Problems with UT

[AceT]

I'm having *major* problems with UT.

Everytime I play the game I get random freezes - my PC comes to a standstill and only a soft result will recover.

I've tried downloading the latest bios update, drivers and UT update but no luck!

If I try to play the game in software rendered mode then all seems well (I played three levels without any problems - I barely last one in D3D mode).

Any ideas anyone?

My PC is -

Celeron 400 clocked to 500 (I've tried turning this back to 400 but no change)
192mb PC100 ram
Matrox G400 Dualhead 32mb
Windows 98SE
DirectX 7.0 (from off UT cd - dxdiag shows no problems)

I want to run the game in 1024x780 @ 32bit colour but at this stage *any* D3D mode would be good!!!

None of my other games have should this problem - is it the Matrox or the game? Other people seem to have no problems so I'm not sure.

I've tried a clean reinstall but no joy.

Thanks in advance.

PS. In my 'log' for the game I have the following message -
Warning: D3D Driver: VidMem Disposition: 135 1

Is this connected? Any ideas what it means?

[Groove Diz]

hmm DX 7.0?

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My sys:
MotherB (Asus)
P3 450mhz (plain)
Mga G200 16mb @ 110mhz
with Homemade Superhigh
Rpm cooler...
pioneerDvD 36/6x
128mb Pc100 Mhz
16,5Gb Seagate (UDma)
Yamaha S90
& awe64
Win98

[AceT]

I believe that DirectX 7 is supplied with the UK version of URT (but I may be wrong). I haven't checked what version of DirectX is intalled now (version 6 comes with my copy of Windows and Unreal updates it, so I have assumed that it is 7).

Interestingly... last night I tried running the game in 800x600 @ 16bit colour and it seemed to work fine. I played through four levels with no problems.

This is after a fresh install of Windows, a fresh install of UT (cd1 and cd2) and the UT patch 4.02.

However before I tried this setting I again tried 1024x760 @ 32bit colour and it crashed again... same as before.

Could it be that I am having problems running the game in 32 bit colour? It so, why are other people able to do it?

Could it be a problem with some of the graphic effects at 32 bit colour? Can I try turning these off (and if so how)?

Thanks.

[merchant2112]

havve you tryed for eing 1x agp? i was gettinhg random lockups with any 3d app that opengl and d3d untill i forced 1x agp and rebooted. (i have noticed no preformance hit doing this.) playing ut 1024x768 32bit color with large texture addon disk loaded dont know if it is useimng the textruesx but it sure dose look nice.))

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its here, it's together and all the bugs are worked out.
msi 6167 mobo k7 500 wk41 now at 650.(not overclocked its a real 650 they underclcoked.) 256 meg ram ,addtronics case w 250watt sp power supply, matrox g400, maxtor diammax 2500+ 10gig hd,10x aopen slot dvd, 3com 10/100 nic and 56k ext modem, xitel p storm sound card. lots of controlers joystick throttle rudder raceing wheel, and 19in monitor,microsoft inteli mouse explorer(5 buttons). klip promedia v2-400 speakers.

noel

[AceT]

I haven't tried playing with the AGP setting on my Aopen motherboard - I think it is set to the 'auto' setting.

I will try this... sounds good to me!! I think that you can do it easilly in the bios.

As I said originally... this is the first problem of it's sort I have ever had with my current PC set-up (and I've been using it for six months).

[Scytale]

Merchant - The hires 3DTC textures are 100% useless, no matter the videocard. These were meant for S3 cards only, but S3 doesn't support the compressed textures anymore. Epic/GT have been wasting a lot of money on that one. (And you are wasting a lot of HDD space)

AceT - As for the UT crashing: Before forcing AGP1X (in the registry), make sure the card is correctly seated in the AGP slot. And in BIOS, try a AGP/CPU clock ratio of 2/3. Search the Matrox Hardware forum for more threads on the subject.

[AceT]

Thanks for the reply.

It's interesting what you say about the textures... it makes the game even more impressive when you now consider that what we are seeing is the standard for D3D games in 32bit colour (at least... when I can run it!! ).

If the card wasn't seated properly wouldn't I experience random crashes all of the time? I will pull the machine apart and check... thanks for the suggestion.

As for the AGP ratio... this has always kinda stumped me. What does this do in relation to my Celeron 400 clocked to 500? I'm going to check the other forums but a summary would be useful if you wouldn't mind.

Again... thanks to all who have posted.

[Snake-Eyes]

Some folks have found that they get weird errors (inconsistently) if the card isn't seated correctly into the AGP slot. This is particularly a problem with Abit motherboards, although owners of other brands have had it happen, and I, using 2 different Abits, have not). So it's worth checking out, even if there isn't a problem there.

The AGP bus runs at 66Mhz by design (and default). It is calculated in relation to the front side bus speed of the motherboard (from here on, I'll refer to it by the acronym- FSB). If the FSB speed is set to 66Mhz, which is usually the case for most Celeron processors in non-o/c trim, then the AGP bus has a 1/1 (1/1 * 66 FSB = 66 Mhz AGP) relationship to the FSB setting. When the FSB is set to 100Mhz (for P2 / P3 processors, and o/c Celerons), the normal setting for this AGP "multiplier" is 2/3 (2/3 * 100 FSB = 66Mhz AGP).

When you overclocked your celeron to get to 500Mhz, you raised the FSB setting from 66Mhz to 83 Mhz. Without changing the AGP multiplier, the AGP bus is now running at 83Mhz, too (1/1 relationship). This can cause problems for some video cards. Others have no probs with these nonstandard AGP speed settings.

By changing the AGP multiplier from 1/1 to 2/3 (2/3 * 83 FSB = 55Mhz), we'll be slightly underclocking the AGP bus. This will eliminate another potential source of problems. If this doesn't help, you can always restore the AGP multiplier to 1/1.

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Ace

[AceT]

Excellent... thanks!

Looks like this is a good way to go as I definately hae not changed the AGP ratio since overclocking.

It may even make more sense - I originally overclocked a Celeron 300 to 400 and then was offered a new and unwanted (and very cheap) Celeron 400, which I then overclocked to 500.

Looks like I am pushing the boundary somewhat on my Aopen board.

I'll try it and let you know what happens.

I have also sent an email to Epic and I'm waiting for a reply.

Thanks again!!!

[AceT]

Looks like the problem is fixed!!!

I reseated the G400 and everything is running great - I played for 25 minuites with no problems, running at 1024x760 @ 32 bit colour.

I didn't need to change the AGP ratio from 'auto' (1:1)... not yet anyway!

Thanks to all involved... great support and response.

[Snake-Eyes]

Glad to here it, and I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of the best video card out there!

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Ace

[AceT]

Great card... great game!

However... I'm now having problems with Half Life - Opposing Force!

I've posted a new thread.

Thanks to all.

[WayneHu]

My solution to make AGP 2x stable is to attach a good fan on the heat-sink, and keep the air-flow pass through G400's heat-sink. This fan is SunOn 5v, ball bearing, has enough air-flow. The reason I choose it is it produces less heat than 12v fan, which might result in worse condition... (You also had better not let the part of fan's motor sit on the upper position of heat-sink's center... because the highest temperature of the heat-sink is there.)

If I don't do so, my G400 even hangs in 2D mode at 66 MHz with AGP 2x...

Anyway, this is just my condition. I think most unstable problems of other G400s are not the same...


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Celeron 300P@558/2.0v, P3B-F, G400DH/32MB

[AceT]

Interesting comment about the fan.

When I first got my G400 I considered putting a fan on the heatsink - I considered that if it was good enough for the Max then it would be good enough for the standard!

I may give it a try - a bit of DIY in the ol' case can be fun!

Thanks for the continued interest.