Can the 8500 be "region-coded"? Can't get TV-out to work...

[EvilYoda]

So yeah, I got one of those cheap new Radeon 8500s from the CompGeeks deal, to upgrade from my previous GF2 Pro...it was a nice improvement, but now I finally got an s-video cable long enough to reach the TV, and I can't get it to output. When I go to select either the region or the format, the US is not a possibility, nor is NTSC (all PAL).

Is it possible that this thing has a firmware from somewhere in like Europe, and I'll have to flash it over to NTSC in order for me to use it? Such a freaking hassle...any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[Escalade]

Going from PAL to NTSC usually isn?t a simple firmware upgrade... it involves hardware changes as well... what does the manufacture?s website say?

 

[EvilYoda]

aye, I don't know...from the looks of it, the few BIOS pages that are out there have BIOS-es for PAL and NTSC....

I have a feeling that it still might not be the firmware that's the problem, but other than that, I can't figure out what to do! Guess I'll have to register the product and see what ATI says.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

I had a 9100, there was a jumper on the card that switched between PAL & NTSC. Not sure if it would be on a 8500 or not. It was near the S-video output & Rage Theatre chip.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Gonad the Barbarian
I had a 9100, there was a jumper on the card that switched between PAL & NTSC. Not sure if it would be on a 8500 or not. It was near the S-video output & Rage Theatre chip.

Hmmm....thanks Gonad, I'll look for that in a second! Hopefully you're right, and this ordeal doesn't need anything else...

 

[EvilYoda]

Hmmm, no switch...guess I'll have to figure out how to flash the BIOS w/o a floppy

 

[EvilYoda]

Okay, flashed everything, NTSC shows up now, but still no picture on the TV. I'm using a 4-pin s-video out to the receiver, but I also have an s-video to composite cable, and that isn't working either...

Can someone who uses an 8500 and TV-out tell me if they use a 4-pin connector successfully, and also what version Catalyst driver they're using? This is really starting to piss me off. (I can even place windows offscreen, as if there's another desktop there, but nothing shows up on the TV!)

 

[clicknext]

I use an 8500. It Sapphire made and has a jumper for switching between NTSC and PAL.

As Escalade said, to support NTSC, the card's hardware would probably have to be built to support it.