*** directx 8.1 programs may stop working on

[Mister Frag 0]

I just saw this story on Warp2Search.net:

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">M$: DirectX 8.1 Programs May Stop Working on Computers with AMD CPU and WinXP!

=>Posted by: zvezda.

=>Monday, July 15 @ 15:44:36 CEST

zvezda writes "In case you do not know, there is an interesting article on MICROSOFT support page!

On computers with an AMD processor, programs that use Microsoft DirectX 8.1 may quit without displaying an error message. The same programs work correctly on computers with Intel processors.

The DrawIndexedPrimitive function stops working without displaying an error or debug message. This occurs because of a code error in the AMD-specific optimized code. This code error may lead to heap corruption.

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The corresponding Microsoft Knowledge Base article can be found here.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

I have been running Directx 8.1 since February (or since it came out, not sure which) on my Athlon 1.4 and never had such a problem

[bn880 5]

I have been running on AMD processors alot and I get this problem often.

I launch DirectX 8.1 programs (such as OFP) and they quit straight to windows, no message no problem... try again and it works.

It's no big deal.

[Mister Frag 0]

The Microsoft Knowledgebase article explains that this can lead to heap corruption, which means it doesn't necessarily cause a crash or lockup, or cause these symptoms right away.

However, the bug is always there, and provided the DrawIndexedPrimitive API is used, the faulty code will get executed, which will eventually cause problems.

[bn880 5]

Well hopefully they release a patch.

[Mister Frag 0]

A fix already exists and is available from Microsoft. It will also be included in Windows XP Service Pack 1, which should get released shortly.

Update: I'm told that the fix is also in DirectX 8.1b, which yo can download HERE for Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. I haven't tried downloading it myself yet, so I can't confirm that the updated DLL mentioned in the Knowledgebase article is included in this package.