Annoying errors, solutions or patch needed???

(StainR) #1

Hi,

When I first downloaded ET everything was fine, It ran like a dream on my system:

AMD xp 2400+
1 gig PC 3200 RAM
Hercules 9800 pro
Asus A7N8X mobo
win xp pro (+SP1)

K, the next day the game crashed when the map was loaded 100%, I got a windows error that looked like this:
http://users.pandora.be/nucleus/argh.JPG

Fishy, I reinstalled and it worked again…ok…fine. From that moment on, every time I wanted to play Et I had to reinstall the whole fucking thing…
I could still live with that as its installed in 20 secs.

But since a week or so I’m getting another problem :bored:
After a reinstall at the ‘create profile’ screen, when I click the box to change my nickname, the sound starts looping and the game crashes with a windows error that looks like this:
http://users.pandora.be/nucleus/argh1.JPG
Now as SOF2 runs on the same engine I tried clicking the box to change my nick in SOF2, same thing…

Ok, I put my problem on a belgian game forum of my ISP, and some guy gave me a premade profile that i had to unzip in the profiles map of ET. Doing so I could get past the ‘create profile’ screen, but hey, too early to party :angry:

Again, when loading the map, ET fucks up at 100%, gives the same error as in the first screenshot… Sometimes (not always) my system even reboots after the error…

Yes, I have all latest drivers installed, motherboarddrivers, GFX, audio, all updates for WIN XP pro, I got no conflicts running and I’m surely not under system requirements :bored:
No there is no overheating as I see many of you people blame it on that here, well my temp in the case is 25°C max, I play other games like MOHAA, UT2003 (holy shit mode), and no crashes or errors there, so no overheating problems…

So when you are still reading this you are hard to bore, but hey, this is my last resort… I got kinda addicted to the game in the short time I played it and when you are forced to stop playing this it feels fucking shite… I’ve been searching for solutions all over the web, forums, FAQ’s, … --> some people have the same problem but no solutions given.

Is there a software/hardware problem, or does the game just need a client patch (is there being worked on??), hope anyone can give me a light in the current dark :banghead:

Cheers
/Stain

(ktulu) #2

i have rtcw and that error happened to me in rtcw (have both ET and RTCW installed)

(StainR) #3

Hummm not much of a help ey? :slight_smile:

Try to explain how you solved it pls :bump:

(Freedom[]Tickler) #4

Stain

I run the a7n8x board w/ similar specs as well, and have never had this problem. There is a quirk in here … few questions to get the ideas rolling …

Did you tweak services to get XP to run faster ? <-- I did, just curious

When you uninstalled ET, did you also delete the folder to eliminate any previous CFG’s ?

Are you behind a router / firewall, and have you tried disabling PB and joining non PB servers?

Have you tried relaxing mem timings - I notice you run PC3200 w/ a 266 FSB cpu. Is it OC’d? If mem is set to SPD in BIOS it may have timings too aggressive for ET and SOF2 but not other games ???

Have you tried system restore to roll back to pre ET install and then start over ?

If you have 2 sticks of RAM, have you tried dual chan and non dual chan configuration ? have you tried swapping DIMM slots?

Have you tried running scan disk and defrag? never a bad idea.

Have you tried different CATs (grfx drivers) ? outside chance but worth a try.

(StainR) #5

@ Tickler

Happy to find someone with the same board as me.

No, i didnt tweak my win xp pro yet, cause I just did a format to try and get rid of the problems, but no luck, still the same…

Yes I have always deleted the ET folder after the uninstall.

No I’m not running a router of any sort and not firewalled.

Never heard of relaxing mem timings :???:
Nothings OC’d in my comp

If mem is set to SPD in BIOS it may have timings too aggressive for ET and SOF2 but not other games ???
–> huh ?? sorry mate, not following.

I have tried restores before my format, no luck.

Yes i have 2 sticks of RAM, They are now running dual chan config, dunno how to change it but if you think it might give a change i can try…

Swapping DIMM slots?? Dunno what a DIMM slot is mate.

Scan disk, nah, defrag, yea, also before my format.

I’ll try the older cat drivers…

(Freedom[]Tickler) #6

Stain,

memory timings are in BIOS. DIMM slots are the slots in motherboard you plug RAM into ( dual inline memory module ) there are 3 slots, two blue one black. Moving one stick into a different slot will change whether it runs dual chan or single chan.

(sorry if Im telling you things you already know)

Hitting ‘delete’ during boot-up brings you into BIOS, where you can change values for how fast your RAM runs, for example. If you have not ever changed anything in BIOS when you built this PC, you most likely have default values.

Have a look in your BIOS and post the values for system speed (optimal, aggressive, user defined), BIOS timings - CAS - RAS to CAS - Precharge; these may look like 2-2-2-5t (for example) and others from “advanced settings” section of BIOS.

If you have done a fresh install of XP and still have same problems, BIOS is next best tree to bark up.

(Freedom[]Tickler) #7

I booted into my BIOS and took some notes so I can describe the options as you will see them

go into BIOS - Advanced - Advanced Chipset Features.

are yours:

CPU is set to auto ? CPU external frequency 133? CPU multiplier = 15?

If so

Set yours to:

System Performance = aggressive
CPU interface = aggressive
Memory Frequency = 100%
Resulting frequency = 133
Memory Timings = Aggressive
SDRAM Active Precharge Time = 5
SDRAM RAS to CAS = 2
SDRAM RAS Precharge = 2
SDRAM CAS = 2T

Your CPU is XP2400+ = 133 FSB x 15 clock multipier = 2.0 ghz CPU speed

Your RAM = PC3200 DDR (2x200)= 400 mhz operating frequency.

Your system bus = 133(266 DDR) and RAM = 200(400 DDR) , you want your RAM and system running synchronously - (133 and 133 for default CPU speed) for best performance.

Given your system specs, the above RAM and CPU timings shld eliminate BIOS settings as a cause of ET errors. You can alos chose the “OPTIMAL” settings if you think aggressive is causing ET problems.

GL

(StainR) #8

I’m printing it right now and i’ll take a look in my BIOS. I’ll try what you proposed here and hope it will help. In the meanwhile I found a way to run ET , it’s rather tricky and uncomfortable but I can live with it :bash:

Thx for the help already mate…

Stain

(Freedom[]Tickler) #9

Im guessing BIOS wasnt the solution.

Im thinking in the direction of a sowftware issue perhaps. Do you have alot of programs that load at start up? anti virus etc? try disabling them, from run type - msconfig and go to start up tab and see whats there. If you dont recognize something, google it

gl

(StainR) #10

Nah mate, changing the proposed BIOS settings didnt help anything for my ET problem, it only made my system even faster lol. :banana:

I’m not fussed about the problem anymore, noone can give me a good solution, unless all the tries, I appreciate your help v much. All I can hope for is a client patch… In the meanwhile I’ll just have to reinstall every time I wanna play.

Cheers

(dfusion) #11

tickler have you msn / irc so i can contact you about a performance problem, you certainly seem to know your stuff :slight_smile:

//dfusion (tnx)

([fun]scott) #12

i didnt read all the posts but do you have xp sp1 installed. if not i strongly advise it… do NOT install sp1b it doesnt have the java virtual machine(no java applets will run on your machine)

(Freedom[]Tickler) #13

I PM’d ya dfusion

Im in clan Wicked Mojo in irc.enterthegame.com in channel #wickedmojo

my tag is Mirkin. WM just qualified for qcon for q3 ctf 4v4 <-- had to plug the clan, damn proud of my mojo brothers w/ their die hard adherence to a legacy game. heh … wish theyd join this century and play ET : )

always happy to help