Catalysts killing my W2K Server

Serendipity · May 6, 2004, 01:17 PM

Hi there, I’m new around here although I’ve been lurking for ages. Sorry my first post is a plea for help, but I’m a little stuck. I’ve had a search through the forum, but I couldn’t find any threads relating to my specific problem and I wondered if anyone had come across this before.

I run a dual boot system for testing and development loaded with W2K Server (standard edition) and XP Pro (SP2 RC1). I frequently blow away both installs and either ghost them back or run clean installations. The box has had an old MX440 in it for months with no problems, but recently I stuck in a 128MB Radeon 9000 (non pro) and the headaches began.

I carefully uninstalled the Nvidia drivers and ran driver cleaner to tidy things up then installed the ATI card as per their instructions with the latest Catalysts (4.4). The XP intall works like a dream. No issues there, but Server took a serious dislike to the drivers.

On 1st boot after installing the driver I got as far as the logon screen, entered my details then processes started crashing. Pop ups appear saying a variety of essential processes are stopping such as internat.exe, explorer.exe, svchost.exe and so on. Sometimes I could get as far as the desktop, but nothing worked of course.

So… into safe mode and uninstalled the driver, log back in and everything works fine albeit in crappy VGA mode. Then began a long process of trying every driver going back to Catalyst 02.2 (the first to support 9000). I’ve run several clean installs and tried with and without service packs 1-4 and I’ve tried with various releases of DX8 and DX9, but still the same problem. Putting the MX440 back in cures the problem, but that’s not the point. The Radeon works fine in XP on the same box so it’s not a hardware issue.

Anyone seen these kinds of symptoms before? Am I missing something really obvious? Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Zardon · May 6, 2004, 01:18 PM

How do your IRQs look in the bios when you put in the Radeon card?

Serendipity · May 6, 2004, 01:23 PM

Yeah, had a look at that one already. I'm not in front of the machine at the moment, but if I remember correctly the Radeon was stitting on IRQ 11 with nothing else conflicting (as far as I could tell).

Serendipity · May 6, 2004, 01:57 PM

I'm a bit of a n00b as far as interupts are concerned. What should I be looking for as a pointer to what may be going wrong?

Zardon · May 6, 2004, 02:09 PM

Well generally if a graphics card is sharing an IRQ and you having issues like you are, its a fair indication that is the problem.

So lets recap a little, you install your new OS, do all your 2k updates - then install Dx9 and everything is fine until you install the catalysts correct? have you tried any omega driver sets?

Serendipity · May 6, 2004, 02:52 PM

Correct. All goes well until loading the catalysts.

And no, as yet I haven't tried the Omegas. I'll give them a go and see what happens. Although I can't play until later because I'm at work now and the box is at home. Another 3 hours before I can try.

~~HawK~~ · May 6, 2004, 03:18 PM

What service pack are you runnin on W2K? (need sp4?)
or else try this:
unpack the drivers to a temp folder find the 2kxp_inf -folder and putting the CX_14266.inf,C2_14266.inf
in the winnt/ inf- folder manually?,
the CX_14266.cat should go there aswell if my W2K memory serves me well..
restart and do the normal Catalyst setup,

Serendipity · May 6, 2004, 03:36 PM

Well initial attempt was with SP4, but I've also tried fresh installs with SP1, 2 and 3 with no luck.

Thanks, I'll have a go with that manual unpack and install method too.

Serendipity · May 6, 2004, 10:31 PM

Hmmmm, things are looking up. I’ve tried the latest Omega drivers on a much abused, unpatched, unservice-packed installation (don’t worry, machine not connected to any network atm) and bingo! it successfully booted up.

Now I’m just running a clean install with a slipstreamed SP4 to see if I can repeat that success and get a fully patched, operational server going. I probably would have tried the Omegas sooner or later, but with your suggestion I tried it sooner.

Thanks Zardon and HawK, very much appreciated.

May 6, 2004, 01:17 PM	#1
Serendipity DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Catalysts killing my W2K Server Hi there, I’m new around here although I’ve been lurking for ages. Sorry my first post is a plea for help, but I’m a little stuck. I’ve had a search through the forum, but I couldn’t find any threads relating to my specific problem and I wondered if anyone had come across this before. I run a dual boot system for testing and development loaded with W2K Server (standard edition) and XP Pro (SP2 RC1). I frequently blow away both installs and either ghost them back or run clean installations. The box has had an old MX440 in it for months with no problems, but recently I stuck in a 128MB Radeon 9000 (non pro) and the headaches began. I carefully uninstalled the Nvidia drivers and ran driver cleaner to tidy things up then installed the ATI card as per their instructions with the latest Catalysts (4.4). The XP intall works like a dream. No issues there, but Server took a serious dislike to the drivers. On 1st boot after installing the driver I got as far as the logon screen, entered my details then processes started crashing. Pop ups appear saying a variety of essential processes are stopping such as internat.exe, explorer.exe, svchost.exe and so on. Sometimes I could get as far as the desktop, but nothing worked of course. So… into safe mode and uninstalled the driver, log back in and everything works fine albeit in crappy VGA mode. Then began a long process of trying every driver going back to Catalyst 02.2 (the first to support 9000). I’ve run several clean installs and tried with and without service packs 1-4 and I’ve tried with various releases of DX8 and DX9, but still the same problem. Putting the MX440 back in cures the problem, but that’s not the point. The Radeon works fine in XP on the same box so it’s not a hardware issue. Anyone seen these kinds of symptoms before? Am I missing something really obvious? Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

May 6, 2004, 01:18 PM	#2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	How do your IRQs look in the bios when you put in the Radeon card?

May 6, 2004, 01:23 PM	Thread Starter #3
Serendipity DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Yeah, had a look at that one already. I'm not in front of the machine at the moment, but if I remember correctly the Radeon was stitting on IRQ 11 with nothing else conflicting (as far as I could tell).

May 6, 2004, 01:57 PM	Thread Starter #4
Serendipity DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	I'm a bit of a n00b as far as interupts are concerned. What should I be looking for as a pointer to what may be going wrong?

May 6, 2004, 02:09 PM	#5
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Well generally if a graphics card is sharing an IRQ and you having issues like you are, its a fair indication that is the problem. So lets recap a little, you install your new OS, do all your 2k updates - then install Dx9 and everything is fine until you install the catalysts correct? have you tried any omega driver sets?

May 6, 2004, 02:52 PM	Thread Starter #6
Serendipity DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Correct. All goes well until loading the catalysts. And no, as yet I haven't tried the Omegas. I'll give them a go and see what happens. Although I can't play until later because I'm at work now and the box is at home. Another 3 hours before I can try.

May 6, 2004, 03:18 PM	#7
~~HawK~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,092 Rep Power: 0	What service pack are you runnin on W2K? (need sp4?) or else try this: unpack the drivers to a temp folder find the 2kxp_inf -folder and putting the CX_14266.inf,C2_14266.inf in the winnt/ inf- folder manually?, the CX_14266.cat should go there aswell if my W2K memory serves me well.. restart and do the normal Catalyst setup,

May 6, 2004, 03:36 PM	Thread Starter #8
Serendipity DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Well initial attempt was with SP4, but I've also tried fresh installs with SP1, 2 and 3 with no luck. Thanks, I'll have a go with that manual unpack and install method too.

May 6, 2004, 10:31 PM	Thread Starter #9
Serendipity DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0	Hmmmm, things are looking up. I’ve tried the latest Omega drivers on a much abused, unpatched, unservice-packed installation (don’t worry, machine not connected to any network atm) and bingo! it successfully booted up. Now I’m just running a clean install with a slipstreamed SP4 to see if I can repeat that success and get a fully patched, operational server going. I probably would have tried the Omegas sooner or later, but with your suggestion I tried it sooner. Thanks Zardon and HawK, very much appreciated.