I need help...too!

[FDutchmn]

Hiya Y'all!!

Ok, I need some serious help with getting my hardware setup so I can play AH...

Just like Greebo, I decided to retire my old old AMD-K6 200, and bought me self a new machine.  However, for the last month, I have been re-installing Windows, drivers, AH repeatedly to make it work, but all I get are Hangs and Freezes everytime (after 5 to 10mins usually, online or offline).

Here are the specs for me machine:

Motherboard:Aopen AK73Pro
CPU: AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1GHz
RAM: 192MB
Soundcard: SoundBlaster Live! Value
Videocard: Gainward Cardexpert GeForce 2 MX
OS: Windows Millenium (Japanese Version) with Dx8.0a

Drivers:
Motherboard: VIA 4:1 v4.31 (installed in standard mode)
Sound: Soundblaster LiveWare for WinME (from www.creativelabs.com)
Video: Win98_Me(7.78) (from www.the-ctrl-alt-del.com)

Others:
LAN board: Realtek RTL8029(AS) PCI Ethernet adapter compatible
USB Controller (with 2nd keyboard attached)
CDROM: NEC DV-5700B compatible
Joystick: TM F22Pro/WCS(analog)/RCS

What I tried:
Performance settings on the Display Property
Performance settings on the Expert Tool: (Core Clock, Memory Clock settings)
BIOS AGPX4 settings
Physical positions of the soundcard (changed PCI slots, IRQ changed)
disabled z-buffer on the video.cfg file
different versions of the drivers mentioned above and the a lot of the combinations
tried installing Win95, Win98 however with similar results...

I tried using the onboard soundcard, SoundMAX, but the sounds seem to disappear sometimes.  I also tried using a PCI Videocard, Gainward Cardexpert SG4 Pro (32MB).  AH was stable, but online the frame rate was a disaster.  This is leading me to believe that I need to do something with the graphics settings

I have also found on the FAQ about this same problem but the workaround provided did not allow me to alleviate my problem.

I have been sitting in front of me machine for the past month with cob webs forming around me and me wife is getting jealous... she is about to get a sledge hammer and about to hammer me and me  me machine into bits.. well maybe that is the solution to me headache...

Please help me... I haven't been able to fly for a month now...

Flying Dutchman

[MrRiplEy]

If you ask Me! I already see where your problem is.. Pun intended.

[edit] Ah didnt see the win98 install part..

Do you get system freezes or hangouts outside AH or only in AH?

Seems like your board comes with USB compatability problems (along with integrated stuff - teaches you to buy shelf computars MUUAHAHAH! Suffer, Dog   )

Anyway, If I was you, I'd upgrade my BIOS to the latest version to fix those USB problems. If your USB keyboard messes up with your Video IRQ you're in trouble.
 http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/download/mbbios/ak73pro.htm

[This message has been edited by MrRiplEy (edited 06-05-2001).]

[FDutchmn]

Hehehe thanks for the reply MrRiplEy!

>Do you get system freezes or hangouts outside AH or only in AH?

good question... i wish i had more games... me wife would shoot me if i did...

>Seems like your board comes with USB compatability problems (along with integrated stuff - teaches you to buy shelf computars MUUAHAHAH! Suffer, Dog )

Yep, a lesson learned here... i jumped on me machine cuz it was 800 US.

>Anyway, If I was you, I'd upgrade my BIOS to the latest version to fix those USB problems. If your USB keyboard messes up with your Video IRQ you're in trouble. http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/download/mbbios/ak73pro.htm  

wow!  They didnt have the ak73110.zip two days ago... better give this a try, just downloaded it... stay tuned!!

Flying Dutchman

[FDutchmn]

hmmm the new bios didnt work... the IRQ seems ok, 5 for graphics and 10 for the USB controller.  my LAN card had 10 too so, I will try disabling it...

Flying Dutchman

[FDutchmn]

damn... didnt work...

Flying Dutchman

[bloom25]

Have you considered that heat may be your problem?  Do you have a 300W power supply?

I would consider loading up a monitoring program to check your CPU temps and case temps.  If available, also one for your video card.

You seem to have a pretty good handle on updated drivers and bios, but I don't see anything done about heat.

Are your lockups only when playing AH?

Try this, take the side of your case off and get a big fan to blow into the case.  Try playing AH and see if that helps.

Also, please copy and paste your IRQ assignments list here please?

Good Luck!  

------------------
bloom25
-MAW-
(Formerly of the)
THUNDERBIRDS

[bloom25]

If the PCI video card is stable, heat and insufficient power supply is my #1 suggestion to try.

(You should also force AGP 2x if that setting is avaiable in the bios.  This allows you to install the Agp driver in turbo mode rather than normal.)



------------------
bloom25
-MAW-
(Formerly of the)
THUNDERBIRDS

[FDutchmn]

Oh my... I had a CPU temperature gauge that came with VIA and thot that was enough... I was proven wrong... gonna get me self a liquid cooler if I can afford one.  It is running at AGPX4 and at full hardware performance right now.   It seems to be ok.  Going online now to check!  Thanks bloom25!!!!

Flying Dutchman

[bloom25]

You probably don't need liquid cooling.    (Somehow having water in a computer just doesn't seem right to me.   )

Usually in cases like yours the power supply is inadequate (anything below a 300W is not good enough for your system), or your system is overheating.

Personally I would make sure you have at least 2 case fans in your system, and make sure that cables are routed nicely as not to impede airflow.  You may find it very useful to pick up a device called a slot cooler.  Basically it's a fan that occupies the slot below your video card and blows a lot of air out of the system.  This not only improves ventilation, but also draws more air across the video card, reducing it's temperature.

[bigUC]

My 1 cent is insufficient power - seen it cause gups and reboots befor - or: try  http://www.viahardware.com/