Janes USAF and Matrox G400Max

[Foo Barr]

Boy, after reading some of the responses on this BB, this must be the place.

I have had quite a problem with getting my 1 week old computer to run Janes USAF. Most of the time it locks up and usually there is some stuttering of the frame rate. I had Falcon 4.0 running for the first two days without a problem, but Janes USAF is another story. I've tried all the read-me files and printed guides, and even the online stuff but no such luck.

Here's what I have:

Axis Orion CXE system:
Intel PIIIEB 533 CPU 256K CACHE
Axis S-6VBA P3 VIA APOLLO PRO 133 ATX AG
128MB 16x64 PC133 SDRAM DIMM
Matrox Millennium G400MAX dual head
Diamond Monster Sound MX300
Lucent 56K v.90 PCI voice fax modem
IBM deskstar 18.0GB 7200RPM UIDE/66 HD
Pioneer 10x DVD-ROM IDE/ATAPI Drive
Windows 98, Office 97, Zip 100 external USB, Norton System Works

After installing the program the first time on my computer I selected 'Fly Now' and it initialized in what appeared to be an accelerated turbo mode. I restarted the game with the 'USAF' icon and was never able to successfully load a training mission without having the computer lock up continuously. Over the course of several days of trouble shooting I have had no improvement. After the 5th lockup I started to keep notes on how I was tweaking my system and here they are in abbreviated format for your reference:
Multiple (about 5) lockups with USAF
- ran Norton Windoctor to check with Windows conflicts, repaired but did not write down specific problems
Turned off Matrox Help Desk in system tray
- ran 'Fly Now' for 15 minutes but locked up after exiting to Setup
Turned off all accessories in system tray (Norton, Matrox video help desk, MS Office task bar)
- locked up shortly after booting A-10 quick mission
Ran DirectX diagnostic tool from USAF CD
- Display driver passed but uncertified
- Error with Diamond Multimedia file AU30WAVE.VXD
- joystick not certified
- program suggest to reinstall DirectX
-unable to reinstall DX, program says I have a newer version
Reviewed USAF Help file
-Turned down Advanced Graphic Setting in System Properties
-ran 'Fly Now' for 10-15 minutes but locked up every time after exiting to Setup and adjusting display
-tried all 4 settings for graphics and only ran in the lowest one, but it was painfully slow
Uninstall/reinstall of USAF
-switched to 256 color & 800x600 video
- ran 'fly now' for 15 minutes but lost sound after missile explosion, visuals seem too fast and sensitive
Downloaded latest video and audio drivers
- Played 'fly now' for 30 minutes
Noticed good video quality but occasional visual stutter while the program was producing speech audio
- Played several more time but usually locked up while in setup and while optimizing video size and refresh rates
- Checked DirectX diagnostics tool with new drivers but still got the same warning messages
Downloaded USAF patch
- locked up in permission window
- Flew in 'fly now' but locked up after exiting
Turned off Direct Sound Hardware Accelerator
Uninstalled voice command software
Found new DirectX diagnostic tool on my hard drive and determined that I had DirectX 7.0
-Checked MS Direct X page and downloaded and installed 7.0a
- after installation of DirectX 7.0a I ran Norton Windoctor and found an invalid ActiveX/Com problem noted as:
The key, 'CLSID/{92187326-72B4-11d0-A1AC-0000F8026977}\InprocHandler32," refers to a missing file, 'C:WINDOWS\SYSTEM\gchand.dll"
- I used Norton Windoctor to repair the file but USAF continued to lock up
Reinstalled DirectX 7.0a again and ran USAF without using Norton Windoctor to fix the above mentioned error.
- used the DirectX 7.0 diagnostic tool and all drivers passed and no problems were noted
- The program still continued to lock up
Overall I have come to the following conclusions after near 20+ system lockups while running USAF on my brand new computer:
1) Either USAF doesn't like my computer or my computer doesn't like USAF (I have the ability to state the obvious)
2) I can run in 'Fly Now' but not in any permission setup mode from the USAF icon
It will usually lock while either building the map or immediately after loading the mission but before launching it.
3) Norton Windoctor detect the missing gchand.dll file but DirectX Diagnostic tool seems to pass without it.
4) graphic resolution is good but the program stutters while producing speech audio.

Well, what can you advise me? From what I have seen of the program I'd very much like to make it run but I'm tired of having my computer freeze as some point of running the application. As for now it has been retired to my bottom drawer. I have loaded several other programs on my system and USAF is the only one making it cough. I have a suspicion that it might be the video drivers. What would be your suggestion for a different video card if it comes to that? What about the missing dll file?
I'd appreciate any help you may provide

Thanks

[paulcs]

Isn't this the Jane's sim that the manufacturer forgot to test on the G400, and then they listed it on the box as recommended hardware?

You're not the only one having problems with this game. Run a search on the Gaming Forum for USAF. There was a long thread about this not too long ago.

Check the manufacturer's website for a patch.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Uni]

Actually that game would be Janes F/A-18. They recommend a G400 on the box, but unfortunately never tested it with the actual card. Turns out the G400 runs like crap on Janes F/A-18, with significant frame rate drops. Can it be fixed in a patch? I'm really not quite sure. I haven't tried USAF with the G400 but I wouldn't be surprised if I ran like F/A-18. They use similar engines right?

Uni

[paulcs]

These two links might interest you. The first announces a patch. The second is a discussion about problems with USAF.
http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002619.html
http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002582.html

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Foo Barr]

Well I checked and I do have the latest BIOS 5.11-22. I guess I could try uninstalling the 5.41 video driver, do a Norton System sweep and reinstall 5.41 again. I had been turning off everything in the system tray except Explore and Systray. I'll try leaving Pdesk on But I think I read somewhere that video programs running in the background can cause conflicts.

I just did a seach of all the related USAF stuff and now I need to know how to check the IRQs for conflicts, and can Norton do this?

As a side I note I've read several user profiles on people with overclocked hardware. How do you do this and what are some of the conflicts.

Thanks



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Foo

[Kraigman]

You also mention an error with your A3D drivers...you definitely should pursue that...

[Scout255]

Just a question, but how do you check your bios version, and how do you upgrade it?

[Punchdog1]

Damn, you sure did your homework!
First, check to see if you have the newest BIOS for your card. Then re-install the 5.41 drivers (haven't tried the 5.5 yet, I've seen no real reason to upgrade just yet). Make sure you use the Matrox un-install util to remove the existing drivers first. This will clean up your registry of any extraneous entries. That solved some of the problems I was having.

The next biggest issue with USAF is TSR's. These programs (terminate and stay resident) wreak havoc with USAF! At your desktop, do the old 3 finger salute one time to bring up the "close program" window. The only things you should have running are: explorer, systray, and pdesk. Once I got rid of all the other unnecessary crap that was running, the game ran awesome!!

After doing all of the above, I now get about 30 FPS @ 1280 X 1024 X 32!!!

My system:
Asus P3-B
P3 @632 MHz (peltier cooler)
256 Megs HSDRAM
Matrox G400 Max
Adaptec 2940 U2W SCSI adapter
Montego 2 Home Studio (A3D-2)
Plextor SCSI 40X CD-ROM
Yamaha SCSI 4 X 4 X 6 CDRW
Pioneer SCSI DVD
SCSI Zip
21" Sony F500 (woohoo!)

Hope this helps...

...good luck.

Punchdog.

[Bohrn]

You stated in your essay that sometimes it locks up after a few minuts of play. This suggests a heat problem to me. Try running it with your case off. If this cures it,
then you need to pursue a heat related problem. If not, I would attack it at the sound card level.
Also, you can try to remove one piece of hardware(and it's realated drivers) until you find the culprit. For pieces like the motherboard, processor and ram, replace them with known good ones. And this doesn't mean just a new one. Sometimes new ones are bad too. Also, try a piece of your stuff one at a time in a machine that has been working for a while. When you find one that crashes his machine, then restore his and try it again, just to make sure. This sort of stuff does take a bit, but you seem thourough, so you will get it!

Best of luck.

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AsusP2B ,iCeleron525(7x75), 128megs PC100, G40032megSH, Yamaha PCI sound, 2 small HD's, 42X Sony CDrom and 98SE w/shutdown patch, PD 5.41 w/Turbo MCD and beta ICD