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ATTENTION: Powerstrip users and G400 overclockers

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  • ATTENTION: Powerstrip users and G400 overclockers

    For those of you who have not seen the following threads, I wanted to bring this all together for you all to be aware of.

    It has been suspected by me for a couple of weeks now that Powerstrip has a severe compatibility issue with the G400 cards. This suspicion has manifested itself heavily over the past couple of weeks in several threads here.

    It would seem that using Powerstrip to overclock your G400 could lead to a damaged BIOS on your card. Somehow PS is inadvertently changing some sort of registers in the BIOS, causing it to run at incorrect clock rates.

    Symptoms of this are benchmarks showing no improvement or a loss of performance. Also PS will sometimes seem to report strange numbers when trying to use it after the bios is corrupted.

    Threads date back a couple of weeks when this problem first started rearing it's head.
    The most pertinent thread is this one, in which the author of Powerstrip participates, and many people talk about how their cards were damaged by Powerstrip.
    People who have been able to reproduce the problem include the head of Matrox tech support, myself, and other beta testers, not to mention many of you…

    While Ashley continues to resist the possibility that PS is doing this, we have been told that G400 support will be removed from PS until this issue can be resolved.
    http://forums.gagames.com/forums/For...ML/002376.html

    This is the latest person to run across what I believe to be this same problem. Read his post. If you have symptoms like him, you could have a corrupt BIOS.
    http://forums.gagames.com/forums/For...ML/002456.html


    To check your bios, go to this site, and download a utility called G4set. It does not work as an overclocker, but it will accurately report the clock speeds and divider settings your card is running at.
    http://grafi.ii.pw.edu.pl/gbm/matrox/

    Just run G4set with no parameters, and it will report your status.
    The numbers that matter the most for this check:
    Sclk - should be at 252.00 (301.5 MAX)
    G:d - should be at 1/2 (both cards)
    G:f - should be at 126 (150 MAX)
    M:d - should be at 2/3 (both cards)
    M:f - should be at 168 (201 MAX)
    W:d - should be at 1/2 (both cards)
    W:f should be at 126 (150 MAX)

    If any of these numbers are off, you have a corrupt BIOS.
    Ant should have a fix posted on his site within the next couple of days.
    It will consist of a BIOS file that you will be able to use to flash your card back to it's original settings. This will remove your serial number, and void your warranty, however, since Matrox cannot create a custom bios file with everyone's serial number. The cost of overclocking…

    If you made an emergency bios recovery disk for your G400 (first thing I did when I plugged it in…really ), you can use that to fix your bios without loosing your serial number.

    My suggestion to everyone is not to use Powerstrip until this issue has been resolved.
    And if you intend to try any other overclocking utils, MAKE A BIOS CRASH DISK!


    Core2 Duo E7500 2.93, Asus P5Q Pro Turbo, 4gig 1066 DDR2, 1gig Asus ENGTS250, SB X-Fi Gamer ,WD Caviar Black 1tb, Plextor PX-880SA, Dual Samsung 2494s

  • #2
    I had an issue with PowerStrip about three weeks ago, right after I installed my brand new G400. I suffered the already mentioned symptoms. The only fix is to promptly re-flash your Bios.

    The best advice that I can give for anyone who gets their new G400 is to run the Recovery Disk program in the Bios file right after you install that brand new card. You just never know, so be prepared and protect your investment.

    Paul
    "Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself"

    Comment


    • #3
      Yep the thread was interesting reading and didn't fall into a flaming war which was even better.
      I think Ashley is having a little trouble that his programming may have accidently gone astray. We all make mistakes sometimes it's hard to face them.
      Chief Lemon Buyer no more Linux sucks but not as much
      Weather nut and sad git.

      My Weather Page

      Comment


      • #4
        It's not a flaming war, but I wouldn't exactly call it constructive criticism either. They don't seem very eager to solve anything. That's as good or bad as any war.

        [This message has been edited by Scytale (edited 07-30-99).]
        P3@600 | Abit BH6 V1.01 NV | 256MB PC133 | G400MAX (EU,AGP2X) | Quantum Atlas 10K | Hitachi CDR-8330 | Diamond FirePort 40 | 3c905B-TX | TB Montego A3D(1) | IntelliMouse Explorer | Iiyama VisionMaster Pro 17 | Win2K/NT4

        Comment


        • #5
          Not trying to solve anything?
          HuH?

          What does this thread look like to you?
          I am giving instructions on how to determine if your card has been damaged, how to avoid it if it's not, and where to get the fix once it's available.

          How is that not helpful?

          In the other thread, many posts where made, giving Ashley plenty to go on, including how to reproduce the problem. What else do you propose we do?

          Perhaps we should disassemble Ashleys code and fix it too?

          Or maybe we should just ignore it, and let people fry their BIOS, or pretend there is no problem...
          Core2 Duo E7500 2.93, Asus P5Q Pro Turbo, 4gig 1066 DDR2, 1gig Asus ENGTS250, SB X-Fi Gamer ,WD Caviar Black 1tb, Plextor PX-880SA, Dual Samsung 2494s

          Comment


          • #6
            Here! Here! Ken!!!
            Some people just cannot handle a little help sometimes!

            Cheers,
            Steve

            Comment


            • #7
              Okay, noone seems to be able to tell (or eager to find out) what exactly was screwed up. Ashley would need this information in order to determine why it is screwed up. We are still talking about voodoo magic and PS is the needle.

              Having said that, it surprises me that Haig doesn't seem to care about this G400 vulnerability at all. I know I do.
              P3@600 | Abit BH6 V1.01 NV | 256MB PC133 | G400MAX (EU,AGP2X) | Quantum Atlas 10K | Hitachi CDR-8330 | Diamond FirePort 40 | 3c905B-TX | TB Montego A3D(1) | IntelliMouse Explorer | Iiyama VisionMaster Pro 17 | Win2K/NT4

              Comment


              • #8
                Scytale I thought that just what kruzin did by showing what gets stuffed. I.e the clock speed and dividers.
                Chief Lemon Buyer no more Linux sucks but not as much
                Weather nut and sad git.

                My Weather Page

                Comment


                • #9
                  Besides, Scy, the G400 *isn't* particularly vulnerable to anything, and Haig shouldn't worry about it, either. Just as car manufacturers aren't responsible if you modify your car's engine (or reprogram the EPROM, which can sometimes lead to a 50HP gain with just a few tweaks here and there - huh? Me? No, I've never done that! ), Haig shouldn't be responsible for overclockers frying their card.

                  Bill


                  ------------------
                  People call me a computer god; I remind them that I am merely a minor deity...

                  [This message has been edited by billko (edited 07-30-99).]
                  People call me a computer god; I remind them that I am merely a minor deity...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hey - you killed my G400, you bastards!

                    <img border="0" src="http://www.g200.com/images/G400Kenny.jpg" width="147" height="145">



                    Performance Tuner (same company, from the upcoming powerstrip GX) seems not to have the same problems.....odd. (works GREAT too)

                    ------------------
                    Phil (MURC's G200 : WWW.G200.COM

                    [This message has been edited by Phil MURC (edited 07-30-99).]

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Scytale,

                      Think of what you are saying. You want me to waste my time to help out an overclocking utility fix out its problems. Why would I do this if we don't even support it?

                      Also, there is nothing vulnerable about the G400. I can easily O/C this card either thru our HAL tool or directly from our pins with NO problems.

                      Haig

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I am not going to get involved in this thread, and much as I appreciate Phil's comment about the Performance Tuner, I have to point this out: the Performance Tuner does *exactly* the same thing to the clocks as the latest 2.51.06 PowerStrip, so what applies to the latter applies to the former as well.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Kruzin- I used powerstrip and overclocked one time, I then uninstalled it because there was no improvement at all and I hate that program. Do you think I currupted my bios?I'm not having any problems.Where do I get G4set and how do I use it?Thanks
                          Asus P2b(1011),P3 500,256 mb pc133,Matrox G400 DH,Asus 50x,Iomega zip,Mitsumi CDR,Ibm 20 gb hd,Promise ultra 66 controller,Sb Live,Win 2000 pro

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                          • #14
                            what I mean is I saw where you said to get G4set but I get a error message when trying to download it.
                            Asus P2b(1011),P3 500,256 mb pc133,Matrox G400 DH,Asus 50x,Iomega zip,Mitsumi CDR,Ibm 20 gb hd,Promise ultra 66 controller,Sb Live,Win 2000 pro

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Kruzin, how do I make a BIOS recoverey disk?

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