I recently got a new system. AthlonXP 2500+, MSI mainboard, 1gb ram, and ATI FireGL X1 128mb (which I won from SideFX), with Windows 200 Prp SP2. I have the latest drivers and board is set to run at 8X. In ATI configuration, I have Houdini selected.
However every time I run Houdini, it freezes my machine. First white squares randomly appear on display, then Windows 2000 freezes hard, requiring a reset or manual shutdown.

DR

Hey,

It freezing mine also in 6.5 with an X1 256 Pro the brother of the 128. I have the latest drivers also. I posted about this in the 6.5 forum. I talked to ATI and the only thing they told me to do was to make sure I installed my motherboard drivers first and then the Service pack 2 or higher and then I could install my ATI drivers but it still locks up on 6.5.

Cheers,
Nate Nesler

Hey,

Oh if you have hardware Acceleration Turned on I would go in and turn it off. I can't even launch houdini without erroring out before it even fully loads on version 6.5.

Cheers,
Nate Nesler

That kind of defeats the porpouse, and it does not work anyway, as Houdini requires OpenGL to run. Its kind of funny, in a pathetic sort of way. SideFX parterned with ATI, whose product does not even work with Houdini. Thats pathetic. Didn't SideFX check to see if Houdini on Windows works with ATI FireGL cards. My prevous system, with nVidia, exploded, taking all the major components with it. It worked great with Houdini. This new system can't even run it. What is wrong with ATI anyway? Why can't they make a decent product/driver combination. So sad!

DR

I have the FireGL X-1 128 and I have no problems with lockups.

Unfortunately ATi take forever between driver updates.

Check your memory [memtest86.com]. I know it seems unlikely the mem in a new system could be bad, but you'd be surprised. As I've mentioned in another thread, system lockups shouldn't happen in a stable system(and a vanilla win2000 with the latest patches I would definitely qualify as stable). Bad graphics drivers can be the culprit, but if you get weird lockups and crashes - and you don't have a buggery old windows install filled with spyware, virii and screwed up registry(I'm so glad I run linux! ), then memtest before you do anything else. If you get that out of the way, try installing not the latest drivers but the ones that came with the card. From the scuttlebutt I've heard, ATI still hasn't dealt with all their driver issues yet…

Cheers,

J.C.

Hey,

I would run linux but for the most part my ATI card is a joke for drivers on it. I have tried several linux distros but the main ones were mandrake and Redhat. Everything ran fine on the nvidia drivers but the ATI ones can not even do the performance of a Voodoo I card. Which is very sad indeed. I am giving up and I am going to over the money to buy a NVIDIA FX 1000 or 1100. Some of my other programs are refusing to run now because of my ATI drivers and they state that there is a problem with my video drivers working properly with the OpenGL and I have the newest drivers from ATI installed just days ago with a fresh install of windows.

Cheers,
Nate Nesler

AFAIK the higher end ATI's are fine - same as NVidia it's the prosumer cards that are the problem. Not sure what David's problem is. An ATI running like a Voodoo means you're not running OGL or you've got something seriously wrong with your setup. That's different.

I'm still sticking with NVidia, though. Just stubborn I guess - plus I really don't play the “who has the fastest card this week” game. As long as we can work with it…

Cheers,

J.C.

Well I hereby declare that ATI cards are a disaster for Houdini! Thank God I got my ATI for free, and I will never buy one for my system or reccomend it. I am curious why did SideFX partner with ATI to sponsor Houdini contest when its so obvious how badly FireGL works with Houdini, and there is no attempt to fix it. Wy couldn't they partner with nVidia!

DR

There are people running it fine, David. The problem just has to be diagnosed…

Cheers,

J.C.

David did you contact ATI directly?

also i've found that with any card, the newest drivers aren't always the best, have you got an older driver version you can try?

There is only one ver of drivers for Win2K Pro for X1. The one on ATI's site and one on CD-ROM are same. Now perhaps when I move my system to XP pro, perhaps it will be better. For now X1 sucks ass. Actually its not only in Houdini, all my OpenGL aps work like crap. I heard of persistent rumors of ATI QA problems in regards to their drivers, and in my case, and few others in this thread, those rumors are true.
I kind of got it working, the culprit seems to its SmoothvisionII. It was ON by default. I turned it off. In Configuration tab of ATI's drivers, under Houdini, I turned off all options except OpenGL Hardware Acceleration. But the program runs kind of slow.
It just confirms what I experienced years before, and have heard sence. That ATI has quality problems wen fielding their products. I never had a single problem with any nVidia product. I was somewhat dismayed with Wildcat VP990, at my last contract. It worked with Houdini fine, but textured (VES shaded) views were slow and unstable. I could live with that persistent OpenGL error where the app goes screwy after couple of hours. But with X1 its slow and unstable from getgo. Perhaps its BIOS settings for card, maybe its better to run it in 4X mode. I ran MAXON's Cinebench 2003, and it came up with poor score. So peprhaps its a card's design, which goes back to ATI. Whatever it is. Its performance sucks ass.