Catalyst Driver killed my system?

[Gammit]

I tried to update my Radeon 9700 Pro's driver. When I finished installing, I tried to play "Age of Mythology," but got a black menu screen. I went about fixing this with my normal routine (including setting my video card's advanced settings to "application preference"), but still couldn't get it to work. Next I tried to play Unreal Tournament 2003, but got an error message saying "no video." I also noticed that some of my screen savers wouldn't load and would say "cannot find direct3d compatable device."

Frustrated, I tried going back to my old drivers, but in mid-intallation was told I hadn't installed DirectX8.0 (I had). Even after re-installing DirectX, I got the same error message. So now I can't use either my new or my old drivers! Even completely reinstalling the video card didn't fix it!!! What gives? :mad:

[Wiggo]

What operatin' system are ya usin' and if ya have ME or XP have ya tried System Restore plus did ya drop the old drivers before the update? :?:
<center>:cheers:</center>

[RDR]

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=33656771

there's a fairly simple and generic install guide posted here - have a look & see if you missed any steps

[Gammit]

I'm running Windows XP Home. Yes, I dumped my old drivers before installing the new ones. I'll try system restore next, and if that doesn't work, I'll download direct x 9, and try again using this install guide. Thanks so far, you two.

[Gammit]

It looks like my system is no longer finding/able to use direct3d! Does direct3d come with directx, or with video card drivers? I thought directx, but when I downloaded directx 9.0, I still am having the same problem! Help! :cry:

[Gammit]

I fixed the problem! For anybody else who had this problem:

uninstalling and reinstalling video drivers didn't work,
uninstalling and reinstalling video card didn't work,
upgrading directx didn't work,
rolling back the driver didn't work,
using system restore didn't work,,
but hitting F8 while booting, and then choosing "use last know configuration that worked" made my day... yes, it worked. Thanks for those who offered help.
:p

[TruSpeed]

good to hear that you figured out your problem. But for those that aren't aware...the latest catalyst drivers ver 3.x are for use with DX 9.x. So if you install them and you only get 16 colors..you probably for got DX 9.

Here is how you should install vid card drivers w/via chipset.

uninstall all drivers....VIA AGP/ Vid Card Drivers
<reboot>
update Direct X (DX) if you are going with a new driver version that
supports the newest DX.
<reboot>
Install Vid card drivers
<reboot>
Install Via AGP Drivers
<reboot>
and some like to reinstall DX again.

Cheers!:cheers:

[Wiggo]

I'd want the lastest VIA Hyperion Drivers (AGP in this case) in before the video card drivers or ya goin' to have probs. Not much point in video drivers if Windows can't talk to the AGP port properly.
<center>:cheers:</center>

[Gammit]

I recently tried to upgrade again to the latest ATI driver, and got the same result (many applications that ran direct3d could not "find" my video card). I even tried reinstalling my chipset drivers, directx, etc. too. It looks like this may be a bad driver, people!

[RDR]

What drivers are you trying to install?

I haven't had any problems with ATi drivers since the very early R8500 drivers - other than the odd bug in beta releases (they're beta for a reason)
I've never experienced what you're describing

If I were in your shoes - I'd do a fresh windows install, but I use enough beta software that I'm usually prepared to do that anyway

[Gammit]

I tried to use this driver:
version: 6.14.01.6255

packagaing version: wxp-w2k-radeon-7-81-021218a-007192c-efg

release date: 1/10/2003

the latest one.

[RDR]

...same ones I'm using for my 9700

[Gammit]

When I attempt to install the driver, I get the message "continue installing catalyst 3.0," even though I never started in the first place! I first thought this the result of me cancelling the startup search for the driver (after uninstalling the last driver and rebooting), but it never happened with older drivers! If I reclick on the driver icon again, I get the same message. Does this mean that somehow it's not installing all of itself the first time?

[RDR]

after re-reading the problems you've had - I wouldn't even want to guess where you problem is now without having a look first hand.
You could try the forums at www.Rage3D.com to see if anyone there has experienced similar problems - but as far as i know there's no reason those drivers shouldn't work with your
config.
you could try completely deleting all the drivers and registry entries for both your card and DirectX right back to the ones that came with Win XP - but like I said before...If it were me I'd plan on doing a clean Win install

[Gammit]

Thanks for the reply and help. I'm heading over the that ATI site now. If I can't find what the problem is, it's likely this Saturday will be "clean install day."