PB G3/266 Demo stops

[fepp]

Just downloaded the gold demo of CM to try on my Macintosh PowerBook G3/266. The program starts OK, allows me to select scenario etc, but never gets past the "loading 3D graphics" stage.

I thought it might be a memory problem, but increasing CMs partition to 60MB did not help.

My machine has virtual memory turned off, and 192MB of RAM. Stock Wallstreet 1.1 PowerBook.

/fepp

[Schrullenhaft]

What resolution are you trying to run CM in ? You may want to select a lower resolution to see if this helps.

Do you have any other programs running at the same time as CM ? You will probably want to shut them down.

What OS are you running ? If you're running OS 9.0.4 you may want to do a system update and see if there are any newer video drivers from Apple (I believe that the PB G3/266 has an ATI video chip). Do you have GameSprockets loaded (though I believe their absence shouldn't keep CM from running) ?

You may want to boot up with a minimum number of extensions/CPs to see if this helps. Also, if you have Norton Disk Light, boot without it when you play CM.

[fepp]

The machine runs MacOS 8.6 (Swedish), and the graphics resolution is automatically switched to 640x480 by CM when it starts up.

The graphics chip is indeed an ATI: ATI Rage Mobility LT Pro (or something like that), with 4MB of VRAM.

Gamesprockets are present, in a recent version. Minimal extensions sounds like a good idea.

/fepp

[fepp]

Results of previous test:

* Booting with minimal extensions brings the same result.

* The program starts playing the "giving orders" phase sounds (recognize it from the PC demo).

* The "loading graphics" screen is still there.

Looks like the 3D graphics cannot really start, but the rest of the program is running happily.

Switching into and out of CM brings a completely white screen.

Very weird, certainly looks like some kind of graphics drivers conflict.

[Schrullenhaft]

Delete your prefs file and allow CM to present the resolution selections over again. I'm not sure what the "software rendering" mode is labelled as during the selection process, but you may want to try this (it should be one of the 640 x 480 modes). Are you running an external monitor ? If you are then disconnect it and reboot your Mac.

[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 10-04-2000).]

[fepp]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Schrullenhaft:

Delete your prefs file and allow CM to present the resolution selections over again. I'm not sure what the "software rendering" mode is labelled as during the selection process, but you may want to try this (it should be one of the 640 x 480 modes). Are you running an external monitor ? If you are then disconnect it and reboot your Mac.

[This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 10-04-2000).]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There is no "prefs" file. The program selected 640x480 all automatically, the first time I tried to run it.

[Chek]

I am having the EXACT same problem with the demo.

However there the similarity ends.I'm running a Rev B iMac with a mere 32MB of ram(64MB virtual).Thought this may have been the problem(the RAM that is) but as fepp has 192MB it would appear not.ATI Rage Pro with 6MB and the only thing in common with fepp is OS 8.6.Have reduced sceen size,trashed prefs,reduced to basic set of extensions(with 32MB you can't run much anyway) but to no avail.

If I hit esc from where it hangs at "the loading 3D graphics" I go to the desktop.Select CM demo from the finder and a white screen appears.I cannot quit or shutdown from the demo(although I can return to the desktop),I have to reset via paper clip.

Had run the earlier demo without the slightest hint of a problem and thoroughly enjoyed it.Thought I'd just check the gold demo prior to purchasing but have been unable to get it to run.Anyway I'm sure it can be sorted,will keep trying.

Chek.

[fepp]

More things that do not help:

+ Upgrading GameSprockets to 1.7

+ My ATI Driver is at version 1.4.8

+ I have installed the ATI Graphics Update which was released in June 2000.

/fepp

[Schrullenhaft]

I'm not absolutely sure where the "prefs" file is on the Mac version of CM, but it does exist. Most likely it should be in the same folder as the CM executable (if not, then possibly in the Sytem Folder's Preferences folder). This prefs file holds info for CM, including the resolution it should run at.

Are you running only 640 x 480 on your PowerBook ? If so, then the "automatic selection" of the resolution may occur since CM detects only one resolution available (and no other available refresh rates). If your PowerBook supports it, you may want to bump up to the next higher resolution (800 x 600 or 832 x 624) and attempt another selection of the resolution once the prefs file has been deleted.

Chek & fepp - OS 8.6 should work fine with CM (it was the version that Charles used when he was originally developing it) and I don't think the Swedish version should be significantly different. The next thing I would recommend would be to disable your ATI-related extensions (and "force" software rendering). I can't remember which ones to disable exactly (you'll need your QuickDraw RAVE extensions and enough support to get 16 bit color), but maybe a little experimentation may find the right combination. If you want to post your System Profiler results I could make suggestions on which extensions/CPs to disable.

Hopefully someone else here with the same model PowerBook/iMac can post their solutions if they ran into problems.

Chek - as you've guessed, you may need more memory, though I would think that 32Mb would be enough to play CM (albeit slowly) with a minimal number of extensions & CPs loaded. I can't recall how the latest Mac OSs do their memory management, but you may want to minimize the number of fonts you're loading up if you have a large number of them.

[Chek]

Left Quickdraw RAVE on and turned off all other Quickdraw and ATI extensions as per your suggestion Schrullenhaft.Am now running in software mode(although it ain't nowhere near as purdy to look at).

Can probably assume it's an ATI conflict somwhere.The only other 3D usage is for Quicktime(which I wouldn't have thought would be a problem) and Myth 2.I dunno I'm clutching at straws here.

The pref file I removed is "Combat Mission BO Demo" in the prefs folder.Was the only CM related prefs file I could find,although it doesn't seem to have made any difference.See how fepp goes in software mode.

Chek

[fepp]

OK... now it works. The graphics are quite smooth, even if the detail is not too great and it comes nowhere near the graphics of my PC (1024x768 on a TNT2/16 MB VRAM/500 Mhz PIII/128 MB RAM). But hey, it's a two years old PORTABLE machine.

Now I have to decide if I want to run CM at home with good graphics, or if I prioritize mobility, playing while travelling.

The relevant step was the disabling of the ATI software. It is OK to keep the "ATI Driver Update" file in the system, but no other ATI components.

I have the entire Quicktime 4.01 set enabled (includes Quickdraw 3D and Quickdraw RAVE).

Some more facts of interest: I have no chance to tell CM which resolution to use. I normally run 1024x768, in millions of colors, but CM changes to 640x480 wihtout asking. Probably it looks at the amount of VRAM or something.

The Preferences file was not created until I managed to get the graphics running. Previous attempts yielded no preferences file anywhere in the system.