How do I get original Video Tools to work with the latest drivers?

[Slugbait]

I have a Marvel G200, which I use to watch TV while working on the PC. The problem is that the latest Video Tools hook directly into the master volume (the original Video Tools do not: they hook into Line-In and Aux). As a result, with the latest VT, I cannot adjust the PC-VCR volume independently of the system volume, which is highly undesirable when used with a PCI soundcard that is capable of multiple streams. For example, I may wish to simply turn down the volume of the TV feed without affecting the volume of the MP3 I want to hear. So I REALLY want to use the original VT that came on the CD, because that version allowed this kind of functionality.

I restored my machine with an archived image, which contains the original drivers that came with the Marvel. The display drivers are listed in Add/Remove, so I uninstalled them from there (leaving the original Video Tools installed), then installed the latest display drivers. However, PC-VCR will no longer launch: it complains (incorrectly) that I'm using a 4-bit palette.

I can't use the uninstaller (which would erradicate the 4-bit error message), because that nukes Video Tools as well: once I install the latest drivers, I cannot install the original version of Video Tools that came on the CD (install complains that Matrox drivers are not installed, and quits).

I can always quickly restore my image with the original drivers, so I have room to experiment: are there any suggestions to try in order to keep the original VT, yet still upgrade the display drivers? Or is there a hack to remap the hooks of the new VT from master volume to Line-In/Aux volume?

Thx...

[Kruzin]

Relocated to the Desktop Video forum, where all the video gurus post...

[Slugbait]

Thanks, Kruzin...my bad...

[This_Idiot]

Ouch !

Sounds like one for Haig.

[Slugbait]

I did some forum searches, and some extensive reading: looks like I'm the only one who has noticed the new hook into the master volume...or even cares. And there are zero solutions in threads for getting VT 1.21 to work on post-4.33 drivers.

As near as I can figure, prolly the only way I would be able to get this to work is to get a private build of uninstaller that doesn't uninstall VT...or has options to choose *what* to uninstall...anything but the "all or nothing" approach. What a cool tool that would be...

But the safe bet is prolly that even if VT 1.21 was allowed to remain intact after uninstall of previous display drivers, it's wholly incompatible with newer drivers...which would explain why uninstaller was designed this way.

In the meantime, it's obvious that if I want the original volume functionality, my driver upgrades end at 4.33. Unless there's a hack to remap the volume hooks of the latest VT...

My machine is in total rebuild mode right now (getting cleaned up for a dual with W2K), so my local system email hasn't been restored yet. In the meantime, anything that can't be said here: terranlost@yahoo.com

[This message has been edited by Slugbait (edited 05 March 2000).]

[cjyo~]

I don't have an answer, but just want to add 2 cents:

The current (new) drivers and VT have another major feature missing: you cannot adjust video out (color/contrast settings) when playing back Matrox MJPEG Video. (Try it for yourself.) I can't believe no one else has mentioned this before. There is also no option to take the color bars off the screen when trying to adjust the TV out.

Both of these are features that work with the old drivers and VT. Actually, Haig has already confirmed that this problem (no video out settings) exists and has added it to the suggestion box.

I recently got a new system drive and set up an editing partition and an everything else partition. The editing system has the PD 4.26/VT 1.21 drivers (and old DirectX) because they work and have all the features I need. The 2nd system has the current drivers. (Just for the heck of it!)

So, I think you can do what I did: stick to the old drivers or be stuck with the new ones...

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Please visit http://spincycle.n3.net - My System: Celeron 300a(@450/2v),Abit BH6, 128mb RAM, Win98SE, Marvel G200TV, Diamond MX300, Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 20g system drive, DiamondMax Plus 40 capture drive, IBM 8g Deskstar program drive, Adaptec 2940UW SCSI, 9gb Barracuda UWSCSI video drive, Hitachi GD-2500 DVD-Rom, UltraPlex CD-Rom, Plexwriter CD-recorder, Viewsonic PT775, Soundworks 4.1 speakers

[Slugbait]

Haig...any ideas?