Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I know the question has been asked about a billion times already, but all the solutions I've found either didn't work (enable dual core, uninstalling/reinstalling drivers) or don't apply to me (can't fiddle with OpenGL extension settings because I'm not using an NVIDIA card and I'm not running terrible integrated Intel graphics; my graphics card's drivers are up to date). I've checked all the stickied threads, searched the forums for hours and read through too many Dolphin configuration guides to count and haven't gotten anywhere. I'm at my wit's end.

I'm trying to run Dolphin with the OpenGL plug-in and I keep getting the "Can't create OpenGL renderer" error. My card supports OpenGL 2.0, all drivers are current, and my system should be powerful enough to support GC/Wii emulation. I've tried the latest version of Dolphin obtained from the official site (Dolphin 2.0) as well as both the most recent SVN I could find (r6032 from here) and all of Xtreme2damax's optimized builds (here) and I've gotten the error with every single one.

Specs:
Intel i5 520M @ 2.4Ghz
ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 1GB
4GB RAM
Windows 7 64-bit

Here is my Dxdiag for more detailed specs (coded for size):

I also checked the logs as Dolphin suggested. Here it is (also coded for size):

Any ideas?

update directx

your 5650 supports openGL 4.0, so it normally should work...

you should install catalyst 10.7!
earlier catalysts don't support openGL on some cards (mobile ones for example)

(08-02-2010, 05:06 PM)naoan Wrote: [ -> ]update directx

From the OP:

(08-02-2010, 04:14 PM)Bub Wrote: [ -> ]... all drivers are current...

Probably should have said that that includes DirectX. It's up to date.

(08-03-2010, 03:22 PM)FloW3184 Wrote: [ -> ]your 5650 supports openGL 4.0, so it normally should work...

you should install catalyst 10.7!
earlier catalysts don't support openGL on some cards (mobile ones for example)

This actually worked! But there's a problem...

Installing Catalyst makes the Dolphin OpenGL plugin work, but CCC functionality is wonky. Changing most of the options doesn't appear to do anything, Overdrive and Auto-tune settings simply don't show up, and it actually reduces performance in nearly all my PC games. I get up to a 10FPS drop in Fallout 3, Bioshock 2, Black & White 2 and Dragon Age Origins to name a few. It's REALLY bad with B&W2; besides the FPS drop, it straight up breaks the in-game graphics options. All of the advanced graphics settings like bloom and vegetation detail become unusable and are stuck at the lowest setting, making the game look like crap. I've done some digging and this apparently has something to do with there not being a version of Catalyst that officially supports the Mobility 5650. Haven't been able to find a version of Catalyst made specifically for the Mobility 5650 after an hour of searching. The only one that works is actually intended for the HD 5850, so limited and/or broken functionality is a given.

Also came across ATI Tray Tools while looking into Mobility 5650 Catalyst. After installing, it would cause my system to crash before getting to the Windows log in. I had to uninstall it in safe mode to get things back to normal, so that's out the window.

I'm stuck with two options: a) Not have CCC and be forced to use the slower performing D3D9/11 plugins for Dolphin but have good performance in other games, or B) have CCC for OpenGL in Dolphin at the cost of reduced performance in everything else. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Welp, looks like I'll just have to use D3D and live with it. The increased performance in Dolphin with OpenGL isn't enough to justify the performance decrease everywhere else.

I appreciate the help, though.

In what games does opengl is faster?

(08-03-2010, 06:48 PM)naoan Wrote: [ -> ]In what games does opengl is faster?

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, by about 10FPS. Lighting with the flashlight also isn't *as* broken. It's far from perfect, but the lighting on D3D is a real eyesore.

I see, well dx is faster in all of my games so this is news for me.

Maybe you'd like to try modified catalyst build by a member of guru3d here http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=322616 don't know if its works with mobility card though.

(08-03-2010, 07:52 PM)naoan Wrote: [ -> ]I see, well dx is faster in all of my games so this is news for me.

Maybe you'd like to try modified catalyst build by a member of guru3d here http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=322616 don't know if its works with mobility card though.

It's worth a shot, couldn't possibly screw things up any worse than ATI Tray Tools did. At work now, I'll try it later tonight when I get home.

EDIT: Looked through that whole thread. Decided that I'm not even going to bother installing that modded driver because the author of it himself states multiple times that it's not intended for mobile cards (nor is there such a thing in the works, if I read it right) and installing it probably isn't a very good idea. Oh well.

I did try Catalyst just one more time to see if maybe the performance issues were a fluke the first time around, but nope, same problems as before. I did find something pretty funny while digging around the Catalyst program folders, though:



That little guy on the right is an eerily accurate representation of me while going through the process of getting OpenGL to work: Sitting in an empty room in front of a laptop with my head in my hands.