[normyzo]

Originally posted by normyzo:
Hi,

Picked up a PowerColor EvilMaster II 275/275 Pro edition from GameVE.com for $96 plus shipping (great deal on a fast card, this _isn't_ and LE card).

Had a bit of a hard time with it, it would flash for me until I:

1) stripped down my OS 9 folder
2) put the "Firmware RESTORE" app in my Startup Items folder (NOT Extensions)

Its also at ROM version 123, not 126, so I'll have to reboot and do the firmware update too. But its working!!

Dan

Hi,

Flashed it to 236 with the Updater. However, I had artifacts in Quake3 (white pixels all over the place, at polygon intersections) and vertical green fuzz in DVD player. This persisted at 250/250, and finally went away at 230/230. This is _supposed_ to be a 275/275 card (a Pro version), it has 3.5ns RAM, but it doesn't work in my G4 at 275/275 in games or DVD well. At 230/230, while slower, its great, no problems.

Note, I DID zap the PRAM 4 times before downclocking to 250/250 and it didn't make a dif.

Dan

[pismo-user]

I am tempted to get the newegg card but does anyone know the ram speed? Is it 3.6ns? Has anyone got it working in 10.2?

I'm very close to ordering this baby.

[birddogsf]

I posted this question earlier, but it was at the end of the last page, and I didn't think anyone would catch it.

I've got an 8500 on the way, and thanks to the help of everyone here, it looks like I'm going to breathe new life into my G4/450. One thing that's nagging me, however, is the refresh rate posted on ATI's website.

I'm posting this through 85Hz of 1280x1024 on a Bondi Blue Whale (21"StudioDisplay), running off an OEM Rage Pro 16mb. According to ATI, the 8500's only capable of 75Hz at this resolution, which I find incredibly hard to believe. Could someone please post a screenshot or listing of actual resolutions/refresh rates capable through their new card?

You guys rock.

[plbogart]

Originally posted by birddogsf:
I posted this question earlier, but it was at the end of the last page, and I didn't think anyone would catch it.

I've got an 8500 on the way, and thanks to the help of everyone here, it looks like I'm going to breathe new life into my G4/450. One thing that's nagging me, however, is the refresh rate posted on ATI's website.

I'm posting this through 85Hz of 1280x1024 on a Bondi Blue Whale (21"StudioDisplay), running off an OEM Rage Pro 16mb. According to ATI, the 8500's only capable of 75Hz at this resolution, which I find incredibly hard to believe. Could someone please post a screenshot or listing of actual resolutions/refresh rates capable through their new card?

You guys rock.

Well, I can't say what you should be seeing on your Studio Display but I do have my flashed 8500LE running a ViewSonic PF790 at 1280 X 1024 @ 85Hz. I thought I read somewhere that it will push 90Hz max @ 1280 X 1024 (or 960) but as OS X's Displays Pref Pane keeps all the other frequencies grayed out I'd take that as hear-say (even with the 10.2fc drivers. I assume you opened Displays and un-checked the "Show Only Recommended Settings" button). I'm going to boot back into 9.2.2 when I get home to see if those settings show something different.

[pdot]

Originally posted by pismo-user:
I am tempted to get the newegg card but does anyone know the ram speed? Is it 3.6ns? Has anyone got it working in 10.2?

I'm very close to ordering this baby.

ALL your questions were actually already asked/answered before, but here's what it says on the RAM chip from my NewEgg card.
Hynix 203A
HY5DV641622AT-36

The 36 at the end should mean that it is 3.6ns RAM. Also, a few users, including myself, were able to run the Sapphire card at 275/275. However, another user and I both had problems with DVD player at that speed (green pixels/artifacts) unless we downclocked to 250/250. It's actually a bit strange b/c reader50 says that DVDs work fine for him at that speed (he didn't check it in OS X), whereas DVDs work fine for me in X, but not 9 at 250/250. There seems to be no problems with OpenGL at all in either OS at any speed combo.

Also, according to the posts here, there doesn't seem to be any mention of problems with running in X.2, though I hear that the latest Ati drivers are not fully compatible with X.2, so it is suggested that you don't install them. I had to b/c I'm still using X.1.5 and OpenGL and DVD player will not function w/o the drivers. For more info, use the find command on your browser on the previous pages looking for mention of "Jaguar" and "10.2".

[Jim Paradise]

My 8500 LE card arrived today!!! ^_^

Here's what I plan to do:

Drop the 230/230 firmware in the Start Up items.
Restart the comp with the card in and let it sit for five minutes with the monitor unplugged
Restart and zap the PRAM five times.
After the fifth PRAM zappin' wait for a minute or two and plug back in the monitor.

This should get it to work? o_O

[normyzo]

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:
My 8500 LE card arrived today!!! ^_^

Here's what I plan to do:

Drop the 230/230 firmware in the Start Up items.
Restart the comp with the card in and let it sit for five minutes with the monitor unplugged
Restart and zap the PRAM five times.
After the fifth PRAM zappin' wait for a minute or two and plug back in the monitor.

This should get it to work? o_O

Actually, just plug the monitor in when you restart (or shutdown after the update). Most PowerMacs won't recognize the monitor if its not attached on bootup, ie you CAN'T run them headless and then plug in a monitor and have it work. To get video, you have to have a monitor plugged in at startup, and AFTER that you can plug/unplug at will.

If you plug in the monitor after starting up, I don't believe you'll get video until you restart once more to get the PM to see there's a monitor attached. This is the problem at least iwth my Mystic Dual 450.

Dan

[normyzo]

Originally posted by pdot:


Also, according to the posts here, there doesn't seem to be any mention of problems with running in X.2, though I hear that the latest Ati drivers are not fully compatible with X.2, so it is suggested that you don't install them. I had to b/c I'm still using X.1.5 and OpenGL and DVD player will not function w/o the drivers. For more info, use the find command on your browser on the previous pages looking for mention of "Jaguar" and "10.2".

I had problems with DVD in 9, 10.1, and 10.2 [6c105] until I downclocked to 230/230. All 3 had vertical green fuzz when playing a DVD, but at 230/230 its great.

Like I said, supposed to be a pro card, marketed that way, 3.5ns RAM, blah blah but it don't work quite right at 275...

(PowerColor EvilMaster II Pro 275/275)

Dan

[wwworry]

I just now ordered the Gigabyte Radeon 8500 Pro card from newegg.com because it came with a dvi-to-vga adapter. Will I have trouble flashing it? They say it's a 8500LE 64 MB card. I think the "pro" part is the adapter and some games they package it with.

I may still have time to cancel.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by wwworry:
I just now ordered the Gigabyte Radeon 8500 Pro card from newegg.com because it came with a dvi-to-vga adapter. Will I have trouble flashing it? They say it's a 8500LE 64 MB card. I think the "pro" part is the adapter and some games they package it with.

I may still have time to cancel.

If it's the LE, just use the 230/230 firmware

[Souljah]

Well i'm running the newegg card non Le version as it is rated at 275/275 with very little and I mean hardly noticable occasional tiny green pixels in Dvd player.
Apple's Oem version runs at 250/275 or is it 275/250 so if i have problems in 10.2 I suppose that will be my first move and I don't expect anything more serious than that.I'm now wondering if the various results with this card as far as speed is concerned is directly related to some of us having 2X Agp versus others having 4X Agp slots.Comments anyone?
BTW try posting your cpu specs so we can compare and better help those joining the revolution!

G4 400 Agp Sawtooth Oced to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
Radeon 64mb 275/275

[pdot]

Souljah, I know this is the wrong thread for this, but I've been wanting to find out how to OC my G4/400 and there are no clear/specific instructions even at xlr8yourmac.com. I have the PLL Config table from Motorola, but not sure about the resistors settings. For instance, some guy wrote at xlr8yourmac that he was able to get his 400 to 500 by just removing R13. But it should be 1011, meaning you remove all resistors except R9, right?

[Jim Paradise]

Well... After a lot of hassle, I got my 8500 LE working! ^_^ The hassle came from the fact I didn't have any of the Mac Radeon 8500 drivers installed on OS 9.2.1 and truthfully I usually use 9.0.4 when I boot back into 9. The other problem was that the OS 9 drives stopped reading the OS X drive when I'd boot into 9 and kept asking if I wanted to initialize the drive! O_O

No real speed-ups in X but gaming in X (Elite Force) is a lot better... so my unofficial results and shoosh and such are that:
Carmageddon II is smooth as silk. It ran very well before but there's *no slow downs* at all now.
Tomb Raider 4 plays quite nicely.
Elite Force is a *LOT* better under X.
OpenGL Quake was and still runs capitally well.
I haven't tried OpenGL Doom... and I haven't tried Quake II yet either. I don't have Quake III so I can't give any specs for that yet.
DVD player works well still in OS X but I can't get it to work in OS 9.2.2 (I think I should update the player).
What else... I haven't tried out Driver either... I guess tomorrow I'll make it so I try out a bunch of games. I really need to purchase some *newer* games to play... heh I'm such an oldschool gamer, though... in love with emulators and old games. Anyway, those are my rather lame results... take them for what you will. The card has sped up all gaming. So that's good. I can't wait to try out 10.2 with it!

My system is a G4/400, 512 RAM (soon to be 640), DVD drive, two 20 gig drives (one partitioned in two with OS 9.2.2 and OS X 10.1.5 on it). Radeon 8500 LE with 230/230 firmware. Long live the revolution!!

[Souljah]

pdot: for 500 mhz remove R 13 if it boots great..then test it for memory errors..if it doesn't boot do not replace R13 but move R9 to R7 for 450mhz.I could not get 500 with mine without a voltage boost and since i'm going for the Sonnet 1 ghz in sept I felt no need to risk it.
If you want to read it on XLR8 do a cpu upgrade search with these variables G4 agp and Apple as processor that should take you right to about 4 pages of reports to read.
Goodluck

Jim:Thanks for that report!
I bet this forum will go on right into flashing the 9700!


G4 400 Agp Sawtooth Oced to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
Radeon 64mb 275/275
OS9.2.2 Crashic
OSX 10.1.5 all updates

[reader50]

Just a note for game testing in OS 9

The ATi March 2002, June 2002, and July 2002 driver updates specify a minimum OS 9.2.1 in the readme and online requirements. On my Radeon 7000 (didn't have the 8500 yet), this proved incorrect. Applying the driver updates broke 3/4 of my games and demos, including UT. After trying the updates on a clean OS install and many other tricks to try and spot an extension conflict, I finally updated to 9.2.2, which fixed everything.

The driver updates (March 2002 and later) require 9.2.2. Certainly for the R7000, most likely for the R8500 as well.

Further note, ATi Support was not very supportive when I emailed them about it. Included were the reports they wanted, and a clear outline of my testing procedures, all done on a full retail Mac R7000. The next day, I got back a boilerplate email giving a Mac troubleshooting FAQ for ATi boards, which recommended most of the procedures already tried. I do not feel guilty at all about flashing the PC R8500.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by reader50:
Just a note for game testing in OS 9

The ATi March 2002, June 2002, and July 2002 driver updates specify a minimum OS 9.2.1 in the readme and online requirements. On my Radeon 7000 (didn't have the 8500 yet), this proved incorrect. Applying the driver updates broke 3/4 of my games and demos, including UT. After trying the updates on a clean OS install and many other tricks to try and spot an extension conflict, I finally updated to 9.2.2, which fixed everything.

The driver updates (March 2002 and later) require 9.2.2. Certainly for the R7000, most likely for the R8500 as well.

Further note, ATi Support was not very supportive when I emailed them about it. Included were the reports they wanted, and a clear outline of my testing procedures, all done on a full retail Mac R7000. The next day, I got back a boilerplate email giving a Mac troubleshooting FAQ for ATi boards, which recommended most of the procedures already tried. I do not feel guilty at all about flashing the PC R8500.

I've done all my games testing in 9.2.2 and 10.1.5, but in 9.0.4 the UI is fully accelerated and so is QuickTime. This is on my Radeon 8500 LE.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by Souljah:
pdot: for 500 mhz remove R 13 if it boots great..then test it for memory errors..if it doesn't boot do not replace R13 but move R9 to R7 for 450mhz.I could not get 500 with mine without a voltage boost and since i'm going for the Sonnet 1 ghz in sept I felt no need to risk it.
If you want to read it on XLR8 do a cpu upgrade search with these variables G4 agp and Apple as processor that should take you right to about 4 pages of reports to read.
Goodluck

Jim:Thanks for that report!
I bet this forum will go on right into flashing the 9700!


G4 400 Agp Sawtooth Oced to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
Radeon 64mb 275/275
OS9.2.2 Crashic
OSX 10.1.5 all updates

I hope this thread keeps going. It's one of my favs ever for some reason. I think probably because it's filled with people having good success stories and lots of people helping each other out instead of flaming and being dumb. My report was pretty scattered but so was my evening before I got everything working all nice and proper. Oddly enough, the DVD player works fine in OS 9.0.4... But hey, it works in X and that's what matters most to me! Bring on 10.2! Oh, I tried OpenGL Doom in X and it is runnig a lot more nicely too.

[Jim Paradise]

I'm noticing artifacts in almost all the games I play... it's kind of odd and makes things seem a little pixilated... this happens (I think?) with white pixles appearing more and black pixels appearing more. Is it worth it to try to re-flash my 8500 LE or to try uping it to 250/250?

[dfiler]

I too purchased the 275/275 version from newEgg.com for $109.

At first I couldn't get it to flash from my mac so I took it to work to flash on a windows box. It now works great but I'm not sure which method was responsible for the success. I flashed it on the PC (really complicated process) and then tried another mac based flashing method when I got home.

Mac based method: (using latest updater from ATI (july?))
Flash with the RESTORE firmware
THEN flash with the UPDATE firmware
This requires you to swap out your new card twice to change which flasher is in the startup items folder.

[Jim Paradise]

I re-flashed (I think) my card to the 250/250 firmware, though I don't know how to check this. If it *is* flashed I'm having no problems with it other than artifacting is still occuring in OS 9 games. >_<

[Souljah]

Hmmm don't know what that could be other than the card's specs are different than the non LE or possibly the actual games you're playing.I haven't noticed any artifacts in RTCW or MOH:AA.
We'll get it figured out...maybe Tony Wong has an answer.

[ReggieX]

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:
I'm noticing artifacts in almost all the games I play... it's kind of odd and makes things seem a little pixilated... this happens (I think?) with white pixles appearing more and black pixels appearing more. Is it worth it to try to re-flash my 8500 LE or to try uping it to 250/250?

Try what I did for Deus Ex and UT: turn Detail Textures and Decals off, quit, and relaunch to see if that does anything. Then turn one on, see if works better. Like I said, I was getting glitches until I mucked around in the .ini files.

FWIW, I left my LE at 230, only reset the PRAM once.

my unrealtournament.ini has these lines:
[RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
NonATI=False
LightModify=0.000000
TextureComposite=True
VertexLighting=False
DisableVSync=True
PageFlip=False
DetailBias=0.000000
MipMapping=True
DetailTextures=False

and deusex.ini has these (I copied the similar lines over)
[RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
NonATI=False
LightModify=0.000000
TextureComposite=True
VertexLighting=False
DisableVSync=True
PageFlip=False
DetailBias=0.000000
MipMapping=True
DetailTextures=True
DescFlags=0
Description=
ShrinkPercent=1.000000


These are all under 9.2.2 with the July 2002 ATI drivers.

[ReggieX]

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:
I'm noticing artifacts in almost all the games I play... it's kind of odd and makes things seem a little pixilated... this happens (I think?) with white pixles appearing more and black pixels appearing more. Is it worth it to try to re-flash my 8500 LE or to try uping it to 250/250?

Try what I did for Deus Ex and UT: turn Detail Textures and Decals off, quit, and relaunch to see if that does anything. Then turn one on, see if works better. Like I said, I was getting glitches until I mucked around in the .ini files.

FWIW, I left my LE at 230, only reset the PRAM once.

my unrealtournament.ini has these lines:
[RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
NonATI=False
LightModify=0.000000
TextureComposite=True
VertexLighting=False
DisableVSync=True
PageFlip=False
DetailBias=0.000000
MipMapping=True
DetailTextures=False

and deusex.ini has these (I copied the similar lines over)
[RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
NonATI=False
LightModify=0.000000
TextureComposite=True
VertexLighting=False
DisableVSync=True
PageFlip=False
DetailBias=0.000000
MipMapping=True
DetailTextures=True
DescFlags=0
Description=
ShrinkPercent=1.000000


These are all under 9.2.2 with the July 2002 ATI drivers.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by ReggieX:


Try what I did for Deus Ex and UT: turn Detail Textures and Decals off, quit, and relaunch to see if that does anything. Then turn one on, see if works better. Like I said, I was getting glitches until I mucked around in the .ini files.

FWIW, I left my LE at 230, only reset the PRAM once.

my unrealtournament.ini has these lines:
[RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
NonATI=False
LightModify=0.000000
TextureComposite=True
VertexLighting=False
DisableVSync=True
PageFlip=False
DetailBias=0.000000
MipMapping=True
DetailTextures=False

and deusex.ini has these (I copied the similar lines over)
[RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice]
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
NonATI=False
LightModify=0.000000
TextureComposite=True
VertexLighting=False
DisableVSync=True
PageFlip=False
DetailBias=0.000000
MipMapping=True
DetailTextures=True
DescFlags=0
Description=
ShrinkPercent=1.000000


These are all under 9.2.2 with the July 2002 ATI drivers.

Here are the games I'm having artifact issues with.
Carmageddon II
Driver
Star Wars Pod Racer
Tomb Raider 4 (to a lesser extent)
Quake II

I didn't notice *any* artifacting issues with Elite Force in 10.1.5.

Urgh... They all *play* damn smoothly but I'd really like to find a solution to this problem. Truthfully I'm considering (for other reasons than the card) of doing a full re-install of 10.2 *and* OS 9.2.2 on my one drive.

[tonywong]

Sorry, haven't logged in since the new board software, and things are crazy here.

If you have to back down to 230 to get rid of artifacts, try upping the voltage using the pencil trick before moving back up.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by tonywong:
Sorry, haven't logged in since the new board software, and things are crazy here.

If you have to back down to 230 to get rid of artifacts, try upping the voltage using the pencil trick before moving back up.

I'll move back down to 230/230 but thing is I had the artifact problems with the 230/230 firmware too.

(pencil trick??)

[T u r b o]

Just FYI, I got a PowerColor Evil Master II (non-pro) working just fine. The retail box the card came in claimed it was a "250/250mhz" card, and it worked at 250/250 but I got green dots when playing DVDs (otherwise it was clean).

I clocked the memory down to 240mhz and it's been fine since then. It should be able to do more, because the ram is labeled as 3.5ns... I picked the card up for $100 at a local computer show.

- Mike

[ReggieX]

Dunno, Jim. Stick to the 230/230 for now, and try if a fresh 9.2.2 and July ATI drivers do anything.

Maybe the fan's stuck and overheating the card?

At this point, I'm out my league for troubleshooting. I haven't had to do much hardware hacking since my PowerTower days!

[normyzo]

Originally posted by T u r b o:
Just FYI, I got a PowerColor Evil Master II (non-pro) working just fine. The retail box the card came in claimed it was a "250/250mhz" card, and it worked at 250/250 but I got green dots when playing DVDs (otherwise it was clean).

I clocked the memory down to 240mhz and it's been fine since then. It should be able to do more, because the ram is labeled as 3.5ns... I picked the card up for $100 at a local computer show.

- Mike

Did you just clock the RAM down to 240, or did you clock the GPU down to 240 as well? Curious, cause I'd like to take my PowerColor pro (275/275 originally) card up from 230/230 if I can, but not get green dots which I did at both 275/275 and 250/250.

Dan

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
Dunno, Jim. Stick to the 230/230 for now, and try if a fresh 9.2.2 and July ATI drivers do anything.

Maybe the fan's stuck and overheating the card?

At this point, I'm out my league for troubleshooting. I haven't had to do much hardware hacking since my PowerTower days!

That's what I'm going to do. My OS X drive, when I boot into 9, can't be read and it asks me if I want to initialize so I'm going to reinstall OS X and OS 9.2.2. I'll check to see if the fan is on and reinstall all the drivers.

[Souljah]

I stumbled across this http://mirror.ati.com/support/infobase/3808.html .
Anyone here using a Apple ADC or DVI monitor?How about a flat panel from another manufacturer?Reports please!

G4 400 OCed to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
flashed PC Radeon 8500 64mb
OS9.2.2 Crashic
OSX10.1.5

[dfiler]

Some more comments about my NewEgg card and 10.2:

Using the UPDATE firmware, I noticed that windows seem to tear when I drag them around the screen. All of the pixels were the correct color but the window redraws in a jagged manner. The top part would redraw noticably quicker than the bottom making it look like a staircase shape rather than a rectagle.

So I flashed with the 250 firmware (dogcows(?)). This caused me to get pink pixels in title bars when rapidly dragging windows.

Next I flashed with the 230 firmware. No more pink pixels but I still haven't fixed the tearing during window drags...

Any ideas? I plan on doing a clean 10.2 install when my official version of 10.2 arrives. Did I mention its less than 10 miles away according to FedEx? It almost seems like my rage128pro had better hardware accelerated window dragging. Except that the draggin doesn't get any worse when the window has translucent regions.

[Souljah]

I do not have any such problems...did you install the latest drivers and are they turned on in the extensions folder?Other than a wipe and clean install did you try resetting p-ram or even also trying firmware restore?I thought my windows were worse than my Rage 128Pro until i installed the missing drivers.

G4 400 Sawtooth OCed to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
flashed PC Radeon 64mb 275/275
OS9.2.2 Crashic
OSX 10.1.5

[dfiler]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Souljah:
[B]I do not have any such problems...did you install the latest drivers and are they turned on in the extensions folder?Other than a wipe and clean install did you try resetting p-ram or even also trying firmware restore?I thought my windows were worse than my Rage 128Pro until i installed the missing drivers.

I'm running 10.2 instead of 9.2. I did install the July driver update in 10.2 but this made OS X refuse to boot. I deleted one file (something about ROM extender) and OS X would once again boot. Perhaps the update broke some other stuff which I didn't manage to unistall. Reinstalling 10.2 as an upgrade didn't help... Hence my desire to do a clean install as a last resort.

It doesn't seem like zapping the PRAM would have much to do with graphics card refresh problems. Doesn't PRAM only store a tiny amount of data having mostly to do with configurations early in the boot process? I'll give it a shot anyway. Also, I think removing an AGP card causes PRAM to reset anyway. (at least its done this to my machine in the past)

[pdot]

dfiler: I read a posts that says not to install the Ati July Drivers if you're using 10.2. Also, the readme for the July claims support for 10.1 - 10.1.5 only and tells you to check their site for the latest update (which is the July drivers, btw). Not sure if you're going to have to reinstall 10.2, though.

Souljah: This http://mirror.ati.com/support/infobase/3808.html link seems to refer only to VGA and pre-VGA Apple monitors used with a video card's DVI port. I have a NEC Multisync LCD 1525x and there are no problems.

[wwworry]

I bought the gigabyte Radeon card from newegg because it was cheaper and came with a dvi to vgt adapter. Used the standard flashing instructions and it worked! I have not tried any games or played any dvds. I avoid games and watch dvds on my television.

The only problems were:
A slight rattle with the new card which I think will be easy to fix.

At first it did not seat properly because on of the dvd monitor insert screws was hitting the case. I took out the screw because I figured 1 of 2 was enough.

For all this reading and it may have been a better deal to just get the $168 Mac version.

PS: it is surely a better card and faster in OS 10.1 than my rage pro.

[pdot]

I finally got 10.2 last night. After doing a clean install, I am noticing the occassional white pixel randomly appearing on my desktop. They're not easily noticeable, but they're there. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this with a flashed Radeon (esp NewEggg Sapphire card).

Also, DVD playback green pixel problems seem to be partially remedied. The frequency of the green pixels seems to be about the same, but they now tend to be located at the bottom of the movie, which makes them more noticeable b/c they are clumped together. I'm going to reflash my card to 275/275 and see what happens. I am currently at 250/250.

UPDATE: the 275/275 setting works finein 10.2. DVD Playback is actually equivalent to running at 250/250 on 10.1.5 (ie a bit more green pixels).

[Souljah]

pdotI can't remember where,but I read that apparently ATI is working on updated drivers for the Radeon 8500 for 10.2.
They had just fixed the drivers in July to run properly in 10.1.5 so should be any day now...I hope.Put it this way... they had better get their asses in gear since Apple is now in bed with Nvidea,and that is if they want Mac users to continue supporting them.They've been doing good so far with these updates in March,June,July.I have JAG just gotta find someone with a burner to test it...only then will I decide to order it or wait till they iron out most of the bugs. as soon as I get it installed i'll post an update.

[reader50]

Originally posted by pdot:
... I am noticing the occassional white pixel randomly appearing on my desktop. They're not easily noticeable, but they're there. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this with a flashed Radeon (esp NewEggg Sapphire card).
...

My NewEgg Sapphire did still produce the occasional green pixel during DVD playback, after I had flashed it to 250/250, though it took me a while to notice. No white pixels on the desktop to report, but I do not have Jag yet, my copy is in transit.

Reflash to 240/240 made the green pixels much worse, so I went the other way and reflashed to 255/255. Could not spot a single green pixel afterwards.

[dlindsay17]

So all you 10.2ers out there, how does Quartz Extreme perform on the flashed 8500???? I'm dying to know if my investment was even needed :-)

[tonywong]

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:


I'll move back down to 230/230 but thing is I had the artifact problems with the 230/230 firmware too.

(pencil trick??)

Yes pencil trick. Check your voltages first.

[wwworry]

Install 10.2 with your original card! It has been quite a headache to try with the converted PC 8500. In fact, so far I do not know if it is even possible. I'm in the middle of a big mess.

[Souljah]

_________________________________________________
Posted by wwworry:
Install 10.2 with your original card! It has been quite a headache to try with the converted PC 8500.
In fact, so far I do not know if it is even possible. I'm in the middle of a big mess.
_________________________________________________

Please explain your problem so we can better isolate what it is exactly you're having trouble with.I'm guessing it's a driver issue.Although I've noticed you bought a Gigabyte Radeon?Now why would you er...do that...since no one here has tried anything but the regular 8500 and the non LE version

G4 400 Agp Sawtooth Oced to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
Radeon 64mb 275/275
OS9.2.2 Crashic
OSX 10.1.5 all

[Eriamjh]

I am trying to do a clean install of 9.2.1 on a fresh partition with a flashed newegg card. After reboot, the desktop comes up, the mouse moves, but no clicks are ever registered and I am unable to install the ATI drivers for OS9. Has anyone else tried to reinstall OS9 after flashing a Radeon?

I have copied the drivers from the working OS9 partition and I will report back if it works.

(I tried all the usual tricks: extensions off, Zapp PRAM, CUDA reset, nothing works).

Update: I copied the ATI Radeon drivers top the new OS9 install parition and it completed booting. While it may have been my airport card and my lack of patience (the machine sat there for a while before the macOS setup program popped up), I managed to finish the reinstall. No need to reinstall the old Geforce2 and retry. The flashed radeon has passed another test.

[dfiler]

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
I am trying to do a clean install of 9.2.1 on a fresh partition with a flashed newegg card. After reboot, the desktop comes up, the mouse moves, but no clicks are ever registered and I am unable to install the ATI drivers for OS9. Has anyone else tried to reinstall OS9 after flashing a Radeon?

I have copied the drivers from the working OS9 partition and I will report back if it works.

(I tried all the usual tricks: extensions off, Zapp PRAM, CUDA reset, nothing works).

If the desktop shows up at all, that means that the flashing was basically successful. Visual glitches would indicate bad firmware.

Even without the latest ATI extensions loaded, I'm thinking the card should work but without any of OS 9's hardware acceleration. (and with a few other random bugs)

This might be an indication of a corrupted OS9 disc or of other bad hardware. An unterminated scsi chain causes my G4 to boot part way then freeze the cursor... etc.

What happens if you boot from a CD or OS X?

[Souljah]

In adding my 2 cents....i've installed a fresh OS9 last night,starting with my original G4 OS9 disc then updated one at a time 9 to 9.1 to 9.2.1 to 9.2.2... then lastly I tried to install ATI's July update but got the message that "this update cannot be installed on your computer" figuring it was already installed through the Apple OS updates I left it alone...so far no problems to report.

[plbogart]

Originally posted by Souljah:
In adding my 2 cents....i've installed a fresh OS9 last night,starting with my original G4 OS9 disc then updated one at a time 9 to 9.1 to 9.2.1 to 9.2.2... then lastly I tried to install ATI's July update but got the message that "this update cannot be installed on your computer" figuring it was already installed through the Apple OS updates I left it alone...so far no problems to report.

Souljah:

It must be because you have one of those crappy, non-LE 8500 cards.

I've got basically the same rig as you do with the exception of 64MB less RAM and the aforemention LE installed. The 8500 updated fine in 9.2.2 and - except for a weird, red-rain after a fresh install of 10.2fc (the bills haven't allowed me to get the retail version) - runs fine there as well.

I'll try to run the July update in 9.2.2 after work tonight and see if I get the same message or not

[Souljah]

plbogart:Yeah I got the plain non LE version

Jim Paridise:check this out http://www.xcl-clan.com/articles.php3?id=29&p=1...it was originally posted in this forum so I had to dig it up.The green pixels i'm getting are not that bad but I am interested in getting the card run at 275/275 without one single greenie...just read that reader50 has his running at 255/255..bravo dude!So it's on to the pencil trick for me...will post update in a few days.

Update pre OC:I've been doing alot of reading before OCing my card and it seems even though it's rated at 275/275 it will not run as such in my Mac without a voltage boost... pencil trick or resistor change.I've clocked it to 300/300 with the flash editor but got even more colored pixels..green,blue and red!Apparently this is caused by memory problems on the card from what i've read.I am running artifact free at 255/255 and I will try one more flash edit to core275/290 with 255 memory before I OC it.I'm expecting to easily get 300/300 with a little passive cooling.

G4 400 Agp Sawtooth Oced to 450
576mb 100/133 mixed
Radeon 64mb 275/275
OS9.2.2 Crashic
OSX 10.1.5

[CyberDave]

Ok, so I'm considering getting an 8500 to replace my original OEM Radeon, now that I've picked up a decent 17" monitor to use as a second display with my 19" CRT. I'm pretty comfortable with the proceedure to flash the ROM, but I'm not certain which card to buy.

Just to make sure I have my head on straight, this is basically what I've gathered from this thread:

Radeon 8500 cards work fine with the ATI ROM.
radeon 8500 LE cards work with the ATI ROM set to 230/230 core/memory speeds.
There's not a whole lot of difference between the two other than clock speeds in terms of performance in games, etc, right?

The $109 card from newegg.com (with free shipping!) (title "ATI OEM RADEON 8500 64MB DDR AGP BULK 275/275 ,POWER by ATI", Model#: Radeon 8500 64 (275)) is known to work after being flashed, correct?

What, if any, of the 8500 LE cards at newegg.com are known to work after being flashed with the appropriate clock settings? The Hercules 3D Prophet looks tempting at $94, but not if it won't work after being flashed. I could spend the $15 I save on that card to get the DVI-VGA adapter so I can use my second CRT.

Many thanks to all you brave souls who have figured this out so guys like me can do this without too much trouble.

CyberDave

BTW, this is for my G4/500 DP, 512 MB RAM, Jaguar, 19" Viewsonic A90 CRT, 17" Princeton EO74 CRT.

[dlindsay17]

Originally posted by CyberDave:

The $109 card from newegg.com (with free shipping!) (title "ATI OEM RADEON 8500 64MB DDR AGP BULK 275/275 ,POWER by ATI", Model#: Radeon 8500 64 (275)) is known to work after being flashed, correct?

What, if any, of the 8500 LE cards at newegg.com are known to work after being flashed with the appropriate clock settings? The Hercules 3D Prophet looks tempting at $94, but not if it won't work after being flashed. I could spend the $15 I save on that card to get the DVI-VGA adapter so I can use my second CRT.

Newegg has DVI-VGA adapters for about $8. Check those out. I've had no problems with my 8500 from them (it's a sapphire card). Works great so far (knocks on wood). Go with the non-LE for a few dollars more. It'll save you headaches in the long run.