The -maxmem command

[paelleon 0]

On my PC ArmA simply crash without any explanation.  I have to hard reset the PC to regain control of the machine. The strange thing is that I do not play at maximum setting at all (let's say medium settings). I'm using the 1.63 Nvidia drivers.

If I understood correctly, using the -maxmem=512 command the stability will improve, don't you?

Turning off the pagefile is not an option, I need it for other games (especially Supreme Commander).

Oh, by the way, for Supreme Commander I used an user-built program that solved all stability problems when large quantities of memory are needed, the game slows a little but it's still fully enjoyable. Take a look, maybe the program can be adapted for ArmA.

http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=2382

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Hint for anyone wanting to do the above:

Make a backup of arma, then rename it to "supremecommander." After you've modified it, rename it back to arma.

REMEMBER, if you have copy protection software, this will most likely root it up, so make SURE you have a copy.

I haven't noticed any difference, and I've had this modification to my ArmA executable for quite some time now.

[horrgakx 1]

I too am an 8800GTS 320Mb user (latest WHQL drivers) and I also have graphics issues, though CTD's are VERY rare.. Didn't get any issues at all with my old X700 card (apart from it was slow).

Now I've put in the 8800GTS, it frequently flashes like billio in the Map screen and I get flashing pixels around the very edge of the screen.

Just come to expect things like this with the 8800GTS I'm afraid.

[horrgakx 1]

This is quite confusing;

System memory;

The -maxmem command obviously sets system memory usable by ARMA.  Is this still valid in 1.08 - I heard it isn't!

Also suggested is turning off the page-file.

Video memory;

Some people are talking about amounts of video memory and using the FLUSH command.

Can someone clear this confusion up?  Which is relevant?  All of the above?

I've got a 8800GTS with 320Mb RAM, 2Gb system RAM, and I get textures reloading from blank all the time with random crashes between 10 mins and 2 hours (airflow isn't a problem).

Thanks.

[King-Six 0]

just do what i do, play a different game untill its figured out.

or deal with its issues.

everyone claims to have a fix for this but no fix seems to work for everyone.

-maxmem command..doesnt work.

-disable pagefile..doesnt work.

-drivers being current..they are current. all of them.

I forget the other so called fixes, but they dont work either.

i did have the most success by disabling the pagefile. i think it went like 3 days or so. then it was back to crashin' like normal.

I dont think its nvidias problem as much as it is the developers problem. because other games dont crash from this. arma is the only one.

[ArmaVidz 0]

And for everyone that posted here that has at least 2 gigs of memory, DISABLE YOUR PAGE FILE.  Problem fixed!  Just make sure you dont have a ton of other programs running.  Forget maxmem=whatever, turn off your page file!

I agree, that does help alot witih stability. However, it is not the be-all-end-all solution. Even with the page file turned off I still get the CTDs.

What's more, once I'm done playing arma, then I have to enable the pagefile again, reboot and use the other programs that require a pagefile. Just sayin...

When I use maxmem 512 or 1024 my game completely chugs...really poor performance.

[kklownboy 43]

I found that increasing my Pagefile made my game smoother. There are allot of programs that want a pagefile, and want allot of it. I see best results when i set a defined size, 2048/2048 ect. I used to think that a small or no page was better, not the case. I now have a 4080x4080 page and i see no more disk activity than before, but it has no hicups ect. When you disable your page you can run into big issues with apps vying for the RAM space and HAVING to find diskspace, thus thrashing, or just poor performance. I have XP going now with 2gigs of ram.

[horrgakx 1]

> There are allot of programs that want a pagefile, and want allot of it.

Not sure thats right mate, the operating system decides what gets a page file, not an application.  And thats only when running out of physical memory, 2Gb is a good chunk and shouldn't be used up under normal circumstances.

> I now have a 4080x4080 page and i see no more disk activity than before

... well, you won't see a difference as your system RAM hasn't changed.  All you're doing is specifying an increase in your pagefile.  From other posts made on the subject the belief is that ARMA will not get near the capacity of your 2Gb of physical memory (which will be about 1.5Gb with Windows loaded) so therefore increasing your pagefile size is irrelevant.

PS - your number 4080 perhaps should be 4096...?

> issues with apps vying for the RAM space and HAVING to find diskspace, thus thrashing,

But in this instance nothing will be able to find disk space because the pagefile is turned off, you won't get disk thrashing! You might find you get out of memory errors if this happens.

[kklownboy 43]

Apps DO take page. It is coded in the App.. And when you turn the page off ,XP still makes a page. But it wont be by your settings. The point being Its better to increase your page if you get CTDs. Less chance of Memory errors. Vista is a different beast. And you can check to see what is used in Virtual and Physical memory:

Process MonitorProcess Explorer