Hi,

is there any Vista solution for the ATI R9000 PRO besides the built-in XP drivers?

I'm mostly looking for any Catalyst from ATI...

The Radeon 9000 Pro is a Direct-X 8.1 card which is below the minimum required specifcations for running Windows Vista. No Vista drivers are made for it and none ever will be.

However, there is a reported method of getting it to function somewhat in Windows Vista using the XP drivers. This method, however, requires that you have a second machine runnng XP and that you install the driver using Remote Desktop:

1) Create a new administrator account with password, or put password on your primary account (administrator).

2) Enable Remote Access (via Safe Mode).

3) Make sure the laptop is accessible through network, worthwhile to give a static IP, or record down the IP address. Also worthwhile to remember the computer name if you have Dynamic IP.

4) Reboot the laptop and leave it connected to the network.

5) Use an XP RDP Client, and access Vista's Remote Access.

6) Connect without username/password from XP RDP Client, and when on Vista's "Welcome Screen" logon with appropriate details.

7) View Device Manager, making sure that System devices > AGP Controller is enabled. Check Display Adaptor > Radeon 9000 is installed.

8) Right-click on Radeon 9000 and update the driver manually with the INF from XP driver.

9) Reboot

I'll start working on my XP machine...

I'll report back

I forgot to ask:

what is a

5) Use an XP RDP Client, and access Vista's Remote Access.

can't I install any Catalyst or Control Panel?

8) Right-click on Radeon 9000 and update the driver manually with the INF from XP driver.

I have the R9000 recognized by Vista now, isn't it the same?

Sorry about that, MtK... RDP is short for Remote Desktop Protocol. In reference to these instructions, it means you should install and use the Remote Deskop Client (you can find it in Microsoft's downloads section of their website) under Windows XP and use that client to access and configure the Vista machine. (From what I understand, this is because some of the XP drivers when used with specific cards cause Vista to come up with a blank black screen during the installation process. The RDP connection, however, will not be blnked allowing you to finish the configuraton.

As for the Catalyst Control Center, I do not believe any version of it other than the one with the Vista drivers will function under Vista. (Unfortunately, that version will not function with the XP drier you need to install.) You can always try to install the earlier Catalyst Control Center(from the XP driver), but you will definitely have to install the .NET framework v2.0, first. (Again, a Vista version of this is available through the Microsoft download site.)

As an alternative, you might consider installing ATI Tray Tools. (Do a simple google search for it and you should be able to locate it's homepage.) This application runs in the taskbar notification area and provides easy access to all the different driver configurations that ATI's CCC and Control Panel offer - and a whole lot more. I do know that the latest version of this freeware program works fine under either Vista or XP, so should mesh with your new XP driver successfully.

is it 100$ for a new Graphic-Card?

I'm kidding, I'll have to wait for my XP machine to be ready for use...