Topic: Advice to make OP run on WinXP machine (Read 11516 times)

RingWraith 413 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 19, 2003, 10:42:37 pm »

Do you have the bios assigning your IRQ's or WinXP? Try letting the bios assign IRQ's and see if that helps you.

DIF_Wraith 413

Rogue · « **Reply #21 on:** September 20, 2003, 07:12:42 am »

Ringwraith, That's a great trick that my dad tipped me off to. I decided it was in my best interest to pull the sound card and use the onboard resources for audio. Thus far all is well. Except for how to tame the XP pagefile... which I know little about on this operating system. There has got to be a better way than unloading programs. Or, is the simple truth the fact I am going to have to up the RAM from 1/2 gig to a more friendly 1 gig?

RingWraith 413 · « **Reply #22 on:** September 21, 2003, 07:01:28 am »

512 of RAM should be plenty. I would run MSConfig and Services.MSC and use these to programs to keep non-essential programs from starting up. Especially "messenger", the MS built-in program, not MSN messenger. Those pop-up's will kill your online gaming experience. Try going to some of the computer websites for info on setting the pagefile.

DIF_Wraith 413

Rogue · « **Reply #23 on:** September 21, 2003, 09:12:20 am »

Hmmm, I'll look into that. MSconfig I knew about but the services is something I'll have to spend some time understanding.

I have been able to get the game to run without hanging the system but the sound is jitter ridden. I really shouldn't be as the on board sound system (ACL650) is designed to be easy on resources and bandwidth. I have to lay the fault sqarely on MSI's doorstep. One should be able to count on the board drivers to be properly tested which certainly wasn't the case here. I still can't make up my mind whether to reject this mother board or let the drivers evolve into something that works up to expectations. This has not been a lot of fun.

RazalYllib · « **Reply #24 on:** September 21, 2003, 09:40:21 am »

another tip..

make pagefile min and max values the same.
also pagefile size should be 1.5 x the amount of ram u have

Toasty0 · « **Reply #25 on:** September 21, 2003, 03:57:49 pm »

Quote:

Hmmm, I'll look into that. MSconfig I knew about but the services is something I'll have to spend some time understanding.

I have been able to get the game to run without hanging the system but the sound is jitter ridden. I really shouldn't be as the on board sound system (ACL650) is designed to be easy on resources and bandwidth. I have to lay the fault sqarely on MSI's doorstep. One should be able to count on the board drivers to be properly tested which certainly wasn't the case here. I still can't make up my mind whether to reject this mother board or let the drivers evolve into something that works up to expectations. This has not been a lot of fun.

I don't remember if I asked you this already or not, but is this an upgrade from ME?

Rogue · « **Reply #26 on:** September 21, 2003, 05:02:02 pm »

Na, it is an OEM disc for XP pro with service pack1 included. I don't have the diagnostic skills or software to know what the root cause is but can make an educated guess. The K7N2 delta L is infamous for the experience of being supplied with chipset drivers that were not really tested. What would you think of a DirectX9.0b dialog that tells you that you don't have hardware buffers for sound? And then you instal the sound system drivers from the chipset makers site (Realtek) and they then become enabled?

This computer was a gift from my father and will be treated with the due respect it deserves. But it has been a total headache. The specifications for the motherboard system looks so nice and is based on the NVIDEA nforce2 system. Which totaly outclasses what I have. Between the supplied drivers and perhaps the way the components integrate has insured some pretty odd behavior. If I can get the sound system to behave then all will be well. And, get this, disabling the sound chipset and installing a seperate sound card is marginaly worse... ah nuts... Not to mention the time invested.

RingWraith 413 · « **Reply #27 on:** September 22, 2003, 12:20:20 am »

Rogue, here's a site I found concerning tweaking WinXP. Some good info here.
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=324

DIF_Wraith 413

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #28 on:** September 22, 2003, 02:14:43 pm »

After visiting the alternate download page listed in the forum link my sound card is working find.

No stutters and the static crackling noise have dissapeared.

Rogue · « **Reply #29 on:** September 22, 2003, 05:46:50 pm »

Really? That's useful to know. You say you went with a sound card or did you enable the sound chipset? What graphics card are you using? Memory? I've read that the K7N2 is really picky about the RAM. The Realtek drivers havn't solved it for me. I wonder if I disabled DMA and forgot about it...

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #30 on:** September 23, 2003, 08:35:49 am »

I am using the sound card built onto the motherboard(chipset)

My video card is a Nvidia 5600 with 256 meg

memory is 2100 ddr 512 meg - 1 256 card and 2 128 cards

Is that any help?

I was having stuttering sound and music while playing Anarchy Online. Also occasionally would get lots
of static sounds. Almost like a radio that was slightly off station.

I added the new drivers and these problems stopped occuring.

I intend to keep an eye(or at the very least an ear) on it. But for now the
problem seems to be solved.

I am a man with little patience though, if it resurfaces, I'll go get an SB Audiology(? spelling)
and disable the on board sound card.

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #31 on:** September 23, 2003, 08:42:35 am »

Almost forgot, there are a couple of links for getting the driver.

The first one didn't work, sound card still kep messing up.

This one however

http://www.pc-infozone.de/tiki-index.php

was the one that seems to have fixed it.

Look under the RealTek section

and download the one titled

WDM V 3.48 Win 98GOLD/98SE/ME/2K/XP

it will download a self installing driver file

run the exe

after that, it seemed to be fine.

Rogue · « **Reply #32 on:** September 23, 2003, 04:09:33 pm »

Thank you for the information.

I'm going to give it another shot this evening and see how it goes. I forgot to ask about the version of DirectX you are using and if you have run Starfleet Command OP or EAW yet. If I can get this system happy with everything I'll certainly be a happy boy.

My father has completely different values for a computer than I do. There are two things he delights in. The first is finding a parking spot within spitting distance of the door. The other is a computer that boots in no time flat. It doesn't matter if it is stable or not but if that sucker boots in 2.7 seconds he giggles like a little girl.

"Is that fast enough for ya, buddy?" says he.

The reason he went MSI is for their reputation for overclocking. Hence, they make the best consumer mother boards under the sun. God, I love the man. He is an endless source of amusement. Another thing he does is pound the last key of any keyboard entry he makes. I am amazed that he hasn't driven the 'enter' key into the board yet. BAM!

Rogue · « **Reply #33 on:** September 23, 2003, 08:24:05 pm »

Ah frig... so much for that. I just plain don't know here. The thing that sticks out as different between you and I is that video card. You have the Nvidea and I have the ATI.

At this point it will take components to troubleshoot. I'm going to take a break from it for a while and consider rebuilding the system from the ground up. I have a lot of components to work from and will concentrate on the bandwidth between the RAM and the processor. I don't have many requirements for a computer but it is required to run SFC. The one thing I can't get this one to do. Darn it!

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #34 on:** September 25, 2003, 08:42:08 am »

I am running Direct X 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)

using windows xp pro with all the latest patches applied.

Not sure if thats of any help or not.

Krenn

System specs

Athalon XP 1800+
MSI K7N2 Delta L
Nvidia 5600 w/256 meg
512 Meg 2100 DDR
Seagate 40 gig HD
Maxtor 20 gig HD
52X Samsung CD drive
8X Hitachi DVD drive

Other devices(sound card, ethernet, ect...) are running off the mother board.

I used the drivers that I mentioned to run the sound card. Did a fresh install of OP, then applied the patch before I ever ran the game.

Then I set the display settings to their hightest and run several single player missions. Everything worked great.

No sound stuttering or anything like that.

Let me know if there is anything else I can tell you.

...Now, if I can just find a way to bring down this Fed battleship with an XFF...

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #35 on:** September 25, 2003, 08:43:10 am »

oh, forgot to see what revision the motherboard is.

I'll check that tonight.

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #37 on:** September 25, 2003, 03:25:52 pm »

No trouble at all, just wish I could be more help.

The only tests I made were with the skirmish missions.

I will try to single player campaigns to see if there is a difference
then I'll let you know.

Can't imagine why there would be, but I'll give it a shot.

BTW Do you have any trouble with your CPU temp sensor?

Mine is reading at 72 C. But when I put my finger on the CPU
its not even warm. Just curious if the CPU sensor is on the motherboard
or if its using the chips sensor. Which ever one it is, its reading incorrectly.

Just wondering if you were having the same trouble or not.

peace

Krenn

Rogue · « **Reply #38 on:** September 25, 2003, 04:14:36 pm »

You have provided invaluable information. I certainly have more to go on than I did before.

As for as the temp sensor... I have no knowledge of the problem. I did remember reading about the issue on the MSI forums for misreadings with the utiliy that is provided. But that's all I can tell you. Everything works on the K7N2 - WinXP system (I'm on my old pooter at the moment) except, of all things, OP. Ah well... it's hard to garner any sympathy for a single game. But, it's the only game I really care about.

For what it is worth... the system hasn't cost me dime one thus far. If, for a modest investment, I can smooth out this problem then I will still be fortunate. Except for the year it has taken off of my life... kidding, really.

Again, thank you greatly for the information you provided. I knew I was at the point where it would take components to troubleshoot and what you have told me gets me there in part.

Peace.

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RingWraith 413

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Captain Krenn

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Topic: Advice to make OP run on WinXP machine (Read 11516 times)