Some good and some bad news for Radeon users

[JimmiG 244]

First, the good news. Catalyst 3.7 will be released VERY soon ;)Now, the bad news:No info on bug fixes for Flight Sim 2004 :(http://www2.ati.com/drivers/Catalyst_37_Re...tes.html#166850"Setting the game Flight Simulator 2004 to display at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 followed by starting a new flight results in the menu being flipped just before the new flight is about to begin. This issue will be fixed in an upcoming CATALYST

[B777ER 2,483]

Nothing is fixed for FS2004 in regards to the new ATI driver.

[JimmiG 244]

Hurray for ATI's drivers!!! :-rollWell it looks like us ATI users will have to live with flashing screens and garbled kneeboards for another ~1.5 months before we can even begin to hope for a fix.

[Guest Coneman]

Well, it would have been nice if they fixed it this time around, but nothing I'm gonna sell my card for. I'm still amazed at the image quality.Todd

[Noel 4,484]

Man, what is wrong with these? I have no garbled kneeboards, nor flashing screens (oh that right it does flash a few times if I alt-ent, but I almsot never do that anyway since I am in windowed mode at 1600x most of the time. No real problemes here--just super smooth perf and great image quality.Noel

[Guest in_04]

and flame the problems you will get with this card :-)Ok there is a known problem with the ATI drivers which occur in FS2004, if you run the resolution of 1024x768 or 1280x1024 in Fullscreen mode.You should know that there is a workaround available:USE window modeAlso have you checked another resolution?And what I really didn't understand is why you always use one of the scrolling windows or go to the menu every time?I'm also an FS2004 user and have a ATI Radeon 9800 card and get the problem you described. But I normaly start FS2004, get some screen flashes, ignore them. Set my plane to the airport (No flashes) setup the flightplan, weather etc. and press the start Flying button. After that I didn't need to use the menu. If I whant to end FS2004 I press Alt-F4 and thats it. If I whant to go to another airport, I end the flight and if the screen flashes now I ignore it again. In the main FS2004 screen the screen didn't flash, so where is youre problem?Did the graphics of the landscape flash? No. Did the planes loock ugly? No. Did FS2004 runs slow? No. Did the computer crash because the ATI drivers are buggy? No.So why you make those post, if you only have some screen flashes and problems of scrolling throught the kneeboard checklist?Print the checklist n paper, like real world pilots, and forget the fancy windows of FS2004. Or better learn the checklist and forget it at all.Sorry for this post, but I couldn't here this problem anymore.The guys at ATI work on this problem and they will fix it with a new driver release. But if you ever have wrote drivers for graphics card or other realtime working hardware, you would know that a HOTFIX could make everything worst. So it will take time to make a good Fix for the problem. And youre FS2004 problem is a low priority one, because it only disturb some graphics.ByeMarkus

[JimmiG 244]

It's because you're in Windowed mode! The problems with garbled text and flashing screen happen in FULL SCREEN mode.

[JimmiG 244]

"USE window mode"NO!What if I WANT to use Full Screen mode? Looking at the scenery through a blue Teletubbies Windows XP window removes much of the "you are there" feel for me. NVidia users can CHOOSE to run in full screen if they want to. Why can't ATI users be given this choice?It's like going to the dealer saying "My car sputters when I drive at 50 mph" and the dealer replies "Well drive at 80 mph instead"..."But I normaly start FS2004, get some screen flashes, ignore them. Set my plane to the airport (No flashes) setup the flightplan, weather etc. and press the start Flying button. After that I didn't need to use the menu. If I whant to end FS2004 I press Alt-F4 and thats it. If I whant to go to another airport, I end the flight and if the screen flashes now I ignore it again. In the main FS2004 screen the screen didn't flash, so where is youre problem?"The problem is that my style of setting up and using FS is different from yours. I often use the menu to bring up the map, change weather settings, view/zoom settings, callsigns, sound volume, sensitivity settings etc. etc. I could do that just fine in FS2002 but it's very annoying to have to wait for the screen to flash, sometimes three times, before I can begin to change options. I have been able to use FS this way since FS98 but now you're telling me I need to completely change the way I set up FS?Again, I paid

[Guest]

Hey Markus --a) it's not just in 1024x768 and 1280x1024 modes, it's in ALL full screen modes:( it's really OK for us to want it fixed, really it is! ;) I write software for a living, so I know how complex things can get, and I also know how bugs can slip through. It doesn't stop people from wanting a fix "yesterday" though.I'm sure they'll get it straightened out in time, but it's tough to wait when your bike is broken but your neighbar has a nice shiny new one. :-lol Lee

[Guest Bigshot]

If you're in full screen mode and the text gets garbled, hit the F5 key. It's magic!! If the flashing in the menu bothers you, use windowed mode. I did. But after a while, I decided that windowed mode bothered me more than some blinking in the menu, so I went back to full screen. I'm patient. I plan on using this software for a couple years. Having to wait a month or so doesn't bother me. Still a great sim and the blinking doesn't hurt your computer. The sim runs great.

[Guest Dean]

>It's because you're in Windowed mode! The problems with>garbled text and flashing screen happen in FULL SCREEN mode.I'm running a 9700 PRO in full screen mode at 1024x768 32 bit. I get the flashing screen momentarily but no garbled text on the knee board. The flashing is a little annoying but it only happens when accessing a menu so it's not such a big deal that I would unload the card and go back to Nvidia. I came from a G3 64 meg card and the difference on FS9 with the 9700 Pro is incredible!

[Guest in_04]

JimmiG,I understand youre problem and that you whant a fix asap.But you must accept that bugs occure and the fix of a bug is a timely and expensive work.So be shure ATI will fix the problem, but there are other problems in other games which have higher priority and get fixed before this.I guess that the next release will fix the problem, but the 3.7 drivers was build right after the FS2004 was released. So the time was to short to fix this "little" problem. Again you spent $400 for youre card, but there are many other people wo also spent there money for the card and couldn't use other games, without harder bugs.So ATI must decide which bug they fix first, and it seems the FS2k4 bug isn't on high priority. The best way to get the bug fixed is to make a driver feedback at their site (I seen you already done this).The Nvidia GeforceFX cards also have problems with games, currently I'm not shure that FS2004 runs without problems. I heared thet the driver before the newest one, has several big bugs in it.So stay calm and wait for 4-5 weeks for the next driver.And you should fly more than changing weather and so on. It is a flight simulator and not a weather simulator.A TipFor the experiment phase of changing every setting in FS2004 it is ok to use the window mode. If you go to real flying, you didn't go to the menu. Because in a real plane there is no menu. In a real plane you couldn't change the sensitiv of the joystick, or change the weather or something else. You must manage the situation that's it.If you fly in a low visibility area and you couldn't find youre way out, you will crash youre real world plane and normaly you would be death.>Again, I paid