Jump to content

CM:BB freezes on flat-screen iMac


Recommended Posts

The CMBB manual suggests that the backside cache can cause system lockups under MacOS9 on G3 and G4 machines. I was seeing occasional lockups on my G4 tower running 9.2. I disabled the cache and haven't seen it happen since, but the problem is sufficiently intermittent that I'm not convinced the problem is solved yet. See page 246 of the manual for a link to where you can download a utility to disable the cache.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried to install the utility mentioned in the troubleshooting section of the manual but all it did was display a message "G3/G4 Cache Profiler didn't load because this is not a G3 or G4 processor." Maybe I did something wrong? I am by no means a Mac expert.

CM:BO used to freeze every now and then but not nearly as often as CM:BB (every 15 minutes or so).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a new 17 inch flat screen iMac, and I haven't had CMBB freeze yet. I had intermittent freezes on my old iMac. I'd wonder about some sort of extension conflict. Try running CMBB with just the base set of extensions. What system are you using? How much memory do you have? Are you running any other software other than CMBB when it freezes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing else is running at the same time as CM:BB so I wonder what the difference is between my iMac and everybody elses? I have only the default extensions.

I had previously installed and subsequently removed the demo (which also froze now and then). Could that be the problem?

[ October 14, 2002, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: Matthew Hayes ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't see how the demo could interfere one way or another. Are you sure you have the extensions that are required by CMBB, in addition to those required by the nVidia card? It still sounds like an extension problem. I can't think of anything else that would stop it from running.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if it could be a problem with the OS 9 "Classic RAVE" extension. I read here that the newer version of it shouldn't interfere with CM, but it's a thought. It certainly won't run in Classic mode on a Ti PowerBook. I haven't tried it with the Classic RAVE extension, since I set up a separate partition for OS 9.

[ October 16, 2002, 03:43 AM: Message edited by: tar ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm... I heard that there was a problem with RAVE in classic mode but I'm booting up in 9.2.

I've tried removing as many unecessary extensions as possible but that doesn't seem to help much.

Perhaps I'll have to go down the separate partition route. I've been avoiding it up to now because I'm not really a technical expert when it comes to Macs (you probably guessed) and I don't want to screw anything up. Is there any reason why a partition should behave differently to my iMac booted up in OS 9?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a G3 400Mhz DVSE iMac that also freezes with depressing regularity. It occasionally happened with CMBO but happens all the time with CMBB. I've tried shutting down extensions & swithching off the cache to no avail. I assume its the video card as its only a ATI RAGE !28 8MB but then that seems to work for some people. I have 256MB of RAM & I'm running OS 9.02 is there anyone out there who can help?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Separate partitions.

The only benefit to having separate partitions is that it will let you have a version of OS 9 to boot into that isn't being manipulated by OS X. OS X will always put the Classic RAVE extension back in, so you might need to keep taking it out if you boot into multiple operating systems.

That said, if you are not a very tech-savvy Mac users, you might not want to go through the partitioning process. Partitioning the disk will ERASE it, so you will need to have all of your files reliably backed up beforehand. Although this is something everyone should be doing, almost nobody actually does it. Even I don't do it as often as I should.

Anyway, unless you partition the disk as soon as you get the machine it is usually a lot of work, especially if you only have a single disk.

(Although at the rate CM is starting to use disk space, I might have to start buying new disks just to hold the installed game...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have played CMBB on my 400 MHz Imac DV with the Rage 128, 8Mb VRAM and 128Mb RAM with no problems so far. ;) I am using OS9.1 and I have my screen set to 800x600. I had occassional lockups under OS 9.04 with CMBO, but I haven't noticed any since going to 9.1. I have tried Large scenarios with all the graphics (trees, terrain, etc) to do some testing and it seems to work okay....don't know if this helps... :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience, shutting off the backside cache is not needed. When CMBO came out, it helped some people, but it was a kludge solution. The piece of software you downloaded was intended for a older version of the processors and since yours is much newer than the software it doesn't recognize your newer machines processor. In general disabling the cache is a bad idea and I wouldn't do it.

If you are running only OS9 on your iMac, you can disable the Classic Rave extension. Do this by using the extensions manager and restarting. At the same time turn off virtual memory, Mac OS has never worked well with this feature particularly with games.

In addition ensure you have given CMBB plenty of memory. I tend to up the amount considerably. For CMBO on my iMac DV I assigned 90mb to it and do the same for CMBB. So far I have had no trouble.

Do your self a favor and buy more RAM, its cheap and a bit of extra overhead never hurts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(Touch wood) the probelem seems to have resolved itself. The main thing I did was increase colour depth from "thousands" to "millions". It seems to make no difference whatsoever to the image as displayed but, funnily enough, CM:BB hasn't frozen once since I did it. Coincidence? Who knows but whatever I did seems to have worked.

I have noticed a couple of funnies in the scenario editor, but I'll write them up as a separate thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kingchupacabra wrote:

I've given CMBB a shed load of Ram & disabled virtual memory before. I guess I need to upgrade my OS, if that fixes it I'll let you know.

OS 9.02 is less than ideal. My suggestion would be to run 9.2.2. It is very stable and works well on the DVs. Good luck
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...