XP MCE -- AIW 9000 doesn't have DVI?

I have the same issue, no this card does not have dvi, only dvi to vga which is NOT dvi.  Dell's support doesn't care they didn't even know that the 9000 low profile and the 9000 pro were diferent cards, they told me to upgrade to a 9000 pro retail, which after having ordered it from dell I found that it was out of stock, i have now ordered from best buy instead, however now i find through the net that the retail drivers for the 9000 pro don't support MCE.  Someone from dell please help us.  This isn't right to advertise one thing and deliver another.  This is a $3400 system and I want what i bought.  A Windows MCE system with dvi support.

Worst case scenario, Return the PC to Dell for False Advertising or talk to Customer Support via Web.  I have found them to be very helpful except when trying to cancel an order since that must be taken care of through a sale representative which takes about 20 minutes to get them on the phone.My HP MCE does not have DVI support and was not advertised w/ DVI Support.  I love my MCE, and I paid about half as much as you.  $1600 w/ out monitor.

 

 

Thanks for the replies.  I was just thinking maybe I didn't get the right connector cord since I didn't order a DVI monitor with the system.  If anyone has been using the on screen caller ID capability in MCE, please see my question in the "Dude, I got my DELL - MCE" thread.

Jason

To all,

The 64MB ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9000 PRO is a full sized AGP card with the regular DVI-I connector. You guys ordered the 64MB ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9000 (notice it doesn't say PRO) which is the low profile card with the irregular DVI-I to VGA converter.

Chris-

There was no option.  This was the only card offered with Media Center I believe.  The Pro isn't offered.  On the 'Help Me Choose' page that shows details of the video cards, both the regular 9000 and the 9000 PRO are shown as having DVI support.

So does your statement mean I could get a different adapter that converted the irregular DVI-I connector to a standard DVI-I one?

Thanks-

Jason

Chris you are still missing the main point.  Please go and try to configure a media center edition PC on the we site  When you get to the video card click on "help me choose" you will notice that both all in wonder cards say yes on dvi support.  Also note that the pro card is not an option.  I have purchased a pro card and i think i can make it work with a modifided inf file.  I do not believe the retal drivers will work, with MCE i'll post my results here

JasonTX,

I haven't heard of one.

tyson133,

I understand, the chart is incorrect. I have contacted the web master with this information.

tyson133,

  Did you get the PRO version card to work?

TIA

Yes I did, with a very slight modification, to one of Dell's driver inf files.  With Dell's permission, I would be happy to explain it here.

 

Tyson133

tyson133,

That would be great.

I have written the procedure to get the AIW 9000 Pro to work with XP MCE, however, after writing it, I realised that the slight modification that I refered to was only part of the procedure.  Before I post my procedure, I want to make it crystal clear that my background is in Computer Science and therefore things that appear relatively easy to me may not be so for the general population.  I also must stress that this procedure is totally unsupported by Dell and ATI,  as well as myself.  Please know that you would be doing it completely at your own risk, and that the procedure is not for the technically weak.  You should consider it on an "information only" basis.  With that in mind, I will create another post with the details.

Driver Modification Procedure for AIW 9000 Pro and Dell XP MCE

Let me begin by stating, that I am in no way associated with Dell Computer Inc. and the procedure that follows should be performed at your own risk.  This is an unsupported procedure Dell, ATI, nor I endorse the procedure, there is no guarantee that it will work, and no responsibility will be taken for any damage caused.  I had to play around with this procedure for quite some time before I was satisfied, and performance is still not 100% even as I write this.  This procedure is intended only for Dell customers who have purchased a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC (XP MCE), and wish to upgrade their video card from Dell’s ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 OEM card to an AIW 9000 Pro retail card.  This procedure is being written with permission from Dell Forum Moderator Chris M.

Please perform the following steps in the order listed to ensure the easiest transition.

1. Begin by downloading the following files from the Dell file library and the ATI web site receptively.  From Dell you will need a file called “ATI 64MB All-in-Wonder 9000 , v.CD22c-CD24a patch, A00”.  It can be found under video drivers for the Dimension 8300.  Please note that this is not Dell’s driver for the 9000 Pro, but rather the 9000.  From ATI you will need the latest version of  CATALYST (3.9 or greater) I’m not sure that CATALYST really matters as we will be using a modified installation of Dell’s 9000 driver, but it seemed to work better if I did it this way.  Optionally you may wish to download ATI’s Multimedia center software; if you choose to do this please follow ATI’s installation procedure for that program.  You will also need a program such as WinRAR that will allow you to extract Dell’s self-extracting archives without running the setup program.
2. Uninstall any Dell-Supplied ATI software including Display drivers and ATIMCEE.
3.  Create a restore point with System Restore.  For instructions on doing this, please refer to your system documentation.  This will provide an easy way to roll back your system should you have problems.  This step really is ESIENTIAL.
4. Shutdown your computer and proceed with hardware installation.  Again, you may need to refer to your documentation for assistance.  Don’t forget to connect the Output cable provided by ATI to the blue line-in port on your sound card if you will be installing ATI’s Multimedia Center software.
5. After Hardware installation is complete you should see the Hardware Installation wizard upon reboot.  Cancel out of this wizard (you should be prompted twice, cancel, both of them.)
6. Now use WinRAR or a similar program to extract the DellMCEVideo_CD22c-to-CD24a_Patch.exe file into its own folder.  Inside that folder you will find a folder named Driver, and inside that a folder named XP_INF.  Here you will find a file called “CX_11080.inf”.  Open this file in Notepad or a similar program.
7. On line 31 of this file you should see the following: "All-in-Wonder 9000 Low Profile" = ati2mtag_M9, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4C66&SUBSYS_4F721002 insert a blank line directly under this line and paste the following:

"All-In-Wonder RADEON 9000 Pro" = ati2mtag_RV250, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4966&SUBSYS_4F721002
"All-In-Wonder RADEON 9000 Pro Secondary" = ati2mtag_RV250, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_496E&SUBSYS_4F731002
Note that these lines must be exact, they were taken from Dell’s 9000 Pro driver installation.  Save the file, and close Notepad.
8. Next install CATALYST as normal, upon reboot you will see additional hardware detection and at the end you will get a notice that not all drivers were installed.  This is normal.
9. Now go into Device manager and find your display adapter click the plus sign next to it, and right click on each entry under display adapters and choose Update Driver
10. When the wizard pops up choose “Install from a list or specific location”, and click next.
11. Now click “Don’t search I will choose” and click next.
12. Now you should see a screen with a button that has “Have Disk” at the bottom, click it.  Note: if instead you are asked to choose a device category, choose “Show All Devices”, and click next.
13. After clicking have disk, navigate to the folder that has the file that you modified in Notepad.  When you click OK, you should see the new driver listed as a compatible driver.  Clicking OK again should start driver installation.
14. Repeat steps 9-13 again to update the second entry under Display Adapters.
15. Upon reboot go back to the folder that you extracted the DellMCEVideo_CD22c-to-CD24a_Patch.exe file to.  This time click on the MCEE folder and run the setup program.
16. After setup is complete you should be able to use Media Center’s TV feature.
17. If you wish to install ATI’s Multimedia Center, download the necessary files from ATI and follow the installation procedure.

Again please note that this method is not a perfect solution you may experience loss of TV audio inside Media Center or in Multimedia Center. 

Let me stress again that this is an unsupported procedure Dell, ATI, nor myself, endorse the above procedure, there is no guarantee that it will work, and no responsibility will be taken for any damage caused.

Tyson133,

Your instructions are great, I wish that Dell’s TS is as helpful.

I was wondering if you had experienced MCE to hang, when it’s tries to setup the TV signal, just after the question: do you have a set-top? It never cames back, and if I bring up the task manager and then escape, I end up with a black screen, living me only the option to kill MCE.

The Device Manager shows that all devices are setup correctly.
Another thing worth mentioning is that I have the AIW 9000 low profile, and I am using the CD22c-to-CD24a-Patch without going through your step 7.

I suspect that I have a defective card now.
Let me know if you have any other suggestion.
Thanks.

> I suspect that I have a defective card now.

I just tested the ATI Multimedia Center 8.7 and it is working pretty well; I was able to watch the TV no problem.

May be I missed the step 8 in your instructions. Following are the sequence that I ran the ATI installation programs:
a. setup.exe in root dir of the Catalyst 3.9, and reboot
    (only installed the ATI uninstall utility)
b. driver/setup.exe -> gave “INF error – Video driver not found. Try to setup 
    your display adapter with a standard VGA”
c. cpanel/setup.exe, and reboot (got a warning message: driver not found.
    Ok I guess, since the driver is setup in step 9 only)
d. wdm/setup.exe, and reboot 
    (no error message but nothing was installed either)

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.