G200 16M SDRAM and 4.51 (for OpenGL)

[Catrix]

Does anyone happen to know why the Millenium G200 with 16M fixed SDRAM is not supported in the 4.51 release drivers?

I am recent buyer of the above card (AGP version) and have been disappointed to find out that to install the OpenGL ICD beta2 I need the above driver version - given that opengl support in this price bracket was the primary reason I purchased this card in the first place (plus have been happy with old Millennium 1).

Please understand that I am not trying to perpetuate the lengthy (and oftimes heated) discussions on the current beta testing of PD5 as I have not been involved long enough to make any constructive comments at this stage.

What I am looking for is confirmation that opengl is currently unsupported on my card - and possibly for news that it will be supported in PD5. With this information I can determine if I should return my card or wait for the new drivers (even though it appears there has been a 6mnth delay from the last release).

Thanks.

[Ant]

Basically the card was released after the 4.51 drivers so the installation doesn't recognise the card id as a G200. I think 4.33 recognise it so it may be possible just to switch the .inf file.

[SteveC]

Hi - you may want to try what I said in <A HREF="http://forums.gagames.com/forums/Forum109/HTML/001748.html" target="_blank">this</A> thread. Let us know if it works or not!

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Cheers,
Steve
It's Only A Graphics Card!
(But a damn good 'un!)

[Catrix]

Ant and SteveC, thanks for your prompt replies. I've had a bit of a torrid road but I think I'm almost there.

Ant, after reading your post I looked in the *.inf files and found that a simple copy wouldn't work as I have the unified drivers and all the files are different.

SteveC, thanks for your suggestion too. After Ant prompted me to look at the *.inf files I found that the subsys id for my card was missing. Adding it allowed me to continue with the setup process fine but then I hit another wall - booting gave me a blank screen.

I recovered by reinstalling the latest unified video drivers (using windows - not matrox install) from inside safe mode(w9x_433c.exe). Then, for good measure, I tried the *.inf file you created with the same results.

This, along with the comments from Ant about the SD version being released after 4.51, made me realise that the driver in the latest G200 only release with PD 4.51 (1677_451.exe) doesn't support the SD version (video 4.11.01.1000) - where the driver in the latest unified set with PD 4.33 does (video 4.11.01.4330).

So long as I install the unified drivers first, then install PD4.51, fail reboot, reinstall video drivers only from latest unified set - I'm laughing.

I'm sure there will be an easier way to get PD 4.51 (like PD5) but the end result is all that matters.

After all of that - ICD Beta2 still bombs out in a test opengl program <sigh>. I wonder if ICD Beta2 has been tested with the latest G200 SD driver included in the unified drivers.

Time for me to go offline - it's a bit late down-under now - you can probably tell as I am rambling too much now.

Again, thanks for your assistance - I'll check in again tomorrow.

[anid]

Steve's idea in the previous thread should certainly work. If not, however, you can use windows device manager and tell it to "update driver" for the display adaptor. Don't let it search for a driver, point it to the directory where the g200.inf file is located (default is windows\temp) and choose the Mill G200. It will tell you that this driver was not designed for your hardware, tell it to do it anyway. Your drivers will still be reported as 4.33 because that version of Powerdesk will be running, but the 4.51 drivers will be loaded and let you run the OpenGL icd.
I have the same card, btw. If you are at all interested in OCing it, get a good heatsink and fan for the G200 chip (using a TennMax lasagne), and download g200clk or mxset. I've managed to push the clock on mine all the way up to 236MHz with very good stability.

[Holerith]

I'd be interested in opinions/comments/recommendations on both the 16 SD and compared to adding 8M SGRAM to a G200.



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Dean
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PDP-11, Dec-writer & ZD-11 Terminal Unit, RSTS-OS

[Catrix]

Whoops!

Just before PD5.13 came out my G200 starting playing up. Rebooted at some stage and locked up - second boot into safe mode - third boot into "normal" mode but with message reporting card not installed properly (vga compatibility mode). Every attempt to reinstall drivers (PD4.33) or windows sucked me back down into the black hole on startup.

Got fed up - sent machine back to store for any other suggestions. Then started to see other people on this forum having similar problems - sometimes fixed by bios reprogram. Since my computer was gathering dust at the store I went and picked it up to give it a go.

Put the bios back in (recopy of v2.3), ran the PD5.13 setup and magic - my g200 reborn. Starts properly AND OGL support.

An opengl test program I had running software only mode at 13fps (AMDK6-2 450Mhz, 64SDRAM, ASUS P5A-B Ali Alladin V AGP) now rockets through at 85fps.

Now - I get to play

Thanks for all your assistance. This forum is DEFINITELY worth sticking to!