radeon 7990 on XP... why so dang hard?

[codezer0]

As quickly as I can summarize...

Rather frustrated. AMD on its own site, lists drivers that are supposed to support the dual GPU monster on windows xp. I previously assumed the gtx 690 was supported, failing to realize it wasn't. I made a point to look to be sure there were drivers for the 7990, and simply, the catalyst driver download installs everything BUT the video drivers or control panel to operate it accordingly.

AMD customer support seems to be employed exclusively by people with the critical thinking and reading comprehension skills of a senile earthworm, as the only thing they keep parroting is "pls uze windows 10", like that is going to solve the problem.

XP was a good era of gaming for me. I wanted a dual GPU card since I wanted sli (or crossfire), and it would be easier with a dual GPU card than trying to find a matched pair of anything on eBay. And last but not least, I wanted a card that at least had semi competent drivers backing it. Radeon fanboys kept insisting that gcn was it. And yet, here I am with an apparently working card, but can't get it to accept its own drivers in XP.

Arrrgh!

 

[codezer0]

In summary... This kind of jank, is a solid reminder of why I'm still suspicious about radeon support even now.

So, since I have one of each I can compare.

In windows xp, both the geforce 690 and the radeon 7990 are a challenge to use. So far, neither results in the multi GPU aspect being enabled.

For the geforce, have to run through the installer until it gripes that it can't find a compatible card. You edit the inf files with extra entries, in a couple of different places; one to identify the card, the other to name it accordingly. However, once that is done you can relaunch the driver installer from said extracted files and it will then have no further complaints. You can even use the final windows xp driver as a base to work with.

With the Radeon, it's a whole order of mess harder. Ironic when *it* is the one meant to be officially supported in xp.
First off, AMD's final driver is a no go. No amount of modifying files got it to work.
Second, even after modifying the inf akin to what you'd do on the geforce side, the AMD installer still won't install the video drivers. It absolutely refuses to detect it correctly. So, the only builds AMD will host at this time are 13.9, 13.12, and 14.4. The only one I got working was 13.12. Even so, still not done.
Had to extract the drivers. Cancel the installer.
At some point, modify the inf file.
Go into the CCC subfolder ajf find six or seven packages. Install them one by one; no, I'm not joking. This is some major league stupidity to get a damn control panel to work.
Finally, go into device manager and point at the modified inf to get the drivers to install.

Man, talk about some major league stupid. It's more insulting because the 7990 is still claimed to be supported officially. This kind of hackery to get it to work, and not even as intended, it's a rather sick joke.

 

[codezer0]

Well, putting it plainly, even with the modifications, the 7990 doesn't work very well in Windows xp. A shame, really. And working examples of the 6990 are much too expensive on ebay to even entertain that notion, still, at this time.

 

[nickdalzell]

I'm glad someone out there still clings to Windows XP (Although I prefer Vista's UI design). People on other forums keep telling me 'ya gonna get hacked' but I've heard that argument over and over and it's no more valid today than the thousands of times I've heard it before.

Futurists....bleh! They think new is always best, but constantly have to adjust to ever changing UI and weird gesture controls. They also believe the very day that an OS no longer receives updates that merely connecting such a PC to the internet is grounds to create Skynet.

I'll use what I like, until it no longer serves my needs, or when something I consider an upgrade ever exists. Sorry for the off topic bit, but I appreciate others who are into so-called 'older' tech. My phone is 11 years old too.

People will laugh at you, compare you with someone clinging to a horse and buggy when the Model T launched, and never take you seriously. You'll often hear variations of 'just use Windows 10/11 and get with the times, man!' or 'You're gonna get hacked using XP in 2022!'. Ignore them. We're on our own sadly.

 

[codezer0]

I'm glad someone out there still clings to Windows XP (Although I prefer Vista's UI design). People on other forums keep telling me 'ya gonna get hacked' but I've heard that argument over and over and it's no more valid today than the thousands of times I've heard it before.

Futurists....bleh! They think new is always best, but constantly have to adjust to ever changing UI and weird gesture controls. They also believe the very day that an OS no longer receives updates that merely connecting such a PC to the internet is grounds to create Skynet.

I'll use what I like, until it no longer serves my needs, or when something I consider an upgrade ever exists. Sorry for the off topic bit, but I appreciate others who are into so-called 'older' tech. My phone is 11 years old too.

People will laugh at you, compare you with someone clinging to a horse and buggy when the Model T launched, and never take you seriously. You'll often hear variations of 'just use Windows 10/11 and get with the times, man!' or 'You're gonna get hacked using XP in 2022!'. Ignore them. We're on our own sadly.

I try to at least keep a windows xp build or so on hand, because it's the last OS that natively supports things like hardware accelerated audio. I was trying to get something that was dual-gpu for such a build, because SLI and Crossfire were better supported in general on xp versus anything newer.

Also, the simple fact that there are some games that I have and want to play, that won't play nicely on anything newer. Simple as that.

 

[nickdalzell]

Around here there's a huge retro gaming community so there are stores selling things like CRT TVs (Sony trinitrons), classic consoles, and even PC build stuff like motherboards, GPUs, even special copies of Windows modded for gaming.

Doesn't stop the futurists from complaining about it or looking at us like we're cavemen or something. Maybe you can find a store if one exists to help? Any games I'd play on XP are quite old and don't even do SLI/crossfire anyway (Deer Avenger 2, 3D, 4; Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Sim City, etc) so they just run on any type of integrated graphics.

 

[codezer0]

Around here there's a huge retro gaming community so there are stores selling things like CRT TVs (Sony trinitrons), classic consoles, and even PC build stuff like motherboards, GPUs, even special copies of Windows modded for gaming.

Doesn't stop the futurists from complaining about it or looking at us like we're cavemen or something. Maybe you can find a store if one exists to help? Any games I'd play on XP are quite old and don't even do SLI/crossfire anyway (Deer Avenger 2, 3D, 4; Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Sim City, etc) so they just run on any type of integrated graphics.

Nothing like that around here. Ever since Fry's electronics shut its doors, most remaining places only want to sell prebuilts. And well, those are basically cursed, even on a good day. There is a shop that sometimes sells used pc parts, but it's entirely random whatever they happen to stock on a given day.

And of course, all the people bragging about how micro center is great, don't consider that the nearest one to me is a two day road trip.

 

[nickdalzell]

Never heard of Fry's or Micro Center, but I am familiar with Circuit City and Radio Shack (RIP)

The 'newest' of those retro gaming stores we got is called MegaReplay. But the one most notable for 'ancient' PC stuff (and just about everything else) is called Secret Castle Toys and Games. I am not sure if the latter is a chain or independent...

I once got 'WTF do you live? Under a rock?' when I mentioned on another forum that I don't even have an Apple Store in my city.

 

[codezer0]

It's kind of a shame... back before I knew better, and especially in the PowerPC days, Apple looked like a legitimate challenger, and it was just a case of "as long as management doesn't screw up, they might actually go somewhere".

And nowadays it's a case of all of their official computers are basically e-waste. ARM can't multitask for crap, but they switch platforms again entirely to spite the Hackintosh movement. And even if iOS is fine to use, the hardware it's sold on is built to be as unfriendly as (in)humanly possible.

 

[nickdalzell]

I recently picked up a 2nd gen Apple TV for $24 at the MegaReplay store. I hated the newer models enforcing updates and once out of support the apps just break and force you to buy a new one.

Meanwhile, that 2010 'vintage' Apple TV still works. Every app works. Netflix, iTunes purchases, movies, etc works. No updates. Apple was a different company back when Steve Jobs ran it. Tim is all about consumerism and disposability which I hate.

I personally HATE flat UI design. So part of why I bought that thing was to enjoy that glossy skeuomorphic UI it had. I expected a lot of things to not work since it's so old but I was outright amazed that every app works.

Lately every bit of tech I own and use is some variation of the 2009-14 era. I prefer that design and software. It helps that those were good years for me. Especially 2010. Seems tech was at its peak then. My phone runs Android 2.3