Catalyst Install Question

[taichi]

I had downloaded the Lenovo Catalyst/ATI installer, and ran it. After saying Yes to All the overwrites of the previous files, the application seemed to finish with a cryptic message that I can only paraphrase. Apparently the 91 MB installer program installed certain components, but then gave the message that what I had just done did not actually complete the installation, and that I should refer to additional instructions.

I should add that as this T60P has never had the Catylyst Software on it...merely the GPU driver...I did not uninstall anything before running this Installer.

At any rate I feel like someone who has crossed a stream and am stuck in the middle. I did create a restore point before proceeding, and will not shut down the computer until I know how to proceed.

I would appreciate any insight on this.

Thanks

[taichi]

A further piece of information/discovery regarding this issue.

Going into my Programs I see that the installation package installed an ATI Catalyst Install Manager, so I assume that there was not a botched install, but rather that what was installed is the component that manages the installation of the actual Catalyst program and Video Driver.

So I'm wondering if I need to uninstall the current driver, before proceeding, although I have no idea how to proceed other than clicking on the Install manager. As I mentioned before, all that is currently on the machine is a lonely driver, without any iteration of the Catalyst program. There has never been Catalyst on this machine.

[taichi]

Has no one on this forum installed Catalyst and its embedded driver on a T60P?

[ajkula66]

Is this still Vista we're discussing here?

[taichi]

Is this still Vista we're discussing here?

Yes.

[ajkula66]

I don't have a T60/p with Vista here, only W7.

You should uninstall whatever is currently installed including the previous driver and then run the setup again. The size of 91MB sounds about right, though.

[taichi]

I don't believe the setup manager installs any of the Catalyst components, but I'm okay with uninstalling it.

Any recommendations about the best procedure for uninstalling the current driver? Should I do uninstall from Programs and Features, or in Device Manager, or using a 3rd Part Uninstaller lie Revo?

Should I restart in Safe Mode, and install Catalyst from there, in order to avoid the original driver from reinstalling?

Thanks, as usual, for your informed advice!

[Neil]

I haven't had the need to do this since the Win98 days and some of the first Radeon cards in my HTPC, so I don't remember the process I used to use, but here is a forum thread on the subject that seems similar at least to what I remember doing.

http://www.overclock.net/t/988215/how-t ... hics-cards

[taichi]

I haven't had the need to do this since the Win98 days and some of the first Radeon cards in my HTPC, so I don't remember the process I used to use, but here is a forum thread on the subject that seems similar at least to what I remember doing.

http://www.overclock.net/t/988215/how-t ... hics-cards

Sorry...i haven't logged on for a week.

The linked article and procedure is so enormously complex...far more involved than uninstalling the old driver, and then installing the Catalyst package. Is all that really necessary?

[Neil]

Is all that really necessary?

Not usually...like I wrote, it's been a long time since I've tried to upgrade a then ATI driver. Their upgrade procedure may have improved over the years, but back in the day, an ATI uninstall would leave several .inf files and registry entries behind, that could, at least, muck up the new install. So it was just considered the best procedure to manually remove all that stuff, and do a "clean" driver install for best performance.

[taichi]

Thanks for the quick response.

I hope the process has been improved, as reading the list of steps in the article was enough to impel me to trade in my computers for notepads and an abacus.

[taichi]

Again, I hope that someone reading this thread has experience with the Catalyst Program/GPU installation on a T60P. I have Vista, but the procedure with Win 7 should be identical.

A linked page from one poster gave an extraordinarily long and involved procedure for uninstalling earlier drivers (on a machine with a much older OS) before installing Catalyst...a procedure considerably more complex than just uninstalling any earlier version of Catalyst and any earlier driver.

The procedure on a newer OS and newer machine certainly must be more straightforward.

Thanks.

[ajkula66]

I don't understand the hold-up.

Uninstall the driver. Delete all the files that appear associated with it.

Install the package and run the setup.

You should have the CCC in there now.

The ATi driver is the first one I throw in on a fresh install and I've had an issue with it once when the actual downloaded file got corrupted, but nothing else.

Good luck.

[taichi]

The reason I hesitated was because of the linked article with 28,000 steps to it.

Would you uninstall the driver from Programs and Features, Device Manager, or use a third party uninstaller like Revo?

And how would you find and ascertain all the associated files?

Thanks, as always.

[ajkula66]

Would you uninstall the driver from Programs and Features, Device Manager, or use a third party uninstaller like Revo?

Programs and features

And how would you find and ascertain all the associated files?

Thanks, as always.

I'd look for any file/folder marked ATI or CCC using the search function...

[Shredder11]

I've had problems with the ATi software too with my Z61p and its FireGL v5200 and Windows 7 Pro. Sometimes when booting up it does not load the Vista drivers and the Catalyst software complains that the driver is incompatible with the CCC software version. Any attempt to reinstall or uninstall the Catalyst package just times out and throws up an error message to force the install to quit. The rest of the time the computer boots up normally and everything works really well. Weird eh! I have no problems when running Win XP Pro, so I guess the hardware is ok; I recently installed a Core2 Duo T7600 CPU and upped the RAM to 3GB, and applied new thermal paste and temps are fine.

[taichi]

Yesterday I thought I'd successfully posted a further question on this thread, but, like the Cheshire Cat, it just disappeared (not even a smile left).

My question was whether it's a good idea to uninstall Catalyst and the GPU driver, as well as doing the new installation, all in safe mode in order to prevent the OS from downloading and installing a GPU driver on its own.

It's because of experiences like the one posted above that I approach GPU driver installation with heightened concern.

Thanks

[ajkula66]

You posted it - and I replied to it - in the wrong thread, the one regarding T6x batteries. I *think*...

No safe mode required IMO. We're not launching a missile here...

[taichi]

I wondered where it had posted.

Thanks for the reply, ajkula66.

[Shredder11]

I've had problems with the ATi software too with my Z61p and its FireGL v5200 and Windows 7 Pro. Sometimes when booting up it does not load the Vista drivers and the Catalyst software complains that the driver is incompatible with the CCC software version. Any attempt to reinstall or uninstall the Catalyst package just times out and throws up an error message to force the install to quit. The rest of the time the computer boots up normally and everything works really well. Weird eh! I have no problems when running Win XP Pro, so I guess the hardware is ok; I recently installed a Core2 Duo T7600 CPU and upped the RAM to 3GB, and applied new thermal paste and temps are fine.

Today the Z61p went into hibernation and did not recover from that properly, so it once again messed up the drivers. Anyway what I did the other day was edit a file in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vgapnp.sys and in the file Properties->Security and changed the permissions to allow full control for Users as well as the TrustedInstaller and SYSTEM. I then changed the file name with an 'x' to disable it upon boot, where it then complained the file was not there. However by changing the name back to normal again and rebooting, the drivers then properly loaded.

Even more strange is that today I renamed that file and upon rebooting, it did not complain about it and just booted to the desktop in the correct resolution 1920 x 1200.

Very confusing!

[Shredder11]

Well a few more days have passed and I now feel it could be the WiFi having an unwanted effect on the video drivers / Catalyst software. If I make sure the physical WiFi switch is set to the off position when booting the computer, the video drivers etc are not affected and things work correctly and at the correct resolution. I can then safely turn on the WiFi and the video remains unaffected. However if I try to boot with WiFi on, the video drivers do not load and I end up with standard Microsoft VGA drivers instead. So providing this is the actual cause, I now have a simple workaround to the whole Windows 7 Pro and Vista 32-bit driver / Catalyst problem.

I hope this can be of some help to anyone wishing to install Windows 7 Pro on a Thinkpad Z61p or T60p laptop.

[Kasm279]

I installed CCC on my T60p with the V5200 by doing this.
1. Download Catalyst 10.2 from AMD's website.
2. Run the installer, but cancel it after it has extracted the files.
3. Download and run Mobility Modder on the files.
4. Run the Catalyst installer.
5. Enjoy!

[Shredder11]

I tried this with Windows 7 Pro 32-bit but the Mobility Modder method did not work for me. Could you tell me the exact Catalyst driver that you downloaded and any other files you installed to help with the overall process? I may have another go at this if it will work.

[Shredder11]

Well it seems the WiFi is not the problem either, so my attention has turned to the screen itself. It appears that when the lid is in a fully upright position, the graphics drivers and Catalyst software load normally, and any other position causes the issue of VGA mode drivers being loaded. I'll get to the bottom of this eventually!

[Neil]

Hmmm....might be a broken wire in the LCD ribbon cable, so that there is only entermittent contact with the EDID chip...maybe.

[WalkGood]

I installed CCC on my T60p with the V5200 by doing this.
1. Download Catalyst 10.2 from AMD's website.
2. Run the installer, but cancel it after it has extracted the files.
3. Download and run Mobility Modder on the files.
4. Run the Catalyst installer.
5. Enjoy!

What is Mobility Modder, and what did you "tell" it to do?

[Shredder11]

I installed CCC on my T60p with the V5200 by doing this.
1. Download Catalyst 10.2 from AMD's website.
2. Run the installer, but cancel it after it has extracted the files.
3. Download and run Mobility Modder on the files.
4. Run the Catalyst installer.
5. Enjoy!

What is Mobility Modder, and what did you "tell" it to do?

You can find it here http://www.hardwareheaven.com/modtool.php?langid=2

[Shredder11]

Hmmm....might be a broken wire in the LCD ribbon cable, so that there is only entermittent contact with the EDID chip...maybe.

Not sure but even when the laptop screen is left untouched, e.g. not pushed or pulled open or shut, the problem still happens at random. The other day I cloned my Win 7 Pro installation using a special software tool that migrates from HDD to SSD drives. The same install works without any issues on another exact same Thinkpad Z61p. So either the screen on the other laptop is faulty or the GPU on the motherboard is. I'm currently installing the latest Ubuntu Linux and will see how that behaves on the faulty laptop.