I have an ATI 9800 pro. I have an annoying problem where when I start a flight the screen goes black, then blinks between black what is supposed to be the commencement of my flight for 30 seconds, then I finally get my screen to show what it is supposed to show. This also occurs when I pull up anything from the drop down menu during the flight. I vaguely remember someone describing a similar problem with their ATI card? What's wrong? What do I do? Any help would be great.

What drivers are you using? What you described sounds like it might be the same problem that the very early drivers had.BTW, I was running a 9800pro before I got an x800pro and both cards run FS-9 flawlessly.

If your using full screen sounds like the refresh rate and/or resolution might not be the same as your desktop. There is a option in the Catalyst to force refresh rate to the same as the desktop. At least in the newer version of the Catalyst drivers. At work now maybe somebody else could point you in the right direction.RegardsDennis Waggoner

I downloaded the most recent Catalyst drivers yesterday, plus windows updates and SP2. I thought these might help, but no luck.

Dennis-I have the most recent catalyst drivers. I found the settings you suggest and tried them, but no material change. For example, when I exit FS, the screen goes black, then it goes to my desktop with an image of the FS 2004 Logo Screen (as seen on the box)for another 15 seconds, then the screen goes black again, then my desktop reappears and the FS 2004 Logo is gone and FS has finally exited. Could this be a problem with another driver? Could it be the result of a memory problem or shortage? I have an AMD Anthlon XP 2200 1.81 GHZ and 512 mb RAM.

This seems to be a common problem after an ATI update is issued. I would recommend uninstalling/reinstalling your ATI drivers using the suggestions in the guide located at the following site: http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html. Jim

Jim, Thanks. I will look into the uninstall methods. When I uninstalled the old drivers, I did not use the Optional methods, so I guess I need to manually delete files and possibly tweak the registry. I'll see if this works out. Tom

>Jim, >>Thanks. I will look into the uninstall methods. When I>uninstalled the old drivers, I did not use the Optional>methods, so I guess I need to manually delete files and>possibly tweak the registry. I'll see if this works out. >>TomHi,If you go to ATI's site and follow their procedures you shouldn'thave any problems at all. I used the 9800Pro with loads ofdriver updates and never had a hitch. There's a program somewherethat does the old drivers removal for you - but I can'tremember where it was (web).H.A.N.D.

HAND-I did use ATI's uninstaller to remove their old drivers. That is why I am curious whether the cause is linked to some other issue or setting. What else could it be?Tom

Hi,Its still seems to like the "old" driver problem that ATI hadwith FS9 when it came out.Does any other game/program do this??If your'e using XP (or other rescue program) can you "roll back" to previous drivers(Device manager-display adapter-properties)?can you restore from previous backup (system restore) to a day that all was OK?

I haven't really seen it with any other program. However, when I turn the computer on right before the desktop is about to appear it goes black for 3-5 seconds. But, it does not rapidly switch back and forth like when booting up FS. The only other programs I use are word and explorer.I've had this problem since I installed the card. I can't restore and I have no useful backup.The previous suggestion, manual deletion of files...I can handle that. Dealing with the registry though...am I just risking screwing something up more?I am desparate for suggestions.