This release note provides information on the latest posting of AMD's industry leading software suite, Catalyst™. This particular software suite updates both the AMD Display Driver, and the Catalyst™ Control Center. This unified driver has been further enhanced to provide the highest level of power, performance, and reliability. The AMD Catalyst™ software suite is the ultimate in performance and stability.
This release note provides information on the following:
- Web Content
- AMD Product Support
- Operating systems supported
- ATI's Folding@Home
- Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
- Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
- Known Issues Under the Windows Vista Operating System
- Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
- Known Issues Under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
- Installing the Catalyst™ Vista Software Driver
- AMD Customer Care
- Catalyst™ Crew Driver Feedback
- AMD Product Support
Web Content
The Catalyst™ software suite 8.4 contains the following:
- Radeon™ display driver 8.476
- Multimedia Center™ 9.16 (Windows XP only)
- HydraVision™ (Windows XP only)
- HydraVision™ Basic Edition (Windows XP only)
- Remote Wonder 3.04 (Windows XP only)
- WDM Driver Install Bundle
- Southbridge/IXP Driver
- Catalyst™ Control Center Version 8.4
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Caution: | The Catalyst™ software driver and the Catalyst™ Control Center can be downloaded independently of each other. However, for maximum stability and performance AMD recommends that both components be updated from the same Catalyst™ release |
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Caution: | The Catalyst™ Control Center requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 be installed. Without .NET version 2.0 installed, the Catalyst™ Control Center will not launch properly and the user will see an error message. |
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Note: | These release notes provide information on the Radeon™ display driver only. For information on the ATI Multimedia Center™, HydraVision™, HydraVision Basic Edition, WDM, Remote Wonder™, or the Southbridge/IXP driver, please refer to their respective release notes found at: https://support.ati.com/ |
AMD Product Support
The Catalyst™ Vista driver for both the 32bit and 64bit versions of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system is supported on the following ATI Radeon™ products.
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Note: | As of Catalyst™ 8.3 Hybrid Graphics has been supported on the ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 Series and ATI Radeon™ HD 3400 Series for the Windows Vista operating system. Hybrid Graphics delivers a significant 3D performance boost for systems featuring an AMD 780G Hybrid CrossFire™ compatible integrated graphics motherboard and an ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 Series or ATI Radeon™ HD 3400 Series graphics accelerator. This provides support for up to four independent displays. |
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Note: | ATI All-in-Wonder™ boards operate with AMD's Windows Vista ready display and capture drivers under the Windows Vista operating system. However, the Windows Vista Media Center application does not support TV/Capture functionality provided by the ATI All-in-Wonder™. TV/Capture functionality is qualified to function with Snaptream's BeyondTV 4.6 for Windows Vista. Other third party solutions (such as Arcsoft's Total Media 3) may support TV/Capture with the ATI All-in-Wonder™, but these applications have not been fully tested by AMD. |
Operating systems supported
The latest version of the Catalyst™ software suite is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:
- Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit versions)
- Windows XP Professional
- Windows XP Home Edition
- Windows XP Media Center Edition
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
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Note: | When installing the Catalyst™ Vista driver for Windows Vista, the user must logged on as an Administrator or have Administrator rights in order to successfully complete the installation of the Catalyst™ Vista driver. |
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Caution: | Once the driver installation is completed under the Vista operating system (32 and 64 bit), the driver log file may report that the ATI T200 Unified AVStream Driver failed to install. A reboot of the operating system resolves the issue. |
ATI's Folding@Home
Folding@Home is a distributed computing project designed by the Stanford University. The application performs intensive simulations of protein folding. This simulation will help researchers uncover how certain diseases develop. Folding@Home uses distributed computing to simulate protein folding, the workload is broken up into small work units and distributed across hundreds of thousands of computers over the internet. You can help find the cure to many different diseases! To join Folding@Home, follow these steps:
- Download ATI's Catalyst™ software suite
- Download the Folding@Home GPU client application
- Enter the ATI team number 51394 and start folding!
For more information on Folding@Home visit: http://ati.amd.com/technology/streamcomputing/folding.html
Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst™ Software Suite for Windows Vista. These include:
- Company of Heroes: Setting the in-game options to maximum levels no longer results in the game exiting to the desktop after the game has completed loading. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32600
- Crysis: Setting the Catalyst™ Control Center->Advanced View->3D->Standard Settings to Optimal Quality and having certain in game option settings no longer results in the game failing to render properly. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33395
- Doom 3: Setting the in game options to Ultra Quality and the screen size to 1600x1200 no longer results in the image next to the text failing to be rendered. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32603
- Hellgate: London: Flickering is no longer noticed when quitting and then relaunching the game when the in-game setting are set to their maximum levels. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32604
- Lost Planet: Setting AA to either 4x or 8x no longer results in the game failing to respond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28492
- Tabula Rasa: Setting the graphics option to enable Deferred Lighting and Dynamic Shadows no longer results in corruption being displayed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32597
- Tomb Raider Anniversary: Performance improvements are now noticed when playing the game with CrossFire™ enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32598
- Playing a game that uses the Unreal Engine 3.0 no longer results in AA setting not having any effect on the game when CrossFire is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33384
- The Windows Vista operating system no longer fails to respond when running the Auto-tune utility found in the Catalyst™ Control Center OverDrive™ option. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30584
- Using the pound key (#) as the first character in the user name no longer results in an error when installing the Catalyst™ Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31578
- The color depth no longer changes to 8 bpp when enabling or disabling CrossFire™ for the first time. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31580
- Display corruption is no longer noticed when enabling CrossFire™ on a system containing an ATI Radeon™ X1900/1950 series of product when the display resolution is set to 1600x1200 70Hz and running a 3D application in full screen mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31582
- Connecting a TV as a secondary display device no longer results in extended desktop mode failing to become active. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32659
- Flashes of white lines are no longer noticed when quickly moving windows around the Vista desktop. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32660
- Momentary flicker is no longer noticed when rotating the display device. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32661
- Hot plugging an HDMI display device to a system running Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit version) no longer results in the HDMI display device being detected as a DTV (DVI) device. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32593
- The signal on HDTV TV is no longer displayed as 480p60 after setting the format to 576i25/576p50 in clone mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32662
- A warning message no longer fails to appear when using an inappropriate DVI-HDMI adapter. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32596
- Attempting to perform a silent install of the display driver on a system running Traditional Chinese version of Windows Vista no longer results in an error message being displayed and the display drivers failing to be installed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32601
- Catalyst™ Control Center->Display Properties->Settings tab->Advanced: The adapter information is no longer displayed as ATI Display Adapter instead of the actual product name. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32602
- Enabling extended desktop mode followed by swapping the primary and secondary display devices no longer results in all running applications to be displayed on the primary display device. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32607
- Enabling or disabling CrossFire no longer results in the HydraGrid settings failing to be retained. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows XP and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32609
- Exiting a full screen D3D application no longer results in some of the other running applications failing to retain their current HydarGrid location. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows XP and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32612
- An incorrect message is no longer displayed when resuming from an S3 state when extended desktop mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33374
- Enabling Overlay Theatre Mode while a movie is playing no longer results in the secondary display device displaying a black screen when extended desk mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33375
- Connecting a secondary display device and setting the display resolution to 1280x800 or greater no longer results in corruption being noticed when attempting to enable extended desktop mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33376
- Playing a Blu-ray or HD DVD title using the Cyberlink PowerDVD 7.3 no longer results in an error message being displayed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33377
- Using MCE to view TV no longer results in the Vista operating system (32 bit version) failing to respond when resuming from an S3 state. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33378
- Intermittent corruption when switching between an LCD display device and an HDMI TV no longer occurs. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33379
- Connecting an HDMI display device no longer results in an extra longer time being noticed when attempting to switch between the LCD display device and the HDMI display device. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33382
- Corruption is no longer noticed on the Windows Vista desktop when playing a DVD title when using the Windows Media Player. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33383
- Connecting an HDTV using the HDMI port on a system containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 3100/3200 series of product no longer results the LCD display device failing when hot-unplugging the HDTV. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33384
Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst™ Software Suite for Windows XP. These include:
- 3DMark05/06: A performance drop is no longer noticed when running the benchmark under Windows XP. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33497
- Lost Planet: Setting AA to either 4x or 8x no longer results in the game failing to respond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28492
- Setting the language option to any supported language other than English no longer results in the Help file for Configure and Diagnostics failing to appear. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32605
- Setting the language option to Russian for the Catalyst™ Control Center no longer results in some text being cropped for the secondary display device in the display properties. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32663
- Setting the language option to German for the Catalyst™ Control Center no longer results in some translation errors being noticed through-out the Catalyst™ Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32664
- Setting the language option to French for the Catalyst™ Control Center no longer results in some translation errors being noticed through-out the Catalyst™ Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32665
- Connecting a CRT and TV and enabling either clone mode or extended desktop no longer results in Overlay Theater Mode failing on the secondary display device when attempting to change the TV format to D/PAL. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32606
- Catalyst™ Control Center->3D: AA options are no longer missing on certain system configurations. This issue may also have been experienced under the Windows Vista and XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33400
- The Apply button no longer fails to become disabled when changing the display resolution on a system with extended desktop mode enabled and the secondary display device having a different color scheme. This issue may also have been experienced under the Windows Vista and XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33401
- Setting the language option to French for the Catalyst™ Control Center no longer results in cropped text being noticed within the Catalyst™ Control Center. This issue may also have been experienced under the Windows Vista and XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33402
- The display device no longer displays a green image when launching the Catalyst™ Control Center when PowerDVD is running. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33405
- The Windows XP operating system no longer fails to respond when switching between user profiles. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33414
Known Issues Under the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on known issues that may be experienced under the Windows Vista operating system with the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:
- Crysis: Momentary corruption may be noticed in the body of water when a soldier pierces through the clouds. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32599
- Unreal Tournament 3: The game may intermittently fail to launch when a map has texture detail set to maximum. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31189
- Rebooting the operating system after changing the skin to any available option other than system skin may result in the Catalyst™ Control Center menu options no longer being visible. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30569
- The Catalyst™ Control Center menu option may fail to function when changing the skin from system skin to any other available skin. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30570
- Connecting a secondary display device using the HDMI connector and enabling either clone mode or extended desktop mode may result in the WinDVD 7 player playing in a windowed mode on both display devices when Overlay Theater Mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30579
- Using the hot-key function to switch between various display scenarios may result in the HDMI display device displaying a blank screen. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31145
- The secondary HDMI Display may turn off when resuming from an S1 hibernation with an HDMI display connected. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31146
- Setting the desktop resolution to 1600x1200 or greater may result in green pixel corruption being noticed when playing certain games. This issue maybe noticed when using a system running Windows Vista and containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 or HD 2400 series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31150
- Attempting to play the HD-DVD title Harsh Times, School for Scoundrels using the Cyberlink player may result in block corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31155
- Enabling CrossFire™ on a system containing an ATI Radeon™ X1900 CrossFire™ Edition product may result in the Windows Vista (64 bit version) failing. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31163
- An error message may appear when installing the display driver package through setup.exe. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31577
- The OverDrive™ page may be missing in the Catalyst™ Control Center after disabling CrossFire™ support. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31579
- Inconsistent behavior may be noticed in the Catalyst™ Control Center when clearing the Shared application from one virtual desktop to another. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows XP and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32610
- Shared applications may be removed after selecting Restore desktop when virtual desktop mode is enabled. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows XP and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32611
- Installing an ATI Radeon™ X1600 series of product into a system containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 series of product with the display driver already installed may result in the operating system entering a continuous reboot. This issue may be averted by removing the ATI graphics driver prior to the installation of the ATI Radeon™ X1600 series of product. This issue may also be experienced with the ATI Radeon™ X1300 and 1550 series of products. Further information may be found in topic number 737-33471
- Certain benchmark applications may report lower benchmark scores with CrossFire enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33464
- Watching live TV on a system running Windows Vista may result in corruption being noticed after a short time period. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33465
- Connecting a TV as the secondary display device and enabling either clone mode or extended desktop mode may result in the TV failing to display an image when resuming from an S3 state. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33466
Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows XP operating system in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars may have corruption on the water and sky after increasing the game resolution. Restarting the game at that higher resolution or issuing reloadImages command in the game console corrects the corruption. This issue only impacts graphics cards up to the ATI Radeon™ X850. Further details can be found in topic number 737-29947
- Connecting a CRT display device as the secondary display and playing a Blu-ray DVD using a Cyberlink player may result in no video playback if extended desktop mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30587
- Connecting a Dual Link Panel to the on-board DVI port, followed by hot plugging a DVI display to the add-on DVI card may result in clone mode becoming disabled when rebooting the machine and the secondary display device remaining blank. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31166
- The Catalyst™ Control Center menu option may fail to function when changing the skin from system skin to any other available skin. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30570
- Setting the display resolution to 1440x900 or lower may result in corruption being noticed when playing a DVD title. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31168
- Connecting a CRT display device as the secondary display and playing a Blu-ray DVD using a Cyberlink player may result in no video playback if extended desktop mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30587
- The floppy drive may fail to read or write under Vista on a Dell XPS410 system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31148
- Intermittent flashing may be noticed in the right portion of the display when playing a 720p or 1080i media file when using the Windows Media Player v10. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32666
- The ATI OpenGL driver may fail to be applied on systems containing an ATI Radeon™ 3600/3650 AGP series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33467
- A warning message may fail to be displayed when reaching the maximum number of modes in the Predefined and Custom HDTV modes section of the Catalyst™ Control Center. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows Vista and XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33468
- Underscan may fail when setting the display device to either 1080i 25Hz or 1080i 50Hz. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33469
Known Issues Under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:
- Unreal Tournament 3: Changing the in-game display resolution may result in corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33470
- Running an OpenGL application and attempting to rotate the desktop may result in corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-29556
For further information and general help on software driver installation, game issues, and more, visit ATI Customer Care.
Installing the Catalyst™ Vista Software Driver
Installation information can be found at: ati.amd.com
AMD Customer Care
The AMD Customer Care website provides a high level of technical support and ease of navigation. The AMD Customer Care website provides accurate and up-to-date product support for optimum usability and performance. Technical issues are categorized and personalized to enhance user experience. The AMD Customer Care Website can be found at: support.ati.com
To view a known issue or find troubleshooting information, do the following:
- Go to ati.amd.com. The AMD home page is displayed.
- Click on Support & Drivers. The AMD Support and Drivers web page is displayed.
- In the left hand pane, select Graphics Support.
- In the top right corner of the Graphics Support page, enter the topic number or a general description of the issue you are experiencing within the search field.
- In the Select Site field, select ATI.
- Click the SEARCH symbol.
The information requested (if available) is displayed.
Catalyst™ Crew Driver Feedback
This driver release incorporates suggestions received through the Catalyst™ CREW Driver Feedback program. To provide us with your feedback, visit: Catalyst™ Crew Driver Feedback.