G200 w/DVD Driver problems can PD 5.41 work?

[langle]

I have a FIC VA-503+ with K6-2 400 and Mystique G200 with hardware DVD. Evidently the PD 4.33 drivers I'm running are not compatible with DX 7.0a (according to Matrox tech support). Matrox recommended the PD 5.52 drivers, but I understand they do not work with my SS7 Mobo. So I would like to try the PD 5.41 drivers. My question is how to get the 5.41 drivers successfully installed and working with the hardware DVD/zoran navigator. I have backed up my G200 bios using resetbios and I have downloaded tweaksd05. Any help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Larry

[Kruzin]

My suggestion is to try the search feature of the forums. Try searching for "Zoran" or "DVD"...you will many helpful threads like this one... http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum5/HTML/007594.html

[ganyaik]

Hi,
I have an AsusSP98AGP-X mobo with an uc'd K6-2 400@380. I also have a G200Mill+DVD+RRg+TVO in my system up and running under W98. The PD I use is 5.41 with 5.52 G200ICD which seems to be faster to me. The reason I don't use the 5.5x drivers is that they cause BSOD under DX with bus mastering on. The VT is 1.52. Everything is fine with my Pioneer10x DVD drive.
I experienced no major problems during the installing. First the PD5.41, then VT1.52 after this the SoftDVD(set to region 2). The only minor prob was that when I first started a movie it crashed. After a reboot everything went fine.
But as I read on the forums some people lost their ability to change region after a "succesful" setup. So be aware of that.
BR,
Chris

[Bixler]

Hey Langle:

The 5.25 PD with either VT 1.50 or 1.51 should do the trick. The next W98 PD and VT release is supposed to have resolved some 3D problems if your MOBO has a VIA chipset.

My advice since you are making the jump from 4.33 into 5.x is to use the 5.25's until the next release.

Incidentally, the "incompatibility" you describe is actually just a spurious error message...your 4.33's will do fine with DX7. You can just click past the error message, or go into your display settings and uncheck the little box that tells the drivers to look for DX version.

Another note. If you use Tweak SD to reset your region...DO NOT follow Xin's advice about using region '0'. This was a nightmare for me at one point.

Good luck.

------------------
AMD K6III 400 @ 426 On a SOYO SY5EMA M/B. Marvel G200 TV with HW/DVD Daughtercard,
CDBurner, Creative DVD, Promise Ultra 66 Controller
two big WD Hdds, Outboard 56K modem
Parallel Port Scanner,
All stuffed into a Mid-tower ATX case with no device slots left!

[langle]

Many thanks for the suggestions and info!

Kruzin, I have been through this forum and the Matrox help site. The thread you referenced is a good summary, but I'm still a little confused.

Ganyaik, your info is encouraging but I'm concerned about the region 2 issue. It seems the drivers want to default to region 2 when installed. Since I'm region 1, how can I successfully counteract that? Does it take a registry hack (I'm running Win98 with Service Pack 1 and not SE).

Bixler, thanks for the info especially on TweakSD. Unfortunately my problem with DX7 is more serious, I killed the error messages long ago, MS Fltsim 2000 is bombing out regularly after 5 minutes. Everything else, including the DVD, works fine. Here's a more complete description of my problems:
http://forum.matrox.com/mgaforum/For...ML/000420.html

I'm hoping someone can help me with an install procedure that will work without messing up my DVD especially with respect to region coding. Here's what I'm thinking I can do, please comment if I'm going down the wrong road:

1. Leave VGA BIOS at ver 2.3, Matrox says it's the latest for my Mystique G200, I have made a boot recovery disk with resetbiois

2. Use manual procedures to completely remove PD 4.33 drivers.

3. Install PD 5.41 - I'll skip the 5.52 G200 ICD because I don't need the performance, it's got to be as good or better than 4.33, right?

4. Reinstall Zoran and reset the region to 1 (using up one of my "lifelines"). If I run out of region changes, restore my bios from the floppy I made. If all else fails, try TweakSD.

OR

Should I bag the 5.41 idea and wait (how long?) for Matrox to update the 5.52 drivers for SS7 compatibility?

Thanks,
Larry

[Bixler]

langle:

Courage. All will be well.

All of the Sturm und Drang around the Module involves making ONE successful migration from the 4.x series of PD into the 5.x series.

Once you are successful with the migration, (and as long as you have your bios reset disk), you should be able to experiment freely with PD releases that work for you. If at any time you run into a problem in an install experiment, you can always:

1. Fully uninstall your Matrox drivers and the Module Software,
2. Revert back to the OEM drivers,
3. Run your Bios reset or Tweak SD, then
4. Uninstall the OEM drivers and DVD Player
5. Migrate Back to any 5.x PD series you wish to test.
6. Install your DVD navigator software last. Install the software from the softdvd folder on your installation CD, NOT from autorun, or you might accidentally install the Old OEM drivers.

As I stated earlier, for My SS7/Via chipset Mobo, the 5.25 Powerdesk with either Vid Tools 1.50 or 1.51 work quite well. I'm not heavy into 3D gaming, but I have run the Tonic Trouble game that was bundled with my Marvel G-200 with no problems for long enough to be satisfied that it's working just fine. I read your thread over on the official forum. All of the official statements about support or no support in the 5.x drivers are so much HOOEY due to legal requirements surrounding the MPAA and the stupid region coding requirements of the MPAA. Several 5.x driver packages will work just fine, but don't properly read the region coding scheme on your module...this is a good thing, but a feature that Matrox cannot comment on due to legal issues with MPAA.

Don't be afraid to experiment. With Tweak SD and your bios recovery disk, you cannot do any damage that cannot be undone.

[This message has been edited by Bixler (edited 07 May 2000).]

[langle]

In a foolish moment, I decided to try installing PD 5.41.

Good news, Bad news.

Flight Simulator 2000 now works again, although I'm not sure the new drivers did it. I had to unplug the kidboard digitizer tablet which sucks 60 mA from the keyboard connector to get FS2000 to work. Wish I would have figured that out before I "upgraded" the drivers.

Now Zoran DVD w/hardware module doesn't work. I'm in region 1 and have all region 1 DVDs. The zoran navigator is stuck on region 2. The resetbios program and TweakSD both seem to address changing the hardware DVD module region setting (which is properly set to 1). When I run TweakSD it reflects the hardware module setting of 1 and greys out it's apply button. How can I get the zoran navigator properly set to region 1? Is there a registry hack that will do this?

I guess I'm not much of a hacker.

Larry

[ganyaik]

Hi,
I'm sad to hear that... I think if you reset your card's BIOS(from a recovery disk as you did before) that will reset the DVD mod settings also, as these settings are stored in the vidcard's BIOS. But wait for Bixler's confirmation as I'm not 100% sure in it.
BR,
Chris

PS: It seems that i'm a _very_ lucky user of a DVD mod from this point of view. Sorry for 'encouraging' you...

[Bixler]

Larry:

My advice since you are making the jump from 4.33 into 5.x is to use the 5.25's until the next release.

I haven't tested my rig on the 5.41's and this issue, but I do recall hearing from others that this is a bug in the 5.41 drivers.

1.Fully uninstall the 5.41's and any VT's and the Zoran SoftDVD software using Matrox's uninstall utility.
2.Reboot
3.Install the Generic VGA driver from MS then do a registry sweep of all references to Matrox, G200, MGA, and Zoran. (post back in here if you are afraid to do this, and we'll hold your hand.
4. Reboot
5. install the 5.25 Powerdesk and 1.50 Vidtools
6. install the SoftDVD software. First try this install from within the Softdvd folder on your OEM disk. If you get a configuration error, then try the install from the root directory setup icon.

TweakSD was written using a different configuration, and so may not like the 5.41 powerdesk, but I know that it works in 5.25 and with VT 1.50. If you've been used to your game on the 4.33 drivers, you should be happy enough with the performance of the 5.25's until the next PD release from Matrox which are supposed to include a fix for the 3D problems.

And do yourself a favor Larry and either buy or download a copy of MGI SoftdvdMax 3.5. You'll have no more install problems, and never have to sweat the BIOS region coding issue again.

[langle]

Hi, I'm back,

I purchased/downloaded the DVDMax 3.5, but it won't play my DVDs. I think the 5.41 drivers have set region 2 somewhere into the registry and DVDMax is checking it. According to TweakSD the hardware module is set to 1 and the DVDMax configuration reports region 1 but DVDs still won't play. Would DVD Genie help? When I get time I may try the suggested 5.25 drivers.

By the way, PD 5.41 drivers are not stable for OpenGL so I had to quit using screen savers based on OpenGL, they would crash every other day. Good thing I don't play Quake.

Larry

[Bixler]

Yes, DVDGenie will take care of the region coding in your registry.

I'm gonna say this one more time.

Use the 5.25 drivers for your rig.

You have a SS7 and the 5.41's are not right for you.

5.25 will support the correct region coding in your bios and all will be well.

When the next driver release comes out for Win98/5 you should have support for 3d and you'll be running sweet. Until then, stay with 5.25--because you have a VIA Motherboard.

[This message has been edited by Bixler (edited 17 May 2000).]