Widescreen Gaming Forum

Dave,

I was wondering if you may be able to verify if my Eyefinity setup issue is a software or hardware limitation.

I am one of those crazy early adopters and for my configuration I am using an ATI 5870 1gb and the Accell DisplayPort to DVI adapter. I, and others, have been having an issue where the screen will just power off randomly while in use and start to flip on and off. This will continue until you physically remove and plug in the USB dongle or open the ATI CCC and change resolutions or grouping configurations. At first I thought it was power related, made sure usb power saving was disabled. I even plugged the USB dongle into a powered usb hub but the issue still occurs. It is very frustrating but I hope the official ATI active power adapter will remedy this issue or a fix can be put in place elsewhere.

EDIT: issue resolved with BIOS update, instructions below

I was able to fix the DisplayPort issue by updating the Bios. There were not a lot of good clear instructions though so I thought I would post them here.

Go here to make a Bootable USB flash drive

Download the ATIFlash tool
Download this ATI Bios 103 update file.

Once you create the bootable USB thumb drive.
Copy all of the Dos System Files from the USB_Boot folder on to your thumb drive. Rename the ATI.HD5870.1024.091112.bin file to something smaller like atinew.bin and put it and the atiflash.exe on the thumb drive.

Configure your motherboard bios to boot from the usb drive.
type "atiflash -i" to get your device id and replace 0 in my examples if needed
type "atiflash -s 0 atiold.bin" to save your current bios
type "atiflash -p 0 atinew.bin" to flash your bios with the new file

reboot and enjoy flicker free gaming

There a bios for the 5850?

I got a native dp monitor the dell p2210. No flicker at all. After having issues with various adapters I just said screw it and got a native dp monitor. Perfect for the last week.