The Commissar Posted August 18, 2001 Share Posted August 18, 2001 Howdy. I did not have this problem before, so Im asking here to see if Im doing something wrong this time. I just got my computer out of the shop, and reinstalled CM on maximum installation. When I first opened it, the game asked for the regular resolution test. I selected 800 x 600. After the window dissapeared, the CM options window came up. Except it only showed the buttons and not the background picture. Once I clicked on any of the buttons, the background picture came back up. This was not all, however. When I ran a test game, the real graphic glitches made themselves apparent. The screen was mostly black, my mouse cursor was replaced by a square of CM grass texture, and textures shifted across the screen when I moved the mouse in squares that changed colors. I reinstalled the game, this time on minimum. I opened another test scenario, and this time the actual CM battlefield appeared. However, the screen was shaking, and looked like a bad reception on the TV. I was able to move around, and give out orders (although this was very difficult, because the screen was shaking and textures were changing colors slightly). Then I minimized the game to see what would happen. When I opened it up again, there was the black screen that came up on my first attempt, along with the screwed up squares of color. I never had this problem before on my computer, and as far as Im aware, my video card was not tampered with in any way whatsoever. My video card is: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2/TNT2 PRO Acceleration is set on full My computer is set for 32bit color. My computer specs: 1Ghz Athalon Thunderbird 256Mgb RAM 27Gb HD My computer was being repared for some HD damage. I was told that approximately 15% of the harddrive was physically damaged, and that I should replace it as soon as I can. I still dont see how this would affect any graphic performance, so I am not sure how to fix this. All advice is highly appreciated. Cheers! [ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 18, 2001 Share Posted August 18, 2001 What Windows version and what driver version are you using ? Did the shop upgrade your BIOS or over-clock your video card ? I wouldn't assume that the problems you're seeing are due to hard drive errors and a corrupted install of CM. They sound more like video card/driver issues. Before you took the computer in did you have any sort of graphical glitches in CM ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted August 18, 2001 Author Share Posted August 18, 2001 I am using Windows 98. My video card drivers were not changed or upgraded. Nor was the video card overclocked or anything done about the video card whatsoever that I know of. Today I had an advancement. When I opend the game, everything was as normal. I ran a test scenario, and it opened normally. Everything was working. The graphics were as they should be. Then I minimized the game and opened it again. Bam, there go the shifting texture squares on a black background again. I did this several times by shutting the game down and opening it again, with the same results. Game opens as normal, runs well, but after being minimized, it messes up once more. Thanks for trying to help, Schrullenhaft! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted August 19, 2001 Author Share Posted August 19, 2001 Anyone? Hello? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 If don't minimize CM do you have any problems ? Do you use Alt-Tab or ESC to minimize CM ? Before your hard drive crashed did you have this problem with corruption after minimizing CM ? What exactly did the shop do, run a scandisk/surface analysis on your hard drive or performed some 'advanced' recovery of your data/programs ? Are you saying that they didn't reinstall Windows and the hardware drivers, but instead 'recovered it' ? If you weren't having this problem before it sounds like something has changed software-wise on your computer. If 15% of your total disk space are bad clusters, then your drive is probably close to failure (or at least you'll have constant problems with bad clusters appearing all the time). How old is it ? Many drives (except those that come from large system builders like Gateway, Dell, Compaq, etc.) now have three year warranties and 15% bad clusters is definitely in the realm of warranty drive replacement. Many drives will indicate date of manufacture on their labels and you can use this as a point of reference for the manufacturer's warranty. [ 08-18-2001: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted August 19, 2001 Author Share Posted August 19, 2001 I did not have this problem before the hard drive suffered physical damaged and had to be repaired. I use Esc to minimize. However, I just did a test run, and alt tab produces the same exact results. Im not sure what exactly the shop did. The data on my PC wasn't recoverable (lost all 60+ megs of CMBO mods ). The computer was returned to me with Windows having been reinstalled. My HD is from a company called Samasung. I dont think I have any warranties, but its worth checking out. Hopefully Ill cough up the dough to replace it pretty soon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 I'm not sure how long Samsung's hard drive warranty is; apparently it will vary depending on where you purchased it (Samsung refers you to your warranty statement that came with the drive). Here's the web page for warranty exchanges (you'll need to run their diagnostic first): Samsung hard drive warranties: http://www.sosimple.com/service/hddsvc.htm Do you know what version of DirectX and what driver version is installed then if the shop performed a reinstall of Windows ? Was it a 'clean' install (possibly involving reformatting your hard drive) or did they install over what was left of your hard drive data ? You may need to change the driver (a newer or quite possibly an older version) to fix your problem. What manufacturer made your TNT2 Pro (Diamond, Creative, Elsa, etc.) ? [ 08-18-2001: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted August 19, 2001 Author Share Posted August 19, 2001 Im d/l ing a new driver as I type this. I figured that this was probobly the only thing that can be responsible from your last messege. My TNT2 Pro is Nvidia Riva TNT2 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted August 19, 2001 Author Share Posted August 19, 2001 I just installed the newest driver that NVIDIA offers for all their products on its website, and it didnt work. Same old flickering squares upon minimizing and maximizing the game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 It may be better to go with an older driver. The Detonator 3 family (6.xx to 14.xx) is geared towards the GeForces rather than the TNT2 family. The Detonator 2's were the 5.xx version. However selecting the right driver for your situation may be a matter of experimentation. Your decision may be influenced by what games you play since some versions may work better than others with certain titles. Do you recall at all what your previous version of the video driver was ? As an FYI NVidia is actually the chip manufacturer and not the manufacturer of your video card. If your card isn't 'name brand' (like Diamond, Creative, etc.) then it may be manufactured by a small Taiwanese company (with possibly no indication on the card of who made it). The NVidia drivers should work fine with them however. Guru3D (click on "Downloads" in the left-hand column, then "Download Videocard drivers", then "nVidia drivers for GeForce & TNT videocards", make sure any driver that you download is for Win9x/ME): http://www.guru3d.com 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted August 19, 2001 Author Share Posted August 19, 2001 Is "RIVE" a seperate company or part of NVIDIA? I wish I knew which drivers I had before. Ill try different ones, thanks for the advice! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 I believe "RIVE" is actually "RIVA", which is part of the name for almost all of NVidia's chipsets from the first ones (128's ?) to the TNT2's (i.e. RIVA TNT2 Pro). I think the GeForces may not have it as part of their official name. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted August 19, 2001 Share Posted August 19, 2001 I'm thinking this just might be a DirectX problem. Try reinstalling 7.0a or 8.0a and then your video drivers and see what happens. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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