Baphomet 0 Posted November 30, 2003 I think my ram is failing and OFP is cracking under pressure because of it. When things get pretty intense. Consistently now ofp will just quit. I'm not sure whether that has to do with XP though, I heard the memory footprint for XP is larger than windows 98se. So could that have something to do with it? Does anyone know of any utilities I could download to test the integrity of my ram? Which is of the (now rare) expensive rambus variety. Yes I was even warned by the guy who sold it to me that it has a history of failing. Still as far as I know there's nothing faster (even dual channeled DDR) than my ram. So I'm wondering if I'm screwed, since I last heard they don't make it anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greg 0 Posted November 30, 2003 Please describe your full system configuration and exactly what happens when the game quits. Also check the FAQ before Avon reminds you. To check your RAM (which is always a sensible thing to do), use MemTest86 v3.0: http://www.memtest86.com/ That is about as good as software based RAM testers get. It will also test your CPU, caches and some related motherboad components. If you can't pass several repeats of the standard test set with zero errors, you have hardware related issues and shouldn't even consider playing with software until they are resolved. I recommend letting the program run overnight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted November 30, 2003 Post your detailed system specs. What's your Windows Virtual Swap File size setting? If you've got a SoundBlaster Live audio card, I would include it in the list of suspicious components. If you do have one, search The FAQ for "soundblaster", even though the matching FAQ item doesn't match your symptoms. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted November 30, 2003 Quits? See if you have entries in flashpoint.rpt it is possible you have some addons or scripts causing you crashes during intense fighting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nou 0 Posted December 1, 2003 Yea, I noticed this recently to! It must be an addon or something... It goes along fine (well not now, see my topic i just posted) and then bam, if I tax my system to much (it seems) the sound quits, then boom crash to desktop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baphomet 0 Posted December 1, 2003 I did a file search for flashpoint.rpt, couldn't find it. Anyhow. I ran dixdiag, and unearthed some info about my PC. Hope this is a bit more useful: GenuineIntel ~1808 Mhz Total Physical Memory 256.00 MB Available Physical Memory 117.44 MB Total Virtual Memory 874.09 MB Available Virtual Memory 571.57 MB Page File Space 618.62 MB ... and yes I -do- have a damn soundblaster live. Which has only started to give me trouble since I switched to windows XP and since I've upgraded my drivers, it hasn't crackled and fizzed like the souls of the damned were trapped in my speakers. It hasn't ever made ofp crash though. Ok. Well as far as the circumstances of ofp quitting. Both instances were on a similar map. Ghie, and versus isle (not 2.0), and there were a fair amount of units running about. In one instance I called in a paradrop using the SP/MP support pack by snypir, and as soon as all the troops landed. The game just stopped. No error message no nothing. Just *pop* and it was like the game had never been running, but right before that it seemed like my computer was chugging along a little bit. The other instance was in a similar area on Ghie, which is basically a scaled down version of versus isle, and again there were a fair amount of units fighting one another, and the game started to show strain. After a brief initial cinematic. I play, and I round a corner and see some enemies and boom. The game does the exact same thing. Just quits. I downloaded a program called memtest, I let it run for a while only it tests the ram that's available to the system at the time. So it's not conclusive. However I didn't see any signs of a problem indicated by the program. I wish I could give a better analysis of what exactly triggered it. I didn't notice if it had anything to do with a particular script, since only in once instance did I use the sp/mp support pack. Secondly no addons were used in the latter mission. However I do have a modest 75mb addons folder. However that's much smaller than my 100+ mb addons folder I had back in the days of 1.46 So I dunno. I'm going to give memtest a try and if that fails maybe I need to back everything up (just in case) and take my computer in to get checked. Hm. This memtest thing is weird. It's not an executable and you apparently need to install it with a batch file... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted December 1, 2003 ... and yes I -do- have a damn soundblaster live. Do you also have a damn motherboard based on a VIA chipset? Also, I see you've got 256MB of memory. %12 is of course much better for OFP 1.75 and above but, still, your amount of available physical memory seems low at 117MB. If you try running your PC without any other unnecesary programs and tasks running, can you increase that value? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdog~ 0 Posted December 1, 2003 Replace that damned soundblaster card! You can get an Audigy 2 for $70. By the way, a good program to close all unnecessary program is EndItAll2 - http://home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/enditall/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toadlife 3 Posted December 1, 2003 I have a SB Live and a MB with a via chipset, yet I have never had OFP crash intermittently. SB Live card DO suck though. I will admit that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted December 1, 2003 I have a SB Live and a MB with a via chipset, yet I have never had OFP crash intermittently. Are your BIOS/VIA/SB drivers up to date? Or are you running with version 0.98 of everything? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toadlife 3 Posted December 1, 2003 I have a SB Live and a MB with a via chipset, yet I have never had OFP crash intermittently. Are your BIOS/VIA/SB drivers up to date? Or are you running with version 0.98 of everything? I'm using the latest drivers for everything. I don't have the lastest BIOS for my AsusA7V333 though, because there is no reason to load it except to support the AthlonXP3200, which I don't have. ALso, I used that registry tweak from your FAQ and was able to eliminate the crackling sounds on my SBLive. THANKS! I should still replace that POS sound card one of these days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baphomet 0 Posted December 2, 2003 Registry tweak? I need to read up on that. Which faq? Avon's? Â I couldn't find it when I did a search. I'm not sure if my mainboard uses via. I think it does. It's an Asus PT4-E. I suppose I should look into that. I'm kind of afraid to flash my bios and somehow accidentally paperweight my computer. My available physical memory seems to fluctuate a lot. After I run a fairly intensive program. After I quit it my available memory seems to peak at about 190 something megabytes usually. Despite the fact that I've only 256 megabytes of ram. I've -never- had this problem. Ever. So it's got me rather disconcerted as to what's causing it. It might just be my system is due for a reformat. Might mean I need new ram. Not only that but running MSinfo seems to innately take up a fair chunk of memory on my machine for some reason. I recall reading in the forums about a sound card that isn't creative labs that a few forum readers were quite pleased with. I can't remember the name though. By the way? Is it possible for programs to actually degrade ram or have a definite ill effect on it? Could ofp destroy someone's ram? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baphomet 0 Posted December 2, 2003 Just ran memtestx86... My god. I had something like 30,000 + reports of bad sectors on my ram. I couldn't tell whether it was in the upper stack or lower, I can still run my computer fairly normally unless it's an intensive app like OFP. So perhaps that's an indication? I'm fucked. I'm so fucked. Thanks to all for their input. Especially for pointing me to memtest. At least now I know unequivocally that I need to dump about $500 bucks or more on ram. Assuming I can find any RDRAM anywhere. And not just any ram. Oh no. It's gotta be kingston. Because god only knows how many more times I'm going to have to deal with fucked rdram. Fast as it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted December 2, 2003 Perhaps this is the registry setting http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....egistry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
