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P3V4X Alert: Stupid VIA Busmastering Tricks
[If you can run 3DMark 2000 and successfully complete the 64MB Texture Speed test, you probably don't want to do this.]
I've noticed a lot of people are having compatibility issues with the G400 and the newer VIA chipsets. In the past, these issues were resolved by upgrading VIA's busmastering drivers. Well, there is apparently an error in the 4.20 busmastering setup routine that prevents a proper installation of these drivers. (Scoundrels!)
As a result, users have noticed issues related to AGP aperture, the misreporting of video memory and texture sizes, etc. The most obvious bug, and this I noticed on my machine, was the indentification of my hard drive in Windows Device Manager as a generic Type 47 device.
If Device Manager is reporting your hard drive as a generic device, then the newest busmastering drivers have not been installed correctly. It should ID your hard drive by name.
To rectify this, you have to install the 4.20 busmastering manually (as opposed to using the setup program). There are several quirks, however, which will prevent them from installing properly. I have mentioned them below and provided work arounds.
In Device Manager, extend "Hard disk controllers."
Click on VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller.
Click on the "Properties" button.
Click on the "Driver" tab.
The provider for the 4.20 busmastering drivers should be VIA Technologies, Inc. and not Microsoft. They should be dated 1-24-2000 and not some date from a year or two ago.
You can manually install the updated drivers from here. After I installed the drivers and rebooted, I was prompted for a soundcard cab file for my Vortex 2 soundcard. You'll probably want to have your soundcard drivers on hand. (Windows directed me to insert the Windows 98se CD. The file was not on it, but was included in my card's driver update.)
Click on the "Update Driver..." button and tell the wizard you want to specify the driver. Use the "Have disk" function and point it to the directory where you have the 4in1 4.20 drivers stored. They should be in a subdirectory called "WIN9X."
You will be prompted for a file called "VIADSK.CAT." Skip it.
IMPORTANT: After the drivers have done their thing, Windows will prompt you to restart. Just say NO. It may prompt you again. Say NO.
When you are back to the desktop, hold down the left shift key and click on the Start Menu.
While continuing to hold down the shift key, chose restart and, of course, restart Windows. (If the machine reboots, as opposed to Windows simply restarting, you did it wrong, and will have to do it again.)
When "Windows is restarting..." appears on your screen, release the shift key.
Upon entering Windows, devices will install, and you may be prompted for the soundcard file and the "VIADSK.CAT" file again. I installed the soundcard file and skipped the VIADSK.CAT file. If you have to restart, use the Start Menu/Shift key method I described above.
When you're back in Windows, check in Device Manager to make sure your hard disk is not being identified as a "Type 47" generic drive. If your hard drive is reported by name, you're set.
You may not want to do this is everything is working fine or reasonably fine. I have not tried this with a Matrox board. Maybe some brave soul should give it a whirl and report back.
For some odd reason, Matrox drivers frequently have to be installed after VIA busmastering drivers are installed. I've read that these VIA drivers must be installed after the videocard's drivers have been installed. People have gotten around this paradox by installing the Matrox drivers, installing the busmastering drivers, and reinstalling the Matrox drivers immediately afterwards. Again, I have not tried this with a Matrox board.
I'm not sure if any of this is applicable to the new Asus Athlon board or any other VIA-based board. You might want to check Device Manager, however, and see if your hard drives are being reported correctly.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net
[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 20 April 2000).]
I've noticed a lot of people are having compatibility issues with the G400 and the newer VIA chipsets. In the past, these issues were resolved by upgrading VIA's busmastering drivers. Well, there is apparently an error in the 4.20 busmastering setup routine that prevents a proper installation of these drivers. (Scoundrels!)
As a result, users have noticed issues related to AGP aperture, the misreporting of video memory and texture sizes, etc. The most obvious bug, and this I noticed on my machine, was the indentification of my hard drive in Windows Device Manager as a generic Type 47 device.
If Device Manager is reporting your hard drive as a generic device, then the newest busmastering drivers have not been installed correctly. It should ID your hard drive by name.
To rectify this, you have to install the 4.20 busmastering manually (as opposed to using the setup program). There are several quirks, however, which will prevent them from installing properly. I have mentioned them below and provided work arounds.
In Device Manager, extend "Hard disk controllers."
Click on VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller.
Click on the "Properties" button.
Click on the "Driver" tab.
The provider for the 4.20 busmastering drivers should be VIA Technologies, Inc. and not Microsoft. They should be dated 1-24-2000 and not some date from a year or two ago.
You can manually install the updated drivers from here. After I installed the drivers and rebooted, I was prompted for a soundcard cab file for my Vortex 2 soundcard. You'll probably want to have your soundcard drivers on hand. (Windows directed me to insert the Windows 98se CD. The file was not on it, but was included in my card's driver update.)
Click on the "Update Driver..." button and tell the wizard you want to specify the driver. Use the "Have disk" function and point it to the directory where you have the 4in1 4.20 drivers stored. They should be in a subdirectory called "WIN9X."
You will be prompted for a file called "VIADSK.CAT." Skip it.
IMPORTANT: After the drivers have done their thing, Windows will prompt you to restart. Just say NO. It may prompt you again. Say NO.
When you are back to the desktop, hold down the left shift key and click on the Start Menu.
While continuing to hold down the shift key, chose restart and, of course, restart Windows. (If the machine reboots, as opposed to Windows simply restarting, you did it wrong, and will have to do it again.)
When "Windows is restarting..." appears on your screen, release the shift key.
Upon entering Windows, devices will install, and you may be prompted for the soundcard file and the "VIADSK.CAT" file again. I installed the soundcard file and skipped the VIADSK.CAT file. If you have to restart, use the Start Menu/Shift key method I described above.
When you're back in Windows, check in Device Manager to make sure your hard disk is not being identified as a "Type 47" generic drive. If your hard drive is reported by name, you're set.
You may not want to do this is everything is working fine or reasonably fine. I have not tried this with a Matrox board. Maybe some brave soul should give it a whirl and report back.
For some odd reason, Matrox drivers frequently have to be installed after VIA busmastering drivers are installed. I've read that these VIA drivers must be installed after the videocard's drivers have been installed. People have gotten around this paradox by installing the Matrox drivers, installing the busmastering drivers, and reinstalling the Matrox drivers immediately afterwards. Again, I have not tried this with a Matrox board.
I'm not sure if any of this is applicable to the new Asus Athlon board or any other VIA-based board. You might want to check Device Manager, however, and see if your hard drives are being reported correctly.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net
[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 20 April 2000).]
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