[ATI] ATI x800 AGP died (1 Viewer)

[Tesla]

Looks like the ATI x800xl in my brother's MediaPortal box died. I get no video at all (at BIOS boot or otherwise), but other than that ... the PC seems to be working.

I tried reseating the card but no help. The power plug is reading 5v and 12v ok.

The weird thing is I tried the RAdmin2 connection. It connected but the graphics were all screwed up (un-usable) on that also.

What happens if you try to use a sub-par card with only 64mb (like an nVidia GeForce-3 TI-200 AGP 64mb)?

It's a Pentium 4- 2.8ghz with 1gb ram. He only plays xvid and DVDs (from video_ts folders).

 

[Spragleknas]

Hi.
The card you mention is far from meeting the gfx req. for MP; no DX9 and to little memory
Perhaps you can find a cheap card on places like eBay? Everything from nVidia GF5x00-series and ATi 9x00-series (above 9600 - not 9100/9200) should do the trick.

 

[Tesla]

Ya, I just hate buying these old AGP cards ... but it would keep this box alive.

The other box I gave him has my old ATI AIW 9600.

I threw in a ATI Rage 128 (don't laugh) and at least I get video at BIOS post and in XP now. So that x800 really blew up.

So even an old 9800 or another x800 would work I guess. Maybe Egghead still sells some AGP? Wasn't there x1300, x1600, x1800 ... something like that?

So, minimal reqs. are AGP, 128mb, DirectX-9 ... no exceptions ... got it, thanks.

 

[Spragleknas]

GeneralRequirements - MediaPortal Manual Documentation

There was indeed a x1xx-series. You also get HD-cards in AGP, which would offload CPU (although, the AGP versions was not equal to PCIe versions for some reason - IIRC).

 

[Tesla]

So here are the AGPs:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,AGP 4X/8X

nVidia 5200 is too low a series. PassMark scores on the nVidia 6200 is very low ... skip those also.

HD 2400 is the old design (heard it was power hungry)... skip

So it's between:

SAPPHIRE 100298L Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit DDR2 AGP 8X HDCP Ready Video Card
(Silent - Passive cooled)

ASUS AH3450/DI/512MD2(LP) Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit DDR AGP 8X HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready
(Fan Cooled)

The Sapphire would have been nice (silent), but since this case has very little main compartment venting/cooling ... we went with the Asus. Hopefully the fan will run very little or at least be quiet.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

When you get it, just let windows install the driver only, leave the Catalytic Control Centre off, some users are reporting HD stuttering with the CCC installed, but not prior to doing so, and just uninstalling CCC seems not to reverse the process.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Tesla]

Yes, I'm sure it will be an adverture getting it running . I too don't install Catalyst unless I have to ... to keep things lean. Especially on these old P4/XP systems, with the .net Runtime and all, these old systems take a hit loading all that stuff. As I recall, I had to load Catalyst with the x800 to get the widescreen HDTV resolutions.

I will try what you said. As long as I can get 16:9 1080P over 15pin VGA port (to 1080P plasma) I will just run with that (and run audio via Audigy2-ZS Platinum optical SPDIF). He only needs 5.1 for DVD video_ts folders.

If he ever buys a proper HDMI amp ( I suggested the Onkyo 608) and I can convince him to make it the main controller, I will venture into getting audio/video over HDMI (but not looking forward to it).

I figure I will ...

(Rage 128 is currently installed ... After getting into Windows, Catalyst says there is a problem (duh )
Acronis Image system.
Uninstall old drivers (everything ATI including Catalyst).
Reboot if asked to.
Run Driver Sweeper.
Shut down and swap cards.
Let Windows (or Windows Update) load the Microsoft driver for the HD-3450
See what resolutions I have to use, and see if it will work on my plasma/amp as a test.

I wonder if the ATI-DVD Decoder (rebranded CyberLink codec) is going to work? That's what I was using on these ATI 9600 and x800 systems. Like I said ... an adventure

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Adventure is a good word around here

 

[Tesla]

Ok, I got the Asus AH-3450 installed. Works fine.

Windows wouldn't load a bundled driver for it. Instead of loading the old Catalyst drivers on the CD, I went to the Asus website and downloaded the v8.62 driver pack.

However, I can't figure out why Encrypted DVDs still play in MP. They play in Windows Media Player also (this is XP-Pro ... not MCE2005)

Before I installed the 3450, I uninstalled all the old ATI software. The old ATI-PowerDVD decoder (for the x800) got uninstalled as well.

MCE2005 Decoder checkup only shows FFDShow and MPC-MPeg2 Video Decoder (Gabest). I didn't think the MPC-Gabest decoder could handle real DVDs.

At one point, MP-Config didn't have a DVD Video Decoder selected at all ... and it was still working.

Do the new ATI HD-xxxx cards have an DVD decoder built-in somewhere that automatically decodes CSS encrypted DVDs (and doesn't show up anywhere)?