Schrullenhaft
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Posts posted by Schrullenhaft
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Your Gigabyte motherboard is based on the ALI Aladdin V chipset. The following file has nothing to do with sound, but it does have patches for AGP:
http://www.ali.com.tw/eng/support/driver.shtml
Download the v.1.68 AGP driver. You can try this to see if it helps at all or not (you may have to reinstall DirectX and your video driver afterward). There are also IDE drivers here, but I don't know if you would want to install them (the generic driver you have may work fine).
One other thing to do is to enable CPU Write Allocate in the Advanced settings of the CMOS/BIOS.
[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 07-02-2000).]
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I can only make guesses at this. Among the things to try was possibly reducing the resolution. It is strange that CM is not detecting your video card correctly. I believe that forum member rune did some testing for BTS on Win2K.
You can run DXDIAG in your Program Files/DirectX/Setup directory and check out the Display tab. In the middle of the tab is the DirectX Features. If the "Disable" button is raised, then the corresponding features are enabled (as they should be).
With the latest Creative drivers do you have a system tray icon for them ? If you do you may want to tinker with the Direct3D settings in that applet.
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One last think I can think of is to update the BIOS. Though this may not affect your problem. Sometimes BIOSs are updated to fix compatibility problems or offer fixes for certain hardware setups and support newer CPUs.
If you can identify your motherboard we can point you to a site to get the latest BIOS. This can be a tricky process however. I personally have ruined several motherboards upgrading BIOSs (there are ways around even this in most cases, but it is a lot of work and requires another computer, etc.). Depending on the BIOS manufacturer, you can often get a code from the initial power up screen of the computer. These codes can often identify the motherboard manufacturer, motherboard version and BIOS version. If your case is still off or if you can remember, there will likely be a silk-screen model number on the motherboard which is sometimes accompanied by a revision number (though that is often found somewhere else on the board).
Anyway, it is a long shot that a BIOS upgrade and tweaks to your CMOS/BIOS settings will fix your problem, but it is one further option.
Another thing you can try is to uninstall your sound card drivers, power off your machine and remove your sound card. Run CM and see if you have lockups. Unfortunately I've heard rumblings from some users on this board that CM won't work without a sound card, so this is could result in a complete waste of time.
If you want to take a stab at upgrading your BIOS let us know what BIOS manufacturer is used on your motherboard (i.e. - Award, AMI, Phoenix, etc.). From there we can give you further instructions.
I'm not sure of the AMD K6-2 audio card bugs. It's a possibility with the way the MMX-like instructions may work with all of the software-based sound cards. Looking at AMD's sound card and video card compatibility list I don't see any sound cards based on the Yamaha chips or any video cards based on 3dfx Voodoo 3 series for that matter. However this only lists items that AMD has specifically tested. The only patch that is listed from AMD regards Win 95 B OSR2 (Win98 fixes the problem). Yamaha doesn't have any technical support info or FAQs that might address anything like this.
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I also support the idea of firing into smoke with reduced effectiveness, especially for prepared defenses. With AFVs smoke screens are a big problem since smoke makes the TacAI disregard the threat from behind the screen and retarget to an often-times lower priority threat. That's why I'd think it would be nice to have a user-targetable override on the TacAI, especially for the main weapon (secondary weapons could fire at other threats, if within the firing arc).
I guess what it comes down to is how effective should fire through a smoke screen be ? Just an Area Fire routine that penetrates the smoke screen would be good enough for the moment.
As for minefields I would like 2-3 sizes/densities for them. The defender would be given a total allotment that can be sorted out to the 3 densities. That way you could spread out your fields and density for the effect you want to create.
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I'd love smaller tiles and more variety to textures, sizes & shapes to buildings, etc. A smaller tile size will increase the memory requirements for CM though (and slow down the CPU with more LOS calcs).
As for a "macro" tool to fill in areas... Hold down the Shift key and paint; you'll get a 5x5 paintbrush to fill in areas (if you didn't know this already).
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I believe the Voodoo 2's max out at 800 x 600 and 16-bit color (can't remember if these limitations are platform specific). Is this a Mac or a PC system ?
Basically the refresh rate will only help with "flicker" on the monitor. It will not speed up the 3D rendering. In fact a slightly higher refresh could slow it down a bit (depending on the hardware of the video chip/video card).
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What is your current resolution under Win2K ? What monitor do you have defined ?
CM will limit itself to the current running resolution of your desktop. However I'd easily guess that you're probably running 1024 x 768 at least. More than likely you probably have your monitor defined as a Plug-N-Play monitor. Any chance you could pick your specific monitor model or download an updated inf for it in Win2K ?
If you're running a very high resolution (1600 x 1200 +) you may want to come down a bit and try 1024 x 768 and delete the prefs file to see if it will detect your display at any other resolutions.
[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 07-02-2000).]
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I'm under the impression that BTS has disabled support for the Voodoo 1 & 2 on the Mac side. Too many problems with the RAVE support. When CM sees the Voodoo, it just skips it as a possible display device/video accelerator.
There have been hints that BTS is talking to some developers at 3dfx about RAVE, but no word on that as of yet. Maybe a forthcoming patch will address this issue (and a new RAVE driver for the Mac Voodoos). Until then you will have to make do with your built-in ATI display.
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This problem has been posted before. I believe that it may be addressed in the next patch.
Curious how it popped in there.
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According to HP's specs on your Pavilion it looks like you have an AGP slot. If you can afford it then the Creative Annihilator 2 is a good buy (one of the least expensive GeForce 2's). Though I have no specifics, I believe it should work with your Pavilion. You will need to either disable your built-in ATI video with a switch/jumper, in the CMOS/BIOS setup or it will disable itself automatically when there is another primary video card (with Windows 98's multi-monitor support I would check to make sure that you can disable the ATI or you may not see the Windows desktop as you would expect to).
According to the HP site there are a number of software/firmware upgrades available for your Pavilion. You may want to consider applying them. The latest audio/modem driver is dated June 2000 :
http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindexes/hppavilion11042_swen.html
When it comes to your ATI's support of fog tables it's a bit of a mixed matter. Some newer (but maybe not the latest) video hardware sometimes doesn't support the older version of fog tables. Whether this is a driver related issue, a hardware one or a combo of both in certain cases, I'm not sure. It may have been a concious design decision on the software or hardware not to support the older fog table emulation. Why this has to be the case, I don't know. Maybe it speeds development and support time for the manufacturer.
As for you lockups; that's strange. It's interesting that enabling non-default options crashes the game for you. I assume that you've already deleted your prefs file already since you've changed resolutions. You are playing with a "full" install, is that correct ? If you've updated to the v. 1.01 patch have you actually replaced the CM executable ? Are you playing with any mods ? The primary problem with Madmatt's mod pack was primarily audio in nature (and only for some people).
If you've already done all of this (which you may have), then my only suggestion is to wipe out CM on your drive (save any scenarios that you've created or saved, beforehand), run scandisk to check for any messed up clusters and then perform a full reinstall of CM and patch it.
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You are saving your files in a standard TEXT format correct ? Any other file type, including RTF, will not work as far as I know.
If worse comes to worse. Open your files in a simple text editor (Simple Text on Mac or Notepad on Windows) and save a file from that applet.
Other than that, I have no clue.
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I'm not familiar with the exact numbering scheme that Intel is using on its drivers, but it does look like you don't have the very latest ones. Here is the URL for the generic drivers from Intel. They should work with your card, but there is a caveat that some cards will not work with the generic driver because of modifications to the Intel reference design (most of the clone i740's follow the ref design). Get the PV 4.0 without the video capture support:
http://developer.intel.com/design/graphics/drivers/
If Windows tells you that it has the latest drivers does it offer a way of overriding that dialog (i.e. - a radio button to use the ones you are attempting to load) ?
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I believe it is a "cumulative" thing. More on -screen textures, more troops, larger maps, etc. just lead to slower recalc times, etc. from the game. Unavoidable unfortunately.
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Uh oh an SM56,
Sorry Elvis, those were one of the software-based modems that were truly crappy. I think that Motorola decided to drop the whole line of analog modems a year or two ago.
Do you know what version of the driver that you have (you may be able to tell from the SM56's own control panel) ? Here's the latest software I can find. Follow the instructions on the page for downloading the correct version (Goto Control Panel > Modems control panel > Diagnostics tab > highlight your modem in the list > click the More Info button). The responses that you get back will have the info you need for this page. Any "errors" that you get in response are normal.
Motorola SM56 drivers:
http://www.mot.com/networking/products/sm56_pci_software_modem/drivers.html
Unfortunately, as usual, these may not solve your problem. But if you're lucky they may just work. Again, keep/find an old copy of the current drivers you are using in case the new ones don't work well. Depending on how these drivers work, you may have to setup your ISP connections again if the modem is "identified" differently.
Also, download and run the "PCI cleaner" listed at the bottom of the page BEFORE you install the latest driver. This will remove all traces of the previous modem driver (so find that copy of the old driver somewhere before doing this).
[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 07-02-2000).]
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Actually a "re-reinstall" over an old copymay not be good enough. Some settings get left in the registry after a reinstallation. The only sure way to get rid or any bad influences is to wipe the drive and start the installation from scratch.
The best way to do this is to use another hard drive (that's big enough) that you can wipe clean without problems. That way you could spare your current setup from being wiped out in case that isn't the answer.
As for backing up your entire registry make sure you have the "My Computer" highlighted when you go to "export" your registry. This should get your entire registry. There is also a hidden copy (2 files) in your Windows/System directory of the registry at the time of the last good boot. In a drastic situation, you could rummage through DOS with a couple of commands and have your registry restored.
Pfalz XII is right about the case too. Sometimes leaving a case open can ruin the airflow for cooling the components. The power supply's fan is actually drawing in air that, in a well designed case, should draw air over components to help cool them. Some systems with a lot of hardware may be pushing off a lot of heat and the standard cooling may not be enough. If you detect a lot of heat in your computer you may want to consider a large "case" fan (which should be used with the cover on) if you have a place to mount it. Many clone tower cases will usually have a place to mount one near the bottom of the front (where there may be vents to draw in air).
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Do you know exactly what modem you have ? PCI modems are dependent on the CPU to perform part of their function ("software based"). Some modems and their drivers do a better job than others (some brands are notoriously buggy and can't maintain connections for very long). It could be that at a certain point with CM loaded that your modem isn't getting the the CPU cycles that it needs to perform certain functions. It's not completely stopping your modem, but at some point your connection is getting killed.
Anyway, it is just a guess. But it would be an interesting experiment to try an external hardware-based modem (if you had a free serial port) to see what would happen.
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You can search around on this board for the definitive answer on which set of drivers to use, but as I recall the BETAs were the ones that worked with the transparencies:
3dfx Voodoo 3 2000/3000 Beta 1.04.07:
http://www.3dfxgamers.com/drivers/voodoo3/voodoo3_win9x_beta.stm
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This is a wild guess...
Are you using a software-based modem (i.e. a PCI modem) ? It is possible that CM is just taking up too many CPU cycles for the modem to operate effectively ? If this is the case then you may want to consider getting a hardware-based modem, which are usually ISA or external (and more expensive than the PCI ones).
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Nah... your monitor shouldn't be affecting your computer.
The only thing I can think of to do at this point is to run a thorough scandisk and then defrag your drive. Then, depending on how much memory you have you may want to customize the swap file on your hard drive.
Goto Control Panel > System control panel > Performance tab > Virtual Memory button and select "Let me specify...". Depending on how much space you have I'd suggest a minimum of 200 and a maximum of 400+ Mb. What this will do is set aside "permanent" space for the swap file. Other people on this forum may have suggestions on the size. Basically all this should do is help with the pauses, possibly. Your lockups/crashes in CM will probably continue.
Sorry we couldn't find a solution to your problem. Depending on how much it annoys you, you may want to consider the dreaded "wipe and install from scratch". Brutal, but often effective at getting rid of pesky software/settings that just can't be ferreted out. If you go this route I would suggest installing Win98, all of your hardware drivers (updated) and then CM before any other programs (including "utilities").
[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 06-30-2000).]
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Often times the large PC companies don't post the very latest drivers for their products (which are OEM'd from another company). Though I don't know which HP Pavilion you have these are some of the drivers that Charles suggested getting (instead of the default ones on HP's site, if there are any updates):
STB Velocity 4400:
http://www.stb.com/drivers/velocity/vl4400.html
Make note that they differentiate the models that have TV out. It may be backwards on their website ! There is also a BIOS update which looks like it primarily addresses the TV out capabilities and memory performance - v. 1.1.
Microsoft's Intellimouse 3.1a driver:
Logitech's Mouseware drivers 9.00 b99:
http://www.logitech.com/cf/support/mousefiles_pc.cfm
You may also want to find out what audio chip/sound card you have in your Pavilion. Most likely it may be built into the motherboard. Updating this driver may also help since some audio drivers are quite CPU-intensive.
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Yep, v. 1.02 (now is it 1.03 ?) will have the Quick Battle point limit lifted from 1000 to 5000 points for the defender IIRC (which can mean up to 10000 for the attacker in certain scenarios). Charles said that was an insane amount of points for a Quick Battle.
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There shouldn't be. The PBEM file is just a text file. How are you receiving the file ? Is it just a text file or is it compressed in a .zip format or something ? What service are you using and what email program are you using ?
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CMOS or BIOS Settings. Usually when you boot up (usually when the computer is counting its memory on power up), you can press a key to get into your BIOS setup (CMOS). Usually it's the Delete key, F1/F2, F10 (for Compaqs). IBMs may use Esc or Del, I'm not sure. You may have to press the Esc key to see what key you have to press to get into setup. Among the settings there may be a listing to set the amount of memory used by the video (I'm not sure which menu it is under).
I didn't read too closely on your specs when you first posted. You mentioned that you had an 8Mb SiS 530, apparently you may already have the memory allocation for the video max'd out. Unfortunately SiS doesn't have any info on exactly what they do and don't support under DirectX (nor do hardly any of the other video chip mfg's).
DirectX 7.0a is not that different from 7.0. Most of the differences amount to game controller input (joysticks, etc.) and some other minor fixes. It might be a good idea to upgrade to it just in case it does fix your problem, but more than likely it won't.
DirectX 7.0 > 7.0a patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=17322
This is the latest SiS 530 driver for DirectX 7.0 (version 1.08). It may be the same as IBM's posted driver or it may be newer(check under Control panel > System control panel > Device Manager tab > double click Display Adapter and then double click the SiS 530 video listing under this > Driver tab > Driver File Details button > the first file highlighted will have a "File Version" info on it look to see if the last set of numbers is less than 1.08 - it may be something like 4.12.0107). One caveat about SiS's drivers though is to keep the original driver handy. They often forget to include a necessary file or set of files:
http://www.sis.com.tw/support/download/530.htm
Download all 8 files into one directory and extract them (just execute them). There should be a setup program that gets extracted - just run this.
After all of this... you may just end up buying a 16Mb PCI card. The 3dfx Voodoo3 2000/3000 should do fine (with the latest beta drivers - the "out of box" ones probably don't support transparencies very well in CM).
[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 06-30-2000).]
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Cyberfox - The TNTs should support fog tables to my knowledge (my TNT2 does). Here are the latest drivers. It is possible that an update may help (hopefully its not an issue like the ATIs where the newest drivers may not support CMs "fog table"):
http://www.reactorcritical.com/
Use either the Detonator Win9x 5.30 or the Asus TNT/GF Win9x 5.16d Beta 5 (which should keep & update any Asus control panels you have).
The lack of a "fog table" setting in your control panels doesn't mean you don't have support for them.
Modem Problem with PBEM
in Combat Mission - Tech Support
Posted
Are there any other devices using the same IRQ (10) as your modem ? If another device is using the IRQ, then you could have possible problems like you're experiencing. Your 3Com modem is software based, but it is among the better ones for that category. This is the latest set of infs for your modem. The file is 569000w.exe:
http://consumer.3com.com/winmodem/inf/index.html
You will need a diskette to install the software. If these inf files are any newer than what you have, they may help with your problem.
You may want to check some settings for your modem. Goto Control Panel > Modems > Have your modem highlighted in the list and click the Properties button > click on the Connection tab > click on the Port Settings button. Check to see if you have "Use FIFO Buffers..." check marked. Then make sure the sliders are at one click away from right on Receive and all the way to the right on Transmit. Now click OK if you changed anything or Cancel if you didn't. Click on the Advanced button > and check the following boxes/buttons 1)Error control 2)Compress data 3)Use flow control 4)Hardware.
Have you tried another program other than Outlook 98 ? If you have the Netscape browser you may want to try it's built-in email program to see if it performs any differently. You may want to go to Microsoft's website and perform any updates to the Microsoft software that you have (they have an automated method of doing this - "Windows Update" off the Help menu, usually). Be careful with exercising these updates. Some people have had bad experiences with this process.