|
|
Post by Spiderdancer on Apr 17, 2006 10:29:05 GMT -5
Hi, all! I've been searching high and low through forum after forum, looking for an answer to my particular problem, and then it occurred to me that the fine gaming persons of MRFH might very well have faced the same thing. Here goes:
Apparently there's some sort of conflict between the Via 4in1 drivers and ATI Radeon's newer drivers. This often results in a Blue Screen of Death crash not long after startup, accusing the ati2dvag.dll driver of causing an infinite loop error.
I was completely, blissfully ignorant of this with my old reliable 9250se Mad Dog, and then I went and built a new computer and put a Sapphire Radeon 1300X in it, and poof.
I tried a patch fix, which allows the computer itself to function, but I can't play any games without getting the Blue Screen of Death again. There's another fix out there involving overwriting some drivers, but it only works for AGP cards. I tried the Omega drivers, too. Same result. I wanna play Morrowind, darn it.
Oh, and apparently this can happen to Nvidia cards too... So does anyone else have this problem?
|
|
|
|
Post by PoolMan on Apr 17, 2006 11:05:16 GMT -5
Uuuuugh... I had this issue years ago with an ATI card and a mobo with the 4in1 drivers (it's not the NEW ATI drivers, it's pretty much all of them). Luckily for me the most serious side effect it ever gave me was the inability to play Freedom Force (the ONE GAME I most wanted to play at the time, of course).
Unfortunately, despite being familiar with the problem, I don't have a solution. I have replaced all the suspect bits of hardware over the years, and that's my "answer". The only thing I can recommend is to make sure all your drivers are up to date, update your BIOS for the mobo, and contact ATI to see if they have something specifically developed for the issue.
Sorry!
|
|
|
|
Post by Spiderdancer on Apr 17, 2006 13:31:32 GMT -5
Sounds like a great idea except that it doesn't work. I'm trying another mobo update, though you'd think this would be unnecessary with a BRAND NEW motherboard... Modified: sorry to sound snippy, Poolman.  It's just that I've spent a LOT of hours on this in the last week. Severe gaming withdrawal going on right now.  |
|
|
|
Post by PoolMan on Apr 17, 2006 23:57:56 GMT -5
I wish beyond all expression that I could offer advice. The only advice I have to offer is "don't buy an ATI card and pair it with a 4in1 mobo". I know EXACTLY what you're going through, it's just that there's nothing to be done for it. So I know the snippy isn't for me.  |
|
|
|
Post by Spiderdancer on Apr 18, 2006 9:33:32 GMT -5
Yes, it's amazing how much of the web advice starts with "don't buy a..." or "buy a new..."
Too bad I'm not a major drug dealer who can afford to RE-build my new build. It looks like nobody else had the problem but vous and yo, Mister Poolman, but FY everyone's I:
I deleted all the ATI drivers using ATI's uninstaller, updated my via and bios, and reloaded it with the Omega drivers. All seems to be working now. Mostly. Except that Morrowind crashes to desktop every freakin' five minutes. Aargh. Now I am afraid to buy Oblivion.
|
|
|
|
Post by dajaymann on Apr 21, 2006 23:20:18 GMT -5
I got GTA: Vice City for my computer for easter only to discover that the required specs on the box are woefully different from reality. Like, what the required specs are cited as on the inside of the manual, ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX. DAMN YOU WAL-MART! So Vice City has horribly corrupted textures when I run it, and it crashes after playing for only a couple of minutes (literally, longest I can play is maybe 5 minutes). So when you all are acting sad about not being able to play games, think of me first.
I think I'm going to use this as an excuse to cannibalize my computer and rebuild it into another, better one. Like what they did to the bionic man.
On the bright side, I was able to extract and rip the radio stations into mp3 files, so I got some cool music out of it, if anything.
|
|
|
|
Post by PoolMan on Apr 22, 2006 14:43:34 GMT -5
Going back to my own issues with Shalen's problem, and prompted by Jay's description, I remember the highlight of not being able to run Freedom Force properly. I got the game going for short bursts of time, and I managed to see a pair of shoulderpads attached to a cape running around. Like the Invisible Man had shown up partly dressed. It was mighty amusing for something so annoying.
|
|
|
|
Post by Head Mutant on May 15, 2006 14:51:48 GMT -5
Well, I'm going through an interesting problem on my computer, might as well as PoolSupport and any others out there if you have thoughts.
I bought a new Sandisk Cruzer Micro 512meg flash drive for easy file transfers and whatnot. It works great on my old computer (Windows XP), as it automatically identifies it when you plug it in and gives it its own drive letter. Great. Copied files onto it.
Brought it over to my new computer (Windows XP Media Center), and the sucker doesn't automatically do anything. Instead, it pulls up the "new hardware wizard" and asks me to help it find a driver for it. This should not have happened, and the wizard can't find anything to support the flash drive.
Long, LONG story short, XP is supposed to have these drivers automatically included with it. There's no where you can download them, and I've been on the phone with two tech support people (one for Sandisk, one for Dell) trying to troubleshoot it. We all agree -- Windows is missing the driver for USB Mass Storage Devices.
Obviously, this cannot stand, but to further compound the problem is that Dell never gave me a CD version of XP, nor could the tech support person find the driver anywhere online -- microsoft or otherwise -- to install it. There is a Sandisk driver for Windows 98, but that doesn't work on XP.
I hate being frustrated by these sorts of things, particularly when this little doohickey is supposed to be plug and play. Any thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by PoolMan on May 15, 2006 16:29:38 GMT -5
I hate to state the obvious, but have you gone to Big Bad Microsoft for a driver? If you have a legit copy of XP (I assume it came with the new PC you ordered), they have an obligation to support you with the generic driver. I've found their automated tech support services to be passable.
Another thought is that it's installed but the drive is conflicting with an existing drive letter. (it doesn't sound like it from your symptoms, but this is easy enough to try anyways). Do the following:
- go to Control Panel
- open Administrative Tools (I don't know if this is visible in your edition of XP Feeb Center, I've heard Media Center is pretty bad, there should be a Classic View switch if not)
- open Computer Management
- open Disk Management
- if your drive is present (probably identified as Sandisk) right click it in the list and click Change Drive Letter and Path
- pick an unused drive letter, apply it, and shut it all down
- hopefully you can see your drive now
Like I say, it doesn't sound like this will solve your problem, but I know how to do it by heart for a reason, this happens all the time to me.
|
|
|
|
Post by Head Mutant on May 15, 2006 18:43:28 GMT -5
Hey, it's always good to point out the obvious -- 90% of computer problems is something stupidly obvious.
However...
(1) I did go to Microsoft and did some scouting around. Couldn't find anything other than a possible solution that I tried with a registry key that didn't work.
(2) Went there, did that, got the microchip. The device manager won't even let me click on the "removable storage" section without throwing up an error (when I have the flash drive plugged in, this line has a red circle with an X in it).
I did wonder if it was a conflict somewhere, but both I and the tech support girl weeded that out. We're pretty sure it's a driver issue. The *only* other thing I can think of is that this computer uses a wireless internet router that's attached to one of the USB ports (the other ports have the keyboard and mouse).
Thanks for the thoughts... I'll keep hacking away at it. Guess I'll just burn a heck of a lot of CDs for the time being.
|
|
|
|
Post by Head Mutant on May 15, 2006 18:44:52 GMT -5
Oh, and I haven't touched the Media Center with a ten foot stick, if I could help it. But yeah, it's not winning any awards with me. Figure I'll get Vista whenever it comes out.
|
|
|
|
Post by Spiderdancer on May 15, 2006 18:49:27 GMT -5
Have you tried any of this? If you don't already have stuff on the drive, the formatting solution might work... www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-43677-Before-Posting-Sandisk-Cruzer-MicroMini-Problems.htmlApparently other people have had the same problem you have. In case anyone's wondering about the original topic of this thread, I had to get a new motherboard with non-Via drivers before I could play Morrowind again. On the bright side, it's Crossfire-compatible and works absolutely beautifully. MSI is our friend, yes indeed. |
|
|
|
Post by Head Mutant on May 15, 2006 19:39:30 GMT -5
Thanks -- I read that thread too, plus a number of others. The formatting thing doesn't work, along with the "rename the drive letter", because it simply won't identify it in the device manager and let me fiddle with it.
A few threads I read suggested it might just be the Sandisk brand that's a bit wonky with some computers, and I might just go ahead and try a different flash drive sometime.
|
|
|
|
Post by PoolMan on May 16, 2006 11:21:04 GMT -5
Well, much as I'm sure THIS suggestion will tickle your toes, what about a BIOS upgrade? If there's a conflict between the system and the drive, and you can't fix the drive, why not the system? If you can update the motherboard it may be another way to solve the problem.
|
|
|
|
Post by Head Mutant on May 16, 2006 12:33:57 GMT -5
It's only two weeks old, but yeah... we did a BIOS upgrade too. Weird, huh?
|
|
It's just that I've spent a LOT of hours on this in the last week. Severe gaming withdrawal going on right now. 
