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Help and Support Forums => Technical Support => Topic started by: Ouaibe on July 23, 2005, 06:10:30 PM

Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 23, 2005, 06:10:30 PM
Hello everyone.

I've just bought a new computer to replace my old one. I've reinstalled everything, AHII as well.
At the first run it start to 'cache' skins then stop and freeze soon after the beginning of the cache process (10-20secs).
So frozen that I need to hard reboot. Every other games i've tried worked flawlessly : Battlefield 2, Nexus, WOW, IL2 FB...

My comp. for reference :
Athlon 4800+
2x512Mo of corsair 3200XLPT (memtest86 test pass)
7800 GTX with 77.72 (latest officials)
Audigy 2
400Go seagate 7200.8 SATA
Windows XP SP2 full patch

Any ideas ?
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 23, 2005, 10:18:02 PM
Lots actually.  Direct X diagnostic would help, but also a listing of your video card settings.  Also if you have a firewall up, make sure its not squeezing off your connection?  

Could be nothing, it could have just been a bad download too.  It happens.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 24, 2005, 03:25:44 PM
Hello Starsofafrica.

The settings are defaults (no AA or AF, everything at default). No fuzzy software firewall, only a hardware routeur for 2 years now.
I can post directX diag but i'm not sure it will help ever. Let me now if you absolutly need it.

Now the problem has moved to another point, i've deleted the cache directory and then i can go to the end of the cache making and now the game freeze just after the completion of it.

Skuzzy, any known problems with the 77.72 nvidia drivers or 7800 GTX ? Maybe two cores ?

Thks for the help StarofAfrica!
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 24, 2005, 08:53:20 PM
Overlag is using the same card you are, and I'm pretty sure he said he's using that driver as well.  If deleting the cache helped, but it's still locking, you may have corrupted files in what's already on your comp.  I'd delete EVERYTHING in the HTC folder, and just start over.  If it still hangs up, you can more than likely rule out the download.  Make sure your A/V is off too, downloads and setups can be adversely affected by it.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 26, 2005, 02:55:43 AM
No luck :( Re-download-it on two different harddrives, isntalled it on two different harddrives.
Tryied it on XP 32 and XP 64 (i have both installed).
I've also reinstalled XP 32 (SP2) and installed it before applying any custom softwares (like AV, IM...), still no luck.

I freeze ever on the cache making or just after it on the menu.

I've let memtest86 run over a night (for 8 hours), 28 pass without errors.
CPU not overclocked, GPU not overclocked (why bother ?!).
CPU at 38°C at idle, 52° C with 2 prime95 running for 1 hour.

I can't see where i missed something :(
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: doc1kelley on July 26, 2005, 11:10:18 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Ouaibe
No luck :( Re-download-it on two different harddrives, isntalled it on two different harddrives.
Tryied it on XP 32 and XP 64 (i have both installed).
I've also reinstalled XP 32 (SP2) and installed it before applying any custom softwares (like AV, IM...), still no luck.

I freeze ever on the cache making or just after it on the menu.

I've let memtest86 run over a night (for 8 hours), 28 pass without errors.
CPU not overclocked, GPU not overclocked (why bother ?!).
CPU at 38°C at idle, 52° C with 2 prime95 running for 1 hour.

I can't see where i missed something :(


Read Scuzzy's Sticky posts about what NOT to have running.  I noticed AV and IM and you just have to and I stress HAVE to have a minimum amount of stuff running in the background when playing AH.  Another thing about AMD's and Audigy sound cards is from my experience they work fine if you only run the basic drivers and not all the bells and whistle software.  Actually I dropped my audigy and went back to a basic SB live and haven't suffered a loss of vox for about a month now.  You do really need to post a copy of your direct X information and I would definately knock down your hardware acceleration down a notch in direct X.  Another thing that would be great is a listing of applications that you are currently running in the background while running AH.  You can see this by looking in the task manager (Ctrl, Alt, Del).

Hope this helps you out.

All the Best...
Jay
awDoc1
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: SirLoin on July 26, 2005, 11:50:55 AM
He is having the exact same problem as i have posted...Gonna reinstall video drivers see what happens.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 26, 2005, 12:09:11 PM
Let us know what happens.  Be interesting to see if Nvidia has a new bug in their latest driver.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: SirLoin on July 26, 2005, 12:18:38 PM
I reloaded my ATI drivers(latest) and now all is fine..:D

I also deleted about 300 films from the film folder.

I did both at once,not sure what fixed it but hope that helps.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: MrDick on July 26, 2005, 08:17:12 PM
I have the exact / similar problems.

I just upgraded to a 4600+ and 7800GTX

I also performed a fresh install of XP Pro.

I get a hard lock when the plane cache is generating.

I also get a neato effect that I have *never* seen.  The intial screen alternates between normal and "dim".  When the screen is "dim" the map pad "flips" a page.  It looks like a page is flipping around the binding ring at the top left corner of the pad!!??

I am using the 6.66 system drivers, and 77.72 video driver, audigy 2 latest divers, etc..

NB: I have been playing AH since beta...
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: MrDick on July 26, 2005, 08:19:21 PM
Oh, I have a minimal set of services running and I have disabled DEP, firewall, virus protection, etc...
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: AmRaaM on July 26, 2005, 10:44:22 PM
set everything to minimum and then increase detail , distance and texture incrementally till you find a happy medium.
use 1200x9 res.

stay above 30fps in low furballs and smoke.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 27, 2005, 04:50:48 AM
Quote
I also get a neato effect that I have *never* seen. The intial screen alternates between normal and "dim". When the screen is "dim" the map pad "flips" a page. It looks like a page is flipping around the binding ring at the top left corner of the pad!!??


Exactly what i have!!!

It seems AHII has a bug...

I also play AH since december 1999.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 27, 2005, 12:08:56 PM
Sounds like a driver issue to me.  Try one of the other drivers and see if you still have a problem.  The 71.82 driver wasnt bad.  I had some stutter issues with it, but I have a much older video card.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 27, 2005, 02:45:55 PM
I just tried 77.76 and 80.20 with no luck. Same problem.

I can't go under 77.72, my video card isn't supported below that revision.

I've also tried the AH viewer and it freezed just after the loading of the 3d engine...

AHII has clearly a big BUG with this setup as MrDik with almost the same config as mine has exactly the same problem.

Any word from the official Team ? It would be great to pay for something that works...
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 27, 2005, 02:54:48 PM
DxDiag (http://jbsimonnet.free.fr/DxDiag.zip)
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: straffo on July 27, 2005, 03:00:16 PM
Quote
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/27/2005, 21:49:33
       Machine name: AKTARUS
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
           Language: French (Regional Setting: French)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+,  MMX,  3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
             Memory: 1024MB RAM
          Page File: 313MB used, 2144MB 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


Moi je dis c'est une conspiration :D
En plus un nom à la Actarus ... tu force ton destin :p

More seriously try to put an old video card to be sure it come from the video.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 27, 2005, 03:05:43 PM
Il manquerai plus que ca Straffo ! Serieusement avec XP 64 bits version USA ca fait la meme chose ! :p

Heuuu, l'ancienne c'est une agp, ca va etre dur de la rentrée dans un port PCI-Express...

The old one was AGP driven. It will be hard to put it on a PCI-Express slot.

I won't do this test!

I just realise that i forgot to mention the motherboard :

Asus A8N SLI Premium Bios 1005 (latest official)
Nforce 4 SLI chipset.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: MrDick on July 27, 2005, 05:27:25 PM
I have the A8N-SLI too.

DxDiag reports no problems.

Perhaps I will try a beta driver.

I should also note that this set up works under win2k, but I was forced to go XP Pro for other reasons.

*ALL*, and I mean *ALL* other games work.  UT2004, Doom3, Half-life2, etc...  These games are much more fiendish on the system too (albeit, a little more efficient with resources ;)

-M
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 27, 2005, 06:33:16 PM
Ouaibe, did you do a complete  uninstall of each driver before installing the next one?  You must make sure you clean ALL the old files out on an uninstall.  Driver installations are messy things, they leave extra files lying around all the time.  If you dont do this  you can keep changing drivers all day and it wont help.

MrDick, its all well and good that your computer plays ALL your other games.  But I'll tell you the same thing Atari tech support told me about another game I wont mention.  THIS AINT THOSE GAMES.  No two computers are alike, and no two games are entirely alike unless their coad was written by the same people.  "It plays all my other games fine" doesnt work for any other software or game company, and the same applies here.  As for stressing your system, nothing is going to give your computer more of a workout than a flight sim.  Period.  

You guys have a brand new series of video card.  Nvidia ALWAYS has teething problems with new cards and the drivers.  When the 6600 cards first came out last year, there was loads of trouble with them until the drivers got sorted out.  Heck, its only been in the last 3 or 4 months that really stable drivers for the 6600 and 6800 cards have come out.  It will be the same here.  In the thread in this forum about low frame rates, Overlag said he is using a beta driver for the same card.  You might try that.  Of course no one is going to make any guarantees about beta drivers.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 27, 2005, 07:03:11 PM
StarofAfrica thks for your help ;)

To make things easy for everyone i'm a computer engineer, so i know also some tricks... I'm using Driver Cleaner for a lot of time now...
Beta's and offical's didn't do the trick for me.

So yes, i've tried everything. The thing that point me on a AHII bug is that MrDick has almost exactly the same setup as me and have exactly the same problem. I know appearances aren't good indicator on computers but...

The 7800 is nothing more than a 6800 on steroids...

I'll be glad to know the position of HT on that matter. There are the only ones that can help us now IMHO.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 27, 2005, 08:13:55 PM
These are some of the notes from Nvidia for the current drivers when used on your video card (mostly relating to overclocking)

Quote

Quote:
GeForce 7800 GTX, SLI, Windows XP: When disabling the "overclocking" feature, the GPU performance speeds become artificially low.
The current workaround for this issue is to reboot the PC after disabling overclocking. This restores the default optimal clock settings.



Quote:
GeForce 7800 GTX, SLI, Windows XP: Using the option "Detect Optimal Frequencies" under the 3D Performance setting could result in a system crash.
It is recommended that you use manual overclocking when running SLI. This issue does not occur with SLI disabled or in single GPU mode.



Quote:
GeForce 7800 GTX, SLI, Windows XP: The NVIDIA Control Panel overclocking test fails intermittently at any frequency above the default while in SLI mode.
It is recommended that you use manual overclocking when running SLI. This issue does not occur with SLI disabled or in single GPU mode.


Found several instances of instability in this card on the DriverHeaven forums with the current drivers.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: MrDick on July 27, 2005, 10:06:22 PM
Thanks for the info.  :)

I am running the card at stock speeds: no reason to overclock, and I've outgrown overclocking years and years ago ;)

Update:

I disabled Hardware vertex processing and now I am able to run the game....

However... I would not wish those graphics/performance on anyone...

So I am going to move the Audigy 2 card to another slot and see if that helps.

-M
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: jon on July 27, 2005, 10:52:07 PM
had that problem firewall was doing it.had to block then unblock in mcafee
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: MrDick on July 27, 2005, 11:03:06 PM
Interesting...

however, my firewill is linux (dmz) + hardware firewall, been that way for 5+ years....

I disabled XP firewall, I will check to see if Nvidia firewall is active.

swapped audigy 2 card to other pci slot... no help...

Well I can play 1024x758 512 textures rock sold 60fps (lcd panel here) with no hardware vertex processing.  As soon as I turn it on kablooey!

An annoying thing is every time I play I have to disable it.  It seems to come back on after I disable it grrrrr....

-M
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 28, 2005, 05:00:19 AM
Quote
I disabled Hardware vertex processing and now I am able to run the game....


Interesting find MrDick! i'll have to try that tonight!

So there is a bug... in the 3d engine of AHII or the drivers, i don't know.

Is HT kind enough to look at our problem?

StarAfrica : no overclock... would be stupid with that setup!
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on July 28, 2005, 02:10:09 PM
I agree, I was pointing it out because the one quote shows that if you disable the PROCESS for the interface that controls any custom changes to clock speeds, etc will cause artificially low clock speeds.  You dont need to overclock the card, but you need to make sure the process is running or your card will UNDERCLOCK itself.  At least thats the way I am reading that.  I could be wrong, and this might not even be the problem.  

On the firewall issue, its still something to check.  I run a 3rd party firewall also, but I've noticed that when Windows does an update it will turn the Windows Firewall back on.  Also installing some Microsoft software will cause it to come back on by itself.  I had myself locked out of the internet and my home network for almost a week because I never bothered to check the Windows Firewall.  If I didnt use it, and it was disabled, it couldnt be the problem, was my thought.  Sure enough, when I checked it, it was on.  Embarassing.  Since then whenever I have a problem with the network or anything getting access I check it, and I've found it back on 2 or 3 times.  Very annoying.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Skuzzy on July 28, 2005, 02:16:44 PM
The game is so far removed from the video card hardware, it would be difficult for it to cause this issue.

If it works without hardware vertex processing, then I would say it is a bug in the video driver.  Th eonly reason I say that is due to the hundreds of other hardware combinations out there which are working fine.

You cannot really compare one game to another,  There are too many ways to do the same thing in DirectX.  And it is quite easy for no two games (even if they use the sam game engine) to work the same way as every game has its own unique requirements.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: straffo on July 28, 2005, 04:47:49 PM
Ouaibe check if you have preload in vid mem checked.
if yes try with unchecked.
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 28, 2005, 06:30:08 PM
Unchecking hardware vertex processing did the trick!

Thks MrDick you saved my day.

Skuzzy, i'm sure your right. But maybe an email to Nvidia drivers development teams would be a good idea.
I've got some friends working in the video game industry and they do it quite often (ATI and Nvidia) as it seems there drivers are quite buggy.

Thks for the help everyone.

Ouaibe
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: MrDick on July 28, 2005, 07:40:18 PM
I work in the software industry too and we implement work arounds to bugs every day to get our code to work.

... freakin weblogic and oracle ....

Update:  The PC does not hard lock the game does.  The problem is one cant get the game to close to get back to the desktop, hence a re-boot is the only solution.

-M
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: straffo on July 29, 2005, 09:30:23 AM
Ouiabe lit ça : http://forum.hardware.fr/hardwarefr/Hardware/Topic-Unique-Asus-A8N-Athlon-Socket-NForce-sujet-638355-1.htm
tu y trouvera peut être des infos.


http://www.pcinpact.com/actu/news/ASUS_sexplique_enfin_sur_ses_diverses_triches.htm
Title: First run AHII 2.04 freeze with new computer
Post by: Ouaibe on July 29, 2005, 07:11:01 PM
Merci Strafo. Je connaissais déjà l'esbrouffe Peg Link que je me suis empressé de désactiver dans le bios a l'installation de la machine.

Sinon ca marche bien le dual core... Mais ca fait mal au porte monnai !