Computer freeze up

[Gavrok]

Probably the same issue that Ive seen others with. Game freezes within couple of minutes and cant even CTRL ALT DEL to escape.

System is 1000 Athlon, Asus A7v PC133 Via Apollo KT133 PC133 socket a motherboard 256 MB, Geoforce 2 MX card with SB 16,

Latest drivers uploaded with VIA and 29.2 beta drivers after no luck with non-beta driver, windows 98SE

Have tried;

1) uninstalling and reinstalling directx 8.1 and latest drivers

2) switching all applications off

3) setting refresh rate to 60 Mhz (seemed to add another minute before freeze)

4)sound off

5) Noted smal improvemt from 28.2 to 29 beta graphics drivers as screen no longer flickered on view 3 in game. Still freezes though

6) pulling hair out....still no luck and not much hair left

I know each game is unique but have had no issues with other games.

More help needed, preferable in non-techie jargon as can update drivers etc , but that is my limit

[Gavrok]

Additional funny is that once load up game it asks about graphics settings each time.

1st option is 3D Directx Text Primary display driver 1024*760

2nd choice is nvidia geoforce 2 mx400 at same resolution

why does the nvidia card not come up as 1st choice

Can I change settings so primary display is the nvdia card.

I have no other card installed so dont understand why this is so?

Helllllllppppppp

[Schrullenhaft]

Are you sure that you're running off of the hard drive and not the CDROM ? If CMBO asks you to set the resolution each time you launch, then it can be a good indication that you're playing the game off of the CD (since the Prefs file can't be written to it). I don't know if running off of the CD would be the answer to your lockup problems (most likely not).

I don't know why you get prompted with two sets of resolutions with different 'names'. CMBO reads the DirectX-compatible resolution settings from your drivers. If the drivers provide this sort of info, then CM will utilize it. So I'd guess that somewhere in your installation the resolutions are somehow duplicated. You don't happen to have a second video card installed do you - even if it isn't hooked up ?

[Gavrok]

Dont believe I am running off the CD. The cd is required to play the game but I have done a full install.

Any suggestions on how to ensure it reads of hard drive?

Re the graphics card I only have the one fitted. Came from a company called Hercules however just use the default nvidia drivers now up to the latest beta.

Not sure if it may remember somehow the intital hercules driver set up. but I've been quite thorough in going through the driver files to delete and restart (including deletion of windows/ system/ inf files)

[Gavrok]

One thing I have noticed is that when I go into dispay properties/ adanced/ adapter menu and click change I get the 'update dispaly driver window saying search for nvidia geoforce 2 drivers, pick display drivers from a specific location and then get the 'update device driver window' which shows 5 models to select, 2 3d Prophet driver types, and 3 Nvidia driver types.

I cant delete any of the 4 other driver types. Could this creat a conflict?

Yours desperate

[Schrullenhaft]

The listing of multiple driver types suggests that you still have the Hercules INF files in your system (which is no big deal basically). The reason I mention this in my other posts is to prevent the computer from reinstalling the drivers that were previously removed (since the INF file will aid in detecting the device and listing the files that need to be installed).

To check if you're running off of the CD you need to do a 'Properties' check on the shortcut you use to launch CM (right-click on the icon and select Properties from the popup menu). In the 'Target' line will be the command line to launch the program. Make sure that the drive letter isn't your CD. If the shortuct was created by the 'Full Install' then it should be pointing to the hard drive. If you were running off of the CD you would also have problems seeing scenarios that didn't come with the CD being listed.

The order I suggest when it comes to video drivers is to:

1) Remove your current video drivers (from Device Manager, C:\WINDOWS\INF INF files, NV*.* delete from C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM or SYSTEM32). If there are some unique control panels or utilities for your video card you may want to uninstall them too (especially if they came from your video card's manufacturer).

2) Depending on your OS and the video cards that are recognized by it you should either install a SVGA driver or a GeForce (for the GeForce cards of course) will be detected (XP will recognize it and I'm not sure if WinME will too). Don't install the proper video drivers yet.

3) If you have a non-Intel chipset (VIA in your case) or a newer Intel chipset. Then I would recommend installing the chipset drivers at this point. AGP drivers are often updated and a bit different from what the OS may provide. This should require a reboot.

4) Rebooting and then reinstalling DirectX 8.1 (which, without some third party uninstallers, can't be uninstalled). This will require a reboot.

5) Once you've booted up then install your latest video drivers (the Reference drivers for the NVidia cards are updated the most often, though in your case Hercules doesn't get too far behind). I'd suggest disabling any utilities, anti-virus, programs that you may have running (Ctrl-Alt-Del for the listings) to prevent any possible interference while you're installing the drivers.

Hopefully this sequence should get the proper drivers installed. Sometimes registry editing is helpful/necessary, but most of the time it shouldn't be.

You may want to adjust some of your video card's settings for DirectX: Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel > Display control panel > Settings tab > Advanced... button > GeForce2 MX tab > Additional Properties... button > 3D Antialiasing Settings tab > set it to 'Application controls...' or 'Manual' and select OFF. Your GeForce2 MX is probably going to have a hard time keeping up if it is using FSAA (which will vary in what's available depending on your resolution and how much memory your card has). In the Direct3D tab you'll want to double check that the 'Enable Fog Table Emulation' is checked (it usually is by default). You can also set the 'Mipmapping' quality here. Best Performance results in bitmaps looking a little strange in the distance. Best Quality will improve the bitmap appearance, but sacrifice speed to do so.