I have the Desktop TV from 3dfx and have been running a dual boot OS since installing 2k. The only reason, keeping in mind, is that I want to be able to use my TV card. The other issue that I have is that the reference drivers from Nvidia ( I have a Gullie TNT2 Ultra) wont' work with the TV card after version 2.08. I had a LONG email chat with techs at 3dfx about this...and eventually it was me that figured it out. They confirmed what I had thought about the drivers, and said that there was an overlay issue with the new NVIDIA drivers. So, that was in 98SE. Now with 2000, I am running the 5.14 ref. drivers. BUT!..I can't get the card to even load drivers. I was told at one point that someone had gotten their 3dfx card working with the Avermedia card drivers for 2k, but those didn't work. After messing around with the drivers for abit, I got frustrated and started emailing 3dfx again. I was in contact with a woman by the name of Matha Harris-Frandsen. Matha had changed her story on the support for the card under Win2k several times....
-1st email
"Windows 2000 is primarily a Server or NT type operating system and we are
looking into the possibility of Windows 2000 drivers but we do not have an
official stance as Windows 2000 is not a multimedia platform"
-2nd email
"Check this out and you will see why I said it is not a Multimedia platform.
We are working on drivers for the DeskTop TV and the Voodoo3 series to work
with Windows 2000 as there will be some home users that will install it for
seeing Windows and not NT which is it's base"
..to this I responded that other companies (Avermedia and Hauppague) had TV cards working in 2k.
3rd email
"The Voodoo3 chipsets will be supported fully as the Display Adapters of
other vendors. At this time we are in the Box for our Display Adapters and
have Windows 2000 support. The DeskTop TV is a different Platform all
together from the Voodoo3 Graphics chipset. Unfortunately I do not have the
information as to whether we will have Support Under Windows 2000 for the
DeskTop TV. This is not a Graphics issue this is a Video Overlay issue. Our
Engineers are working to get the DeskTop TV working under Windows 2000 but
the actual release date of the drivers and applications is not available and
going from past experience we are looking at a minimum of 2 months after the
release of Windows 2000 for certifications and posting for new drivers once
the bugs have been worked out"
4th email
..ok this is where it gets wierd.
"3dfx technical support not been given any information at this time as to
whether the DeskTop TV will be written for Windows 2000"
..now didn't they just say that drivers would be out in 2 months or so?
5th email
"Support for the DeskTop TV with VisualReality under Windows 2000 is under
development. Most of the major functionality is working currently. Because
Windows 2000 is a different architecture from Windows 9X (it is a business
platform like NT), we will allow at least two months of testing and debug
before releasing the final WHQL driver and apps"
..now back to YES? OK, so my next email was ..are you or not making drivers...I'm confused?
6th email
This email was basically a link to Microsoft's site saying that Win2k was not a multimedia platform and that 3dfx was going by that, saying that they couldn't make drivers for the card.. SO I asked about when drivers would be made available anyway.
7th email
"This information hasn't been given to Technical Support at this time. As
soon as we know something I will email you."
8th email
..This is where it REALLY gets amusing. I email Matha and get an auto response saying that she is no longer an employee of 3dfx! GREAT!!!!
9th email
..I set out to find a new stooge to tangle with. Ok, so I email out and get a tech by the name of Aaron Patton. I asked Aaron if drivers were being worked on and he said..
"Hello,
At this time there are no Windows 2000 drivers for the Desktop TV. We, 3dfx Technical Support that is, have not been informed whether or not there are plans to write or release Desktop TV drivers for Windows 2000.
Thank you for your patience,
Aaron Patton
3dfx Email Support "
10th email
..I decided to send a copy of the email that I had first recieved from Matha, stating that driver development was currently underway....
to this his response was...
"I am not sure why Matha, who no longer works for 3dfx, gave you incorrect information. At this time I am NOT allowed to divulge email addresses for ANY other 3dfx employee. However, you can find email addresses for our Developer Program here: http://www.3dfx.com/developers/index.html. That seems to be the best I can do to help you.
Regards,
Aaron Patton
3dfx Email Support"
FINALLY I'm really fed up with the whole situation and decide to call
3dfx 1-800-234-4334
I get a tech on the line after about a 15min wait. Amazingly enough he actually was pretty knowledgable and was very friendly. I asked him if there would be drivers and he said there were none at this moment, BUT...they were in development. He said the delay was a result of 3dfx trying to get the Visual Reality program to work under 3 different card configurations. The 3500TV, the Desktop TV and a PCI something or other that I wasn't familiar with.
-So why dont' they have beta drivers out for the Desktop TV yet? They have them for the 3500...
If you're using Win2k and also have the Desktop TV... Does anyone know how to get the card to work...OR...if we can't get the card to work, can we get together and really BUG 3dfx to get their act together and release drivers for us.
Thank you to everyone who reads this,
and sympathy to those who have the same problem.
Sincerely,
Viper-OSU
