New system locks up flight sims - help please

[Davbaron]

My new system and flight sims( falcon 4 and EAW ) do not get on!. Is it the system or the sims ?
A few minutes after take off in a saved T.E. the screen locks up in Falcon 4.
Sometimes I complete a mission in EAW – sometimes I don’t!
Note – I can only correct these lock ups by taking plug out of socket. Computer button does not switch off( there is no reset button) - Ctrl-alt-del doesn’t work , I only get a bleep sound , no window at all
I would appreciate advice please as to the cause and the cure.
I suspect as possible causes.
a) The settings of the graphics card . I have changed only the direct 3d settings by checking the top two – fog emulation and the one under. The rest are unchecked. What should these be please? Does it matter what they are? The anti – aliasing is 2x2 low
b) The drivers? (see below )
The game is at 1024 x768 x16 ( Not an excessive res.) and the terrain etc are around 4 or 5 ; bubble 3 and special effects 5- (F4) -. and 1152x 864 No extra squads (EAW)
Most other programs disabled when running sims
- My older Pll 450 handles these OK

c) The system is overheating . It is housed in a computer desk and sits on four 1 inch high wooden blocks which act as “feet” – The room isn’t too warm.
d) The power supply is insufficent- However the system is sold as a high end fast computer and there is a difference , surely, between what is desirable and what the manufacturers in their professional judgement regard as fit for the job. Meaning -I would have liked it to have had a 300 watt Power supply , but they built it with 235 ‘cos I suppose they reckoned it would work with that.!
Falcon 4 is patched to the 108 patch.

My system is
Athlon 1 Ghz (thunderbird?) with 128Kb L1/256Kb l2 intergrated cache.- Midi tower
Via KT133 AGP chipset / SDRAM 133mhz and AGP 4x support
Ultra DMA/66 7200 46 GB hard drive- Soundblaster Live value
256 MB 133 Mhz module
nVidia GeForce2 GTS graphics with 32mb DDR RAM- I am informed by manufacturer it is a Leadtek card
Drivers I have downloaded are nVidias 6.31 – prime suspect ????
Illyama 21 inch Monitor MT-8521E
Windows ME pre loaded OEM
Direct X version=Direct X 7.1 ( 4.07.01.3000). Are these the same as or later than direct X 7.0a?
After several lock ups I defraged ( only had it a week, and this is the first day used with flight sims), but still F4 locked up after a few mins into the mission

I’m sorry I’ve gone on a bit but I’ve given all info I thought you may need. I hope you can help. I would appreciate it if you can .
Thank you

[Fubar512]

First Off, AMD recommends that you have at least a 250W power supply for a basic (non-multimedia) system, and a 300W
supply for a system such as yours. Power supplies are rather inexpensive (I've seen 300W Antecs for $50 at CompUSA).
Secondly, to reset your system, don't unplug it, just hold down the power switch for at least a count of ten. All ATX spec power supplis/switches will switch off this way, unless they are inproperly wired.
I believe your problem is that you are running AGP 4x in the "AUTO" driving value mode. My homebuilt system (Tbird 1ghz, Abit KT-7 board) requires that I set my driving value manually, at a driving value of "DA".
You may be running hot, to see if this is the problem, I recommend that you either install the VIA supplied hardware monitor that came with the motherboard, or, download it from VIA's site. My system required the addition of a 120 mm intake fan and two 80 mm exhaust fans to keep it cool.
If you need any help or have any questions regarding your GeForce, go to this site: http://www.Geforcefaq.Com. You will find it quite helpful.
I'm sure that once you get everything configured properly, you'll be quite satisfied with the performance.

Check Six! Fubar512

[Davbaron]

Thnak you fubar for your input - I live in UK and this is an OEM system - I have had no Via documentations at all.
I presume that i will discuss this Via business you speak of with my technical support. I anticipate they will consider the very good points you and others are making. I will b e somewhat in their hands but all these points should give them something to consider.
Since writing the original post I have run both games without the joystick connected ( on Auto pilot ) They have run a lot longer before locking up and this with the case back on. I should say that when i first got the system my MS FFPro stick would not connect , but apparently USB sticks would. MS support changed the gameport drivers to ones on my win98Se disc ( I am windows ME ) and the stick worked. That was first time i tried the sims and then the lock ups started. Also, by then I had updated the drivers to the nVidia 6.31 s
So, if not overheating, then drivers??! . Some posts went for the SB drivers so i ran the sims on autopilot with joystick disconnected as stated above. I figured that if all had run OK then it was a USB joystick to be purchased and problem over!! But now, I am thinking about the video drivers, as well as your input. Your view is looking strong - Others have put it forward . I am not a techie and don't know what to do about it (or if i fully understand it) except refer the view to the company's Technical support. Haven't yet gone there- Don't want a " It's a software problem , not ours, approach"
Thank you very much so far- What do you think about the 6.31 drivers?? Did the autopilot thing eliminate the Soundcard ( gameport ) drivers from the test? How I wish the lock ups had ceased . However , I'm getting 2 hours from EAW and still running .
Could it have been combination of gameport and video drivers and what you suggest?
Thanks again and sorry for the rambling !!

[Fubar512]

I've tried three releases of the Nvidia drivers since building my rig, I'm currently running release 6.35, and have had no trouble whatsoever. As I recall, the 6.18 drivers had a minor issue with MS Combat Flight Sim (at least on my machine) when attempting to run at x4 FSAA and 1024 x 768 resolution. The later releases seemed to have cured the prob. I'm still of the opionion that the problem is either Power supply related (GeForce 256's were notorious for being power hogs, the GeForce 2's seem to be mariginally better in this regard), or due to incorrect bios settings. Try contacting the manufacturer, and find out which mobo they used in your system. That would be a big help in tracking down your problem.

Fubar

[Davbaron]

Fubar - thanks again- The mobo is the Microstar MS 6340 and where did you get the 6.35 drivers please?

[Fubar512]

You can get the (leaked) 6.35 drivers at:

http://zoiah.m3dzone.com/files/deton...9x/W9x-635.zip

I got this link from from the GeForcefaq site, http://www.geforcefaq.com

I'll check out the specs on your mobo and see what I can come up with.

Fubar

[Fubar512]

I downloaded the MSI manual for your board, and may have the solution right here. You need to get into your CMOS settings at bootup. When you bootup, hit the delete key when prompted to get into setup, then, you'll be able to navigate thru the various screens with the up and down arrow keys, you change settings by using the page up and page down keys, and you can escape an options screen by pressing escape. To save settings, hit the F10 key, choose either "y" to save, or "n" to refuse.

Now, here's settings you need to change (or, check to see if they are all ready set to spec).

Under Advanced Bios Features: Video Bios Shadow : set to Disabled

Under Advanced Chipset Features: Video Bios Cachable: set to Disabled
AGP Aperture Size: Set to 1/2 your ram size (64M for 128, etc)
AGP 4X Mode: Enabled
AGP Driving Control: Manual
AGP Driving Value: DA or EA

If these settings are all in place, try disabling AGP4x and go to Auto on driving control (maybe you'll lose 5-8 fps at 1024x780, but, you may gain the stability you seek)

One last thought, you didn't, by chance run Norton Utilities Win Doctor or Microsoft's Regclean? Both these apps "correct" registry entries.....that are required by DirectX 7.0! If you ran either, find the undo files and look for something like "[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID\{92187326-72B4-11d0-A1AC-0000F8026977}\ProgID]
@="Game Controllers CPL Handler" , or any ActiveX errors. These are entries that neither Nortons or Regclean recognizes as valid, so they delete them...causing lockups under DirectX.

[hackercarlos]

Let us know if that corrected the problem Davbaron.

[Fubar512]

Davbaron, I have another thought, check under system properties and see if any other devices are trying to share an IRQ with your GeForce (only IRQ steering should). Below is my config:

IRQ 0 System timer OK
IRQ 1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard OK
IRQ 2 Programmable interrupt controller OK
IRQ 3 Communications Port (COM2) OK
IRQ 4 Communications Port (COM1) OK
IRQ 5 U.S. Robotics 56K FAX INT PnP OK
IRQ 6 Standard Floppy Disk Controller OK
IRQ 7 Printer Port (LPT1) OK
IRQ 8 System CMOS/real time clock OK
IRQ 9 SCI IRQ used by ACPI bus OK
IRQ 10 NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro OK
IRQ 10 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering OK
IRQ 11 3Com ADSL PCI Modem LAN/RFC1483 (Win ME) OK
IRQ 11 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering OK
IRQ 12 VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller OK
IRQ 12 VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller OK
IRQ 12 Creative SB Live! Value OK
IRQ 12 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering OK
IRQ 13 Numeric data processor OK
IRQ 14 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller OK
IRQ 14 Primary IDE controller (dual fifo) OK
IRQ 15 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller OK
IRQ 15 Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo) OK

It's been my experience that display cards prefer IRQ10, and that very few (if any!) share an IRQ willingly.

FUBAR

[Davbaron]

Fubar - Thanks for the last re mobo. Latest here is that I have used the Win ME system restore facility to go back to first day i had the system - Drivers are 5.whatever-The joystick doesn't connect but the sims have run OK on autopilot for in excess of three hours. Mind you the FPS are a lot less than the 6.31.
Why do nVidia bring out some many driver versions so quickly ? Is it that they have problems ? I'm beginning to think these latest ones need a 300 watt plus power supply to be stable ??
What i'm going to do is
1- Seek Creative tech support to try to get gameport drivers so my joystick will work then test the sims with joystick to see if they lock up.
If Creative can't help then it looks like a new USB joystick and so I'll test with that.
In meantime i'll look at the bios ( fingers crossed ) I won't change anything yet.
Cheers

[Fubar512]

Lol, Davbaron. Nvidia seems to "leak" new drivers on a weekly basis. They already have a 6.47 driver out. When ATi released the Radeon board, they achieved better benchmarks then the Nvidia-based boards. Then, Nvidia released the Detonator 3s (6.X series), and reclaimed the title of "fastest" video board. I would rather achieve speed with stability.....what good is posting xtreme benchmarks in 3dmark2000, when you cant even run a game for 5 minutes without a lock-up? I once OC'd my processor and Vid card to 1150 mhz(cpu), 225 mhz/366 mhz (vid card processor/ram), just to post a 7300+ score in 3dmark, and, almost trashed my OS in the process. The Nvidia card has been stable in my system once I ironed out the "VIA" AGP bugs, and, Nvidia seems to be getting the message; their new driver releases are geared more towards solving incompatability issues, then with raw speed. By the way, I agree with your idea of trying a USB joystick... I think you'll find that USB game controllers tend to be smoother (and more sensitive) then game-port controllers.