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Black turns to white in lower menu bar etc in IMB A31p


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while running CMBB in

IBM A31p, 256Mb RAM

ATI Mobility Fire GL 7800, Mobility Radeon 7500AGP (LX) chipset with 64Mb memory

at 1600x1200 16bit high colour

the lower tool bar black borders, "AI thinking" box, the "resolving action" ruler and clock counter white out occasionally. The problem occurs mainly when there is a unit selected but it also pumps out while scrolling the map and (apparently) when a unit is under the lower menu bar.

Sometimes effects like rain screw the screen up and can not be resolved without a reboot.

The craphics card settings are all in the default.

The screen getting screwed can be avoided but the colour problem is a nuisance even if it does not affect gameplay as such.

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It's an ATI driver issue. I'm not sure where you can get a Radeon Mobility update other than IBM, so your options for experimenting with different drivers may be limited. If IBM offers some older drivers you may want to try those. You may also want to download Rage 3D Tweak and see if this helps; it probably won't help with most of your issues listed here, but it you can use it to disable Z-Mask for some better performance (which I assume is still an issue with most of the Radeons).

In my opinion, generally speaking, laptops are not good gaming platforms. The graphics driver updates happen far less frequently (if at all) than for desktop chipsets. On top of this, the driver update almost always has to come from the laptop OEM (IBM in this case) since the video chip manufacturers typically claim that the drivers are 'customized' for each OEM and rarely make 'generic' versions available. The laptop OEMs have to pay a fee (except for whatever contractual obligations were listed in the OEM agreement) to get the drivers updated. This means that they are less inclined to pay for updated drivers unless they consider it a 'core issue' for their laptop's sustainability in the market. Most OEMs still don't look at gaming issues (unless it is a 'million seller') as a reason to update drivers for laptops, despite many people using them for gaming.

[ July 17, 2003, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

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  • 3 weeks later...

Could anyone point out a few laptops (reasonable priced)which do play CMBB?

Video card problem seem to be the biggest problem;

Which cards are best?

Seems ATI card and shared memory do not work well?

Considering buying a laptop myself - but it has to play CMBB well...

Any recommendations appricated.

Marcus

****

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