PvK Posted June 5, 2000 Share Posted June 5, 2000 Video seems flawless; the game seems to work up until the AI's turn comes, and is thinking about it's move after I've entered move orders and hit the GO! button. The "AI thinking" progress bar moves some variable part of the way along, then stops, and the computer is utterly locked up, and needs the Reset button to recover. The beta demo worked fine on this machine. DirectX7.0A installed, Celeron 450MHz, Guillemot Voodoo Phoenix Banshee (video works fine in orders & placement phases). Another would-be player I've heard from had the same problems. He said he was trying too hard a resolution and deleted his prefs and tried 800 x 600, which worked for him. I however have always been trying in 800 x 600. Any tips? PvK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PvK Posted June 27, 2000 Author Share Posted June 27, 2000 Hi, I'm writing to bring this thread to the top, in case anyone has a clue what might help. Since I first posted, I've re-tried many times, and it only got through the AI move-plotting phase once - the rest of the times, it always froze up at some random point along the task bar, and I either had to exit the program, or reset the computer with the reset button. I HAVE been able to play PBEM and hotseat turns without any problem. I've tried this with the demo and with the full retail version, using the 6/15/00 patch, and get the same result. I asked Big Time Software about this, but they hadn't heard of this problem and suggested I post here in case anyone else has any ideas. They suggested mouse drivers but I wasn't using any, and I tried changing mice - no luck. My machine is a 450 MHz Celeron with 64 MB RAM, 300 MB permanent swap file, 16MB Guillemot Phoenix Voodoo Banshee video card. The only programs that show running in Task Manager are Explorer, Systray, and system tray apps for my Trident 4DWave PCI audio card, and for my Logitech digital joystick. I'm running Win95 OSR 2.5. If any gurus out there have any clues, I'd appreciate hearing about them. Thanks, PvK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PvK Posted June 27, 2000 Author Share Posted June 27, 2000 Oh, I also tried running in 640 x 480, deleting the prefs file first. No luck. PvK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MantaRay Posted June 27, 2000 Share Posted June 27, 2000 I know this is going to sound dumb and all, but if you ever have problems with certain games, and not others, you can always do this... Take out every card in your system except for the video card. It just may be the soundcard that is making it hang up, but it also may be a modem or a PCI controller that is giving you the crashes When you have everything out, see if it works. If it does, add your hardware one by one and see what comes of it. Seems like a bit of work, but it may isolate the problem. Ray ------------------ When asked, "How many moves do you see ahead?", CAPABLANCA replied: "One move - the best one." MantaRays 5 Pages Hardcore Gamers Daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen2 Posted June 27, 2000 Share Posted June 27, 2000 I think it´s the soundcard. The same happend to me after installing the old software of an ordinary sound blaster AWe 64. After this point, CM locked up (the Gold Demo) after playing several rounds. It locked always up in the order-phase. I reinstalled WIN 98. This helped, cause those old (and new) drivers were killed. Jochen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiltboy Posted June 27, 2000 Share Posted June 27, 2000 I used to have the same problem, Celeron 300A@450 MHz. No problems in other games. Reset to 300 MHz --> no problems. You sure you've got a bona fide 450? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John-SJ Posted June 27, 2000 Share Posted June 27, 2000 Whenever I have a problem of this sort I always suspect drivers. Make sure your drivers are up to date, especially your sound and video drivers. John-SJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PvK Posted June 27, 2000 Author Share Posted June 27, 2000 Thanks for the ideas, everyone! Tiltboy, my Celeron IS overclocked as yours was - since you said you had the same problem, that sounds like a good guess and I'll try cranking it down and see if that works. I don't see how it can be a sound or graphics issue if I can play the game fine without the AI opponent, and it only freezes when the graphics and sound aren't doing anything, but I guess it could be an interaction issue of some sort. Hmmm. I'll try turning the system clock down tonight and report back if it worked. PvK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph D Posted June 28, 2000 Share Posted June 28, 2000 I had a simailar problem with an o'clocked Athlon and a Guillemoit Xentor TNT2. Took the o'clocking off, then cranked it up slowly until I found a comfort zone 50MHz below what I had before, so no big deal. I even saved the PBEM turn (watched the replay, then would freeze at random times while I plotted) that this was happening on as my calibration test to run first with any new tweaks. Good luck! Regards, Ralph D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted June 28, 2000 Share Posted June 28, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PvK: The beta demo worked fine on this machine. DirectX7.0A installed, Celeron 450MHz, Guillemot Voodoo Phoenix Banshee (video works fine in orders & placement phases). Any tips? PvK<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I had the IDENTICAL problems with an overclocked Celeron--the Beta demo ran fine, and the Gold demo would lock up during the "AI thinking" phase at intervals between every turn and every ten turns. My Celeron 300A has been running rock-steady at 504mhz since 1998, so I suspected drivers, etc. as the cause first. Updating everything didn't do the trick. Prior to setting the CPU back to 450, I opted to increase the core voltage another 0.1v --since that sometimes helps clear up O/C lockups--and it worked like a charm. It didn't even raise the operating temperature appreciably--I guess having a total of nine fans in the machine counts for something. Anyway, the Gold and release version of CM seem to have problems with at least some overclocked Celerons--possibly it's dependent on the particular model of motherboard involved. I've got an Abit BH6--how about you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PvK Posted June 29, 2000 Author Share Posted June 29, 2000 Thanks to everyone for the help. It turned out that the overclocked Celeron was the problem. I tried turning up the voltage, but then it crashed during the intro animation! I then turned down the speed and after that the game runs fine, even against the AI - no crashes - I made it through the Tutorial scenario vs. the AI, thrashed the Germans <g>, with no problems. So, I guess I'm the third overclocked Celeron to have lockups during the AI turn. It runs almost as well at reduced speed as it does at full speed. Anyway, thanks again, all! PvK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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