I'm back. But I still can't play CM!

[Doug Beman]

Well, I finally got my PC back from the builders. I received it first 2 weeks ago, but it had several defects so I sent it back for rebuilding (the builders traced the problem to incompatibility between the Asus6600 card, the A7V mobo, and the Tbird CPU, so they replaced the Asus with a MatroxG400)

This is the system build as it stands:

Thunderbird 700

Asus A7V motherboard, Rev1.01

128MB PC133 RAM, 1 DIMM, bank3

MatroxG400 card on driver 4.11.01.1250

SB Live with various drivers for the different functions. Most are at 4.06.XXX, but a few are at 4.05.XXX

Win98 2nd Ed.

Intellimouse w/o any Intellimouse software installed

48X generic CDROM

I still haven't gotten email back up (can't get Outlook Express to work with my cable modem ISP) and I wasn't really excited about playing solo, so I spent this weekend playing Diablo2 in between helping my sister tear the old carpeting out of the first floor of the house.

But I decided to install the game and see how much of my skills I've lost vs the AI. I installed, updated to 1.05, and started in on Le Loy-Hard Stand. However, 58 seconds into the first movie the video froze, while audio kept going.

I used ctl/alt/del to restart, and in looking at the "system" secion of the control panel discovered the builders had left in the driver file for the Asus 6600 video card. I used safe mode to start Windows and remove the driver for the Asus, and restarted normally.

Loaded up Night/Chenaux, but video froze about 5 seconds into the orders phase of the first turn.

Tomorrow (Labor Day for we Americans) I'm going to:

*delete the pref file and try a different resolution to see if that works

*uninstall and reinstall and play V1.00

*fiddle with video drivers (last on list since I've seen no other problems in any other program)

In case this doesn't help, or if somebody out there knows something I should try first, please let me know on the forum (still don't have email up yet)

Your suggestions/etc are appreciated.

Thanks

DjB

[Doug Beman]

Well, I tried messing with the resolution (still locks up after a few seconds) and reverting to V1.00 (got 8 turns into Night/Chenaux, and lockup)

I really don't want to have to mess around updating DX7 and then reinstalling my video and audio drivers. Can anybody out there suggest something different?

DjB

[Doug Beman]

I found a couple threads on the Matrox G400 card, including a link to the page for certified drivers. However, the uninstall procedure looks extremely complicated (what happened to the days of "download this file and run it?")

Can anybody who's already done this please provide some pointers/tips etc?

Thanks

DjB

[Juju]

Hi Doug

I'm not sure any of this will help, it's the stuff I try when I get stuck, but at least it's something:

I also experienced the problem where the game freezes and the sound goes on. Not with CM, but several other games. After a lot of searching I found out that my CPU couldn't take the heat. An extra cooler did the trick. Not sure if it works for you, but if you've got a spare one lying around, it doesn't hurt to try.

fiddling and Driver conflicts: They can mess up your sytem good. I make a habit of re-installing W98 every 3 to 6 months and make a fresh start. Takes me about an hour or so. But if you also work on your computer (I only play) it can be rather a drag to install all programs and back up your work.

Cable and ISP: Am I to understand your internet connection works while at the same time OE doesn't? Or are you using a different computer to post this? Assuming you're not using your own computer try removing the network adapter from the housing; start up windows; shut down your machine again; re-insert the network adapter and startup windows again. Sounds stupid, but it recently solved a similar problem where I could ping and send and receive packages, but nothing else.

Man, I hope this helps in some way. It's time you get to play again!

Juju

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Der ver zwei peanuts, valking down der Strasse, and von vas...assaulted! peanut. Ho-ho-ho-ho.

[Doug Beman]

I hear you on the cooling, juju. Weird thing is, I experience no difficulties of any kind in other games. I spent most of today playing Diablo2, and even when I wasn't playing the system was running w/o a hitch.

Yeah, the system is on the 'net, but I can't get OE to recognize the email servers.

Thanks for the suggestions Juju. I guess there's no option left but to muck about with the Matrox drivers in an attempt to get them current. I just wish the process were a little less complicated; all that "delete this/edit the registry/copy that/disable here" gives me the willies.

Curses, all these new mods and textures and fixes in 1.05 and I can't play. Makes me almost sick to my stomach.

DjB

[Schrullenhaft]

Since you've looked at most of the threads involving your problem you may have already come across some of these suggestions.

What IRQ is your video card and your sound card using ? If they are sharing an IRQ with any other device (or especially if they're sharing one together) this could cause problems. To check, go to Control Panel > System control panel > Device Manager tab > double-click on the Computer icon and you should get a tabbed dialog box with a listing of IRQ usage.

If your video card is sharing an IRQ then you may have to get inside your computer to move cards around or (if your ASUS board supports this feature - a number of them do) you could possibly attempt to change the IRQ of the device that is sharing the AGP card's IRQ (often this may still require changing PCI slots of the device though).

As for your Outlook Express problem. Have you contacted your Cable ISP about this ? If you can browse the web you may want to look at their website for tech support. Most of the better ISPs may have info for configuring browsers and email programs.

I'm not sure what your account-specific info might be, but where it will be configured is from (menu bar) Tools > Options > Connection tab > Internet Connection Settings section, Change button > in here you will have the option to configure either "dial up" or "LAN" settings. Depending on your cable modem's account type, this may be a "LAN" setting (but the only options are "proxy server" and "automatic configuration" which is dependent on the ISP providing configuration information on their servers to support this). There is also an Advanced tab that has some security settings that may require changing too.

You may also want to try (menu bar) Tools > Accounts > Add button > Mail. This will step you through an account configuration, but again you'll probably need some info from your ISP.

[pathfinder]

Doug, I used to have a Matrox video card in this PC (still do in my wife's) and unfortunately only way to get a "clean" driver install is to use Matrox's uninstall program from their web site....

wish there was more I could do to help bud....

I just got my pc back up after it refused to recognize my SB Live! value earlier...had to yank the card outta the slot then shove it back in (3 times!)....

hope this helps some....

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unca pathy will show ya the path,

if only he could find it himself!