video-audio etc.- from
6.14.10.6240/6462/6227-, except the TV tuner) were acceptable to XP.
Only the TV Tuner has a yellow token attached. So which TV Tuner driver
version would be appropriate for the wxp-radeon-7.81.021218a-007193c
set of drivers? And from where can I download it?

If I can get the answer to this question from any ATI rep, it would
solve my problem. Thanks.

P. Jayant

 

[J. Clarke]

I have noted the comments made by J. Clarke, H T H Patrick and you and
appreciate them. I managed to get the Software and Drivers tab on the
ATI web-page but after going there, my disappointment was confirmed.
The page very clearly is for those having later versions of the ATI
videocards. The earlier ATI pages very clearly provided information on
what users of earlier ATI videocards should do. That information is
gone. And the version 9102 mentioned for earlier users is not available
for downloading. The oldest version available is 9103.

I have no trouble getting to 7.7.01. From the ATI home page it's four
clicks and a scroll. Read the screens very carefully and you should be
able to get there too.

 

[patrickp]

I have noted the comments made by J. Clarke, H T H Patrick and you and
appreciate them. I managed to get the Software and Drivers tab on the
ATI web-page but after going there, my disappointment was confirmed.
The page very clearly is for those having later versions of the ATI
videocards. The earlier ATI pages very clearly provided information on
what users of earlier ATI videocards should do. That information is
gone. And the version 9102 mentioned for earlier users is not available
for downloading. The oldest version available is 9103.

Meanwhile, I found from my Control Panel that all the drivers (Display
and the entire set of tv-video-audio etc.- from
6.14.10.6240/6462/6227-, except the TV tuner) were acceptable to XP.
Only the TV Tuner has a yellow token attached. So which TV Tuner driver
version would be appropriate for the wxp-radeon-7.81.021218a-007193c
set of drivers? And from where can I download it?

If I can get the answer to this question from any ATI rep, it would
solve my problem. Thanks.

P. Jayant

So what version of DirectX _are_ you using, P Jayant? I can assure
you that this was an issue that surprised many people with DX 9.0b: M$
took a long time to own up to and fix it, never posted any sort of
warning on the DirectX main or download pages, and did not make it
easy for those affected to find the fix. So it came as a great
surprise to many people, and those of us posting here were able to
inflate our reputations and egos vastly just by diagnosing what was,
once you knew about it, obvious, and by posting links to fixes.

It shouldn't really matter which set of drivers and MMC you're using,
as long as they're reasonably contempory and the MMC is 9.02 or less.
If the other ATI devices in Sound, video and game controllers in
Device Manager are Ok, you've got the capture driver installed. If
only the TV tuner device has a problem, that suggests that it's
broken: it either has sustained physical damage (overheating may have
damaged something?) IIRC the Radeon 8500 DV had a digital tuner that
used get pretty hot, or it's boken in software. Far and away the most
likely reason for this, unless you can confirm that you're not running
it and are running an NTSC tuner, is that DX 9.0b is the cause.

One other possibility, although I don't think it would work this way -
is this a Built-by-ATI (ie not an OEM) card that you are using?

By the way, my name is Patrick. HTH is a well-known acronym.

Patrick

<[email protected]> - take five to email me...