Challenge to HAIG

[Brent]

Haig, I think you are a good guy and invaluable to us Matrox fanatics with your "inside" support, but can you defend the hardware DVD module as being up the same level of support of any other Matrox product released in just say the last 3 years?????
Can you at least put us out of our misery by stating that the module is no longer in the Matrox family?
That way I can remove it from my second system, get another G400 and get on with my life.
PS. This post was inspired by the thread about the SoftDVD 3.5 (still clutching at straws) and I am still hurting about the green TV output of my G200 Mystique, which FORCES me to use the module, as Matrox in Australia have the IQ of a dead wombat and would not give me the newer Zoran revision G200, instead lecturing me how to adjust the TV colour output! Please come to Oz on a working holiday and slam a few hockey pucks (you are Canadian aren't you) into some of the vacant craniums at Matrox.

[paulcs]

My genuine sympathies, for what it is worth, to this cause and the people who have purchased this undersupported product. (Seeing Matrox act like Diamond must be a bitter pill.)

However, I suspect support for the DVD module, or lack thereof, is a policy decision made outside of Haig's department. This puts him between a rock and a hard place.

I'm just not comfortable with this.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Bixler]

Brent:

I feel for ya, man, but here are some cold, business facts. There is an installed base of only 2000 of these things worldwide, and in the context of everything else going on, w2k drivers, and all else, yes you are right, this will always be an undersupported product. But you are barking at/up the wrong tree. Haig is allowed to say certain things, and is NOT allowed to say other things. Big companies are that way sometimes. Matrox will not invest the precious coding time to fix this problem for us 2000 when they've got 50,000 to 100,000 W2kers like Mr Cold making threats and throwing flames.

My advice. Clean install (full registry sweep) back to the 4.33 OEM Drivers 1.20 Vid tools and install your DVD and from that point post in over on the official forum with your problem and stay with it until they RMA the thing, (Which they probably will) or find you a driver set that will solve your ACPI problem. THEN we can move on, and if you want to try the new software without having to pay for it, just e-mail me, I'll be glad to point you to an 'evaluation' copy.

I'll be glad to help in any way I can, man, cause I'm WITH you, just realistic. At this point Matrox is legally obligated to provide to you a functional product in the OS it supports with the drivers out of the box. If you've read my long rant elsewhere (you MUST have, I've been all over this thing) you know how I feel.

That's all official tech supp is allowed to do.

Ledo Simon is close to coding an install utility that will allow the MGI software to work without having to install the OEM navigator, and Haig has said that he'll protect the 8 lines of code that our little orphan needs in future W9x driver updates as long as our little 8 lines don't break something else they are trying to do. There is also great hope that we'll see the same code in W2k, whereupon the MGI software would solve that problem as well. Hang in there, and e-mail me about the MGI software.

Hope this helps.

[Brent]

Thanks - I fully agree but now and again I get a bile attack over this issue and have to spew a bit.
I will keep an eye out for developments, as always, but with a little more optimism.
Sorry HAIG - you're still the dude.

[Bixler]

Brent:

Check your e-mail at 7:45 CST the site was back up! Go get it.

Fully functional 3.5 SoftDVDMax in 7 files.

[Haig]

No problem Brent,

If it's any consolation, I have made sure that your voice and all others on our forums and here have been heard.

There's no doubt that the MGI softDVD is using the mod. I'm also confident that any other softDVD player using direct show will also be using the mod provided you install the zoran navigator 1st. I contacted MGI about Bixler's and Simon's findings and they deny that their app uses the module (sigh).

Haig

[Brent]

Thanks Haig,
I'll be looking forward to my new hard drive so I can reinstall and check out my "new" DVD results.