Old Radeon 8500 and analog vs DVI mode

[Jim Leder]

I am still using an older Radeon 8500 64mb AGP card with my XP system.
Currently I have both the analog and DVI dual link cable and I am using the
last set of drivers that came with the control panel (think is was version
12). I have attempted to update to the Catalyst versions of the drivers
(newest and greatest) but have had trouble forcing my display over to
digital (DVI) mode with them. It was easy with the control panel, but I've
yet to figure it out with this newer version. I'm sure someone out there is
doing this, how is it done? Both cables are connected because of the
unresolved issue (as far as I know) of boot up messages and dos not working
properly or at all with the DVI cable (no display). Thus, I have both cables
connected and switch automatically when XP comes into play.
I am considering upgrading to the Radeon x1650 Pro AGP card. Does it have
similar problems booting up/dos mode as the 8500, or will it work OK with
just the DVI cable. Display is a Samsung Syncmaster 730b.
Thanks.
--
Jim Bob Buckeye
AKA
**** Jim Leder****
K8CXM since 1961
IBM retiree since 1999
http://home.fuse.net/k8cxm/

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

I'm interested in this answer too. I have AIW8500dv which only has a single
dvi output (use converter for vga). My new viewsonic vg2230ws won't display
during post (I returned one for a diff problem, but could have sworn that
one had no problem during post).

I bought a 1650XT for a new system I am building but have no means to test
for this.

Jim, you say you have both dvi and vga hooked up from the video card to the
monitor and the monitor switches from analog to digital automatically? Not
sure what you are asking about forcing display to dvi mode? I would think
from the lcd menu, you have to manually choose which input the monitor
should use (consider if you had 2 diff pcs hooked up to share the monitor).

Phil

 

[David Lee]

I am still using an older Radeon 8500 64mb AGP card with my XP system.
Currently I have both the analog and DVI dual link cable and I am
using the last set of drivers that came with the control panel (think
is was version 12). I have attempted to update to the Catalyst
versions of the drivers (newest and greatest) but have had trouble
forcing my display over to digital (DVI) mode with them. It was easy
with the control panel, but I've yet to figure it out with this newer
version. I'm sure someone out there is doing this, how is it done?
Both cables are connected because of the unresolved issue (as far as I
know) of boot up messages and dos not working properly or at all with
the DVI cable (no display). Thus, I have both cables connected and
switch automatically when XP comes into play.
I am considering upgrading to the Radeon x1650 Pro AGP card. Does it
have
similar problems booting up/dos mode as the 8500, or will it work OK
with just the DVI cable. Display is a Samsung Syncmaster 730b.
Thanks.

I have an 8500 LE 64MB. When I replaced my old crt with a Samsung 930B
which did not come with a dvi cable, I used an analog cable until I
bought a dvi cable, then used them both until I was sure everything was
OK, then disconnected the analog cable. I could switch back and forth
with a button on the display itself. I too was cocerned about losing the
boot messages but never experienced any problem; maybe the type of
motherboard has an effect.

I don't have dot net installed so I'm using NGOHQ.com's 6.5 Catalyst
with the control panel spliced in; no problems so far.

Good luck

Dave

 

[Jim Leder]

Thanks for the comments. I'm sorry, but this is kind of hard to describe. In
any case, I played with the CCC for about 30 minutes, and after 4 or 5
reboots, I did get XP to switch from the analog mode to the digital mode
using the newer drivers automatically. However I found the newer drivers to
be nothing but trouble. Later, while looking at the Omega site, I also
discovered that ATI dropped the 8500 from the newer level of drivers. So, I
went back to the last round of Omega drivers that were supposed to support
the 8500 (Omega 3.8.252). These drivers still used the older CP, and they
work just fine and making the CP change to the DVI interface is a snap. So,
that is where I am right now. Phil, I was trying to see the boot messages
before XP started. With just one cable installed (DVI) I wouldn't see
anything until XP did the switch over to digital mode when the ATI drivers
in XP got control. I see the other poster using a different MB never had
this problem. Guess it is specific to what stuff you are using. BTW, the MB
is an Albitron 845-PEV.
Right now, I'm not sure if I want to upgrade to the X1650-Pro or not. The
8500 does all I need it to do and I guess I can live without the newest
drivers (not a gamer) as long as I avoid Vista (shouldn't be too hard to
do).

Thanks.....

--
Jim Bob Buckeye
AKA
**** Jim Leder****
K8CXM since 1961
IBM retiree since 1999
http://home.fuse.net/k8cxm/

 

[David Lee]

Thanks for the comments. I'm sorry, but this is kind of hard to
describe. In any case, I played with the CCC for about 30 minutes, and
after 4 or 5 reboots, I did get XP to switch from the analog mode to
the digital mode using the newer drivers automatically. However I
found the newer drivers to be nothing but trouble. Later, while
looking at the Omega site, I also discovered that ATI dropped the 8500
from the newer level of drivers. So, I went back to the last round of
Omega drivers that were supposed to support the 8500 (Omega 3.8.252).
These drivers still used the older CP, and they work just fine and
making the CP change to the DVI interface is a snap. So, that is where
I am right now. Phil, I was trying to see the boot messages before XP
started. With just one cable installed (DVI) I wouldn't see anything
until XP did the switch over to digital mode when the ATI drivers in
XP got control. I see the other poster using a different MB never had
this problem. Guess it is specific to what stuff you are using. BTW,
the MB is an Albitron 845-PEV.
Right now, I'm not sure if I want to upgrade to the X1650-Pro or not.
The
8500 does all I need it to do and I guess I can live without the
newest drivers (not a gamer) as long as I avoid Vista (shouldn't be
too hard to do).

Thanks.....

ATI's website directs 8500 users to a 6.11 download; the 6.11 release
notes, however, state that they do NOT support the 8500. AFAIK 6.5 was
the last to support the 8500 and 5.11 was the last release for the
control panel.

Dave