I just installed an x800xt AGP card this evening.
My system was XPSP3 on an Intel D865GBF motherboard.
Microsoft device drivers automatically inserted themselves and took over the card.
However when I fired up MyDVD to capture, the software informed me the device drivers were in some fashion broken and not responding to DirectX 9 commands and that I should seek replacements.
That was a very helpful message from the Roxio Sonic Solutions MyDVD program.
Normally on "first contact" with a new capture card, MyDVD quickly runs a suite of profile tests and stores Performance information before continuing to open the program. After "first contact" the suite never runs again.
In this case it helpfully identified something was wrong with the device drivers and told me "go get some other drivers".
Well.. I had not put in the Device Driver disk from ATI that came with the x800xt AGP card.. (Microsoft had inserted itself into the process and commandeered the card with old broken device drivers).. the device drivers were good enough to show a display, and installed "some capture card drivers" but they weren't good enough to work.
So I inserted the ATI provided device driver disk:
100+DVD
180-V01095-100
Made in the USA
And went to Device Manger and right clicked on the Display driver icon for the Primary x800 display and (Updated) the device driver selecting "Let me choose" and pointing it at the D:/Install/drivers/2kxp .. driver directory. and let it replace the Microsoft provided device drivers.
This also automatically "threw away" the WDM capture drivers that were partnered with the broken display drivers and began reinstalling them.. it was monotonous.. but when done.. everything worked. I did have to reboot, but MyDVD proceeded to profile the drivers and then continued to let me use them.
I could also then use
VirtualDub 1.9.11
This is very common theme with Microsoft.. they handle device drivers very poorly.
The thing was they used to "demand" early device drivers for hardware that wasn't finished in order to make their release dates. ATI was a "preferred" hardware testing partner for many of the Windows versions going back to Windows 95/98.. so they gave them the device drivers even if they weren't workable much later.. at best they were not tweaked for best performance.. at worst.. they were missing huge chunks of code.
Microsoft "prioritized" their device drivers, no matter what release date they were stamped with over any the manufacturer provided or recommended.
You literally had to perform "self surgery" to force Windows to remove the "Microsoft provided drivers" and manually install the recommended manufacturer device drivers.
The really weird thing is.. the Microsoft device drivers were "re-stamped" with a later release date, even though they were old by the time they were signed.. so the "newer" manufacturer recommended device drivers appeared "old".. so Windows often complains.. "You are not installing the latest device drivers.. Are you sure you wish to proceed?"
My standard behavior is never trust a "Microsoft freebie" if they installed device drivers and you have another set from the manufacturer.. Update the device drivers and only point the installer at the ones you want to use.. and "Refuse" to accept help from the Microsoft Installer..
There are two x800 cards by the way, the x800xt is the (AGP) version, the x800xl is the (PCIe) version.. so be careful your using the disc that comes with the x800xt (AGP) if that is the card that you have.
A knock on effect happens too if you install the full ATI software suite from the disc using the "Express" option under one XP Service Pack, then install the next Service Pack.. Microsoft (again) steps in and throws away your personally installed device drivers and re-installs any included in its bundle with the new Service Pack.. again "breaking things".
In this case you can often just go into Device Manager and choose to [Rollback] a Device Driver Update.. to remove the (broken Microsoft device drivers) and it should restore your personally installed device drivers from the disc.. Microsoft Windows will howl bloody murder and yelp "That is not recommended behavior, we cannot be held accountable for your actions.." Just ignore it and do it anyway.. things will go back to working again.
Its really annoying.. but Microsoft always thought .. "Microsoft Knows Best".. and tried to push their device drivers over anything the manufacturers provided themselves.. even something years newer.. Microsoft would keep saying.. "Your attempting to install old drivers.. Please don't do that.."
It was like arguing with a HAL9000 Computer.
The ATI AIW 9000 AGP card is a lot easier to use.. but if its the first time, be sure to setup your sound card first. The 3.5mm jack coming out of the spider cable has to be inserted into the (Light Blue) Line Input of your sound card.
You also have to connect the Purple Barney Dock cable with the back of the 9000 card and connect some type of Sound and Video source to it. The card is an old NTSC Analog TV Tuner card, so it won't pick up any signals except static until you switch it over to the Yellow Composite or S-Video source.
Capture software will notice your Sound card and assume your Line Input signal should be paired up with the video source when capturing.
Most playback software like
VirtualDub will also notice the Sound Card Line Input and "likewise" assume that sound source is to be paired up with the video source when playing back or capturing.
The ATI Multi Media Center software is nice in that its complete, but its also bundled with an Electronic Program Guide which no longer works, for scheduling TV show capture.. which also no longer works since the TV Tuner is looking for signals that stopped transmitting in 2009.
The ATI MMC 8.x capture software has some interesting filters and can offload some of the work of capturing to an MPEG2 format file to save space.. if your interested.. or it can capture uncompressed... which produces huge hard drive files.
VirtualDub 1.9.11 is probably best for plain Uncompressed capture.
MyDVD 2010 x32 is probably best for plain MPEG2 capture... in my opinion.
These are simpler less complicated programs that have a single focus in mind and easier to learn.
The ATI MMC 8.x Media Center software specialized in Television Watching, DVD watching and scheduling TV show capture.. that stuff kind of gets in the way of simple tasks like "capture from the s-video input (now)"
If your familiar with using the ATI MMC 8.x its great software.. but I've learned to like VirtualDub, and now MyDVD much better.
Once you have a capture process going, you will develop an appreciation for a clean input signal, time base correction, good cables and stable input.
The capture process breaks down when the signal breaks down, garbage in, garbage out.. if the signal goes away video will be missed or audio will be missed and then they won't be synced up in the final capture file. There is nothing the capture hardware can do if there is no signal.. sometimes it just aborts and stops recording.. that's when you have to troubleshoot the signal and get gear to make it stop misbehaving and causing problems.
Generally, the shorter the capture session, the less opportunity for problems to arise. Capturing in multiple breaks, minutes or an hour or two at a time are far more successful than trying to capture for 4, 6 or 8 hours at one time.
It takes a lot of baby sitting.. that's why it costs money to ask someone to do it for you.. rather than doing it yourself. that and leaning on their equipment and expertise to fix your problems for you.