TV suddenly freezing

[dynamitemonkey]

A week ago, everything was running just fine. I was running Cat 5.3 with whatever MMC set came with those. One day, while watching TV in a window, the audio just stopped. The picture was still moving fine. I tried to close MMC and it froze. The picture now stopped. I tried to end the ATIMMC process to no avail. A reboot was the only fix. Restart the TV app and everything was fine, but only for a couple of minutes. Then it froze again.

I downloaded the Cat 5.5s and the latest MMC 9.08 and other relevant software. Used the Cat Uninstaller to clear out the system. Installed everything in proper order. It still freezes.

I updated my sound card drivers. (Audigy 2 ZS). No fix.

I made sure fast writes were disabled and tried dropping the AGP speed to 4x. No fix.

I've connected the AIW card directly to the cable demarc to bypass any other internal wiring in the house. No fix.

I've gone through many other attempts at fixing, but now am hoping that others are having the same problem. I scanned the boards quickly but didn't come across much.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Quick specs:

Vid: AIW 9700 Pro (stock speed)
Mobo: Abit IC7-Max3
CPU: P4 3.2Ghz (stock speed)
RAM: 1GB Corsair TwinX XMS series.
Audio: SB Audigy 2 ZS (latest drivers)
PSU: 500W
OS: XP Pro SP2

I've had weird problems before that a reinstall of Windows cured. I'd really like to not have to do that simply because I don't want to have to back up 500GBs of data.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Osirus]

Try rightclicking on the desktop, go to properties/ settings/advanced. In the smartgart
tab try turning fastwrite off.

i had problems with my Tv freezing before on my old PC and that seemed to fix it.


EDIT: oops i guess i should read your post better since you said you disabled it already :P lol
Not sure what the problem is then

[Catnip]

dynamitemonkey,

I have exactly the same problem you do with MMC freezing. My hardware is much like yours except I have 9800 pro and ASUS board. I have two different computers and they both do it. The common problem is Catalyst versions 5.1 to 5.5 in combination with any version of MMC.

I have tried everything that you mention in your post plus a lot of other things without success.

If you use Catalyst 4.9 you will not have the issue.

I find it odd that this problem has been going on for six months without a fix from ATI.

[Catnip]

I forgot to mention that Catalyst 4.12 also work fine and are the most recent drivers that don't have the problem on my system.

[dynamitemonkey]

Very strange. I was running just fine with the Cat 5.3 and the MMC set that came with the 5.3s. I haven't put much thought into it because first, there's nothing good on TV now and secondly, I don't have time to watch it.

From what I can gather, it has to be something to do with the new style of transmitting audio across the bus. Now whenever I start the TV, I get static instead of hearing the audio. I haven't changed anything since the last time I tried it!

I'll figure it out eventually. It's not a priority right now as everything else is working and doesn't appear to be affected.

dynamitemonkey,

I have exactly the same problem you do with MMC freezing. My hardware is much like yours except I have 9800 pro and ASUS board. I have two different computers and they both do it. The common problem is Catalyst versions 5.1 to 5.5 in combination with any version of MMC.

I have tried everything that you mention in your post plus a lot of other things without success.

If you use Catalyst 4.9 you will not have the issue.

I find it odd that this problem has been going on for six months without a fix from ATI.