HL counterstrike crashes when I use OpenGL and Direct3d

[sdb5013]

Whenever I play Half-life counterstrike, the game loads perfectly fine. And there are no problems when I play on the software driver mode. However, when I switch to Opengl or direct3d, the game will load, but later randomly crash in the middle of gameplay. When the game crashes, it gives me an error window, gives me the option to debug, or close the program. The debug dosen't work, so all i can do it close. There is no specific pattern or method of reproducing this bug.

Here's the specs of my system:

Windows 98 se
AMD Athalon 700 Mhz
256 mb pc100 ram
Asus k7m motherboard
Matrox G400 Max - Driver Version 6.50.008.

IRQ Settings:
0 - system timer
1 - standard 101 keyboard
2 - programmable interrupt controller
3 - com port (com2)
4 - com port (com1)
5 - us robotics 56k fax/modem
6 - floppy disk
7 - ecp printer port (lpt 1)
8 - system cmos
9 - SCI IRQ used by ACPI Bus
10 - Creative Sound Blaster Live
10 - Via Tech 3038 PCI Universal Host Controller
10 - Via Tech 3038 PCI Universal Host Controller
10 - ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Settings
11 - Matrox Millenium g400 max dualhead - english
11 - ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Settings
12 - microsoft ps/2 mouse
13 - numeric data prosessor
14 - primary IDE controller
14 - VIA Bus master PCI controller
15 - Secondary IDE Controller (Dual Fifo)
15 - Via BUs master PCI controller

These are the things that I have tried to troubleshoot the problem:

*agp aperature set in bios to 1GB (that's the highest it'll go)

*I have downloaded all the recent drivers from the matrox website.

*In the MTST Util 4.14 tweak utility, I set the agp speed to 1x. (It really lags the program big time.

my matrox g400 as you can see above, is set to irq 11, along with some device called "ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Settings" which is set to irq 11 and 10. I would like to try to disable this device, but when I look in my system devices, it is not listed. Anyone with ideas, please help.

I have had this crashing problem before, and it was never solved, so I reposted this topic in hopes of solving this problem. Greebe was my last moderator. IF YOUR OUT THERE, PLEASE HELP!!!

[Shrikey]

I've had a similar problem, still have it actually.

At one time it was solved with disabling Turbo AGP from my BIOS settings. Recently the problem surfaced again, unknown to me why.

I've been happy with my G400 MAX other wise, but these problems with games made me think about other 3D cards...

------------------
--
-Shrike-
"Its just a ride!" -Bill Hicks

[Shrikey]

Just to add my system info here if someone has tips and solutions for my problems.

Win98SE, P5A MoBo, AMD-K6 III 400MHz, Memory 192MB, G400 MAX, Sound Blaster Live!

Games i have had problems (crash or freeze) with are Unreal Tournament, Counter-Strike/Half-Life,
Project IGI is very unstable and Delta Force Land Warrior is a bit wobbly too.

Some of the problems i thought were G400 related were in fact caused by Norton AntiVirus clashing with PowerDesk or some part of the Matrox drivers in bootup.

[Wombat]

sdb,
Have you installed the VIA AGP drivers? Also, try smaller AGP windows. And force AGP 1x.

Shrikey,
Is that a VIA or ALi mobo?

[Shrikey]

Oh, its an Ali one. Any ideas?

Getting real fed up with it too.
I'm starting to backup all the things on my system for a new install, that way i can check everything from scratch.
Mebbe install Win2K Pro and Linux too...

[sdb5013]

forcing 1x agp is not an option, cuz then, it laggs, and between lagging, and occasionally crashing, i'd have to go with the crashing. Any other ideas?

[Liquid Snake]

AGP 1x does not cause any slowdown. It's more stable here, and does not affect performance in any way. I've never heard of AGP 1x making your system less stable...

[Kruzin]

LS is correct.
2x AGP will make NO DIFFERENCE in performance of this, and most games, and forcing 1x will often help to stabilize an unstable system.

[Six Of One]

OK, you have the Asus K7M which uses the AMD 751 chipset (with VIA Southbridge).

First, enter the BIOS on Bootup. Somewhere (Advanced Chip Settings or similiar) you will find a setting for AGP speed. Set this to 1x (i think the AMD751 only supports 1x AGP anyway) and DISABLE AGP Fast Write. Set the Aperture Size to the same amount you have on your G400.

Second, download the AMD drivers for your chipset. You should find them here:

http://www.asus.com.tw/products/moth...r_utility.html (duh...)

Since they provide AGP functionality you should install them.

Third, use the tweak tool MTSTU to force AGP 1x for your G400.

Fourth, try the games. They should run flawlessly. If not, UNINSTALL the drivers with the Matrox tool and re-install them. Usually that fixes all remaining problems.

And about the AGP 1x issue. The observed symptoms must result from some other error in the software or your BIOS settings, AGP 1x can't be responsible. Simple mathematics will prove this.

Tell us, if it works.
Regards

[Liquid Snake]

Not really simple mathematics, just common sense. Saying that AGP 1x will make your system unstable is like saying that having everyone driving on the road at 10mph will greatly increase the chances of a massive traffic accident.

[Nuno]

Six Of One: AMD 751 did support AGP2X

And to all: The G400 performs much better at AGP2x than at 1X. A whooping 0.3 fps in Quake3 and, even more important, 5 more 3dmarks.

*hint*Set it to AGP1X*hint*

[Six Of One]

Nano: Thanks, didn't know that. Was it the 750 then?

And 5 3DMarks more? I ... must ... enable ... AGP 2x *snort*

Liquid Snake: Ok, ok, got me here. Not really simple math... but almost.

Regards

[Nuno]

No, no, no. Here´s the way it is: AMD only made one chipset to support the Athlon (classic). It featured a northbridge (AMD 751) and a southbridge (AMD 756). AMD named the chipset (northbridge and southbrigde) as AMD 750. Kind of confusing I know.

I think all AGP chipsets more or less supported AGP2x. Even the Intel LX did, I think.

And the all AGP nX hype is just that: HYPE. The AGP concept was dead right after it began, when RAM prices started to dive and video cards started to ship with unbeliaveble amounts of memory like 16, 32 and even 64 Mb of RAM

The only place where you see a major speed increase (and that´s from 1x to 2x, from 2x to 4x it´s negligible) it´s in syntetic texturing benchmark. There is no game that possibly uses that amount of textures (32-64 Mb). In real world, if an AGP card had to do AGP texturing, it would have a tremendous performance hit. Just compare: AGP 4x has a peak bandwidht of 1 Gb/sec, roughly the same as PC133 SDRAM (and AGP needs to share memory bandwidth with all other devices). Even the G400 was something like 2.7 Gb/sec memory bandwidth, and let´s not talk about GF ultra 7 Gb/sec bandwidth. So just think what would happen if modern video cards had to process textures within something like a 500 Mb memory bus. Kind of slow, don´t you think?