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OT - I think my graphic card is going??

Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
edited November 2013 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

Morning all,
I've been having odd problems with my graphics card and wanted to ask your opinion about it. Twice in the last couple of months when my computer started my desktop was sideways; like it had rotated 90 degrees to the left. I had to go into my settings and set it back to landscape.

Also, I notice sometimes that the text gets all garbled in Firefox when I scroll up or down in the browser. As I type this, the text above me is all garbled while the text below is fine. *sigh*

I have an ATI Radeon HD 4650 which came with the computer. It's about 1 1/2 years old.

One other thing to add... For some that have the ATI Radeons, there is a little program that comes with the driver called Catalyst. It's a little program that helps configure the card a bit more than windows can.

So I am wondering if my graphics card is going or do I need to dig into Catalyst and adjust something? Anyone know about Catalyst? I am about ready to throw out this card and get a new one. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

:-(

Post edited by Muon Quark on

Comments

  • Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
    edited December 1969

    One thing I forgot to add....

    My monitor also blanks out from time to time. Just goes black for a second and then comes back. I believe this all started when ATI added the catalyst to their driver but I am not sure.

  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,583
    edited December 1969

    Can you uninstall Catalyst without uninstalling the driver?

  • Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
    edited December 1969

    fixmypcmike said:
    Can you uninstall Catalyst without uninstalling the driver?

    I'm not sure. There is a "AMD Catalyst Install Manger" program when I go to uninstall programs, but the only options I have are Change or Repair, not Uninstall. That's the only video card thing I see when I go to uninstall programs.

    There is also some stuff under Program Files and also under "Program Files (86) on the C drive.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Catalyst has been part of ATI software since around 2002.

    AMD Catalyst (formerly named ATI Catalyst) is a device driver and utility software package for ATI line of video cards. It runs on Microsoft Windows and Linux, on 32- and 64-bit x86 processors.

  • Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
    edited December 1969

    Update:

    I manged to uninstall the Catalyst software by using the Change option. It allowed me then to Express Uninstall the software without losing the driver. Will see what happens throughout the day.

    Just trying to figure out what is causing these problems and how to fix it. Thought that the Catalyst software would be a good place to start. Now all I have is the driver for the card that windows recommended through their updates.

    Crossing my fingers.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    I would cross your toes as well, and anything else crossable if you are going to rely on windoze getting the drivers right.

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 14,048
    edited November 2013

    You should never use a Windows driver on a graphic card. Always go to the manufacturer site and download it. The Catalyst software make it easier and allows you to make adjustments to the setting of the card. I never had a problem on my old machine that had it as long as you keep it updated

    Post edited by frank0314 on
  • Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
    edited December 1969

    Driver Properties:
    ATI Technologies 9/7/2010

    I'm pretty sure this is a good driver.

    If you can tell me how to resolve the problems I'm having then I'm more than happy to reinstall Catalyst again. Something is wrong, I just don't know what or how to fix it.

  • RodrakRodrak Posts: 81
    edited December 1969

    I have an old Radeon too (4870) and the scrolling problem is a long standing issue in Firefox (I'm not sure if the devs ever found the real reason but it happens even in the latest FF 25.0). The workaround for me was to switch hardware acceleration to an older type... type "about:config" in FF and change "gfx.content.azure.enabled" to "false"... Not sure how long it's gonna work though as it seems this option might be gone soon. And such old cards don't get updated drivers anymore :down:

  • Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
    edited December 1969

    Rodrak said:
    I have an old Radeon too (4870) and the scrolling problem is a long standing issue in Firefox (I'm not sure if the devs ever found the real reason but it happens even in the latest FF 25.0). The workaround for me was to switch hardware acceleration to an older type... type "about:config" in FF and change "gfx.content.azure.enabled" to "false"... Not sure how long it's gonna work though as it seems this option might be gone soon. And such old cards don't get updated drivers anymore :down:

    Thank you Rodrak. That's exactly what it was. My brother and I have been working on my computer today and he discovered the text problem was a Firefox issue. He also thinks the monitor blanking out is actually a problem with the monitor. It could be going.

    We finally downloaded the latest Catalyst but opted to not install it, just the driver. It's a newer one than Windows found but not by much. I think it may be time to update the card and the monitor.

    So we'll see how it goes.

    Thanks for the great feedback Rodrak!

  • Dream CutterDream Cutter Posts: 1,222
    edited December 1969

    If its an LCD Monitor, the and it goes dark yet power led stays light. Check the input connections - if it still is black with any input the back light or back-light driver board is failing. It starts when the driver board heats up and the screen may flicker, maybe displaying a horizontal line and soon goes dark. Turning it off and allowing it to cool for a while may work for a while but soon it wont light at all because the driver will not be able to meet the required voltage threshold for the light to operate. Its a nasty fix and usually not worth fixing but some real resourceful dude did this (can you imagine?): http://www.instructables.com/id/A-very-Simple-LCD-Backlight-Fix/

    Anyways if you do shop for a new one, get one based on OLED technology, they are fantastic and I have had ot one fail yet.

  • Muon QuarkMuon Quark Posts: 562
    edited November 2013

    Dream Cutter said:
    If its an LCD Monitor, the and it goes dark yet power led stays light. Check the input connections - if it still is black with any input the back light or back-light driver board is failing. It starts when the driver board heats up and the screen may flicker, maybe displaying a horizontal line and soon goes dark. Turning it off and allowing it to cool for a while may work for a while but soon it wont light at all because the driver will not be able to meet the required voltage threshold for the light to operate. Its a nasty fix and usually not worth fixing but some real resourceful dude did this (can you imagine?): http://www.instructables.com/id/A-very-Simple-LCD-Backlight-Fix/

    Anyways if you do shop for a new one, get one based on OLED technology, they are fantastic and I have had ot one fail yet.

    DOH!! Why didn't I think of that earlier? It's like one of the first rules of troubleshooting LOL
    So it is an LCD and the power light does stay lit when it goes dark. I checked the power cord and it was fine but the connection to the computer was a tiny bit lose. So I tightened it up a little and we'll see what happens.

    Turns out I had multiple issues and none were related to my graphics card that I can find. Thanks for this tip!!

    EDIT to add: Yipes on the home fix for the monitor!! LOL

    Post edited by Muon Quark on
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