Software ATI Driver update - no more 3D acceleration

[FordPrefect]

Hello all,

since early June, I encountered a problem with all the ATI graphics drivers updated catalyst center versions. The problem is, after the update, when trying to run Orbiter, FS2004, SevenG or similar programs I get an error message that no 3D acceleration (hardware) can be found. OpenGL based applications, like SpaceEngine, work without major problems.

I am using WindowsXP Home 32bit so here are the driver updates I can use:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/previous/Pages/radeonaiw_xp.aspx
along with the latest version
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_xp-32.aspx

The problem described above only happens with the updates after Catalyst version 11/5.
With all later versions (11/6, 11/7, 11/8) I get this warning during installation:

After installation and reboot, the programs like Orbiter and FlightSimulator stop working for the reasons mentioned at the top.

Is anyone here with suggestions about this, what is going wrong or perhaps even how to solve this issue?

I thought I'd ask here before trying to contact ATI support, with those numerous computer wizzards around here in these great forums.

Thanks for looking and any feedback is appreciated!

 

[Kendo]

All I can suggest is go back to the last version that works. I,m using a 2009 driver version 8.62 and its perfect. Yes I could possibly go a little higher, but while its perfect, whats the point. As XP can only go as high as DirectX 9c, its poinless using the latest drivers anyway. I had several unstabillity problems when I recently bought an ATI card by updating, so I used the drivers on the disk. :thumbup:

 

[Saturn V]

FWIW, I've never had a good experience with ATI. Had the same problem in the summer of '05. A driver update totally screwed my PC. The newer drivers caused a skewed display which was uncorrectable. Tried reverting to the previous drivers only to find that they no longer worked either. A system restore did not help. Nor did ATI support. The problem went unresolved for the better part of 6 months.

Eventually switched everything over to Nvidia. Never had another problem on that machine (or the 3 that have followed). The interface is far more intuitive (always found Catalyst to be a major PITA), driver updates are always effective and I much prefer the quality of the display. Of course those preferences are a matter of the user's tastes and applications.

Wish I could offer you something more constructive, but I feel your pain...