Game locks up with AMD Dual Core

[horble]

Tried running without Win98 compatibility, game ran for a bit (quite well!), then locked right up.

Repeated this a few times, would lock up after about 20mins or so, wasn't really keeping track.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 8/19/2009, 21:19:02
       Machine name: HIGUYS
   Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.080814-1233)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+,  MMX,  3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
             Memory: 1022MB RAM
          Page File: 462MB used, 2507MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce 8600 GT
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0402&SUBSYS_82431043&REV_A1
   Display Memory: 512.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Default Monitor
  Monitor Max Res:
      Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0011.9038 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 7/14/2009 13:54:00, 5842816 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: n/a
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 7/14/2009 13:54:00, 7741664 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4742-11CF-BD50-48A200C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x10DE
        Device ID: 0x0402
        SubSys ID: 0x82431043
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D

Running AH2 at 1280x1024 full details (except smooth shadow), 1024 textures, hi-res pack, with 2nd level of anti-aliasing.

Any other details needed let me know, I'll gladly post them.

Cheers.

[Wobbly]

Version 2.14 Patch 6 Changes
======================

Implemented a fix for AMD dual-core users that no longer requires the AMD dual core optimizer to be installed or the game to be run in Windows 98/ME compatibility mode.  If you are running the game in compatibility mode, we strongly suggest disabling that.

[gyrene81]

Horble...you have a couple of issues going there.

Most obvious is your Windows service pack level...which also points to possible missing critical updates.

Only 1 gigabyte of RAM.

Also your paging file is huge...take almost half of the amount of RAM you have installed...that means there are some real memory hog processes running when they shouldn't be.

What happens when you delete hires pak and drop your textures to 512?

Any custom sound files?

Can you post the sound card info from your dxdiag?

[Scratchman]

Version 2.14 Patch 6 Changes
======================

Implemented a fix for AMD dual-core users that no longer requires the AMD dual core optimizer to be installed or the game to be run in Windows 98/ME compatibility mode.  If you are running the game in compatibility mode, we strongly suggest disabling that.

Wait does mean I need to uninstall the AMD optimizer now? Currently I have been using it for the last two patches.

[Chalenge]

Also your paging file is huge...take almost half of the amount of RAM you have installed...that means there are some real memory hog processes running when they shouldn't be.

Im not sure what you are suggesting here the way you wrote it but...

Using three times your RAM size for minimum and maximum size of a page file (especially if you have multiple drives installed) is a GOOD idea. I am using a custom size of 24576 MB for initial and maximum size of virtual memory on three drives with 8 GB of RAM installed (total 73728 MB in page files).

[horble]

Horble...you have a couple of issues going there.

Most obvious is your Windows service pack level...which also points to possible missing critical updates.

Only 1 gigabyte of RAM.

Also your paging file is huge...take almost half of the amount of RAM you have installed...that means there are some real memory hog processes running when they shouldn't be.

What happens when you delete hires pak and drop your textures to 512?

Any custom sound files?

Can you post the sound card info from your dxdiag?

Using a mixed bag of custom sounds for AH.

Sound card info here:

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: SoundMAX HD Audio
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_11D4&DEV_198B&SUBSYS_104381F6&REV_1003
        Manufacturer ID: 65535
             Product ID: 65535
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: ADIHdAud.sys
         Driver Version: 5.10.0001.6520 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: n/a
          Date and Size: 7/10/2008 18:22:10, 334336 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: AnalogDevices
         HW Accel Level: Full
              Cap Flags: 0x0
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: Yes
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): Yes
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

I upgraded to Service Pack 3.

Don't know why it says I only have 1 GB of RAM, pretty damn sure I've got 2 GB.  Gonna crack 'er open and try to figure out what's wrong (probably got a stick of buggered RAM), or atleast which one doesn't work.

[horble]

Ok, the RAM issue is solved..

It turns out that the last time the computer had a problem, some idiot (dunno who that could be  ) decided to check to see if one of the RAM sticks was bad and.. didn't quite.. put it back in.. correctly.. 

[Lusche]

 

Could have been me 

[gyrene81]

Im not sure what you are suggesting here the way you wrote it but...

Using three times your RAM size for minimum and maximum size of a page file (especially if you have multiple drives installed) is a GOOD idea. I am using a custom size of 24576 MB for initial and maximum size of virtual memory on three drives with 8 GB of RAM installed (total 73728 MB in page files).

Not sure where you got that idea...but hey if it's working, let'er rip. I don't know too many people who need a huge paging file, and if by chance your system starts filling up that huge paging file and using it, you got problems. I have 2 large drives on my system and the paging file sits only on 1...putting an NTFS partition on a drive where you store data that you want to keep in case of a catastrophic failure just so you can run a huge virtual memory setup, is not a good idea unless you have $500 to spend on professional data recovery...aside from that it's useless for any purpose other than heavy graphics rendering.


The paging file "usage" should not be nearly half a gig on an idle system...(I know I should have specified) regardless of how much RAM you have, unless you're silly enough to run dxdiag while you have a bunch of programs open.

[Chalenge]

Your understanding of the paging file system is imperfect at best. The guys that wrote the operating system will say exactly the opposite of what you suggest. The setup I have is optimum and the paging file will not ever 'fillup' as you say.

This from MS:

Most users without experience or knowledge of the OS should allow Windows to configure settings automatically. If you dont want Windows to do this for you then you have the follwing options:

Move the page file to a different volume if you have more than one.

If you have more than one voume you can have more than one page file.

For any page file you can choose between System Managed and Custom Size.

If you choose Custom Size you can specify an initial size and a maximum size/

You can remove a paging file from a volume by selecting the volume and choosing No Paging File. (You can get rid of all paging files this way although doing so is not recommended even on systems with a lot of RAM).

If you have more than one physical disk then moving the page file to a fast drive that doesnt contain your Windows system files is a good idea. Using multiple page files split over two or more physical disks is an even better idea because your disk controller can process multiple requests to read or write data concurrently. Dont make the mistake of creating more than a single page file on a disk that contains multiple volumes on a single physicl disk. This will slow down your computer as the head of the disk is required to do more work in accessing files from different portions of the same drive.'

The only questionable thing I am doing is the using the same initial size and maximum size which is not required in Vista or XP.

[sethipus]

Guys, I recently had to deal with the AMD Duel Core problem as well.

Before my reinstallation a few months ago of Windows XP, I had installed the AMD dual optimizer patch, and it had not  fixed the spinning clipboard problem.  I still had to run the game in Win98 compat mode.

I read, on this forum, the comments that the latest patch had fixed the code so that the AMD dual optimizer patch (which I no longer have on my system) was not necessary.  I attempted to run the game with compat mode turned off, and I got the spinning clipboard and crash.

I decided to call up Skuzzy and see what he could do to help.  I thought I'd better get my ducks in a row before calling him, so I thought about what I could do to update my machine to the latest and greatest drivers and whatnot, so he wouldn't have to bother asking me about that.

Long story short, I updated my botherboard bios, and after that, I turned compat mode off to test it, and it worked.  I've since played the game probably 8-10 hours with no problems.  Not only that, but since the game is finally able to take full advantage of my dual-core processor, it's running more smoothly than ever.  I was able to jack the new display settings back up and still have the framerate pegged at 60hz.

I've been running an AMD AthlonX2 4400 on an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard.  If anyone else is running this motherboard, consider updating your bios to the latest and greatest and see if that helps the spinning clipboard problem.

[gyrene81]

Your understanding of the paging file system is imperfect at best. The guys that wrote the operating system will say exactly the opposite of what you suggest. The setup I have is optimum and the paging file will not ever 'fillup' as you say.

Actually Chalange my understanding of the paging file is quite good...I deal with multiple systems that require paging file systems 2.5 times the memory minimum.

As for WindowsXP, if you notice the default paging file sizes upon initial installation is approximately 1.5 times the amount of physical memory...that's what the OS was programmed to determine as the "optimal" paging file size. A typical Windows XP install does not use nearly 50% of the alloted paging file when idle (no open programs)...if it has an adequate amount of RAM, it shouldn't even come close since the RAM is the primary used memory space (or should be if everything is running properly)...and manually setting a massive paging file or multiple paging files does not detract from the fact that when a Windows XP system is idle it should not be using nearly half a gigabyte of paging file.

Fact is...and this is according to Microsoft...if a system has enough memory installed a default paging file size should be more than adequate for Windows XP to run efficiently enough for most purposes...when you get into 64bit operating systems and enterprise level applications...then the story changes because of the memory resident processes being used by the operating system as well as the applications the system is hosting...the paging file gets used heavily and in great quantity although too many page ins/outs is a slight problem that needs to be addressed before it gets worse.

Now you might want to run a 50GB paging file on your system, even have it on a different drive and have a large amount of it being used...but someone with only 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM running Windows XP 32 bit...doesn't need the massive paging file and if the idle system usage is nearly half a gigabyte...it is very likely there is a problem.

[TequilaChaser]

sorry if this is a hijack: but in regards to pagefile sizes

here is mine on my work WinXPpro partition ( in which I do alot of mathmatical calculations, auditing software, along with Auotcad MEP and Load Calculating software that most times has 5 to 8 programs running simultaneously )

Time of this report: 8/23/2009, 01:03:36
       Machine name: FEARLESSONE_WORK
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/20/08 Ver: 08.00.14
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6400+,  MMX,  3DNow (2 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
             Memory: 3328MB RAM
          Page File: 281MB used, 7873MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

my pagefile is set to min: 7873MB     max: 7873MB      ( my WinXP pro gaming/fun partition is set nearly identical as well, and I have never had any problems what so ever, that I can recall.... dating back to windows 98se I ran it at  4096MB on both Min/Max )


I guess we all have differing requirements in as much as what type of work we do on our PC's.......

[Chalenge]

Now you might want to run a 50GB paging file on your system, even have it on a different drive and have a large amount of it being used...but someone with only 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM running Windows XP 32 bit...doesn't need the massive paging file and if the idle system usage is nearly half a gigabyte...it is very likely there is a problem.

Someone with 1 gig of RAM should not have a page file much larger than 3 GB but the fact is I have a lot more than 1 gig of RAM. Microsoft is also talking about office applications. One of the hardest working apps there is would be this game or FSX which will use the system to its limits which is why on systems that play AH a default paging system is inadequate. Certainly in a game like FSX a default paging file will not get the job done.

My suggestion is the same as MS on this. Initial should be set to 1.5 times the amount of RAM and maximum set for 3 times RAM. I set my initial and maximum the same because I dont want the page file size to change. Resources and background processes will not change because of the page file size which is what I thought you were trying to say.

[gyrene81]

LOL...TC I like the name of your system:

Machine name: FEARLESSONE_WORK

 

Yeah Chalange and TC...my initial post regarded paging file usage not the min/max size of the paging file. Even TC's paging file usage is less than Horble's (TC Page File: 281MB used, 7873MB available) vs (Horble Page File: 462MB used, 2507MB available). My fault for not stating it properly.