Catalyst 10.6 released

[hawtdawg]

I am currently pretty frustrated with ATI.

The 10.4 driver was supposed to have the ATI BFBC2 load bug fixed. The official release ended up not having it, so they released a hotfix that had the fix. The problem is that they only released a desktop hotfix but no hotfix for us mobility users. 10.5 rolls around and the same problem is claimed to be fixed. It turns out to not be fixed, so they again release a hotfix, and again for desktop only.

Now 10.6 comes out. It claims to have the same BFBC2 fix. The problem this time is that crossfire appears to be broken for lots of people. So of course, we will no doubt see a 10.6a out in a day or 2 that fixes the problem, and it will only be for desktop! So I, as an CF mobility user, have been stuck with this BFBC2 load bug for months now, and it looks like im going to have to wait until 10.7 for another chance at it being fixed (I say chance because im sure they'll find another way to fuck it up).

What I don't understand is this: ATI decided with the 10.x drivers that they were going to support their Mobility line, yet they won't even release a mobility installer for their hotfix! When something is posted on their forum, they just say what they've always said; that updated drivers are the responsibility of the notebook manufacturer.

We're just asking for an installer! If they're going to support the mobility line at all, why half-ass it like this? They stopped updating Mobility Modder for the 10.x series drivers based on ATI supporting mobility themselves. The situation for mobility users is worse now than it was before ATI decided to release them themselves.

 

[Scali]

All I can say is... I suppose I should be glad that I haven't had issues with 10.6 so far.
It installed in one go aswell, unlike 10.4 and 10.5 before it. 10.4 got 'stuck' in VGA mode, and required a manual reboot. 10.5 just hung the PC after installation, so again a manual reboot was required (happened in both Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64, so it wasn't coincidence).

 

[Sylvanas]

I am currently pretty frustrated with ATI.

The 10.4 driver was supposed to have the ATI BFBC2 load bug fixed. The official release ended up not having it, so they released a hotfix that had the fix. The problem is that they only released a desktop hotfix but no hotfix for us mobility users. 10.5 rolls around and the same problem is claimed to be fixed. It turns out to not be fixed, so they again release a hotfix, and again for desktop only.

Now 10.6 comes out. It claims to have the same BFBC2 fix. The problem this time is that crossfire appears to be broken for lots of people. So of course, we will no doubt see a 10.6a out in a day or 2 that fixes the problem, and it will only be for desktop! So I, as an CF mobility user, have been stuck with this BFBC2 load bug for months now, and it looks like im going to have to wait until 10.7 for another chance at it being fixed (I say chance because im sure they'll find another way to fuck it up).

What I don't understand is this: ATI decided with the 10.x drivers that they were going to support their Mobility line, yet they won't even release a mobility installer for their hotfix! When something is posted on their forum, they just say what they've always said; that updated drivers are the responsibility of the notebook manufacturer.

We're just asking for an installer! If they're going to support the mobility line at all, why half-ass it like this? They stopped updating Mobility Modder for the 10.x series drivers based on ATI supporting mobility themselves. The situation for mobility users is worse now than it was before ATI decided to release them themselves.

If I were in your shoes I'd be equally pissed off at them, the BC2 fix has been a few months in the making now. But I must say, a hotfix driver is like a 'Beta' in that it's not 'officially' supported by AMD hence the lack of complete 'support' on their part for your Crossfire mobility situation, one must expect irregularities like this in (any) BETA software. I hope the situation is resolved for you next release or perhaps another hotfix or a 3rd party will make a mobility modder available.

 

[AlucardX]

I know about the two screen stability issue, which is why I mentioned that I had only one screen connected. Maybe it was wishful thinking for 10.6 to be able to detect the presence of a only single display (that was working fine at downclocked memory before 10.4)

use MSI Afterburner to set a 2D/3D profile for your system. With overclocking disabled, your idle clocks (for my 5770) should be 150/300. Assign this slot 1. enable overclocking, set your 3D speeds, then assign this Slot 2. Then in the options you can assign profiles and set the 2D and 3D to Slot 1 and 2 respectively..

 

[blanketyblank]

I am currently pretty frustrated with ATI.

The 10.4 driver was supposed to have the ATI BFBC2 load bug fixed. The official release ended up not having it, so they released a hotfix that had the fix. The problem is that they only released a desktop hotfix but no hotfix for us mobility users. 10.5 rolls around and the same problem is claimed to be fixed. It turns out to not be fixed, so they again release a hotfix, and again for desktop only.

Now 10.6 comes out. It claims to have the same BFBC2 fix. The problem this time is that crossfire appears to be broken for lots of people. So of course, we will no doubt see a 10.6a out in a day or 2 that fixes the problem, and it will only be for desktop! So I, as an CF mobility user, have been stuck with this BFBC2 load bug for months now, and it looks like im going to have to wait until 10.7 for another chance at it being fixed (I say chance because im sure they'll find another way to fuck it up).

What I don't understand is this: ATI decided with the 10.x drivers that they were going to support their Mobility line, yet they won't even release a mobility installer for their hotfix! When something is posted on their forum, they just say what they've always said; that updated drivers are the responsibility of the notebook manufacturer.

We're just asking for an installer! If they're going to support the mobility line at all, why half-ass it like this? They stopped updating Mobility Modder for the 10.x series drivers based on ATI supporting mobility themselves. The situation for mobility users is worse now than it was before ATI decided to release them themselves.

I think part of the problem is that you're using CF mobility GPUs. Companies tend to have crappy support for small customer segments, and I think you are in an extremely small group.
I think your best bet is to start bitching at your enthusiast notebook manufacturer so they understand they should keep up development for those in your situation, since companies like ATI which just sells the GPUs probably don't even think about CF mobility GPUs.

 

[YBS1]

If you are running crossfire and Win7 x64, you may want to set a restore point before switching. Quite a few people are getting a so far unsolved BSOD after installing these upon reboot. Crossfire and Win7 x64 seems to be what those affected have in common.

 

[hawtdawg]

I think part of the problem is that you're using CF mobility GPUs. Companies tend to have crappy support for small customer segments, and I think you are in an extremely small group.
I think your best bet is to start bitching at your enthusiast notebook manufacturer so they understand they should keep up development for those in your situation, since companies like ATI which just sells the GPUs probably don't even think about CF mobility GPUs.

Getting Dell/Alienware to do anything about it in a timely manner is hopeless, The ONLY THING that ATI had to do was spend 5 minutes, 5 fucking minutes, to make an installer for the mobility line for their last 2 hotfixes


ATI made things worse for us by announcing Mobility driver support, and then not supporting it.

 

[zod96]

Did these drivers fix the Vysnc issue with BC2? Vysnc does not work in BC2 so I was hoping that these drivers fixed it..

 

[happy medium]

Do not install these drivers if you run any kind of crossfire!
They will give you a blue screen of death.

ANd I stand by the statement....and gave a link to back it up.
Unless there has been a fix?

 

[JAG87]

Wasn't there a thread about ati drivers sucking ass not too long ago, and most people who agreed got flamed for being nvidia fanboys?

Been using forceware 257 beta, which is a major overhaul over the previous drivers with plenty of room for bugs, on a novel architecture like Fermi again with plenty of room for bugs, and with SLI to top it off. Somehow I have less problems then people with 8 month old hardware that should be fine tuned by now.

 

[YBS1]

Wasn't there a thread about ati drivers sucking ass not too long ago, and most people who agreed got flamed for being nvidia fanboys?

Been using forceware 257 beta, which is a major overhaul over the previous drivers with plenty of room for bugs, on a novel architecture like Fermi again with plenty of room for bugs, and with SLI to top it off. Somehow I have less problems then people with 8 month old hardware that should be fine tuned by now.

Hate to burst your bubble but there are always going to be instances with either vendors driver releases that cause issues for a small minority of users. I happen to be one of those users this time, I don't recall having a major ATI Catalyst driver issue as far back as well...I probably haven't had one on Vista or Windows 7 until now. Now if the 10.7 rolls around and still causes this I may get a little aggravated, but not over a single release.

 

[hawtdawg]

Wasn't there a thread about ati drivers sucking ass not too long ago, and most people who agreed got flamed for being nvidia fanboys?

Been using forceware 257 beta, which is a major overhaul over the previous drivers with plenty of room for bugs, on a novel architecture like Fermi again with plenty of room for bugs, and with SLI to top it off. Somehow I have less problems then people with 8 month old hardware that should be fine tuned by now.

No ATI driver has ever fried my GPU by causing the fan to stop working.

It's not that ATI's drivers are perfect, it's that Nvidia's generally aren't any better.

Though I will say that I had far less hassle with my Nvidia mobile GPU than i have my ATI mobile GPU's. ATI's installer seems to be a bit more finicky.

 

[GotNoRice]

I installed these and it was only having 1/4 of my GPUs go to full-speed clocks in a game while the other 3 stayed at 507Mhz. All GPUs were being utilized so it wasn't a crossfire issue, just a clocks issue.

I went back to 10.5 and the cards go to full speed clocks in a game like they are supposed to. At least I am able to use the 10.6 profile update (6/18) with the 10.5 drivers.

 

[happy medium]

Wasn't there a thread about ati drivers sucking ass not too long ago, and most people who agreed got flamed for being nvidia fanboys?

Been using forceware 257 beta, which is a major overhaul over the previous drivers with plenty of room for bugs, on a novel architecture like Fermi again with plenty of room for bugs, and with SLI to top it off. Somehow I have less problems then people with 8 month old hardware that should be fine tuned by now.

Its called denial......good post

 

[Sylvanas]

Wasn't there a thread about ati drivers sucking ass not too long ago, and most people who agreed got flamed for being nvidia fanboys?

Been using forceware 257 beta, which is a major overhaul over the previous drivers with plenty of room for bugs, on a novel architecture like Fermi again with plenty of room for bugs, and with SLI to top it off. Somehow I have less problems then people with 8 month old hardware that should be fine tuned by now.

And yet there are people who consistently update AMD's drivers monthly and have no bugs while there are Fermi users who update and do have issues. Does their anecdotal evidence out weight your anecdotal evidence? No. Fact is, making an informed decision about drivers these days needs to be taken with a large grain of salt. Both camps release drivers every month (or months) that people have problems with, sometimes they don't and that's good. In terms of 'stability' across games from the last 5 years, there both about as good as each other. For me these days the topic of interest in drivers has been specific features (Ambient Occlusion for example) which are real talking points and not 'stability' which is highly subjective.

 

[lavaheadache]

im running these drivers with crossfired 5870's with no crashes.

 

[3DVagabond]

If anyone here is in retail then you'll know exactly what I'm getting at...

"Some people just shouldn't own computers!"

 

[KeithP]

I just installed these drivers running Win 7x64 with a 512MB Sapphire 4870. Youtube videos are now totally f'd up. Lots of corruption/blocking. I tried Chrome and Firefox. I even tried the Youtube HTML5 beta with Chrome, still no luck. Videos messed up.

Anyone else seeing this problem?

-KeithP

 

[Tempered81]

I am currently pretty frustrated with ATI.

The 10.4 driver was supposed to have the ATI BFBC2 load bug fixed. The official release ended up not having it, so they released a hotfix that had the fix. The problem is that they only released a desktop hotfix but no hotfix for us mobility users. 10.5 rolls around and the same problem is claimed to be fixed. It turns out to not be fixed, so they again release a hotfix, and again for desktop only.

Now 10.6 comes out. It claims to have the same BFBC2 fix. The problem this time is that crossfire appears to be broken for lots of people. So of course, we will no doubt see a 10.6a out in a day or 2 that fixes the problem, and it will only be for desktop! So I, as an CF mobility user, have been stuck with this BFBC2 load bug for months now, and it looks like im going to have to wait until 10.7 for another chance at it being fixed (I say chance because im sure they'll find another way to fuck it up).

What I don't understand is this: ATI decided with the 10.x drivers that they were going to support their Mobility line, yet they won't even release a mobility installer for their hotfix! When something is posted on their forum, they just say what they've always said; that updated drivers are the responsibility of the notebook manufacturer.

We're just asking for an installer! If they're going to support the mobility line at all, why half-ass it like this? They stopped updating Mobility Modder for the 10.x series drivers based on ATI supporting mobility themselves. The situation for mobility users is worse now than it was before ATI decided to release them themselves.

Get the driver that has the fix for the HD4000 series load times (probably 8.72,8.73 or 8.74). Toss it in a program called Mobility Modder that will automatically create an INF in the driver directory designating compatibility with your mobile card. Install the drivers, enjoy your fast load times & call it a day. I know, not that user friendly, but works.

 

[hawtdawg]

Get the driver that has the fix for the HD4000 series load times (probably 8.72,8.73 or 8.74). Toss it in a program called Mobility Modder that will automatically create an INF in the driver directory designating compatibility with your mobile card. Install the drivers, enjoy your fast load times & call it a day. I know, not that user friendly, but works.

Mobility modder hasn't worked since the 9.x drivers.

I did finally figure out how to mod them on my own though.

 

[Voo]

I just installed these drivers running Win 7x64 with a 512MB Sapphire 4870. Youtube videos are now totally f'd up. Lots of corruption/blocking. I tried Chrome and Firefox. I even tried the Youtube HTML5 beta with Chrome, still no luck. Videos messed up.

Anyone else seeing this problem?

-KeithP

Works perfectly fine with my 4870, Win7 x64 Professional and FF. Sounds more like a codec (or generally flash) problem if normal videos do work?

Edit: Ok just watched an episode of the daily show and you can forget about the "perfectly fine" - had also some blocking artefacts, but disabling hardware acceleration fixed that..

 

[Will Robinson]

Do not install these drivers if you run any kind of crossfire!
They will give you a blue screen of death.

You can report back to headquarters that today's FUD comment just didn't work.

 

[Avalon]

Is BFBC2 loading times really that bad? I'm still using the 10.3 driver without the load fix and I don't find the load time to be long enough to make me want to upgrade.

 

[Gikaseixas]

If anyone here is in retail then you'll know exactly what I'm getting at...

"Some people just shouldn't own computers!"

this

 

[Gikaseixas]

You can report back to headquarters that today's FUD comment just didn't work.

and he doesn't even own a Xfire setup...