phil stanbridge Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 I've just been searching through this forum regards fixes for the problem with the KyroII chipset. I recently purchased one of these cards for my second system, an XP1800 rig running Win XP Pro. I can't even get to the splash screen of CMBO. It pops up with the screen settings test and is so garbled that I can't even make out where the buttons are. Bit of a shame as I was going to go head to head with myself (???? ) using my other workstation. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 What driver version are you running ? What are your settings for Direct3D (Display control panel) ? I suggest using the defaults initially. The latest driver is 15.0084. It works, but it isn't perfect (still some transparency clipping problems and some FSAA issues). You can download it from Power VR, the designers of the Kyro chipsets. I don't know why you're getting garbled screens during resolution selection. It's possible that CM may be trying refresh rates higher than what your monitor can handle, but then it should eventually show some that your monitor could handle. They'll start at your current resolution, but at the highest refresh rate the video card supports at that resolution which, depending on your monitor definition, may be out of range for your monitor. If you just let it sit for several seconds as it cycles through the resolutions and refresh rates you may get a legible screen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted July 30, 2002 Author Share Posted July 30, 2002 I'm using the latest drivers from the PowerVR site. I'm also using a 15" tft monitor and the refresh business you mention might possibly be the cause. I need to delete the config file and start over at 60 Hertz. The problem is because the game hasn't been able to start properly there is no config file to delete. [ July 30, 2002, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: phil stanbridge ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 I run a Kyro II myself on one machine and it DOES work. All the driver versions so far have worked. There are some problems, but the cards have worked with CM (CMBO & CMBB). What do you do when you don't get a legible screen during the resolution selection process ? Do you kill the program with a Ctrl-Alt-Del Task Manager or does it die by itself ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted July 31, 2002 Author Share Posted July 31, 2002 I let it run, and eventually, after about 5 minutes, the CMBO splash screen appears and all works as expected. However, when I then quit and restart, it runs at a refresh rate that isn't supported by my monitor. I have to Alt F4 to quit back to desktop. Delete the config file and start again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 I haven't run into that particular problem before. You may want to try a 'Refresh Lock' and see if it works since a number of drivers suffer from refresh rate problems under Win2K/XP. Usually it's an issue of going down to 60Hz during a game and having your desktop set for a higher refresh. You can download a RefreshForce 1.0 from Guru 3D (go to Videocard Utilities > Overclocking and Tweaking and it will be almost half way down the list). I personally haven't used this utility myself, but hopefully it may do something for you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted August 1, 2002 Author Share Posted August 1, 2002 So far then I have managed to get the game to boot, but now, when I run a QB or a pre-defined scenario/op it takes me to the "Loading 3d graphics" spalsh screen and appears to hang. I'm clueless. It's a half decent machine, an xp1800 with 256mb pc2100 ram. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Was this system running another video card prior to the Kyro ? How 'attached' are you to this XP installation ? You may want to consider wiping it out and reinstalling since you may be having a DirectX problem (and there's no seperate DirectX installer for XP until DirectX 9.0 comes out). During an installation an installed Kyro should generally get loaded up with some sort of generic SVGA/VESA ('VGA Save' ?) driver that allows it to do 24/32-bit color. However this driver shouldn't allow the card to run a 3D game. A while back some people ran into problems when they had 256Mb or more of memory installed and a Kyro. It has been generally acknowledged that this problem was fixed by installing the latest chipset drivers. Perhaps you'll want to install the latest VIA 4-in-1's before installing your video driver. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted August 1, 2002 Author Share Posted August 1, 2002 I managed to install DirectX 8.1 with the Soldier of Fortune II cd I have. I also thought it was DX related, originally. I'm not sure now. I haven't installed the complete 4in1's yet as XP apparently doesn't need them?? I'm not that close to the install, I can easily trash it, but taking into account this is a clean install alerady what gives. Very odd if you ask me. I'm wondering if it is a fudged driver install or something along those lines. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 How did you manage to install DirectX 8.1 ? The closest installer is for Windows 2000, but I don't know if the installer would halt because it detected the wrong version of Windows. Microsoft doesn't have an official installer for WinXP since it already comes with DirectX 8.1 (there are some DirectX patches for XP, but no full-blown installers - read the text under 'System Requirements'). I don't know if the version of DirectX you installed from that game CD would cause any problems or not with your XP installation. The VIA drivers will be updated compared to the XP ones (which can be a bit older than what's been available for awhile). I don't know if the latest ones offer much more functionality over what XP has built in (especially for older chipsets). I just remember that for some users the general consensus on issues involving 256Mb and higher memory configurations and Kyro video cards was to install the chipset drivers (which would seem more appropriate for older versions of Windows). Is it possible for you to deconfigure your setup down to 128Mb of RAM to see if that makes any difference (other than the obvious speed loss of running on less memory temporarily) ? I'd suggest a clean install, then installing the VIA 4-in-1's and then installing the 15.0084 Kyro drivers. I'd also suggest running some of the Updates on XP, in case some of them help. You may also want to install that ReFreshForce program I pointed you to earlier. Check to make sure your monitor is the appropriate type (either download .INFs for it or select it from whatever XP has built in) and then try to run CM. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 The problem is with the monitor hertz setting, and there are updated 4in1 drivers for the VIA dhipsets at thier web site 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted August 4, 2002 Author Share Posted August 4, 2002 I've reformatted my machine, reinstalled XP Pro, installed the latest official 4in1's and have installed the latest set of drivers from PowerVR. I can now run CM 1.12 at 640x480 Software mode at 75mhz. I can't run it at any other resolution. What is going on here? Any ideas? It must be something to do with the KyroII. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 4, 2002 Share Posted August 4, 2002 I just did the same thing on a VIA 694X-based motherboard (XP Pro, VIA 4-in-1 4.40 & Kyro 15.0084's). CMBO, un-moded, ran fine. It detected the current resolution I was running at (1024x768) while trying the highest refresh rate available to the monitor and it seems to work fine (other than a couple of minor driver problems). I suggest running DXDiag in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder and see if all the options are enabled under the Display tab. Run the tests there too to see if they pass. The Kyro II's are actually AGP 2X devices (while, ironically, the previous Kyro I's were AGP 4X capable). There may be a setting in your CMOS/BIOS setup that is affecting your video card's compatibility with your motherboard. You may want to try AGP 1X/2X (though mine is set to 4X - but again the Kyro II doesn't use 4X) and disabling Fast Writes in your CMOS/BIOS setup. There may be some other settings too, depending on your motherboard and BIOS. Make sure that your monitor definition is for an LCD panel and that the refresh rate of the selected profile unit doesn't exceed yours. A number of smaller LCD panels may max out at 75Hz refresh rate, while the video driver may assume that it can do 100Hz (most LCD panels will give an 'out of range' text warning once you've exceeded the vertical refresh). I have no idea why CM would try a different resolution/refresh rate once one was specified and stored in the Prefs file. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted August 4, 2002 Author Share Posted August 4, 2002 Ok, I've set AGP to 2x rather than 4x. Fast Writes isn't an option in my bios. I've checked Dxdiag and the agp texture acceleration is greyed out. Is this normal with this card? The monitor has been detected correctly and 75Hz is the maximum it will allow at 1024x768. When running CM for the first time it takes approx ten minutes!! to run through a whole load of resolutions and finally sets me up with 640x480@75. Very odd! I can fudge it slightly but it doesn't work correctly. When first running, it detects the screen res at 1024x768@75. If I click on the button (guessing where it is on screen!) it appears to work ok. Only when you attempt to start a game does it hang at the 3d graphics bit I explained before. I'm at a loss. But thanks for your time. [ August 04, 2002, 04:42 PM: Message edited by: phil stanbridge ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 I'm not sure why you're experiencing this. I was able to run both CMBO & CMBB on this XP installation without even patching it. However this is an Intel system with an older VIA chipset. What motherboard do you have ? Have you updated the BIOS ? The AGP Texture Acceleration can be greyed out (though for some strange reason it isn't on mine). This may be an issue of the particular VIA chipset you have. We may have assumed wrong here that you have a VIA chipset, which may be incorrect. It's possible that you have an AMD, ALI or SiS. What's the exact version of DirectX that you're using ? The one I have is 4.08.01.0810. [ August 04, 2002, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 aha! The mainboard uses a SiS735 chipset. I'm going to see if I can get a bios upgrade for it. However, I'm wondering if I need to reformat again as I have installed the 4in1's? Hmm. I have updated the bios to the latest revision. I have also discovered that this board does use a via chipset as the manual has instructions for installing them in Win98. [ August 05, 2002, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: phil stanbridge ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 The motherboard manual is wrong if your board is actually using the SiS735. The SiS735 is a single chip solution (north & south bridge combined into one chip). Therefore there should be no VIA chips on your motherboard (some motherboards use a VIA southbridge combined with other manufacturer's northbridge chips). Check to see if there is an uninstall for the VIA drivers. If not, then a reinstall may be in order. Install the latest SiS AGP driver (agp110.exe) from here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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