VIA 4n1 Drivers FOUND!

[Zyn]

http://www.tweakfiles.com/cgi-bin/dl...sc/4in1417.zip

Version 4.17 (the one everyone wants)
Click on that bastard to download them.

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G400 on a G400

[paulcs]

These drivers are not a magic bullet. They fix an issue with the Asus P3V4X Via Apollo Pro 133A. They are most likely older than the drivers you are using.

Some people have examined their drivers after running the install sequence and reported that nothing happened. Others have reported performance issues.

Apparently, these driver were never posted on VIA's website, and that's why they are so hard to find. They are not even on Asus's website. They are from the P3V4X's installation disk.

At best, if you manage to successfully install them without the benefit of having a P3V4X, you will be downgrading your VIA drivers. At worst, you will be installing proprietary drivers for somebody elses motherboard. (This is your motherboard we're talking about.)

Tweak Files gives no details about the purpose of these drivers. They also don't provide a disclaimer. So if you install them, and they screw up your system, I think you should sue them.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[paulcs]

Don't sue Kyle from HardOCP, however. He seems to be a good guy. He's very entertaining. Anything done that has anything to do with HardOCP should be regarded as done at your own risk and possibility at the risk of your family and pets.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 10 March 2000).]

[anid]

Just your family and pets? I think neighborhood might be justified...
The big thing about the 4.17 4n1 pack is the viagart.vxd version 3.59. The 4.0 version currently on the Via site has issues with several boards, not just the Asus. It is also the only Via driver I would personally recommend installing. If the 4.0 works for you, cool. But it doesn't for me on my MVP3G-M...

[paulcs]

But aren't there other releases with the same AGP driver?

Anand tested 4.17 on a number of the new Apollo Pro 133A boards and found they all took a performance hit. I don't see the advantage of that.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Wiseguy]

It’s amazing what kind crap you can find on the message boards these days. It would appear you couldn’t find the big letters that say Disclaimer, so here’s the link for you. http://www.tweakfiles.com/copyright.html Not to mention the link to VIA’s site for the latest drivers on the html page.

I really hope you were kidding because to suggest suing someone for posting a file is about the stupidest thing I have ever read.

Oh yeah… and Kyle is a cool guy.


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TweakFiles
3DFiles

[paulcs]

I was kidding. I thought this was obvious. I've heard of a lot things happening after installing VIA drivers. The death of family members and pets, however, isn't on my list of VIA disasters.

I suspect, however, that the webmaster didn't bother to research the issues involved or just opted to ignore them. Anything for a few hits.

Kyle, on the other hand, is a cowboy. I have different standards for Kyle.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 10 March 2000).]

[anid]

Yes, 3.59 was included with the 4.19 pack. I have not downloaded the 4.17, but from what I can tell it is just a renamed 4.19 pack. I could be totally wrong, so anyone feel free to correct me. And there do seem to be some major differences in the 4.0 and 3.59 GART, but it also seems to be highly system dependent. My system (Epox MVP3G-M, G200 SD 16MB), there was no difference in benchmarks, but with the 4.0 driver I would get random lockups in Quake2 after extended play. There was also more texture tearing. Other SS7 users have reported improvements with the 4.0 driver (mostly TNT owners). The only way to tell if the 3.59 works better with your board and card is to try it and compare. But I would certainly avoid the rest of the drivers in any of the 4n1 releases, particularly the BM drivers - they may work, or they may hose your system.

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"I wrestled with reality for 27 years and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it."

[paulcs]

Well, the 4.19 drivers don't have the positive effects that the 4.17 drivers have on the new Asus boards, so whatever the issue is with the board, it can't just be the AGP driver.

A number of people have report problems installing these drivers. This is my first VIA motherboard. Is there a way to install them other than with the setup routine? In addition, how can I verify that the appropriate drivers have been changed? I've checked some stuff in device manager, and a number of the VIA device drivers still have the Microsoft signature and an April '99 date.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Wiseguy]

I am the webmaster, and no I didn’t post it for hits. Heck it did less than 500 downloads, that’s nothing. I posted it because Kyle asked me to. Period.

I am glad you were kidding. Sorry for the tone, I was having a rather bad day and saw that and nearly blew a gasket.

Yes, VIA drivers can cause issues, in any flavor, but that is true with nearly any driver for anything. However, in many cases, you HAVE to use them, or you are better off with them. As just an FYI, I did research it, AND ran the file on my VIA based system before posting. At TweakFiles, we try very hard not to post crap, even when one of our friends asks us to.


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TweakFiles
3DFiles

[Zyn]

What the hell are you guys doing pissing off webmasters?!?!?!?! I just posted this because I know many people are looking for them. Whether or not it works out better or worse for them, is an entirely different issue. Paulcs should write some kind of apalogy. CHEESE-N-RICE !

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G400 on a G400

[paulcs]

I'm apologize, Wiseguy. I was kidding, and I should have made that clearer.

I've just been amazed at the interest these drivers have generated, particularly amongst Soyo users. I think much of the interest in them is based upon a misunderstanding--quite possibly a misreading of Tom Pabst's Apollo Pro 133A article. That and the fact that they were only available on the P3V4X installation CD.

I think many of us who actually bought the Asus board have a slightly different perspective on the 4.17 drivers. We are stuck using them, unless we want to see 40 to 50 fps drops in 3D games.

The 4.20 drivers seem to be awful. Did you notice any improvements with the 4.17 drivers over 4.18 and 4.19?

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[IceStorm]

:-)

I still have a V2 SLI rig in my P3V4X...

Muhahaha! No AGP problems for me!

Of course, once the second Ultra66 controller gets here, that'll all change. Then my master plan of 60GB on both machines will be complete, and I'll move the G400 in with the Asus *crosses his fingers*

Just my $0.02

[paulcs]

Hi Zyn. I noticed your demand for an apology to Wiseguy, which you posted as I was in the process of apologizing. I was not my intention to piss him off, although I don't think it is a matter of whether or not he is a webmaster.

We have a difference of an opinion about this. I believe that Wiseguy, Kyle, and you should have stated that these might be proprietary drivers--that is, they were written for or tweaked for a particular device. I believe the source of these drivers is an Asus installation disk for a particular motherboard. That's probably why they were so hard to find. They never made it to VIA's site, apparently, and there very well might be a reason for that.

On the other hand, I fully understand the arguement that just about anything downloaded from the Internet and installed on one's machine should be considered an installation at one's own risk. It's just common sense.

I wish there was some middle ground here.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[anid]

Ok, just to see, I went ahead and downloaded the 4.17 pack. The AGP driver is 3.56, not 3.59. All the drivers are Via originals, none of them are proprietary to the Asus board. The only other driver that is different between the 2 releases is the BM driver - the newer pack contains seperate vxds for atapi and ide devices, with the ide driver being 2.01. The older ide driver does not have a version number on it, but I suspect it would be 2.0 if it did (they don't change the BM driver often - that I can remember, the 2.01 is the 3rd generational release of it). The ACPI .inf file is info included by Win98 setup, so not needed. And the IRQ routing driver has always been a MS driver, version number 4.00.950 (a better one is built into Win98, why use the older version built for Win95?). So, the only driver you _need_ from any of the 4n1 packs is the AGP driver. You can also use the BM drivers, but do so at your own risk.

Oh, yeah, from what I remember, SS7 users got a substantial increase in performance going to the 3.56 driver, but there has been no real performance benefit since (just bug fixes for certain graphics cards). With the 133(a) northbridge being different, I am perplexed at why the 3.56 would give such a performance increase on Asus boards. The only Via GART drivers written with specific support for the 133 a is 3.59 and 4.0.

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"I wrestled with reality for 27 years and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it."