What graphics card are you using? 😊

oops - I listed everything EXCEPT the graphics card - radeon 9600se

1) How many RAM modules do you have installed? Try it with just one.
2) Run Memtest86+
3) Any of these; http://www.mathworks.nl/help/matlab/matlab_pr … ory-errors.html

Which version of XP are you using? Have you tried installing the drivers from Asus vs the VIA reference drivers? What error is the Catalyst install manager giving you?

Well I solved a FEW of the problems...

I installed SP3 and the .NET framework and suddenly I was able to install Catalyst - did not realize it was a requirement (nice of them to say it). I then realized that AGP texture acceleration was enabled. Okay maybe it was fixed. But it is STILL failing the D3D DX8 and DX9 tests with an out of memory error.

I partially solved the problem uninstalling the ATI drivers. It defaults back to the microsoft drivers, thinking it is radeon PRO. Now it passes all the D3D tests and texture acceleration is enabled. However, I can tell it is sluggish.

Right now I am disgusted with the whole thing and ready go back to win98 - I have NEVER had so much trouble with a system. I

Was figuring you needed a newer SP for new-ish .NET/drivers to properly load. An older version of the Catalyst drivers should work on older builds of XP (Guru3D should have such a thing if you dig around) with older .NET revisions if you need that. Running without ATi drivers will result in horrible performance for games (basically,there's no good reason to run the card with no drivers installed). It's also possible that dxdiag just isn't properly reporting AGP Texture Acceleration: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810772 (and I know "GeForce 4" - search around on the web and you'll find folks complaining about the same symptoms with Radeon 9700, 9800s, and so forth). It may also be the result of interaction with SMARTGART, or a lack/problem/etc with the VIA miniport driver. ACPI may also be partly to blame (do you have it enabled?). Finally it may also be an issue with your DX installation (out of curiosity which version do you have installed?).

Have you tried any of NitroX Infinity's suggestions?

Actually problem solved! I used an EARLIER version of the catalyst program (which apparently doesn't require .NET). Once I was able to run smartgart I could see that the AGP was OFF. I tried the VIA AGP driver and this time I was able to install it, and everything was fine after that.

Doesn't ATI actually TEST this stuff before they post it??? If .NET is a requirement shouldn't they prompt you to install it?

Now if I go through all this and I can't activate it - I am going to drop-kick it out the window.

ncmark wrote:

Actually problem solved! I used an EARLIER version of the catalyst program (which apparently doesn't require .NET). Once I was able to run smartgart I could see that the AGP was OFF. I tried the VIA AGP driver and this time I was able to install it, and everything was fine after that.

Doesn't ATI actually TEST this stuff before they post it??? If .NET is a requirement shouldn't they prompt you to install it?

I'm guessing the release notes would contain the .NET requirement, but I don't see the release notes as being available without downloading the self-extracting archive and running it. 😵

I vaguely remember the .NET thing being a sore point some years ago too; in a perfect world Windows would use something like portage and these kinds of issues would never be seen by the EU.

Glad that the older driver package worked - was thinking that might do it for you, and it isn't like you need the latest Legacy drivers from 2010; they probably stopped actively developing for the R3x0 chips years before that, and even in their day the drivers were relatively stable/competent for most applications. 😀

You can use Omegadrivers and ATITray (or what's it called) - it doesn't require .NET

Yes, I also recommend Omega Drivers and ATI Tray Tools. It does everything the Catalyst Control Center does, with a minimum of overhead. (You will need the MS Visual C++ 2008 runtime, but that's no biggie and a whole bunch of things already require that.)