Alternative drivers for Radeon HD 4300/4500

Dimitri

Member
I'm having some unusual video problems which I detailed in this thread (you don't need to read it)

https://www.computerforum.com/threads/bizarre-video-problem-persists-after-formats.244553/

the problems go away when I remove the video card form the device driver (and tick the option of deleting the driver) and then come back when I let Windows reinstall the driver, so I figure I should try to install alternative drivers.

I know there used to be the Omega drivers, is there anything like that right now that I might install for this card?

(NOTE: I say the card is 4300/4500, because that's what it says in Device Manager, I don't actually know whether it's 4300 or 4500.)
 

aldan

Active Member
what happens if you leave the driver windows installs?if you go to the amd site there is probably a "legacy"driver.
 

Dimitri

Member
What happens with the windows driver is described in the thread I link to. In brief, videos played in Firefox don't show any image (only audio), Chrome shows video if I have 1-2 videos open at the same time, more than that, no image, video files play fine if they're under 1GB, larger than that they show no image, only audio (except in GOM, where I get the inverse).
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
I am on W10, but things have been working perfectly fine for like 3 years now.
You're using a video card that's over 10 years old, it's never been supported by Windows 10, surprised you had it working this long. Sometimes you can get it to work with older drivers but they're not guaranteed and from what you describe I don't think you'll get it to work. I used to be able to backload old drivers by running the installers in compatibility mode, might try that if you haven't.

Fact is, Windows does updates, it changes over the years, and you can't expect it to work with hardware that's over a decade old now. Pick up a cheap dedicated GPU, even a used one, and save yourself the headache.
 

Dimitri

Member
I also have a video card integrated on my MB that isn't visible in Device Manager and I get no image on the monitor when I hook it up to it. If I could just get THAT card to work...

I used to be able to backload old drivers by running the installers in compatibility mode, might try that if you haven't.

Trouble is, I don't know which drivers I would install.

According to this

https://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/pages/win10-driver-support.aspx

this card has never been supported in W10 and what W10 would do with it was to just install a basic video card driver (which sounds kinda strange to me, because it gives me the name of my card in Device Driver, although it says 4300/4500, so not the exact name), so am I to take it that this basic driver has changed? Where would I get the older version?

Fact is, Windows does updates, it changes over the years, and you can't expect it to work with hardware that's over a decade old now. Pick up a cheap dedicated GPU, even a used one, and save yourself the headache.

This is really annoying tho, I'm not trying to run the latest video game, I'm just doing office work, why can't they just keep old cards functioning normally, that's all I'm asking for.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Your onboard graphics won't show in device manager when using a dedicated card. What motherboard do you have? It's possible you need to go into bios and set correct video slot. IGP, pcie.
 

Dimitri

Member
Your onboard graphics won't show in device manager when using a dedicated card.

So if I were to yank the card out Win would install the onboard one?

What motherboard do you have? It's possible you need to go into bios and set correct video slot. IGP, pcie.

The MB is MSI MS-7641. I'm not sure what you mean by setting the correct video slot and IGP, PCIe, could you help me out with this?

I take it IGP is a type of slot, like PCI express and AGP? You're saying maybe it's set to IGP while the card is inserted in a PCIe slot, is that right?
 

Cromewell

Administrator
Staff member
why can't they just keep old cards functioning normally
It costs manufactures money to produce drivers. It only makes sense for them to do it for a period of time after the cards stop being sold. If there are major changes (the windows 8 Catalyst 13.1 package might work on windows 10) to the OS they are more likely to drop support over time.

The specific article for driver support on newer OSes is https://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/Driver-Support-for-AMD-Radeon™-HD-4000,-HD-3000,-HD-2000-and-older-Series.aspx which is very similar to the kb posted by Dmitri
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
So if I were to yank the card out Win would install the onboard one?
It should. Make sure pc is off and remove video card, then connect video cable to onboard connector and turn pc on. It may take a while for windows to automatically download and install video driver. If it doesn't then you'll need to download and install this.

http://download.msi.com/dvr_exe/ati_system_drivers_mb.zip

It's for windows 7 but should install on 10. However, I would recommend buying a cheap card that is compatible to windows 10 like a gt710. Drivers are still being updated for it.
The MB is MSI MS-7641. I'm not sure what you mean by setting the correct video slot and IGP, PCIe, could you help me out with this?

I'm not finding the full bios layout in the manual so can't help on where its at or if this board even has the setting.

The one I'm currently working on has the setting and this is what it has in the manual.

bios setting.jpg
 
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