Help please.

[ivan_tribbiani]

Originally posted by vidx
Noita
As regards to the WindowsMe vs WindowsXP discussion...

IGNORE WindowsMe.

It is a non-completed rewrite of the 9x code with a bit of the 2k interface stuck into it. It is buggy as hell, has ZERO tolerance with new hardware, and is supported by less people than there is Manchester United supporters in Manchester.

WindowsMe is not fully compatible with alot of software that 9x/NT/2k/XP is, and is a bitch to configure right.

Seriously, anyone using WindowsMe, either go back to 98SE if you absolutely need a 9x kernel, or upgrade to 2k, or even XP.

Please, don't torture your PC with WindowsMe, it's not fair on it

Gah i love my desktop architect and some other goodies but i never said it was superior to anything XP is pain in the ass since it never explains any error/fault. XP didnt work out for me so i downgraded mah OS to 9x + Me [it is a conflicting piece of OS but it works for me].

 

[old.Noita]

Well, I called Microsoft and...they couldnt help....but...they put me in touch with Fujitsu Siemens who could

The guy recommended reinstalling XP so I backed up all my important files to a new drive and reinstalled XP on C: Install went AOK (a miracle seeing as though its in Finnish and Finnish aint me mother tongue!) Anyway, reinstalled the bundled software, all cable connection stuff, blah blah blah.

Connected to DAoC and within 2 seconds CRASH!!!!!!!

This aint funny anymore especially as EVEN THO I backed up my files...the reinstall ate 6 months of composition and writing work ie 6 pieces of music and 150,000 words of a novel Im working on

 

[Jonaldo]

I hope it all gets sorted soon, the game needs characters and you are one

Sad to see you having problems like this, Moddru our druid in HDS had similar problems but he just got booted every 30 minutes for no apparent reason and he was on the verge of quitting the game. I'm not sure what he done to resolve it tho, it sounds like a different problem to yours but similar.

My PC setup is so old that most people just kinda laugh when I tell them what I'm using to play daoc with, but it works so I'll stick with it for now.

600mhz Athlon
512mb
PCI GeForce 2 mx (not AGP )
Windows 98
AWE Gold or something soundcard, it's so old I can't remember.
56k US robotics modem

 

[old.Hardbein]

awww Noita ......


Well there is a thing I would like u to try out.....
In WinXP there is a "compatebility" function.

Here is what i want u to do:

-Find the file camelot.exe in ur Camelot directory
-R.Click and choose properties
-Select the "compatebility" tab
-Check the "Run this program in compatebility mode" box
-Select Win98/Me in the drop down menu
-ok
-Start DAoC and try

If this doesnt work.......then try the other OS's in the drop down menu, in this order:

Win95
Win2000
NT4


Good luck

 

[rynnor]

Hi Noita,

We are running pretty much identical systems (except I have twice the RAM but dont think thats relevant) - the major difference I can see is your on XP and I'm on Win98.

My motherboard is VIA - my drivers are about 7 months old now but I dont get any graphics crashes using the same graphics card.

Out of interest can you see the 'paper doll' of your character on the choose your character screen - if you can then your graphics card is working fine in 3D mode - Id try Hardbein's suggestions about getting XP to emulate an older Operating System - I think its probably a clash between XP and the DAOC client but I'm just guessing from the way you have described the problem.

I looked at the responses to your problem in the technical forum but I'm afraid the whole cleaning/overheating thing was probably a red herring.

Only other thing I wonder about is did you install some new software at the time the problem began?

Hope you get it fixed soon

 

[rynnor]

Originally posted by Cornell
Moddru our druid in HDS had similar problems but he just got booted every 30 minutes for no apparent reason

Hmm - now his problem sounds like one I have had - I got kicked off every so often - eventually tracked it down to WinDvd - get him to check his startup folder and delete anything he recently installed if it has an icon in there.

WinDvd was occasionally getting the focus of the operating system which crashed the game out (its supposed to prevent hackers running 3rd party software - sigh).

I think a whole host of other seemingly innocuous programs will cause this problem - the controller of my scanner used to cause it too!

Hope he gets it fixed

 

[old.Noita]

Thanks

Cornell Im not sure why but I feel like I just got called "special" and we know how many meanings that may have It was a compliment right? Yeah course it was, cos you is teh sw33t13 really

Anyway, just an update...since reinstalling Windows XP my system is worse than ever

Now I cant play any game that has a 3D component to it, from Empire Earth to Dungeon Seige Asherons Call to DAoC. All resulting in the same crash. Solid screen of vertical lines and the resultant reboot.

I got a PC benchmarker, and ran the tests, all was fine till it came to analysing the gfx card... 2D test came and went and passed without incident. 3D test immediately caused my PC to crash. Ran DirectX diagnostic and the 3D test caused my system to fall over.

Prior to reinstallation I was only unable to play DAoC and Asherons Call, everything else was fine.. Morrowind/Dungeon Seige etc now nothing works

However the 3D gfx on my Media Player seem to be ok, but maybe they use something different than games? Dont know.

After spending most of yesterday on the phone, the nice men from Fujitsu Siemens have agreed to come play Doctor at my house and will be round in the next few days. Hopefully they will be able to sort this out then.

 

[Raktael]

I hope everything works out for you Noita.

When you re-installed your system did you download the 'good' drivers for your 3D Card and stuff, cos I know that XP had some problems with playing 3D Games when it first came out (it annoyed 2 of my friends ) and had to update graphics drivers to work with XP and stuff.

I'm not the most technical person in the world, and don't claim to be, so I won't offer you advice as to what to do, i'd just make it worse, hehe.

I hope the people fix ure pc and you get back to playing DAoC, while me on the other Mad at Game!!! grrrrr

*phones for the 5th time in a week* 'IS my damned copy there yet!!! After the crappy used one you sold me....grrrrr....never shopping with you again dammit!'

grrrr....

Anyways, good luck Noita!

 

[Freia]

Originally posted by old.Noita
Now I cant play any game that has a 3D component to it, from Empire Earth to Dungeon Seige Asherons Call to DAoC. All resulting in the same crash. Solid screen of vertical lines and the resultant reboot.

Ouch
This is the kinda symptoms that usually makes me scream "I DIDN'T DO IT! BLAME THE EWUL HARDWARE!". (Ok so im a software guy)

But seriously it doesnt have to be an error with the os or the drivers, might very well be something wrong with your soundcard or motherboard or even bad ram or something like that.

I had a BP6 motherboard which believe it or not had a bad component on it from the factory (there were lots of BP6 boards like that being shipped) My computer would ocationally lock up under heavy load and playing daoc was out of the question. But if you have been able to play it I guess this is not the problem with your system since for me it crashed instantly as soon as the Loading was complete. (Before any 3D was displayed)

Anyway, if you feel like it you could try unplugging the soundcard or some other device and see if it works better, but then again maybe its best to just leave it alone until the siemens guys show up and let professionals have a look at it.

Btw, its terrible to hear about all your lost work. How could the files disappear if you copied them to another drive?

 

[old.Noita]

Btw, its terrible to hear about all your lost work. How could the files disappear if you copied them to another drive?

Dont know and Im desperatley trying to find out When I do a search I dont get an option to search in the drive I created and when I do a search for the files it comes up with a blank.

Ach well.. when London was burned to the ground in the Great Fire of 1666, it killed all the plague rats and they rebuilt it bigger and better than it was before. Perhaps in my own tiny way, I can rebuild my lost work and make it better than it was before, still in a bit too much shock to be more optimistic than that

 

[Freia]

Originally posted by old.Noita
Ach well.. when London was burned to the ground in the Great Fire of 1666, it killed all the plague rats and they rebuilt it bigger and better than it was before. Perhaps in my own tiny way, I can rebuild my lost work and make it better than it was before

Heh. Well we can always hope so.

So.. Hm. The whole drive disappeared? Did you put in another physical device or did you create a new partition without opening the computer up?
Do you only have C: at the moment and no D: or E: ? I suppose you have the CD on one of those but... is there no harddrive except for C: ?
Maybe the windooze installation removed all partitions on the disk and remade them or something. Its hard to tell since im unable to sit at the computer and have a look at it. You should ask the fujitsu guys to look into it tho.

 

[Old Nicodemus]

Noita.. as i said in another thread...

Windows Xp uke:

Your best bet is reformat the hard disk and install win 2k and add Service pack 2.

I run this on my laptop and have no problems at all... oh all right the occasional graphics bug!!..

In my day to day job I maintain and run an organisations IT. I won't allow Windows XP uke: anywhere near my network or on any machines that I get in. It's another half baked Microsoft product. Win 2k is much more stable and is more viable imho. Others may disagree but this is my professional opinion.

As for phoning Microsoft... well you have just found out why. Sounds like you got a slightly brighter than normal monkey to speak to.

Last time I phoned Microsoft I was patronised by the chimp at the other end of the phone until I told him in no uncertain terms what the product he was supposed to be supporting was doing. I was quickly passed to a Supervisor Gorilla who apologised but still couldn't answer my question.

Hence I avoid Microsoft support like the plague.

<please note that all references to Gorillas and Chimps is highly unfair on our simian cousins. Microsoft support staff are much lower on the evolutionary ladder.>

Nicodemus

 

[Fafnir]

Originally posted by vidx

IGNORE WindowsMe.

It is a non-completed rewrite of the 9x code with a bit of the 2k interface stuck into it. It is buggy as hell, has ZERO tolerance with new hardware, and is supported by less people than there is Manchester United supporters in Manchester.

WindowsMe is not fully compatible with alot of software that 9x/NT/2k/XP is, and is a bitch to configure right.

Seriously, anyone using WindowsMe, either go back to 98SE if you absolutely need a 9x kernel, or upgrade to 2k, or even XP.

Please, don't torture your PC with WindowsMe, it's not fair on it

Well when i got my computer i had win 98, and only had trouble with it, so i installed winMe and have not had any software trouble since.

 

[old.Noita]

LOL thanks Nic

However, Microsoft just went huh? Umm sozz love... we gonna have teh pass you over teh ya PC manu..manfu..mafu...maker. Mebbe dey can elp ya.

So they did, and the guys from Fujitsu Siemens have been great...including one guy who sat on the other end of the phone talking me through the XP reinstall with me the other end reading all my on screen options to him in Finnish!! Bless him, must have the patience of a Saint.

 

[Bagloor]

Noita, I think I have to agree with Nicodemus. Obviously some of your hardware in your computer don't like Windows XP. You really have to try some other operating system. And I would not suggest you to try anything else than Windows 2000 it has been around long enough to be stable and very reliable. I have both Win2k and XP at home and play DAoC on both of them with no problems at all. And btw Nico the Service Pack 3 to Windows 2000 is good, I have tryed it on many machines now and it works well.

And it must be someone close to you that could lend you Windows 2000 so you at least can try it. And your computer seams to be so messed up now so another reinstall prolly does'nt matter. Just remeber to get all the drivers you need before you reinstall.

Bagloor

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

Cheer up Noita - some good news: your system is similar to mine and the game runs fine, though the graphics slow down after many hours of play (perhaps a hint I should take a break? Naaaaaah).

Athlon 950, GF3, 256MB RAM, SB Live Platinum and wait for it: Windows XP.

I'll go through a bunch of stuff, coudn't be bothered reading entire thread so if I repeat what others have said, apologies.

I'm using XP Pro, but it shouldn't make a difference if you have the home user version.

Don't touch the BIOS unless you're really desperate but the good news on that is that every BIOS has a get-out-of-jail-free card which allows you to reset to factory defaults most tweaks and changes you make. Try changing the graphics aperture to half the size of main memory in the PC, this sometimes helps. Default is usually 64MB but you can change this to 128 easily.

If you tweak your BIOS and you hit real problems, you have to dig you your motherboard manual and reset it completely by either taking out the CMOS battery physically or setting the jumpers on the motherboard that the manual will show you. Not fun. The upside is that your motherboard will redetect everything on it when you boot up again.

Don't upgrade the BIOS firmware yourself unless you really don't care if the outcome could go bad - BIOS updates are often irreversable and in extreme circumstances you can smell burning.

Try enabling or disabling "Write Combining" if you have it on the properties for your graphics driver. Also reduce the amout of graphics acceleration to see if that helps. These are both accessed by right-clicking desktop, selecting Properties, Settings, Advanced, Troubleshoot - and you get the options then - usually - some graphics cards vary a bit on this.

Nvidia reference drivers are better than any other drivers I've come across and I always use these. Don't know if someone else has said but make sure you have the latest DirectX drivers too just in case - you can download these free from Microsoft.
I also use the Via 4 in 1 drivers and haven't had a problem with these.

I don't know if this is a factor but I upgraded from Windows ME to XP (actually I run 4 different OS on mine all quite happily together), so its possible if yours was a clean install there is some subtle difference.

I have to admit, I don't recommend XP to corporate customers yet - and if you do go to Win2K do NOT put on SP3 - its got major security flaws and your system could be wide open. Patches coming for it though so at some point SP3 will be viable.

If you think your data may still be on your hard drive, Partition Magic or Norton Disk Doctor can be used to recover data sometimes - but these aren't the friendliest applications I've ever seen and they depend on nothing having been writen to the same sector of the hard drive since your original data was on there.

Only other thing I can say is make only 1 change at a time, observe the outcome, then move on. Standard techie approach though its a bit painful and can take a while :S

Hope this helps, sorry your knee deep in it - it really sucks when you want to get on and do something but spend hour after hour trying to make the damned metal and plastic box behave.

 

[Bagloor]

Originally posted by Roo Stercogburn

I have to admit, I don't recommend XP to corporate customers yet - and if you do go to Win2K do NOT put on SP3 - its got major security flaws and your system could be wide open. Patches coming for it though so at some point SP3 will be viable.

Ok i'm sorry I forgott this issue it's a big one... But the fix is already here and can be found here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=41406

But then again if you only apply SP2 you have to apply at least the lates security rollup fix to gain some up to date security. But the BIG thing here is to get Noita back online


Bagloor

 

[malenka]

Noita
I had a Ti500 with an athlon 1800+ on a gigabyte mobo. I was getting major problems just like you. In the end I dumped the graphics card and bought a radeon 8500. I still get some problems but they are very rare now. I think it is also possible the Ti500 was overheating, I burnt my finger on the fan one day.

Most of my major problems have been hardware conflicts, and my minor ones Windows XP. I have reinstalled XP three times in 6 months and am about to do it again. But it is all working ok now, even in a network.

My woman's intuition blames the mobo. Perhaps this is unfair, but after trawling around the techie sites, it seems that mobos are not as robust as we like to think. I have had the side off my computer so many times that I have left the screws out.

I wish pcs were a bit more reliable, as well as having a handy place to put a bunch of flowers or something pretty.

Come back soon my dear, miss you.

 

[Fafnir]

It's fun when your keyboard, soundcard, and mouse start to argue about who should use what adress. Not much you can do.... Hey Siemens-Fujitsu are pretty nice gave me a new computer, and when lightning struk the new one i got another one... And their support is far superior the one Microsoft has.

Its fun to call Microsoft support, trying to get help with Win 3.0, never heard such clueless people... hehhehehe

 

[old.Anoushka]

Awww poor Noita

I was out of DAOC for almost a month because during a patch one of the good GOA friends just pulled a plug on my chars...

... so I know how frustrating this can be and I am feeling with you...

Hope you get this crap fixed out soon !!!

Noush