Cats 3.0 giving you stutters in OGL? SOLUTION FOUND! Clickey...

[Kombatant]

Ok people, as you know many of us have poor performance with OpenGL when we install DX9 and Cats 3.0. I have been trying to come up with the solution other than closing all active programs and/or running my games in windowed mode, and I think i came up with one.

First the disclaimer : if this hoses your box, hey, don't count me as responsible. Just because it cured my problems doesn't mean that it will certainly cure yours.

First of all, make a System Restore point, so that if something goes wrong you can go back!!

So, what you will need is having both Catalyst 3.0 and Catalyst 2.5 in your PC. From the 2.5 set you will need two files, ati2dvag.dl_ and ati2mtag.sy_ .Copy these two files from the 2.5 driver set right into the directory where you have the 3.0 driver files. Yes, you must overwrite when Windows asks you to Then, proceed to install Cats 3.0. It will complain about these files, because they won't be WHQL certified, install them anyway.

After they install and you reboot, try to run one of the DX9 screensavers to see if the DX9 part works. Then proceed to run your favorite OpenGL 3D application, and see no stuttering whatsoever The secret is reveiled when you run DXDIAG : if you look closely, you are using the 6218 display driver instead of the one provided with cat 3.0 and seems to be the root of all problems.

This wasn't meant to be a n00b guide, so if you think you do not understand what you should do exactly, please DON'T do it If it works for you, and you have the time to write a proper n00b guide, please do

That's all folks... now it's time to enjoy my Cat 3.0s the way they should have been

Cheers!!

[FPSPCGamer]

The only stutter I'm getting in OpenGL games (RTCW, SOF2) is when I first start the game the sound will stutter and my cursor will freeze up. This happens at the main menu. After about 30 seconds everything clears up. While playing the game it runs smooth as glass. So I'm not sure if I need to use your fix or not.

[Pepsin]

I will have to try that out later when I get the chance. Can't reboot right now

If it fixes the problem, it looks like you found out which part of the driver is causing the stutters, congratulations.
I already knew it isn't the actual OpenGL part of the drivers, because I still got the stutters after replacing it with an older OGL driver.

[WaltC]

Originally posted by Kombatant

That's all folks... now it's time to enjoy my Cat 3.0s the way they should have been

Cheers!! [/b]

I just read a post by another guy who was having the OpenGL problem like you, and he said all he had to do was turn down the hardware acceleration setting in the drivers a single notch (which only affects hardware cursor and some minor other stuff) and his system's now running fine with the full 3.0 drivers.

I didn't mention it in my last posting to you in another thread but I also thought about enabling/disabling write combine--some systems can tolerate it, other's can't.

Happy gaming...

[Pepsin]

I just read a post by another guy who was having the OpenGL problem like you, and he said all he had to do was turn down the hardware acceleration setting in the drivers a single notch (which only affects hardware cursor and some minor other stuff) and his system's now running fine with the full 3.0 drivers.

There's a difference.

THAT, is a workaround. Other workarounds include running the games windowed, shutting down background applications and disconnecting the modem. You aren't fixing the bug, it's still there.

Kombatant's solution is a FIX. You are replacing the buggy dll with one that doesn't have the bug. It's the closest to a fix you can get until ATI releases an updated driver with the bug fixed.

[DeeJay]

correct me if Im wrong, but if you do that, arent you just using the old drivers?

It's like wrapping last years christmas present.

[UberLord]

True, but you get to view the nice DX9 demos and play OpenGL games at the same time!

[Pepsin]

You're still using the D3D and OpenGL of the new drivers. I don't know exactly what those two dlls are for, but I'd bet they're not for OpenGL or D3D.

[Pepsin]

Yay! It fixed the problem for me too! Now I can run anything in the background and it's still smooth, and no need to turn down acceleration settings. DX9 demos obviously still work and D3D/OGL performance remains the same since it's still using the Cat3 part for D3D and OpenGL.

Now that we know which dll is causing the problem we'd better tell ATI. They're probably analyzing the OGL driver, scratching their heads and trying to figure out why it stutters

BTW, you don't have to re-install the drivers.

You can expand the two files from the Cat2.5 package, go into safe mode and then replace the two files from there. Just remember to EXPAND the files, don't just rename them.

[Moose]

It works for me as well!!!!

OGL games do not stutter and DX9 is fully functional

DX9 Demos and screen savers work fine!!!

Nice job!!!!!

At least ATI will know where to llook to get the fix out ASAP!!!

[Pepsin]

Hold on a second!

I can't change D3D AA settings now! I noticed that the FPS was kind of low in 3DMark. I looked closer and there were no jaggies I had set FSAA to application preference and FSAA was set to "Off" in 3DMark. Guess the old files don't like the new Control Panel.

Back to the drawing board.

[Pepsin]

Rebooting got rid of the FSAA, but now I can't get it back

ATI's DX9 demos still use FSAA for some reason. I guess they force FSAA some other way.

I've been spending two days trying to install ATI's newest Catalyst now...and people say ATI drivers are not buggy

[Tec]

Originally posted by Pepsin
I can't change D3D AA settings now! I noticed that the FPS was kind of low in 3DMark. I looked closer and there were no jaggies I had set FSAA to application preference and FSAA was set to "Off" in 3DMark. Guess the old files don't like the new Control Panel.

Before you decide that, make sure you've rebooted after a settings change. Sometimes the settings don't take immediate effect.

[Pepsin]

Wasn't that just a problem with some very early drivers? Never had to reboot before.

Unless ATI broke that again...wouldn't surprise me. For everything ATI fixes, they break two other things.

[SsP45]

Putting in those 2 files fixed it for me.

[Kombatant]

I am glad that people find the fix useful. I have no probs whatsoever. Pepsin, perhaps it's because you substituted the files directly instead of installing the driver that you have the AA probs. Just a thought

[bmg]

Originally posted by Pepsin

You can expand the two files from the Cat2.5 package, go into safe mode and then replace the two files from there. Just remember to EXPAND the files, don't just rename them.

Sorry to be dumb, but how do you expand the files?

[Pepsin]

Originally posted by bmg
Sorry to be dumb, but how do you expand the files?

That's not a dumb question. I didn't explain it because Genius explained it in his driver installation thread

You extract the files by running the Cat2.5 installer, then select a destination directory, as soon as it has extracted all files, just cancel the installation wizzard)

I assume you know how to use DOS. Bring up a DOS window (Start-Run, type "cmd" in the box). Go to the directory c:\<myCat25folder>\2KXP_INF\BX_06497\

type "expand ati2mtag.sy_ ati2mtag.sys"

then "expand ati2dvag.dl_ ati2dvag.dll"

EDIT: Apparently the message board software removes the space. There's supposed to be a space between the "_" and the a in "ati2......"

EDIT2: Hmm actually it did not leave out the space. It's just that the letters are close together. I'm too tired to read

The expanded version of the file will appear in the same folder. Go into safe mode (press F8 when Windows starts to load, just after the POST. You'll have to hammer that key to really make the menu appear. I recommend you start tapping it already at the BIOS screen at keep tapping it until the menu appears. Select safe mode, then copy and replace the files. They are in system32 and system32\drivers.

[bmg]

Thanks for the tip on how to expand. Worked fine and the problem is fixed.

[Genius]

I figured this was going to be a Direct Draw issue (didn't have time to test, work sucks). Now we just need to repackage the drivers and release them as a working set, or wait for Omega or Cyborg to do it.

[Pepsin]

Am I the only one who had problems with FSAA in Direct3D after replacing the files?

I went back to the Cat3 files and I can set FSAA again.

I then backed down the Acceleration slider one notch and the stuttering in OpenGL dissappeared. So, there are two solutions to this problem. Hopefully ATI will come out with the real fix (heh) on monday.

[bmg]

I assume ATI is aware of this "fix"?

[Genius]

Probably as the reps hang around here.

[slimseb]

i have overwrited ait3d1ag.dll ati3d2ag.dll and ati3duag.dll with 3.0 on 2.5 (in safe mode) and it works for me. all dx9 demos and opengl.

[DTS]

This also solved my stuttering problems in my OGL games. Thanks a lot, good job!

Edit: D3D games, demos, screensavers, etc. seem to work fine with this fix.

[Moose]

Originally posted by Pepsin
Am I the only one who had problems with FSAA in Direct3D after replacing the files?

I went back to the Cat3 files and I can set FSAA again.

I then backed down the Acceleration slider one notch and the stuttering in OpenGL dissappeared. So, there are two solutions to this problem. Hopefully ATI will come out with the real fix (heh) on monday.

I'm using those 2 cat 2.5 files with the rest of the cat 3's and I'm having no problems changing FSAA or aniso. everything else seems to be working too.

All the DX9 screen savers and all but one of the DX9 demos are working fine.

I can't seem to get the NPR Hatching demo to run in normal mode. The other modes work but I just get a black screen in normal mode. With FSAA off it does run but not with any FSAA enabled.

OGL games are runing fine now as are D3D games.

[slimseb]

but with my method, i must desactivate fsaa in the sushi.ini file (each demo folder) : multisampleType = 0
and if you want fsaa in dx9 demos, then activate it in direct3d control panel

[barman]

Pepsin, looks like your problem is totally isolated to your machine, not the drivers anymore. After so mayn people say this fix works for them now, it can truely be called a FIX! You may want to reformat your OS if you can and start totally clean.

Personally I haven't had a single driver problem to start. Guess I'm a lucky one. Only problem I had was getting the games to not crash but that was all hardware/agp settings.

Hopefully ATI will view this quickly and we see some Catalyst 3.1's out soon for the masses.

MODS CAN WE GET A STICKY!

[Rob McClelland]

Or you just can go to device manger go updated back to 6218 drivers while keep the 3.0 contrall panel. Because your AGP in dx tool box get disable thats why your OpenGL doesn't work right. I don't how many times I had said before

[barman]

We here mainly have 9700 cards, so we'd like out DX9 support. No go on the 6218's.