3790 can't play OpenGL games

I'm having the same problem. I couldnt ever play doom 3 because of this and now i cant play quake 4.

Drivers?

What drivers are you guys using? I've been able to play SOF 2 and Doom 3 fine using the original ati drivers that came with the 3790.

definetly a driver issue, you prolly need to use modded drivers. The omega drivers have always worked for me.

I Too have the same error [could not initialize open GL] when trying to play Quak4 . Also Battlefield 2 just makes the screen flicker . I have tried the newest ATI drvs and the ones at Sagers site but it didn't help at all. Ill try the Omega drvs but i think i tried then once before and could not even get video after installing them . What about DNA Drvs should i give them a shot? My SAGER 3790 has played everything i threw at since new .

Here's an update For some reason after i install any other driver such as DNA, Omega ,Ngo, or official Ati [newest versions]I get no video after the reboot. NOTHING but a black screen. or sometimes a flicker of video. Each time i went into safe mode to remove the driver and all related drv files. Seems i have no choice but to use the driver on sagers site which does work fine. Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on .It just makes no sense . I just want to play Battlefeild 2 or quake 4 LOL

I know your pain, but I broke free.

I know exactly what you guys mean, I had the exact same problem that was limited to OpenGL games only when I purchased my 3790 a while back. Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Doom 3 just refused to work. However, thankfully that OpenGL problem is now a distant memory, I have never seen it since.

I tried messing around with DNA and Omega, but they generally just made me worse off. Don't bother messing around with them. The "performance benefits" are usually so small or unnoticable and you pay for this with overall driver stability. Usually, they wor, but have niggling issues that you can never solve or reset themselves periodically etc.

I don't know exactly what causes the OpenGL crash, but it seems to be a hit and miss thing. I think that it is some obsolete registry entry that does not fully recognise latest OpenGL versions, but I'm not pro.

I've found that using Patje's Modtool to make Modified Official Catalyst Drivers works the best and gives virtually no problems (I reckon Patje deserves a Medal of Honour or something ). This is basically what I did to solve it and it's been smooth sailing for me ever since. I'll try make it as clear cut as possible:

BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOU SHOULD DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING:
You'll need to download Patje's latest Mobility Modding Tool (v3), thankfully hosted by Driverheaven at: http://www.driverheaven.net/patje/files/DHmodtool3.exe

You'll also need to download Driver Cleaner Pro, also supported by Driverheaven:
http://www.drivercleaner.net/

You'll also need to go to either ATI's official homepage http://www.ati.com/ or alternatively Guru3d's download section http://downloads.guru3d.com/ and download the latest ATI official Catalyst Driver that you want to use. The choice of using the older style "Control Panel" or the newer "Catalyst Control Center" is up to you. Personally I prefer the Control Panel because it uses less system resources. DO NOT USE THE MOBILITY VERSION OF THE CATALYST DRIVER if you are going to use these steps, USE THE NORMAL, DESKTOP VERSION.

1) Uninstall whatever drivers you are currently using. Go "Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / ATI Uninstall Utility".
2) Restart your computer when it asks and do NOT choose to search for a hardware driver when XP asks upon startup. Exit any windows that automatically come up when XP starts to look for hardware.
3) Double check in "Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs" that all drivers and things related to ATI are removed. You may have to uninstall "Display Driver" and restart again if necessary.
4) Install Driver Cleaner Professional Edition in an appropriate folder (Like "Program Files" on your C:\ or whatever). Make sure shortcuts are in the Start Menu or the Desktop.
5) Once installed, Run DH Driver Cleaner Professional Edition for the first time by clicking on the shortcut. If installed correctly, it should come up with a warning about following instructions closely. Click "OK"
6) In Drivercleaner, click "Tools / Live Update".
7) The Live Update screen should come up. Make sure you are connected to the internet, and that there is a tick next to "Driver Cleaner Pro" on the bottom left. Click on "Next". It should have a list of new updates for various drivers, or language to download. Download these files and when they are downloaded click on "Finish". Drivercleaner Pro should be restarted.
8) Tick "Select Multiple Cleaning Filters" and under "Cleaning Selection" click on "ATI" and then "Add" and then "ATI Uninstall Utility" and "Add". Now click on "Start". If you click on "Show Details" it will show Drivercleaner completely removing your old files and registry settings. Once it says "Cleaning Finished", close the program.
9) Now it's time to install your new driver you downloaded. Double click on the Catalyst Driver (eg v5.11, with Control Panel) you Downloaded to start installation. Leave all of the settings as they are (such as the Installation path). The driver should attempt to install but fail. Don't panic, this is part of the process. Your only option is to exit the Catalyst Driver Installation. Exit the installation.
10) Now open up Patje's / Driverheaven's Modtool. It should show the location that you attempted to install the driver. On Click on "Go Mobile". The tool should start working.
11) Once complete, it will ask "Do you want to install drivers now?". Click on No. It will state that you can install them later. Click "OK" and Exit the Modtool.
12) Go "My Computer / Local Disk (C / ATI / Support / 5-11_xp-2k_dd_cp.....etc (whatever driver you downloaded) / Double click on "Setup"
13) Now the Catalyst Driver Installation will come up as before. Install the driver like you tried earlier. If it states "Installing Driver for 9600 / 9700 Mobility Series" and that "This driver has not passed Windows XP Logo testing" just click on "OK" or "Yes". This time around the installation should be successful.
14) Restart your machine when it asks! Your notebook should now have the latest modded official catalyst drivers! Ever since using this method I have never experienced OpenGL problems! Go and enjoy Doom 3, Quake 4 or Wolfenstein!

Hope that helps some. The method I described has been passed around for a while now and highly reccommended by many. I'd be VERY surprised if you still encounter issues after using Patje's tool.

Sorry for the huge post.

Thank you for your help. I did everything you posted in the correct order and i have good news and bad news. Good news is i can run ati ver 5.10 but not the 5.11s . The bad news is i still cant play quake 4 or battlefield 2 . I still get the open gl error on quake and the flickering screen with battlefield 2. Im not giving up yet.

If you have the time and patience, maybe you should reformat. Ever since I got my 3790, I've stuck with all of the drivers that came with the computer without ever updating them. Quake 4 works well with the stock drivers. So if a solution seems dismal, try reformatting if you can.

Scatterbrain is right on. I must admit, I think the very first time I took a stab with Patje's process, it worked for a few test runs of Doom 3, but in the end, the next day the OpenGL Errors had resurfaced. The same thing happened when I reinstalled the old stock drivers. However, like Scatterbrain says, it sounds like your best bet might be a fresh start. The problem with these types of issues is that the thing causing your problems could be as simple as one invalid character in your entire computer's registry. If it isn't out of the question, backup all your important work and reformat and reinstall XP and try the process I outlined again. It is a bit of a tedious process, but don't give up hope

The stock drivers are good, but the only thing that I found was that sometimes that issue would resurface on some rare occasions, but another problem I found is that when I played Half Life 2 it would always come up with "obsolete drivers detected, please update" or something like that, which drove me insane. So by using Patje's method I killed off two birds with one stone.

Yes i was thinking about a reformat seems thats gonna be my next step. Thanks guys for your time and skill

As far as your BF2 problems..it will not play because of the set refresh rate on your monitor. However, you can go into My Documents\BF2 and look for the video.con file and open it in notepad..Look for the line that is like 800x600xXXxXX and it should say by 60 on one of the last two spots, change that to 75 and it will work. ..I just picked up the expantion for bf2, special forces, and they wiped that file out so now i can't figure out how to play that one without a external monitor..Good luck!

Im gonna format today and hopefully ill be able to use other video drvs other then the one on sagers site and be able to play quake 4.

Format is done and installed all the newest drvs. I used DNA 3.9.5 lite video drivers and all is well.