Service Pack 1 ( SP1 ) problem with ATI 9600 graphics

[mfish]

I've an old computer that has been running Windows 7 without any
problems. It has an old ATI 9600 graphics card that works fine with the
drivers included with Windows 7 - aero, wide screen HD display work
fine.

Well they did until I installed SP1 - after which the graphics card
displayed a warning exclamation mark in the devices and would only
display at basic VGA resolutions.

I went back to a previous saved system backup and the graphics worked
again perfectly. I installed all the updates apart from SP1 and it all
still worked fine.

Again I then tried the SP1 install and again grapics card would only
work in VGA mode.

So I have two questions:-

1. Has anybody else had this problem and solved it to allow SP1 to be
installed?

2. Is there any way to selectively install just parts of the service
pack so that I can omit any graphics improvements?

Misterfish

 

[Ed Cryer]

I've an old computer that has been running Windows 7 without any
problems. It has an old ATI 9600 graphics card that works fine with the
drivers included with Windows 7 - aero, wide screen HD display work
fine.

Well they did until I installed SP1 - after which the graphics card
displayed a warning exclamation mark in the devices and would only
display at basic VGA resolutions.

I went back to a previous saved system backup and the graphics worked
again perfectly. I installed all the updates apart from SP1 and it all
still worked fine.

Again I then tried the SP1 install and again grapics card would only
work in VGA mode.

So I have two questions:-

1. Has anybody else had this problem and solved it to allow SP1 to be
installed?

2. Is there any way to selectively install just parts of the service
pack so that I can omit any graphics improvements?

Misterfish

Get a driver here;
http://tinyurl.com/63oevn7

Ed

 

[mfish]

Yes. I tried all the versions of the Legacy ATI drivers but none seemed
to work. Either completely scrambled display or still just the VGA
setting.

Before installing the current version of W7 I tested with both the beta
and RC versions of the OS and spent many hours of fun trying everything
I could find, The only successful option was the drivers included on the
install disk and as it all worked fine from the initial install I used
the 'aint broke so don't fix it' policy.

One thing it has taught me is to do a system backup before installing
any updates so that reverting to a previous acceptible state is easy.

I assume that MS have either updated something in the 'shipped' ATI
(working) drivers of changed something in the graphics display system.
The only info from the hardware in the system devices is that it has
been deactivated as Windows reports an error - yet as it works fine pre
SP1 then it has to be a software error and not a hardware problem.

I know it is a good chance to get a new updated computer, but I have to
convince my partner that this is an essential purchase!

So any further suggestions/fixes would be gratefully received.

Misterfish



Ed Cryer:

 

[Ed Cryer]

Yes. I tried all the versions of the Legacy ATI drivers but none seemed
to work. Either completely scrambled display or still just the VGA
setting.

Before installing the current version of W7 I tested with both the beta
and RC versions of the OS and spent many hours of fun trying everything
I could find, The only successful option was the drivers included on the
install disk and as it all worked fine from the initial install I used
the 'aint broke so don't fix it' policy.

One thing it has taught me is to do a system backup before installing
any updates so that reverting to a previous acceptible state is easy.

I assume that MS have either updated something in the 'shipped' ATI
(working) drivers of changed something in the graphics display system.
The only info from the hardware in the system devices is that it has
been deactivated as Windows reports an error - yet as it works fine pre
SP1 then it has to be a software error and not a hardware problem.

I know it is a good chance to get a new updated computer, but I have to
convince my partner that this is an essential purchase!

So any further suggestions/fixes would be gratefully received.

Misterfish



Ed Cryer:

I can't fault all the work you've done already; that seems to limit it
to a software error of some sort.

Don't hit me too hard for this suggestion; it seems a bit basic for
someone who's tried everything that you have.

The drivers here are dated 2/15/2011. That's very, very recently.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/downloads.aspx
There's also a hotfix available.
And now my suggestion: No confusion I hope between 32/64-bit Win7?


Ed

 

[Alex Clayton]

Yes. I tried all the versions of the Legacy ATI drivers but none seemed
to work. Either completely scrambled display or still just the VGA
setting.

Before installing the current version of W7 I tested with both the beta
and RC versions of the OS and spent many hours of fun trying everything
I could find, The only successful option was the drivers included on the
install disk and as it all worked fine from the initial install I used
the 'aint broke so don't fix it' policy.

One thing it has taught me is to do a system backup before installing
any updates so that reverting to a previous acceptible state is easy.

I assume that MS have either updated something in the 'shipped' ATI
(working) drivers of changed something in the graphics display system.
The only info from the hardware in the system devices is that it has
been deactivated as Windows reports an error - yet as it works fine pre
SP1 then it has to be a software error and not a hardware problem.

I know it is a good chance to get a new updated computer, but I have to
convince my partner that this is an essential purchase!

So any further suggestions/fixes would be gratefully received.

Misterfish



Ed Cryer:

I have not read them all, but I seem to be seeing a lot of people having
trouble with the SP1 for W-7 in a few places. One thing I have not seen
so far is for people who are having this kind of struggle is, is it
worth it? What is it SP1 was supposed to have done? I did not have any
real trouble installing it on any of mine other than on one Acer it took
a hell of a long time, but I have not noticed any changes. If someone is
having a real fight with it, would they be “OK” to just not take it?

 

[Char Jackson]

Yes. I tried all the versions of the Legacy ATI drivers but none seemed
to work. Either completely scrambled display or still just the VGA
setting.

Before installing the current version of W7 I tested with both the beta
and RC versions of the OS and spent many hours of fun trying everything
I could find, The only successful option was the drivers included on the
install disk and as it all worked fine from the initial install I used
the 'aint broke so don't fix it' policy.

I know it is a good chance to get a new updated computer, but I have to
convince my partner that this is an essential purchase!

So any further suggestions/fixes would be gratefully received.

[top posting not corrected]

I suppose if it were me, I would uninstall the video driver so that
the basic VGA driver is in place, then do the SP1 upgrade. After
that's complete, I would install a current video driver, preferably
from the manufacturer's web site rather than from Microsoft or
elsewhere.

 

[mfish]

Char Jackson:

Yes. I tried all the versions of the Legacy ATI drivers but none seemed
to work. Either completely scrambled display or still just the VGA
setting.

Before installing the current version of W7 I tested with both the beta
and RC versions of the OS and spent many hours of fun trying everything
I could find, The only successful option was the drivers included on the
install disk and as it all worked fine from the initial install I used
the 'aint broke so don't fix it' policy.

I know it is a good chance to get a new updated computer, but I have to
convince my partner that this is an essential purchase!

So any further suggestions/fixes would be gratefully received.

[top posting not corrected]

I suppose if it were me, I would uninstall the video driver so that
the basic VGA driver is in place, then do the SP1 upgrade. After
that's complete, I would install a current video driver, preferably
from the manufacturer's web site rather than from Microsoft or
elsewhere.

What I've decided to do for now is to not install SP1

Having tried all relevant drivers/ hotfixes (without any success)
including uninstalling the old drivers first it seems the best option is
to wait and see. MS obviously don't see it as (immediately) essential as
they have thier own tool available to delay automatic download and
installtion of a year.

From what I can gather the SP is mainly a collection of previous updates
- all of which have installed without any problem.

So, how about my second question - does anybody know if there is a way
to install just selected parts of the SP - I have my doubts but maybe
somebody knows better.

Or alternatively, is there a way to 'fool' the system by blocking the
(obviously incorrect) message that the graphics card is not working
correctly.

Misterfish

 

[relic]

From what I can gather the SP is mainly a collection of previous updates
- all of which have installed without any problem.

Microsoft has always included hundreds of fixes that didn't warrant
releasing a separate Update.

So, how about my second question - does anybody know if there is a way
to install just selected parts of the SP - I have my doubts but maybe
somebody knows better.
No.


Or alternatively, is there a way to 'fool' the system by blocking the
(obviously incorrect) message that the graphics card is not working
correctly.

A lot of video cards need to have all drivers removed so it rolls back to
VGA only. Reboot and then install its driver. Have you looked on the video
card vendor's web site for a new driver? ...or the chipset's site (often
nVidia's newest driver is sketchy. Use an older version).

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Have you tried to update your video card's drivers?

I believe that AMD have dropped active support of all video card
generations from the 9000-series downwards. They will only work with the
supplied legacy Microsoft-ATI drivers.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Ken Blake]

What I've decided to do for now is to not install SP1

Your choice, of course, but I think you are making a mistake.

Having tried all relevant drivers/ hotfixes (without any success)
including uninstalling the old drivers first it seems the best option is
to wait and see. MS obviously don't see it as (immediately) essential as
they have thier own tool available to delay automatic download and
installtion of a year.

From what I can gather the SP is mainly a collection of previous updates
- all of which have installed without any problem.

That's what service packs *mostly*--but not exclusively--are. But most
service packs (like this one) also include new fixes and improvements.

So, how about my second question - does anybody know if there is a way
to install just selected parts of the SP - I have my doubts but maybe
somebody knows better.

No, there is no way to do that.

 

[mfish]

Yousuf Khan:

I believe that AMD have dropped active support of all video card
generations from the 9000-series downwards. They will only work with the
supplied legacy Microsoft-ATI drivers.

Yousuf Khan

Yes. That's right. The annoying thing is that it works fine with the
provided drivers until SP1 is installed. Maybe I ought to save a copy of
the drivers, then install SP1 and then copy over the original files and
see if it works then. If not then I can just 'system restore' again.

Misterfish

 

[Char Jackson]

The annoying thing is that it works fine with the
provided drivers until SP1 is installed. Maybe I ought to save a copy of
the drivers, then install SP1 and then copy over the original files and
see if it works then. If not then I can just 'system restore' again.

Or, you could do a proper driver installation after installing SP1.
Just copying driver files isn't likely to work out very well.

 

[mfish]

Char Jackson:

Or, you could do a proper driver installation after installing SP1.
Just copying driver files isn't likely to work out very well.

I'll try that when we next have a wet and miserable day. As the only
drivers I've ever got to work are those included on the W7 distribution
disk I do't hold out much hope of success.I still wonder if something
has changed with WDDM as after the SP1 update it states thatWindows has
reported a problem with the graphics adaptor. As it is old perhaps it
doesn't pass the MS approval test.

Anyway, I'll report back here if I solve the problem

Misterfish

 

[Flint]

I've an old computer that has been running Windows 7 without any
problems. It has an old ATI 9600 graphics card that works fine with the
drivers included with Windows 7 - aero, wide screen HD display work
fine.

Well they did until I installed SP1 - after which the graphics card
displayed a warning exclamation mark in the devices and would only
display at basic VGA resolutions.

I went back to a previous saved system backup and the graphics worked
again perfectly. I installed all the updates apart from SP1 and it all
still worked fine.

Again I then tried the SP1 install and again grapics card would only
work in VGA mode.

So I have two questions:-

1. Has anybody else had this problem and solved it to allow SP1 to be
installed?

2. Is there any way to selectively install just parts of the service
pack so that I can omit any graphics improvements?

Misterfish

At
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=137300 ,
"Eydee" says:

"I have a 9600 Pro which works perfectly fine with Windows 7 and the
10.2 legacy drivers. It's connected through the standard D-SUB (VGA)
port to an old CRT monitor without any adapters. Maybe you have a
motherboard incompatibility problem or something like that. Turn off
AGP fast write and other fancy AGP settings in the bios and maybe set
your AGP speed to 4x. Make sure the AGP aperture is 128 or 256 before
installing the drivers."

.... and "JohnnyGamer" says:

"ATI Radeon 9600 works well on windows 7 only with catalyst 8.7 for vista.

Download it from previous drivers and you enjoy."

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Another reason to use nVidia.

Nvidia has the same policy for GPUs prior to the GeForce 6000-series.
The legacy drivers were supplied by both Nvidia and AMD to Microsoft;
they are simply maintained by Microsoft from now on, and are supposed to
be fully qualified and tested by Microsoft itself. There won't be a lot
of development work done on them by Microsoft other than compatibility
issues.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Yousuf Khan:

Yes. That's right. The annoying thing is that it works fine with the
provided drivers until SP1 is installed. Maybe I ought to save a copy of
the drivers, then install SP1 and then copy over the original files and
see if it works then. If not then I can just 'system restore' again.

Misterfish

I've finally been able to install SP1 on my system after weeks of
battle, by taking the Windows back to near original install state, using
the Repair Install option of the Win 7 installation disk. This brings
the Windows 7 back to the state it was when the installation was first
performed, except you don't lose any of your programs or documents or
settings. Saves a lot of reinstallation. After bringing the Win7 back to
original state, then I immediately installed the full SP1 downloaded
file (not the one from Windows Update) and it installed perfectly.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Yousuf Khan