Guest vu95 Posted August 20, 2000 Share Posted August 20, 2000 I know there was another thread dedicated to this, but it was old and the final solution to the problem was to buy a new card (don't want to do it). I just got the 32MB AGP Stealth III S540 w/ Savage 4 chipset. I previously had an 8MB I-740. The graphics looked better on that thing (except no fog). When I deleted the prefs and started CM up on the new card, I got a "Primary Display Driver" and 800x600 resolution. Is that what I should see? The troubleshooting section of the manual says I should see the name of my graphics card that was selected. The graphics are extremely blocky and look like other games if I run them on software mode. I am running on a PII 350 mhz/128mb sdram. Please help. My card can't be that bad, can it? (that was rhetorical) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 20, 2000 Share Posted August 20, 2000 "Primary Display Driver" is what you should see when selecting resolutions in CM. The limit on the resolution will depend on what resolution your desktop is currently set at. If you set your desktop to a high resolution and then to a lower one than what you set CM's resolution to you may see problems. I'd suggest keeping your desktop at the same or higher resolution than what you run CM at (if you are not doing this already). Do you happen to have a separate PCI 3D accelerator card in your computer (i.e. - a Voodoo-based card being the most common) ? If so you may want to disable its support of DirectX. Otherwise CM should tell you when you are selecting "Software Mode" (I don't think that it is exactly phrased that way on the selection screen). Do you happen to have your Hardware Accleration turned down in your System Control Panel or your DirectX control applet ? You may also want to check your Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs control panel > and check the list for any Intel 740 drivers/applets being listed. They may cause some problems if they're still installed. If this doesn't do it then you may want to start Windows in "Safe Mode" and delete all the display adapters listed in the System control panel's Device Manager (and delete the .inf files in the C:\WINDOWS\INF\OTHER directory so they don't reinstall themselves on boot). When you boot up again install a "Standard PCI VGA display adapter" (not the S3 as of yet) and go through getting it installed (reboot, usually). Once this is done then install DirectX 7.0a again and then install your Diamond Stealth III S540 driver. Here's a website that usually has some of the latest drivers. There are two to pick from for the Savage 4 chipset (you may want the latest of the two if you don't have it already): Reactorcritical (go to the Savage4 section of the page): http://www.reactorcritical.com/download.shtml [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 08-20-2000).] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEF BUNGIS Posted August 20, 2000 Share Posted August 20, 2000 Go here. http://www.savagenews.com/ Go to files, savage 4. Down load Rizens 2.02 drivers or JGC's tweaked drivers. You will be happy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vu95 Posted August 26, 2000 Share Posted August 26, 2000 Thanks guys. Tried both with no results. As soon as I zoom down to ground level, the graphics look like crap. The ground is made up of big green squares and the trees, soldiers, tanks etc. are as well. I tried Rizen's driver and tried going VGA/installing DX7/installing driver, and it looks the same. Do either of you have the same card? I don't expect the graphics to look like the picture of the day, but something close would be good. Half-Life and Rogue Spear looked OK, but I'll check those out again. Maybe I'll try that other driver.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmo Posted August 26, 2000 Share Posted August 26, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vu95: Thanks guys. Tried both with no results. As soon as I zoom down to ground level, the graphics look like crap. The ground is made up of big green squares and the trees, soldiers, tanks etc. are as well. I tried Rizen's driver and tried going VGA/installing DX7/installing driver, and it looks the same. Do either of you have the same card? I don't expect the graphics to look like the picture of the day, but something close would be good. Half-Life and Rogue Spear looked OK, but I'll check those out again. Maybe I'll try that other driver....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> vu95 I'm using a Diamond Stealth III S540 Xtreme (the Xtreme only means it is clocked faster than yours). My graphics aren't perfect, but they certainly aren't blocky either. I'm using the driver that came with the card, not the latest by any means. You might want to go back to the manufacturer's driver one last time. Also, be sure to set your monitor to Standard VGA _before_ reinstalling the driver. That does make a difference. Good luck. Elmo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 26, 2000 Share Posted August 26, 2000 vu95 - I don't know if these drivers are any better than what you have or have tried already. These are the latest Reference drivers that S3 have released for the Savage4 chipset. You may also want to experiment with your mipmapping levels and their detail. These settings usually should be available from Control Panel > Display control panel > Settings Tab > Advanced button > and check out whatever Diamond/Savage/S3 tabs there are, specifically for DirectX/Direct3D. Reactorcritical (go to Savage 4 section; v. 8.20.29, 8-22-00): http://www.reactorcritical.com/download.shtml There is also an "S3TC" tweak utility that you may want to download to see if it helps with your problem. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEF BUNGIS Posted August 26, 2000 Share Posted August 26, 2000 Are you sure your system is using the drivers you install? Sometimes, you have to uninstall the old drivers before you install the new ones. ------------------ The counter-revolution, people smilling through their tears. Who can give them back their lives, and all those wasted years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vu95 Posted August 27, 2000 Share Posted August 27, 2000 Def Bungis, I'm no computer genius so bare with me. When I go to Control Panel>Settings>Display>Settings>Advanced>Adapters, it shows the S3 Savage4(Rizen's Tweaked Driver 2.02), so I'm assuming I managed to put in the new driver correctly. I also did go to VGA mode first, I believe. I went to Control Panel>System>Device Manager>Display Adapter, and then Removed the current Driver before I started. I'll keep trying. I know it's got to be better than the I740, right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmo Posted August 28, 2000 Share Posted August 28, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vu95: Def Bungis, ....I'll keep trying. I know it's got to be better than the I740, right?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> If you want I can send you a screenshot for you to compare with what you see. Just let me know. Elmo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEF BUNGIS Posted August 28, 2000 Share Posted August 28, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vu95: Def Bungis, I'm no computer genius so bare with me. When I go to Control Panel>Settings>Display>Settings>Advanced>Adapters, it shows the S3 Savage4(Rizen's Tweaked Driver 2.02), so I'm assuming I managed to put in the new driver correctly. I also did go to VGA mode first, I believe. I went to Control Panel>System>Device Manager>Display Adapter, and then Removed the current Driver before I started. I'll keep trying. I know it's got to be better than the I740, right?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, your system is probably using the right drivers. Rizens drivers come with a tool for removing old drivers. First be sure of exactly what video card you have. To remove all old S3 drivers, set yor display to standard VGA - 640X480. Restart. Then go to the Rizens "files and tools" folder. There is a .BAT file there called "Uninstall core files". Run that. Then go back and install the tweaked drivers from Rizen. Be sure to install the correct drivers for your card. You may want to install the S3 tweak program and play around with that too. Good luck. ------------------ The counter-revolution, people smilling through their tears. Who can give them back their lives, and all those wasted years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vu95 Posted August 30, 2000 Share Posted August 30, 2000 Elmo, Please do send me a picture. If you can, please get one at ground level with a tree, building, or vehicle pretty close. I just installed the driver that Schrullenhaft suggested. Still have the blockiness. Maybe it was just me but the soldiers looked more detailed. It's hard to remember. I'll keep tweaking around. If the picture you send me looks good, I won't rest until I get this card to do what it's supposed to. Send to novalum95@aol.com. Def Bungis, I'm going to give Rizen's another shot as well. I have the AGP card. In the Readme file, it states that I should also perform that last step of adding something to the registry depending on what motherboard I have and then restart again. I know I have an Apollo, but the only choice is the ApolloPro 133. Does it make a difference? Should I not bother at all? Thanks all. You've been extremely helpful. Very much appreciated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 30, 2000 Share Posted August 30, 2000 vu95 - Can you look at the motherboard and read the numbers off of the VIA chips (694X ?)? That or tell us which motherboard you have (model number & manufacturer). You may have the ApolloPro 133 (the latest version is 133A). Rizen's tweak is probably adjusting for some AGP differences between chipsets. In addition to this registry tweak I would suggest downloading the latest VIA drivers, which may help a little (but I don't really see it affecting your image quality though): VIA 4-in-1 or AGP driver (v.4.24 or 4.03): http://www.via.com.tw/drivers/index.htm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott Clinton Posted August 30, 2000 Share Posted August 30, 2000 fwiw none of the 'tweaked drivers' listed on the site would work at all with my Creative Savage4 PCI card. They all either would not allow me to boot to WIN98 or forced me to some REAL low resolution. ------------------ Please note: The above is solely the opinion of 'The Grumbling Grognard' and reflects no one else's views but his own. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 30, 2000 Share Posted August 30, 2000 This is an old issue for you Scott, but have you tried (with a spare hard drive, if you have one) a completely clean install of Win 98 ? What version is your BIOS on your video card (the latest is v. 1.02.4A) ? This has probably already been mentioned to you before, but there is a BIOS update for your card, but you may already have it: Creative Savage4 Files: http://www.creative.com/support/files/download.asp?reg=0&OS=Win98∏=db_savage4&select=Get+Files Some motherboards may have updates to their BIOS to work with certain AGP cards (though these issues are usually a little more drastic in that the machine won't boot Windows, etc.). You may want to check for the latest BIOS for your motherboard (make sure you match the correct revision of your board as some manufacturers make BIOS updates that are applicable to certain revisions of the board). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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