Freezing... FREEZE

[maddogx 13]

I use a G15 USB keyboard and a G5 USB mouse. Never experienced any lags so far... but hey, maybe if I unplug and replug my mouse and keyboard when I've loaded ArmA I'll get a few more FPS.

Seriously though, this problem is WEIRD to say the least. Actually, I've just had a strange thought:

@Suma: VBS1 and VBS2 use a kind of USB validation dongle, is that correct? Could it be that ArmA also contains the code that checks for this device, only that it doesn't care if it's not there? Perhaps that could be causing the USB related problems, if the game is (for example) constantly checking the USB ports for a certain USB device until a different one is actually plugged in during the game?

Yes, this is a very far fetched guess, but at least it's a suggestion .

[skokkinos 0]

I don't know if this is the problem in the code. The only thing that I'm sure is that THERE IS A USB RELATED PROBLEM IN THE CODE. Please find it and do something about it.

As I said before, ArmA is one of the most exciting games/sims I have ever experienced and as a professional Mod/AddOn Developer and an enthusiast I have dreams about this engine. Talking to people leaving the ArmA community just because of the bags makes me very very sad.

[Marines 0]

i just built this pc from the ground up by hand, i dont think doing that will do a damn difrence, thanks anyways...

sorry i'm going at you like this, just i dont want one of the best pcs to start acting like shit to a hardly that good looking of a game that i could defenitly run.

There seems to be something not right with your PC:

"3D_Performance=2000.000000;"

On my PC (C2D 6400@3200MHz, 2GB, X1900XT) it says:

"3D_Performance=12000.000000;"

That said I also experience slight pauses when bringing up the map and going back to the 3D view, but I'd not classify them as a "freeze" myself. Hitting escape brings up the menu pretty much instantly. Don't know what's wrong with your rig, but something seems to be, no?

"hardly that good looking" - you're joking, right? It may not have flashy graphics like any other run of the mill shooter, sparkly and shining everywhere, but I don't think that was the goal at all. ArmA strives for a realistic look instead and boy, does it ever succeed. Now, my PC doesn't have the horsepower to run it at max details and still have playable framerates, but sooner or later that day and hardware will come and you bet that I'll be there.

Yeah, his 3D Preformance seemed way off in terms of what it should be.

Mine - 3D_Performance=8772.000000;

That's just odd...

[maddogx 13]

Ok, I know this topic is old, but the problem has now come up for me aswell since I reinstalled Windows XP with my sweet new Raptor RAID 0.

Up until today I played ArmA with no hitches watsoever with the following setup:

OS: Microsoft Windows XP + SP2 and latest updates

Mobo: ASRock 939 Dual SATA

CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+

Video card: NVidia Club3D 7950GT 512MB (PCI-E)

Video drivers: ForceWare 93.71

RAM: 2x 1GB Infineon DDR 400Mhz

HDD: Maxtor 160GB IDE 7200RPM

Mouse: Logitech G5 USB laser

Keyboard: Logitech G15 USB

As of today the following has changed:

HDD: 2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB SATA 10.000RPM (RAID 0)

Video drivers: ForceWare 162.18

And, like I said, I reinstalled Windows today including all updates and drivers. The new hard drive combo is great and my framerate has improved nicely. The only problem is that I now experience the same problem as the original poster did:

<span style='color:red'>The game freezes for approximately 5 seconds whenever I press pause, open the gear menu or die!</span>

I tried the fix with removing all USB devices and reinserting them and it does actually fix the problem - at least until I restart the game. I really don't feel like having to do this though, because it's bloody annoying. Has anyone found a different fix for this problem?

[maddogx 13]

I hate bumping topics, but doesn't anyone have a fix for this?

[sickboy 13]

I hate bumping topics, but doesn't anyone have a fix for this?

What are the settings of ArmA?

We found out that some ppl had really weird issues when playing on very low or low settings, while their issues were gone after rising it to normal, high or even very high. (Quality preference, but also the shader and shadow)

Still weird that the removing usb devices and reinserting does save some though... No USB-Turbo-Refresh hacks installed or anything?

[diveplane 0]

suma is the dev team working on a smoother performance

people in here including me have high end pcs...really is crap performance

[bravo 6 0]

Quote[/b] ]Dear BIH I love ARMA but HOW ON EARTH can a USb keybaord (Zboard) and USb mouse cause this issue?

Frankly, I have no idea. We are not performing any operations with any USB port, the only interface we are using to process keyboard input are standard Windows messages and DirectInput, there is nothing USB specific.

im not using a usb keyboard or a usb mouse and i have this problem..

Its really anoying.. expecially when your editing and making missions...

though i have a joystick in my usb.. also my printer and my modem and my UPS..

You think?

[Guest]

Im glad i found this thread.... Strange thing is I get the same error in VBS2 but not in ARMA. And this is confusing me even more....

I will try the usb thing...but in my case I cant remove the dongle...

What ever happened to the good ole days when a game didnt have this rusty itch vibe of not working like it should....

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

I'm wondering if the other guys are having to "redo" the fix after shutting down ArmA?

[maddogx 13]

I've tried multiple settings (everything on low, everything on medium, everything on high etc.) and I'm 100% sure it's got nothing to do with any settings.

The weird thing is, after testing a bit more, I have found that the freeze also happens when running ArmA in windowed mode and switching to another program - and also when switching back into ArmA. Basically the freeze happens whenever a menu, the map or the editor is loaded or unloaded (haven't tried dialogs yet).

After some further testing of the "USB-out-in-trick", I've found that it only works if all USB HIDs (mouse, keyboard) are pulled out and then put back in again. I tried just pulling out my USB card reader but that had no effect. Once the USB-trick has been done, the problem is fixed until ArmA is closed. Once it is started again, the problem is back, so I need to crawl behind my computer again...

It's totally beyond my comprehension what the problem could be and I was hoping someone had found the cause by now. My last bet is to revert back to the older ForceWare version I was using before, but I think it's unlikely to work as the problem somehow seems to be USB-related.

By the way, it's not related to antivirus or firewall software, because I don't use a software firewall (Windows firewall is off), and I deactivate my antivirus software every time I start up a game.

[maddogx 13]

Small update:

Tried rolling back to ForceWare 94.24 but the problem is still there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[maddogx 13]

FYI: I found a fix for the problem. More by accident than anything else.

I updated my BIOS!

I still don't know what was causing the problem or how the BIOS update fixed it... but it did. No more freezing when I die or press escape or open the map.