Macbook Pro w/ ATI Radeon Mobility x1600

[theinfamoustim]

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit on my MacBook Pro. More computer specific information below.

Everything is running fine except one thing. I'm trying to play City of Heroes/Villains and it's not working. I know that basically what is needed is drivers for my ATI Radeon Mobility x1600 Video Card. I can't seem to find any drivers anywhere for this. I have asked in the City of Heroes forum and found no help there, unfortunately. Initially, I had the problem of unplayable video flickering. I solved that by installing CCC manually, but now it will get to the loading screen and just hold there until it "stops responding." The loading bar to "spawn in" moves about 10 millimeters every 10 minutes. It's possible if I waited the 10 hours it could indeed start working, but... yeah, not very feasible to wait that long. I have no other games to test to see if they react the same way.

I suppose my main goal is most likely to somehow get ANY drivers for my video card that could work, but my Google-fu seems weak on this topic.

Thanks in advance!

~ Tim


DxDiag gathered at May 17, 2009 17:00 (-07:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7100) (7100.winmain_win7rc.090421-1700)
System Manufacturer: Apple Computer, Inc.
System Model: MacBookPro2,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7600 @ 2.33GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 4096MB
.Net Memory Report: 2075MB out of 3056MB available
Page File: 5014MB (1096MB currently in use)
C Drive: (FUJITSU MHW2120BH ATA Device) 22830MB out of 41567MB (54%) free
D Drive: (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857D ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7100.0000 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
Manufacturer / Chip: ATI Technologies Inc. / ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x71C5)
Video Memory: 1526 MB
Driver Version: 8.561.0.0
Driver Date: 12/1/2008 8:29:34 PM
Driver Language: English

 

[mindless728]

ok, i don't know how much u know about the driver install, but i h ave the same graphics card (not a mac, Asus Z96JS)

1) download the latest catalyst driver for the Radeon x1600 from ATI/AMD (the desktop version, not the laptop) for vista 64 bit (i know, it's not windows 7, but it will work, trust me, i did it)

2) start the install and let it extract the drivers to the c:\ATI but then quit as soon as it goes into the installer

3) open C:\ATI\Support\9_3_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu\Driver\Packages\Drivers\Display\LH6A_INF\CH_76829 in notepad

4) find the line that has [ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.0] and change it to [ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1]

5) directly under that add this to a new line:
"Radeon X1600 Mobility" = ati2mtag_RV530, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71C5

6) goto Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management and on the list goto device manager

7) Under Device Manager goto Display Adapters and expand it, right click on the adapter there (should be standard vga display, maybe) and go into properties

8) Click on the driver tab and then the update driver button

9) Click on Browse my computer for driver software, then on let me pick from a list of deice drivers, then on the button have disk

10) click on browse, goto C:\ATI\Support\9_3_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu\Driver\Packages\Drivers\Display\LH6A_INF\ and select CH_7682

11) Click on Rdeon X1600 Mobility (should be the only adapter in the file) click next. A promt for windows security will come up click on install driver anyways

and all done, enjoy and good luck

 

[Zoron]

You running Windows via Bootcamp or Parallels?

 

[mindless728]

oooh, forgot about that, i was assuming he was using bootcamp since he was talking about drivers and playing games

 

[theinfamoustim]

Yeah, Boot Camp. Sorry about that. Thanks for the reply mindless. I'll try this ASAP and get back to you.

 

[theinfamoustim]

Actually, one more question. Do you recommend I uninstall the drivers currently in device manager? Or is it better to just install over them?

 

[mindless728]

well, you could uninstall first, but, i havent had any problems

 

[theinfamoustim]

OK, so I followed the directions to the letter. Everything went fine. It installed OK. I did a reboot (just in case), started up City of Heroes, and was ecstatic when there was no video flickering and I was greeted to a normal looking "Loading..." screen. Well, unfortunately that's all I was greeted to. To my dismay, it hung at the loading screen indefinitely. I made sure it is set to run in "Windows Vista" compatibility and it's set to "Run as administrator..." and I am at a loss again.

Any theories on what I can try now?

EDIT: This is probably going to make it sound like it's a problem with the game itself, but it isn't. This game may be PART of the problem, but people have this game working on Macbook Pro Windows 7 via Boot Camp with no problem.

It's possible that it is a problem with this particular game in Windows 7 ON THIS VIDEO CARD, though.

In my google searching, I came across this: http://community.livejournal.com/city_of_heroes/3148956.html

So, I guess it's an issue with specifically Windows 7, ATI and City of Heroes. I even tried the new Windows 7 build 7127 and the same issue is occurring.

EDIT 2: I have tried several "ATI" packages from both ATI and from DriverHeaven, none of which work, some of which give me the video flickering and some just give me the "loading forever" problem. I've tried the Mobility Tools walkthrough and even tried using the Driver Cleaner program and that didn't do it, either. I even tried some Windows 7 drivers that also didn't work.

Again, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

 

[mindless728]

well, im out of ideas, anyone else?