These release notes provide information on the latest posting of ATI's industry leading software driver for the FireGL(TM) product line. This particular posting updates the ATI Display Driver to version 7.96.2.1. This driver has been further enhanced to provide the highest level of power, performance, and reliability.
The FireGL(TM) Release Notes provides information on the following:
Software driver support
The FileGL(TM) Display Driver is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:
・Windows XP (SP1)
・Windows 2000
Desktop Product Family Support
The FileGL(TM) Display Driver is designed to support the following ATI desktop product family:
・FileGL(TM) Z1 Series
・FileGL(TM) X2 Series
・FileGL(TM) X1 Series
・FileGL(TM) T2 Series
・FileGL(TM) Display Driver Features
The FileGL(TM) Display Driver provides users with a stable, user-friendly, and flexible software experience. From supporting the latest 3D architecture and features, to full multimedia acceleration and DVD playback. The latest FileGL(TM) Display Driver will provide users with the ultimate in graphics acceleration.
Display Driver Log File Creation
The ATI FileGL(TM) display driver provides the option to create a setup.log file each time a top level setup is executed. The log file resides in the path: \Program Files\ATI Technologies\setup.log. The log file is created for silent Componet Install Manger (CIM) installations. During the install process, when a component is installed successfully, the ResultCode for the corresponding section will be set to 0. Should a component install be aborted or cancelled, then the ResultCode for the component will be set to 1. This feature is supported under the Windows XP, and 2000 operating systems, and is supported across all of the currently shipping FileGL(TM) product family line up.
LCD Display Resolution Warning Message
The ATI FileGL(TM) display driver detects the native display resolution for LCD panels. Whenever the display is set to a resolution lower than the native display resolution, a warning message is displayed. This message indicates that setting the display to a lower resolution than the native LCD display resolution could result in a fuzzy looking display. It also informs the user which display resolution provides the best looking display for the LCD connected. The warning message is displayed for 15 seconds, and provides the user with the ability to click OK in order to remove the message prior to the 15 second display time. This feature is supported under the Windows XP, and 2000 operating systems, and is supported across all of the currently shipping FileGL(TM) product family line up.
Automatic Display Configuration Enhancement
This features stores display settings, such as; resolution, color depth, refresh rate, rotation angle, display to CRT Controller mapping, and extended desktop settings in a display profile. The display profile is then applied based on the user selectable events such as:
・bootup (login)
・resume (login)
・user switch (login)
・fast user switch
・device switch through ACPI and SMI hotkeys
・hot plug/unplug
・lid close/open
・docking/undocking
It also stores other events controlled by the system BIOS through the Configure Displays int10 function call.
On bootup and resume the display profile is applied after user login. A list of display profiles is maintained in the Windows registry on a per user basis. The display profile is created whenever the driver is requested to apply display settings and a new display device combination is detected.
The Automatic Display Configuration (ADC) feature stores display settings such as; resolution, color depth, refresh rate, rotation angle, display to CRT Controller mapping, and extended desktop settings in a display profile.
A list of display profiles is managed in the Windows registry on a per user basis. The display profile is created whenever the driver is requested to apply display settings and/or a new display device combination is detected.
This new feature allows for one profile to be used for one device type in spite of the variation of capability of the device. Should a CRT have the capability of 1400x1200, and a second CRT have the capability of 1024x768. The profile for these two CRTs will be the same one. This feature allows the user to have same set-up on one type of device regardless of any other devices having different capabilities from the another.
Display Driver Version Information
The ATI FileGL(TM) display driver provides display driver version information during the installation or un-installation of the FileGL(TM) Control Panel, the display driver Control Panel, and HydraVision. This feature is found under the Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating systems.
New Features
This section provides information on new features found in this release of the FileGL(TM) Display Drivers. These new features have been tested and are supported in the following FileGL(TM) products:
・FileGL(TM) Z1 Series
・FileGL(TM) X2 Series
・FileGL(TM) X1 Series
・FileGL(TM) T2 Series
New features found in this release includes 1400x1050 Display Resolution Support.
1400x1050 Display Resolution Support
The latest ATI software driver now has the capability to display a desktop resolution of 1400x1050. This feature allows a user to set a primary or secondary display device (which are connected to separate controllers) to the desktop resolution of 1400x1050. When a user configures their system with two display devices on the same controller and requests a display mode of 1400x1050, the desktop resolution would be 1280x1024 and the display devices would be able to pan within a desktop size of 1400x1050. The following table provides a summary of the display modes and panning mode available to display devices connected to the system.
Issues Resolved in the latest FileGL(TM) Display Driver
The following section provides a summary of the issues that have been resolved in the supported operating systems for the latest release of the FileGL(TM) display driver.
Resolved Issues for Windows XP
This section provides a summary of the resolved issues for Windows XP.
・Patterned lines are now displaying properly on FileGL(TM)
・Running ViewPerf7.1a with the display set to 1024x768x32 bpp no longer results in an error
・Running CATIA v5r11 in P2 or P3 mode followed by performing a local transformation after undocking all the horizontal and vertical tool bars no longer results in only the top part of the screen being updated
・Inventor 7 In dual screen mode, moving the cursor across a model in the 2nd screen doesn't display the lines
・The ICEM Surf X2 T2 now completes its benchmark test and no longer terminates after testing the Full Screen Anti-Aliasing mode
・Running SolidWorks 2004 and setting the performance option to Use Software OpenGL followed by moving the mouse cursor over the feature manager no longer results in the system failing to respond
・Accelrys: horizontal lines of boundingbox selected text disappear.
・3ds max 5.1 SP1, X2: No refresh in OGL preview
・AVID DS Processing a 3D DVE effect with the /3GB boot configuration is 3-4 Verdana slower than without the 3GB switch
・AVID DS 3D DVE Interactive tools do not work when not in Direct View mode
・Studio Tools 10.1, X2: ST crashes if Hidden Lines are enabled
・SoildWorks 2003 + 2004 / After Moving Samples no refresh in Extended Mode
・3dsMAX 6 MAXIMUM driver After splash screen the driver causes a crash
・Viewperf 6.1.2 ProCDRS hangs when Dlcyl.exe is running
・AVID DS There is a time lag when scrubbing over 3D DVE effects
・SolidWorks 2004 After running in dual screen mode, closing the application and then opening X29 causes a system hang
・Houdini 6 - Hangs and crashes to vga mode if started w/ "ATI Config" set to "Default"
・3dsMAX 6 viewport corruption when switching between windowed and full screen mode
・Maya 5.0.1 On test 7/1-3 Viewport is not correctly refreshed
・3dsMAX 5.1 MAXIMUM Running SPECapc with the texture setting set to "as close as possible", loading architecture.max causes a crash
・Accelrys On M10 when Accelrys profile is selected and HW acceleration is active the application hangs
・Inventor 8 Loading samples with Dual screen extended mode (1600 x 1200) results in stripes in the sample
・Maya 5.0.1 T2 HW Renderer tests fails
・SolidWorks 2004 crashes due to pixel format selection code
・Stability test (Winmarch/Viewperf) hangs
・3ds max 5.1 SP1, T2: 3ds max benchmark crashes during playback
・Houdini 6 Toggling between Single and Quad Viewports by hitting "T" and moving the cursor over different viewports when in Quad mode results in hang
・Inventor8, excessive and inconsistent use of address space between W2K and WinXP and system to system
・StudioTools V11 Changing display resolution or color depth causes crash
・Maya 5.0.1 When HW Rendering is used the rendered scene is corrupted
・StudioTools V11 Switching between 2 viewports and then selecting Menu-Render-Render causes hang
・Houdini 6 Having dual monitor enabled under Windows XP Pro and attempting to stretch the application window across dual monitors results in the application failing to respond
・Lightmap GLUT demo results in application error and process hang
・Studio Tools V11 corruption of option/tools panel
・Inventor 8 Perforation Test Suite: "Test Part 5" - Closing "Scooch" window leaves corruption on background of part drawing
・Accelrys/Viewer profile is missing in the Control Panel
・FireGL 8x00 (R200) - x29.exe doesn't open in extended desktop mode under XP
・3DSMAX 5 and 6, Dashed face edges do not display or are drawn incorrectly
・3DSMAX 5 and 6, Dashed face edges do not display with Maximum driver - Edge Sellection
・The ICEM Surf X2 T2 now completes its benchmark test and no longer terminates after testing the Full Screen Anti-Aliasing mode
・Starting dlcyl.exe and stressdos.bat no longer results in either an application error message, display corruption, or the system failing to respond to user commands
・Running SolidWorks 2004 and setting the performance option to Use Software OpenGL followed by moving the mouse cursor over the feature manager no longer results in the system failing to respond
・Connecting a secondary display and configuring the desktop resolution to 1280x1024 32bpp for both monitors no longer results in display corruption when rapidly pressing ALT+Enter to toggle between hires and full-screen DOS session
・Changing from 32bpp to 16bpp no longer results in a memory allocation failure when changing back to 32bpp from 16bpp
・Choppy gameplay is no longer noticed with attempting to play the game Homworld 2
・Playing the game Quantum3D no longer results in white polygons appearing on the terrain when flying and the application no longer fails to respond when playing the game for over 15 minutes
・The Windows 2000 operating system no longer fails to respond when playing the game Call of Duty
・The alpha game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic no longer fails to respond and produce an error message indicating a problem in atio9xxx.dll
・The game Jedi Knight-Jedi Academy no longer fails to respond when enabling Anti-Aliasing to 4x or 6x
・Removing the ATI hardware before uninstalling the ATI software drivers results in not being able to properly remove the ATI software drivers
・SPECapc ProE 2001 benchmark under W2K results in an incomplete input file error and the application terminating
・Running 3DMark2003 under Windows XP with a specific OEM motherboard installed no longer results in display corruption and the system failing to respond
・Playing the Direct3D Point Sprites sample at resolutions of 1600x1200 or greater no longer result in graphic corruption being displayed
・Setting the display resolution to 640x480 32bpp and run the 3Dmark03 gt test no longer results in capture problems
・Running the application X29 under Windows XP no longer results in the system failing to respond when enabling a secondary monitor
・Setting the secondary CRT display to 1024x768 32bpp with extended desktop enabled no longer results in not being able to swap between the primary and secondary displays
・Hot plugging a DVI monitor no longer results in the display resolution changing to 800x600 for both the DVI and the LCD
・Enabling PowerPlay followed by entering DC mode no longer results in the panel refresh rate not being able to fall below 40Hz
・Enabling extended desktop no longer results in the display not being visible when hot-unplugging the DVI while a 3D screen saver is active
・Setting the desktop resolution to 1024x768 32bpp followed by connecting a CRT no longer results in the LCD panel automatically being assigned as changed to the secondary display adapter
・The video image is no longer overscanned when enabling component out
・Starting Windows XP with an LCD and CRT connected and the display resolution set to 1024x768 32bpp followed by a hot undock and setting the resolution to 800x600 16bpp no longer results in the display resolution changing to 1024x768 16bpp when hot docking
・Setting the display resolution to 1024x768 32bpp followed by playing Blade of Darkness with the game set to 1027x768 16bpp, and texture resolution set to max, no longer results in a flickering horizontal line of display corruption
・The Beziers screensaver no longer runs slowly under Windows XP when the display is rotated 90deg
・An error message is no longer seen when running of the 64 OGL Samples stress test
・The system no longer fails to respond when running the Driver Verify Manager program to verify the ati2dvga.dll, ati2mtag.sys, and the ati3duga
・Toggling between expansion and non-expansion mode no longer produces overlay and display corruption
・Setting the CRT to 1024x768 or both the CRT and LCD to 1920x1200 no longer results in the display resolution reverting back to 800x600
・The system no longer intermittently reboots when resuming from S3 state when the system is 180° rotation mode
・Extending the desktop and running 2D Winbench BG under Windows XP no longer results in lower performance scores
・The display driver no longer displays an error message indicating invalid system memory when exiting the demo Surfin PDC
・The texture corruptions that were noticed when playing the game Project A3 are now resolved
・Comparing image quality using 3DCaptan in the 3DMark2001SE Game Test 3, high detail, no longer produces a corrupted image
・Setting the desktop resolution to 1024x768 32bpp and playing the game Combat Flight Simulator with game options set to 32bpp no longer results in the game and system failing to respond
・The system no longer fails to respond when running the 3DMark2001 benchmark test. This failure was known to occur on a system containing a specific OEM motherboard and card reader
・Display corruption is no longer seen when setting the 3D screen saver to initialize after one minute of idle time
・Setting the game Flight Simulator 2004 to display at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 followed by starting a new flight no longer results in the menu being flipped just before the new flight is about to begin
・Setting the texture preference bar to any setting lower than High Quality in the game Formula 1 2002 no longer results in the 2D game menu being displayed when maximizing the replay screen
・Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the game Indiana Jones at its default mode of 640x480 32bpp
・Playing the game Morrowind with Truform enabled no longer results in the game failing to respond
・Running the burnit test under Windows XP no longer results in the system failing to respond and producing an error message indicating a problem with the ati3duag.dll
・Display corruption is no longer noticed when launching the game setting menu for the demo game Empire: Dawn of the Modern World
Resolved Issues for Windows 2000
This section provides a summary of the resolved issues for Windows 2000.
・The 3D screen savers no longer runs slowly under Windows 2K
・Starting dlcyl.exe and stressdos.bat no longer results in either an application error message, display corruption, or the system failing to respond to user commands
・3dsmax 4.26 Discreet Benchmark Severe Screen Corruption in Dual Screen Mode
・Unigrahpics NXII When a window partially covers the graphics window, parts that are closer to the viewer are clipped away while parts that should be covered are instead displayed (Z-buffer errors)
・Clip_gumby with 3 Clip planes hangs system on T2
・Setting the colour depth to 16bpp under Windows 2000 and having the system enter the 3D screen saver no longer results in a memory leak
・Launching AquaMark with D3D SMOOTHVISION set to 5x or 6x no longer results in missing textures during the loading of the screen
・Texture corruption is no longer seen when playing EA Sports' Madden 2004
・Using a single function BIOS, Switching to span mode with resolutions above 2048 disables DirectX
Known Issues with the FileGL(TM) Display Driver
This section provides a summary of the known issues with the latest FileGL(TM) display driver.
・Entering Windows XP Standby mode while OpenGL programs are active can cause the system to hang.
・Switching display resolutions or enabling the secondary display while OpenGL programs are actively rendering can case hangs
・Setting the display resolution to 1800x1440 32 bpp or higher results in colour corruption being displayed when running Foxbear
・Connecting two display devices to a FireGL 8800 in a system running Windows XP results in the secondary display device not being able to be set to the primary display device if required
・Launching the game Midnight Club II under Windows XP results in the game failing to respond after the game introduction is loaded
・Launching the game Tron 2.0 under Windows XP results in the game failing to respond after the game introduction is loaded
・Launching the game Line of Sight: Vietnam and setting the graphics option to 800x600 16bpp result in the game failing to respond when selecting a new game
