For those with via 686b and random crashes

[Insthink 0]

Now, this was one of the fixes listed on the official troubleshooting msg, but only as a link to a web page with tons of other fixes

I checked this link http://www.viahardware.com/686bfaq.shtm

and found out about the ACPI fix, which is the mode your whole system functions in, its a WinXP problem. Anyways, on the webpage they said disabling it may help. So I did as they said in the last suggestion which is to go in device manager / computer, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and updated those drivers to standard PC. Be warned, upon reboot, winxp will have to reinstall all the drivers for all your hardware, it is mostly automatic if most of your drivers are known by windows XP.

After that, NO MORE CRASHES!! I used to crash every 10-15 minutes which stopped me from playing OFP. Also the crackling noise with soundblast live stopped, I still get some pops here and there, but no more huge constant static when hearing engine noises

The crashes I used to have were crash to desktop or reboot.

here are my system specs

AMD tbird 1.33ghz

Epox 8k7a motherboard with via 686b southbridge (the troublesome factor)

512 DDR ram

Gforce3 Asus (Dont get the lastest det drivers, they crash, get something like 28.32 nvidia drivers)

So this fix may be applicable to those who have problems and have same southbridge as me

Enjoy! (im happy I fixed the damn bug! I CAN PLAY!

[Mister Frag 0]

The SoundBlaster drivers are known to have (or have had) a bad ACPI header structure, which is the reason why most of the people with a VIA chipset and SoundBlasters had so many problems.

Sometimes replacing the sound card with a different brand, or simply using Microsoft's less feature-rich drivers that come with the OS, solves the problem.

[ALDEGA 0]

I've always had it set to "standard pc" and I've always had the crackling noice. However, in Windows Millennium (where the ACPI is correctly recognized btw) I don't have the crackling sound. It works fine. But in WinXP I get crackles. I blame Creative's bad driver support.

[WiNC 0]

Strange where my article turns up sometimes. ALDEGA is correct to blame creative labs - their drivers for the SBLive have never really supported the ACPI standard arcutecture. The reason for this is mainly because ACPI standards were not enforced until after Windows 2000 came out (where Microsoft managed to get "something" right for a change)..

The latest SBLive drivers are an improvement over the original - though I personally would suggest that when you have some money remove the SBLive from your computer and replace it with something else - I have two SBLives and I'm trying very hard to save money to replace them - problem is - evil companies like BI keep releasing much needed (and wanted ) addons to this game!! *laugh*

If you do not want to remove your SBLive - and you can't get a new motherboard - I would suggest looking at the rest of the tweaks on my article and try some of them. A lot of them can help. We have a FIC AZ11E (KT133A chipset - 688b Southbridge) motherboard which is working almost 95% of the time - sometimes it will drop, but nothing like it used to..

I'm more then willing to offer any other help if you need it...

WiNC

[BoonieRat 0]

Where is your article?. I'm wondering whether it's worth having ACPI enabled at all for win98!. I don't use any power saving functions anyways' . that's all ACPI is about is'nt it?. or is there more to it?...

best go search i 'spose...

[WiNC 0]

Read the first post on this thread it has my article in it - and no with Windows 98/SE ACPI wasn't really implemented correctly (well not really at all). ACPI with Windows 98SE can cause many problems and not just with SBLive. I have noticed through tests that ACPI in Windows 98SE can cause Video issues with Nvidia cards, and especially Radean cards. Certain Network cards will start to fault, USB will usually drop off etc etc etc.

So no - with Windows 98SE I would suggest leaving ACPI off. As I would with WindowsME - because no matter what Microsoft or anyone say - Windows ME is basically Windows98SE with a slighty improved architeceure. However ACPI is still not 100% in that.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP have good ACPI (though only have SP1 with Windows 2000)... If you have a SBLive and are using Windows 2000 however, I would still suggest removing ACPI. However in WindowsXP I have found that removing ACPI can cause slow downs in the OS (feels like your system has gone to sleep and taking a while to wake up)...

Personally I again would suggest that if you can afford it - move away from the SBLive and move to something else. Audigy isn't anywhere near as bad - however still Creative have issues with their PCI Bus Management (which is extremely higher than other cards). This usually means that in games which need to use a lot of sounds at once - you will find that will decrease your FPS more than the graphic card. Example of this is Nascar 2002 - with a SBLive your FPS will decrease to almost 5-10FPS when you have a crash. However with something like a Hercules Sound Card, the fps only decrease by 1 or 2.

SBLive was great in its time - however it is now dated (and dated badly at that)... And as games have improved demand of system hardware, SBlive drivers, and the SBLive hardware hasn't been able to keep up. Though as I am doing - it is still possible to "work around" the hardware limitations.

Hope that helps...

WiNC

[ALDEGA 0]

www.acpi.info

[WiNC 0]

Aldega:

Yeah that is where you can find all the specifications and information like that - though it doesn't include any "deflamatory" comments about hardware that does not support the standard (and certainly nothing about Windows98SE)

Though they do state in the FAQ that "Static routing is not supported under Windows 98" - though I believe there is another document somewhere around that also states that Windows ME doesn't support this correctly either.

Ultimately the ACPI webpage is there for designers and programmers who need to use the ACPI standards.

However for games - the only thing I can suggest is that you go with examples of other gamers... look around for ACPI and unstablity (especially using Google). You will find a number of cases where turning ACPI off in Windows 98/ME OS platforms has improved system stablity 10 fold.

WiNC

[ALDEGA 0]

ACPI is a good thing. If you know what it does (the "ac" part of it), then you will understand.

[Mister Frag 0]

I've got a dual-processor system, and ACPI is essential for getting it to run smoothly. Without ACPI being enabled, Windows 2000/XP won't find the second processor.

MPS is the only other alternative, and it is an ancient and luckily obsolete specification that doesn't provide automatic resource allocation or power management.

In combination with a good OS, ACPI rules!

[Placebo 29]

Last time I tried to change from ACPI my XP install got corrupted and I had to install everything again from scratch

[Mister Frag 0]

Changing the ACPI setting on Windows NT/2000/XP based systems is not for the timid, because if you change the way your PC functions at a fundamental level, you have to have the proper HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) to go along with the chosen configuration.

If you turn ACPI off and reboot, XP (in your case) simply doesn't know how to deal with your system anymore, and will fail miserably when you try to boot. On the other hand, there is not need to reformat or reinstall everything from scatch -- simply insert your NT/2000/XP CD, run the Setup program, and choose the option to repair the installation. When you see the "Press F6 if you need to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver" prompt, press F5 (yes, F5, not F6), and you will be given the option of choosing one of the supported HALs.

This will install the proper HAL for your hardware, and leave your use files and registry settings alone. You may have to re-apply Service Packs and Hotfixes again, however.

[BoonieRat 0]

Well!..., I reformated again!, and inserted the '/p i' prompt after 'setup' and installed win98 without ACPI and I've been running OFP 1.46 through the intro's and credits for over four hours!. used to crash after 15-20mins max!. I'm hoping this is it!. if so i can install Resistance and get on with my Life ...

I'm sure the SoundBlaster is to blame somewheres' along the line. it was a while since i last played OFP and since I'd installed, A: a new Modem, Zoom PCI V92. B: the Sound Blastard 5.1!, C: Leadtek Gf3Ti500.

At first i thought it might be the Gf3Ti500, but i swapped it out for my old Gf2 and it still CTD & HL'd.

wish me luck! ...

PS. by the way I have an IWill KA266-r with an 'ALi Majik 1' north bridge with an ALi S/B as well. It's not only VIA users who suffer! ...

[WiNC 0]

ALDEGA

No ACPI is a good thing if it is implemented correctly in the motherboard, Software, and hardware devices. I'm not going to get into a debate with someone who doesn't even seem to know that ACPI is dependant on those things!

Now WindowsXP has improved ACPI ten fold since Windows 2000 - and until SP3 comes out Windows2000 still has flaws in its ACPI design (hopefully SP3 will fix some of the holes).

However with most cases unless you have a good knowledge of the motherboard, and the motherboard has been design correctly - even WindowsXP and ACPI (when you have a SBLIVE) is a bad thing. It is most apparant when you write music (which I do). Latency is a big problem with ACPI turned on with those cards... instead of 2.33ms you usually end up with about 10ms.

Now this also can translate to games - especially in CPU usage when a game is very active. What usually happens if you get chopping or cutting of sound. Usually it means that the sound isn't being played fast enough - and it chops, or dies in memory when overtaken by another sound.

Now - again - it isn't a issue with all motherboards. If your computer likes ACPI - then use it - however if you have certain chipsets, or you get problems - if you can reinstall windows and can turn it off in your bios - that would be one of the first things I test (after driver updates of course).

And what is in a name is bullshit - again I know a lot more about this then what is written in some spec that you might have or might not have read. You haven't as of yet supplied any evidence that you really understand the principles behind ACPI or how they can affect computer game/operations.

placebo

There are ways to get it changed without causing too many issues - and you don't have to reinstall (most of the times) - however chaing the basic backbone of how Windows operates the drivers and the system isn't a easy step - and honestly it should be something done from a reinstall. The easiest way to do it is to turn it off in bios - however the new standard states that motherboard companies should NOT include a ACPI toggle switch in their bios for end-users. Thus the only way to do it then is to hope the F6 method works (thus overriding Windows dectection of a ACPI enabled bios) or you can change the Computer Device after install (though this can cause problems - and microsoft does state it isn't the recommended method - but I know from experience it works 90% of the time).

BoonieRat

Happy to hear that it is helping And yes - the SBLive is one of the big problems. The problem is that Creative Labs have never really established the correct ACPI controls in their driver. On top of that their PCI mastering is very poorily designed causing even more errors ontop of other errors. I'm so surprised that SBLive has lasted as long as it has - however it doesn't seem to have issues with every motherboard/OS on the market. I have personally found that upgrading to WindowsXP has dealt with a lot of the issues I had in Windows98SE/ME - but still it needs fixing. Hopefully the new drivers being released very soon will help fix most of the issues.

Regards

WiNC

[Placebo 29]

WiNC Thanx for the info

[Jammy 0]

lol! i changed my ACPI settings to Normal PC... in big hope for OFP resistance to work... but no it didnt work. But then i noticed that when i turned off my computer and turn of the screen in a hurry(Im used to my computer turning off fast), it was going and going, so i turned on the screen again wondering what the hell was wrong; and then i laugh my mouth off.. on the screen it stood: You can now safely turn off your computer   ... It was really funny since just old machines has those issues, but its really anoying to.. it really gives you the "486" time feeling... AND I DONT want that feeling anymore   So i just wonder how to turn it on so that the computer shut down itself

[BoonieRat 0]

Check in your BIOS to see if there is a 'use APM' setting in the 'power management' window(if you have one). if so, turn it on.

[BoonieRat 0]

Cool!, much thanx!!..., OFP & Resistance have been running crash free for the last two days!!. ACPI was the culprit!. it's not just VIA who has problems with Creative. Creative should be lined up against a wall and shot for their driver neglection!. how many years since the last w98 driver release?. and for gameing w98 is still where it's at. Christ!!, most software was'nt even fully optimised for w98!, let alone ME, 2000, and XP!!...

and an OS is one of those things that are just too damn expensive to upgrade to if it ain't broke ...