trouble updating catalyst drivers

[mrbobc]

hi

ive been having trouble updating my catalyst drivers due to 'failed to find any compatible hardware' error i always get when doing so!

as i can install the drivers on a clean install of windows it must be software related right?! even though i do all the right steps in uninstalling and using drivercleaner afterwards, then again in safe mode. then again in normal mode, and so on.....

ive searched every nook and cranny of my HDD for anything even smelling of ati and deleted it, including registries. still i get the same old error

so, i was looking through my system info and was looking at the IRQ list when i noticed right at the bottom that the IRQ's for my card and for the PCI standard PCI-PCI bridge were a little different than the rest.

they were: IRQ 4294967293 for my ati radeon 3870 and
IRQ 4294967294 for the pci-pci bridge!

are these numbers right? being a novice at all this tbh i dont know if its right!
all the other IRQ are numbered 1-100 or whatever until it gets to these 2.

do i need to change anything in my bios? like designate an IRQ to my card or designate all IRQ's?

this being my first ever build i realise i may not have done something else in my bios that maybe i needed to for trouble free computing, but saying that ive not had no other trouble with my rig at all except for a cpu overvolt error when awakening from hibernation which is probably a vista errror!

EDIT!

i just remembered that on occasion, when i boot up my pc, it will not recognise my gpu driver and boot in 800/600. then up comes the found new hardware, installing your device driver box in my tray, where it installs my hd 3870 device driver and i need to boot??????? then works fine!

this usually happens if i boot up with a pen drive plugged in when there wasnt one upon shutdown although thats just a guess and could be coincidence!

also for the very first time ever my pc went into hibernation whilst i was playing some guitar and when i woke it, i got the installing new device wizard again for: VIA OHCI compliant IEEE 1394 host controller!

why is this happening?

 

[jimmysmitty]

Hmmm... What slot do you have your card in and what is the video adapter set to in BIOS?

I admit thats a very strange problem that may take some thinking to fix.

 

[mrbobc]

hi! thanks for the reply!

ive got it in the first slot (blue) that it says in th mobo manual to put it in!

i'm not sure what you mean by the video adapter setting but i'm assuming its the VGA priority?!

if it is, there are 3 options and its set to default which is:

1st PCIE>2nd PCIE>PCI
the other 2 are,
2nd PCIE>1st PCIE>PCI
PCI>1st PCIE>2nd PCIE

also ive noticed that the rv670 letters that appear before POST are not always clear when i boot up! if you know what i mean..!

ive tried reseating the card and blowing out any dust that may be around but it does it anyway! sometimes it is clear though like it should be, which is also baffling!

 

[dagger]

http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=driversweeper

This might help. I always update drivers by uninstall, run this sweeper, and then installing the new one.

 

[mrbobc]

thanks dude! ive seen it around and wondered whether to try it out or not because drivercleaner doesnt seem to work! but the problem is if it doesnt work, ive got to clean install windows which is a pain in the ass because sys restore doesnt work and so ive lost CCC and my drivers! so although im running on the bare minimum, i'd still rather not have to install everything again! so i might wait till the 8.4's are out even tough im on 8.2s now.

what about the irq's? do them numbers look right to you? i have no clue!

 

[EXT64]

Something else is wrong here. I only use ATI's software uninstall utility (the one that comes with the drivers), restart, install new drivers, restart, and I'm done. As for the IRQ's, I'm not at my home comp so I can't check.

 

[mrbobc]

Something else is wrong here. I only use ATI's software uninstall utility (the one that comes with the drivers), restart, install new drivers, restart, and I'm done. As for the IRQ's, I'm not at my home comp so I can't check.

yeah i know! but i cant seem to get an answer off anyone in any forum and its driving me up the wall!!!

if i can install the drivers on a clean install of vista then surely it must be software related. it wont let me update the drivers once ive installed other software! im not talking anything special! just games an ms updates n stuff ( Ive tried unistalling the updates too and no luck)! after that its impossible to install new drivers!

what is worse is that when i installed the drivers on a clean pc i uninstalled about 5 mins later to upgrade to 8.3's (just to see!) and it worked without a hitch exactly how you said you do it!

its freakin doin my head in! i shouldnt have to do a clean install of vista everytime i want to update my catalsyt drivers!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jimmysmitty]

Well I willl check mine today at home but it almost might point to you needing a new GPU. RMA if possible.

I doubt its the mobo. Heck I have Vista and a HD2900Pro 1GB and have yet to have any problems other than the video driver crashing. But that has stopped with Cata 8.3.

 

[rsetter1]

You need to uninstall the old driver.
But first go to ATI download the driver you want. A pop-up will ask RUN or SAVE. Choose SAVE, and SAVE to desk top. There will be an icon on your desk top but it is not installed yet. Just leave it there untill you uninstall the old driver. Now go to Control Panel find add and remove programs. Remove ATI driver. Reboot. Now double click the icon on your desk top that has the new ATI driver it will install its self. When done reboot. If all is well you can delete the desk top icon. Good to go.

 

[firebird]

I've checked my IRQ and it is a crazy long string of numbers, so I don't think that's a problem.

What brand/model of mobo are you using?

Vista 32 or 64?

Why not just give a list of your complete system. Might help...

Check your ACPI settings in the BIOS and make sure they are enabled. I've never heard of a system acting like yours. It's a first for me, LOL.