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
- New Features
- 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 8.1 contains the following:
- Radeon™ display driver 8.451
- 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 8.1
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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: | 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. |
New Features
Catalyst 8.1 introduces MultiView™ support. This feature provides for hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering across multiple graphics adapters. MultiView™ will provide hardware accelerated 3D rendering in a system containing multiple graphics cards on an extended desktop arrangement. This feature will allow for the rendering performance and additional frame buffer resources to be evenly shared with the second and third graphics adapters. This allows for a 3D application to have the same performance running on a secondary or third display device as if it were running on the primary display device. This feature will be supported under Windows XP (32 and 64 bit versions), Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit versions), and the Linux operating system. Product support includes:
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:
- Bioshock: Flickering is no longer noticed during the cinematic introduction of the game. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31570
- Half-Life 2: Episode 2: Playing the game on a system containing an ATI Radeon HD 3800 series of product no longer results in the game failing to the desktop when CrossFire™ is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30753
- F.E.A.R.: A black screen no longer occurs when the display is set to 2048x1536 and the in-game AA option is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31567
- Lightsmark 2007: Running the benchmark no longer results in the robot character not being drawn properly. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31573
- Oblivion: Task switching between the game and the Windows Vista desktop no longer results in corruption being noticed when AA is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31568
- Oblivion: Flickering is no longer noticed when first making a move if the in-game settings are set to maximum, CrossFire™ is enabled and AF is set to 16x. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31152
- Oblivion: The game no longer fails and display corruption is no longer noticed when the game is minimized to desktop and then restored. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31151
- World In Conflict: The game no longer fails to the Windows desktop when the display resolution is set to 1280x768 and AF is set to 16x. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30752
- Creating a secondary user account and switching from the secondary user account to the primary user account no longer results in CrossFire™ failing to be enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28786
- Connecting a secondary display device to a system containing an ATI Radeon x1200/1250/1270 series of product and enabling clone mode or extended desktop mode no longer results in horizontal line corruption being noticed when using a high refresh rate and display resolution. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31144
- Connecting a secondary display device and enabling clone mode no longer results in the inability of changing the display configuration when resuming from an S4 state. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31157
- Connecting an HDMI display device as the primary and setting the display resolution to 1280x1024 no longer results in an error message when attempting to personalize the display settings. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31165
- The Apply and Discard buttons are no longer enabled within the OverDrive™ tab after applying the hotkey to restore default VPU and Memory clocks. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31543
- Changing the Catalyst Control Center language support to Polish no longer results in duplicate options being displayed within the Avivo video options. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31544
- The text size is now set appropriately for the LCD Overview page when setting the language type to Japanese. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31545
- Truncated text is no longer noticed in the ATI OverDrive™ Unlock warning message. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31555
- Installing either two ATI Radeon HD 2400 series products no longer results in the ability to enable display device which are not connected to the system within the Catalyst Control Center->Display Manager. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31556
- The Catalyst Control Center no longer intermittently fails to launch on systems containing an ATI Radeon 9500/9600/9700 series of product and running Windows XP or Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31559
- Theater mode is no longer disabled or unavailable when connecting two display devices and enabling either clone mode or extended desktop mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31560
- The incorrect spelling of properties in Avivo color help page is now resolved. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31562
- Connecting an HDTV as the primary display device using a component video dongle and any other display device as a secondary display no longer results in software CrossFire™ failing to be enabled on the primary display device. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31563
- The display name no longer fails to enumerate for the secondary adapter in the OverDrive™ autotune window. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31564
- An additional System Setting Change dialog box no longer appears when enabling CrossFire™. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31565
- Setting the DPI to 120 in the Display Properties no longer results in the combo box being cut-off. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31566
- The OverDrive™ version detection for legacy products is now resolved. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31569
- Clone mode no longer fails to be enabled when resuming from suspend mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31571
- Connecting a TV to a system running Windows Vista and containing an ATI Radeon 1300/15x0/1600 series of product no longer results in certain areas of the display appearing lighter than other areas. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31572
- Using the Cyberlink player to play a Blu-Ray title no longer results in the display device becoming green or black when resuming from suspend mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31574
- Resuming from an S3 state no longer results in the display continually blinking on systems running the Windows Vista operating system (64bit version). Further details can be found in topic number 737-31575
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:
- Call of Juarez and Stalker and Timeshift: Launching the games under Windows XP no longer results in intermittent corruption or flashing being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31612
- Enemy Territories Quake Wars v1.2: Flickering is no longer noticed when enabling Triple Buffering, setting AA to 8x and setting the display resolution to 2560x1600. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31610
- TianJi: Logging into the game no longer results in the function buttons not working and the system setting window failing to open. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31607
- World of Warcraft: Launching two game windows and switching between the game windows on a system with an Apple 30 inch display device no longer results in the game image failing to be drawn properly. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31608
- Google SketchUP: the application no longer fails to launch on systems running Windows XP and containing an ATI Radeon HD 2900 series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31609
- The movement of pictures now appear smooth under Excel (Office2007) when the color depth is set to 16bpp. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31167
- The AVIVO TV controls are now available under the Windows Media Center Edition operating system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31170
- The scaling function no longer fails under certain resolutions in the Catalyst Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31169
- The display now returns when attempting to log back on to the system after logging out of the system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31601
- Connecting an HDTV as a secondary display device no longer results in the display device failing to show up as a DTV (DVI) display device in the Catalyst Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31603
- The Windows XP operating system no longer hangs with a blank screen when running the Run Automated Clock Configuration Utility. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31611
Known Issues Under the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on known issues associated with the ATI Catalyst™. These include:
- Lost Planet: Setting AA to either 4x or 8x may result in the game failing to respond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28492
- Oblivion: Flickering may be noticed when first making a move if the in-game settings are set to maximum, CrossFire™ is enabled and AF is set to 16x. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31581
- 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
- Installing the WDM driver on systems containing an ATI TV Tuner product and an ATI graphics adapter may result in the WDM driver failing to install. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30571
- 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
- The Windows Vista operating system may fail 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 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
- 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
- Resuming from hibernation mode with HDMI display connected may result in a black screen with only a mouse cursor being displayed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31149
- 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 Verdana, School for Scoundrels using the Cyberlink player may result in block corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31155
- The OverDrive™ page may be grayed out and the GPU and memory clocks as may be displayed as 000 after enabling CrossFire™ on systems containing and ATI Radeon™ X1900 CrossFire™ Edition and running Windows Vista (64 bit version). Further details can be found in topic number 737-31161
- 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
- Using the pound key (#) as the first character in the user name may result in an error when installing the Catalyst Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31578
- 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
- The color depth may change to 8 bpp when enabling or disabling CrossFire™ for the first time. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31580
- Display corruption may be 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
- Hot-plugging an HDMI display device may result in the display device failing to be detected on systems containing an ATI Radeon HD 2400 series of product and running Windows Vista. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31583
- Enabling extended desktop mode and setting the display resolution to 1280x800 or higher, followed by playing an HD-DVD using PowerDVD, may results in the HD-DVD title failing to play. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31584
- Dragging player window to secondary display while playing back HD content and moving it back to primary may result in blank player window. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31585
- The OverDrive™ page may be grayed out and the GPU and memory clocks as may be displayed as 000 after enabling CrossFire™ on systems containing and ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire™ Edition and running Windows Vista (64 bit version). Further details can be found in topic number 737-31586
Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:
- After installing the graphics driver an error message may be displayed when attempting to launch DirectX based games when using an ATI AGP product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31542
- Call of Juarez: Setting the game level with Optimal Quality and high in-game settings may result in the game level being blank. Further details can be found in topic number 737-30591
- 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
- Lost Planet: Setting AA to either 4x or 8x may intermittently result in the game failing to respond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28492
- STALKER: Shadows may not be rendered properly when CrossFire™ is enabled along with AA being enabled at 4x and Full Dynamic Lighting also being enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31597
- 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
- Setting the desktop resolution to 1280x1024 and using PowerDVD to play an HD-DVD or Blu-ray title may result in corruption being noticed when using an ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31171
- On certain products, changing display resolution while playing back High Definition content may results in instability. It is recommended to set appropriate resolution while playback is stopped. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31172
- Cyberlink: Playing a DVD title on a system containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 series may result in corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31173
- 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
- On certain products, changing display resolution while playing back High Definition content may results in instability. It is recommended to set appropriate resolution while playback is stopped. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31598
- 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 737-31599
Known Issues Under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
The following section provides a summary of open issues in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:
- World in Conflict: Text corruption may be noticed when playing the game on a system running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and containing an ATI Radeon HD 30 series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31619
- 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
- The Record function currently fails to work when using an ATI All-In-Wonder™ X1300 and time shifting is enabled. Further information can be found in topic number 737-22014
- 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
- Hot plugging a display device to a system running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and containing an ATI Radeon X1250/1270 series of product may result in the display device failing to be detected. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31618
- Standard PAL mode may fail to be available in the Catalyst Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31620
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 discription 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.