So I'm also have the same problem as a lot of people here.
The differences in the bios version is verry intresting.
On http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/bios.php you can find a collection of bioses for ATI Radion cards.
I run the Sapphire 9600 Pro 128, bios BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000. I saw on the collection site 3 different bios versions for this card with Samsung memory. Still not shure to try the bioses, affraid to mess up the card.
File Sapphire.9600PRO.128.SAMSUNG28_0518 holds version BK-AMI VER008.011.001.002
Sapphire.9600PRO.128.SAMSUNG28_0606 holds version BK-AMI VER008.011.006.000
Sapphire.9600PRO.128.SAMSUNG28_0820 holds version BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000
I'm verry intrested in you're testing results Steve, ....

Erwin, how were you able to tell which BIOS version was contained in each of those .bin files? Also, what's the best way to find out the actual manufacturer of the card? None of the diagnostic tools mention that it's a Sapphire card.

Steve

****
I tried to install the omega driver but after half of the installation it asked for a cd 2??
is it a bug? if not what is it?
***

It's a corrupted download. The author mentions the possibility on the site, on the same screen as the downloading. You'll have to download the file again. See the site for details.

Hi, I have been reading most of these posts so far (so many!) and I am having the problem where the latest drivers for EVERYTHING do not work (Hydravision 4 in 1, directx, soundblaster, 9600 pro), editing settings in my BIOS doesn't work, and changing the AGP write and performance levels down does nothing either, except for maybe allowing me to get past the hardware mouse problem. My computer either restarts, or crashes to the desktop, sometimes with VPU recover and sometimes not.

Anyways, I read one of the more recent posts regarding the IRQ number assignments of devices. I had checked this out before, and was stumped on how to change it. Unfortunately, I still am. It seems that ALL of my devices in my PCI slots run on IRQ 9 ( Soundblaster Live Value, Ethernet Card, 9600 pro, USB ) AS WELL AS my Microsoft ACPI-compliant system ( which is an ISA!! ) . I don't understand how both PCI's and ISA's can share the same IRQ's, seeing as in my BIOS I have clearly set my IRQ 9 to PCI/Pnp. Would going into the BIOS and changing the IRQ 9 priority to ISA instead of PCI/Pnp change this? I'm going to try...

I have 3 free slots left that I havn't tried, but I am sure that they will also be assigned IRQ's of 9... I still have to try them though. The one link said that the only way to change the IRQ was to switch the card in the slot, but is there another way? ATI sent me this link:

http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/howtowin2kxpirq.html

It involves disabling ACPI support, however, and I am not that experienced with computers (i'm 16) so I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this. Has anyone tried THIS successfully?

BTW, the games I am having problems with are AOM (the rendered backdrop of the startup screen does it to me, the cinematic is perfect) and the NOLF2 official demo after about .5 seconds of play, or with settings down, about 10 seconds.

Help is appreciated! I spent my own hard earned money on this card and after 5 days of tinkering I am very frustrated! (but I wont switch to NVidea because NVidea are slimeballs)

Hi. I have same problem. My conf.

Powersupply 350W
Athlon XP 1700
Mb first MSI KT4 Ultra (VIA KT400) second (now) Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Saphire Radeon 9600 Pro with same bios BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000
Drivers latest Catalyst 3.10

I have tried all recommended operations (lower AGP to 4x, disable FW) with no really effect - and with both motherboards... I have problem only with few games - example i have no problem with playing hours of Warcraft 3 FT (full detail 1280x1024) but i have ATI recovery error with playing some time (10-15) Beyond Good & Evil (full detail 1024x768 without aa) or game XIII...

Well Steve, when you view the .bin files with a HEX viewer you can find the versions numbers.
In the ansi text mode you get the next info:

UhCpIBM 761295520??
2003/08/20 10:36DR(7K|
P/N133-PC1910-04
(C) 1988-2003, ATI Technologies Inc. BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000 papc1910.04 v611 V350AGP DGD1UNOEM VER.000.000ffOZK|PAxhn
Y$TVSejaPCIRPAhATI RADEON 9600 PROp57p57
<v)Wxx0 3Q0`ODP P`X | X`hAJJ0@A=x$@|


When you wanna experiment with the bios of the 9600 card, keep an old VGA PCI card at hand.
Should the new flashed bios not work, you will have a black screen. (to aggresive mem timings?)
Then turn off the PC, insert the PCI vga card connect monitor to this card, and boot with the flash boot disk,
and flash the old bios back to the card.
Notice that should you have onboard VGA, this may not work as with the PCI VGA card. Lot of motherboards
auto dissable the VGA onboard when an AGP card is inserted.
If you don't have a PCI VGA card, you could make a boot floppy and make a .bat file so you can flash the
bios blind.
Keep in mind that all this is not without risks,...when the new bios has to aggresive memory timings you
could damage the rams.
Before using other bioses, check the memory chips on you're card, brand type nummer and verify the speed
of the chips.

Hi Guys, im from Denmark.

I have the ATI RADEON 9600XT 265MB DDR RAM and it Frez i ALL my games.. but i can play it about 20 - 30 min.. and thats is ONLY the games like Age of mytologi and generals... and thats bacause u have to use your "cursor" or pointer, but in games like Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat i have about 1 - 2 hours before i frez...

And the problem is that the Radeon 9600 series (9600XT and 9600 Pro) isent kopatible ( donsent work ) with a Microsoft Mouse specially NOT an intelli mouse!!!
when i first installed my GFX drivers... ALL my mouse drivers were deletet!!! and hardheaddet as i am.. i reinstalled my drivers... and now my computer works like an BOMB... UNSTABLE!


-AMD 2000+
-Soltek kav
-768 MB SD
-80 GB HDD 1. 20GB Maxtor 1. 60GB Seagate fluid
-300Watt PSU (but too much case mod... and 8 fans)

last of all... could the problem also be, that it Dident get enugh. voltage??

Hi Martin,

i've experienced the same problems as you do/did? I can play games (depends on the game) for 30-60 mins wihtout hang up. Then the system freezes making a high screaming sound, so i have to reboot. To be honest i'm desperate with this card and would appreciate any help. Did you solve the problem? Are you sure it is the microsoft mouse?

Greetings
Mesut

Hi guys,

I think you guys should try this out, I dont know if it will work for you but its worth a try as it worked and fixed most problems with my friends 9600.
Go to "Control pannel" - "Add or Remove Programs" > Select alll the nVidia display drivers and all the drivers from your old FX or nVidia Card, do the same with all your ati drivers. Reboot, Reinstall ATI Display drivers, off and away you go!!! no more problems as Your ATI drivers come in to conflict with Old "forgot to unninstal nVidia Driver" as thats what causes most of the problems...
Secondly its also you system set-up, You mobo and powerbox, etc. compatability!!! key issue.
>>>>> Thirdly all i have mentioned above is to people who Upgraded from a "nVidia Card to ATI" <<<<<

Ok, now i've done it. i changed my powercolor radeon 9600 ez bios 256mb bios from BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000 to BK-ATI VER008.015.015.000 found at http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/bios.php . My card was not on the list only the 128mb card so i took the only one with 256mb Sapphire 9600 Non-Pro 256MB then i flashed the card with Flashrom v2.23. The card works perfectly with the newest catalyst drivers. Remember to backup the bios on your vgacard before trying any of this, and please don't blame me if your vgacard burns up. It worked for me and i hope it'll work for all of you. I really liked reading every post in this topic but none of them fixed my problem, now i don't have to read them again... c'ya

Magnus Uusitalo:

i have the same card you have, the Ati powercolor, 256 megs, and im getting the same problems as everyone here, specially the VPU recovery, until it crashes,

im not on expert on this, i downloaded de bios you said and the program flashrom 2.23, but could you, or someone explain to me how to switch the BIOSes???????????????

i REally apreciate the help................. Alex

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, now i've done it. i changed my powercolor radeon 9600 ez bios 256mb bios from BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000 to BK-ATI VER008.015.015.000 found at http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/bios.php . My card was not on the list only the 128mb card so i took the only one with 256mb Sapphire 9600 Non-Pro 256MB then i flashed the card with Flashrom v2.23. The card works perfectly with the newest catalyst drivers. Remember to backup the bios on your vgacard before trying any of this, and please don't blame me if your vgacard burns up. It worked for me and i hope it'll work for all of you. I really liked reading every post in this topic but none of them fixed my problem, now i don't have to read them again... c'ya

ATI drivers are crap
Same shiet problem ATI here!!!!!
Fuk ATI.l!!!!

I have never even heard of another card released that caused problems for so many people. This is a bodge-job by either ATi, card manufacturers (the BIOS on some cards seems to be a problem) or both.

Pre-release engineering samples with alpha drivers often work more reliably than this. nVIDIA may cheat on benchmarks, but at least their cards are useable without luck, a lot of searching online and more knowledge than most PC users have.

My ATi card cannot be made to work with the drivers it shipped with, nor with the next three driver revisions. That is ridiculous. Third-party software is needed to allow me to use a refresh rate higher than 60Hz. That is also ridiculous.

Now that it works, 4 driver revisions later, I'm pleased with its marvellous performance and image quality. The hardware itself is excellent, but the software side is farcical. ATi's reputation for drivers has increased dramatically over the last year or so...what the hell was it like before?

Ok, i have sucess - no crash with games!

Powersupply 350W
Athlon XP 1700
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Saphire Radeon 9600 Pro with same bios BK-ATI VER008.015.028.000
Drivers latest Catalyst 3.10
(same config with same windows xp installation)

new motherboard - Asus A7N8X Deluxe (switch from older MSI KT4 ULTRA)
i buy new cooler for GPU because old from saphire is big s**t and making brutal noise... (i have installed it with low spring pressure and i today correct this thing)
i set AGP from 8x FastWrite On to 4x FastWrite On

And now i have no problem take a hours of gaming with two before problematic games - Beyond Good & Evil and XIII.

Erwin, I tried the 2 other 9600-pro 128Mb Sapphire BIOSes listed on that web site but neither of them worked for me. In fact, I had to use the -f (force) option to get them to write at all and the results were garbled output. Then for the heck of it I tried my good BIOS from my other ATI card and the machine wouldn't boot at all. Luckily your advice about using an old PCI card worked like a charm once I switched the BIOS to use PCI before AGP -- thanks!! So, I'm back to using my old, bad video BIOS until I can find one that is compatible with my card. I may try the non-pro versions next.

I'm still not sure how to determine what the actual brand of my card is (beyond the label on the fan which seems like a silly place to put it). Any suggestions there?

Steve

Alright, while I'm here asking questions I might as well ask this too. How can I find out the type (speed?) of my video card's memory? I'm trying to determine which .bin files from http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/bios.php would be most likely to work in my Sapphire card. The files labeled with memory type "Samsung 2.8" did not work. The memory chips on my video card read "Samsung 346, k4d261638e-tc33". Any pointers would be appreciated.

Steve

CAN somebody tell me how do i save my current BIOS and switch it with another one???


Alex

Steve, you can find the data sheet of you're ram chips on next location
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semiconductor/GraphicsMemory/D..._rev11.pdf
On page 14 you can see that you're memory on the card is 3.3ns at 300MHz.
This explains why the bioses you tested doesn't work, those bios versions are for 2.8ns rams, not 3.3ns.
Notice that the last 2 characters represents the speed of the rams k4d261638e-tc33, tc33 = 3.3ns.
If I recall correctly, ATI delivers the PCB layout for the video cards to the other manufacters. They must keep
that layout of that PCB. So they only can play with some components like bios,memory, kwality of the PCB, cooling etc. So normaly there is not so much difference between the most cards of the same type.
But of cource the ram speed is Crucial to bios and for OC's.
Each manufactor also receives a manufactor code witch should be able to find in the bios. Where ? I don't know yet.
I would try the bios HIS 9600 Pro 128MB witch holds bios version
BK-AMI VER008.011.006.000 paht9600.07b
It's worth a try,.........

What I find in all the bioses for the ATI 9600 Pro is the next string :

YOU HAVE NOT CONNECTED THE POWER CABLE TO YOUR RADEON 9700 VIDEO CARD,
PLEASE REFER TO THE "GETTING STARTED GUIDE" FOR PROPER HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Seems that the bios of the 9600 Pro is a modified bios from the 9700 ?????

POWERCOLOR ATI agp 8x 256

all my games suck with this card, or freeze up or gives me the VPU recovery

CAN somebody tell me how do i save my current BIOS and switch it with another one???



Alex

P.S. i miss my Gforce4.......... ishouldnt have sold it.

i wouldnt recommend fiddling with the BIOS of your vid card.