Menu Freezes

[MagnumPI 0]

My menu freezes SOMETIMES when i go to multiplayer server list or when i am using the Editor or anytime i am in a Menu

(EDITED)

Sys Specs:

Vista 32

Intel® Core2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33GHz

2GB Memory

NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT

I am runnig V1.12

it has always frozen at menus before any addons ive added.

I know to fix this i need to put something in my target location when i right click ArmA

[FritzDaKat 0]

Sorry to hear it, thou for anyone to provide help there is some more info you should provide to assist in helping solve your issues.

#1: basic system spec's. (Operating system, memory, video card, PC make / model if its off the shelf like a gateway, etc.)

#2: Current version of ArmA you're running, (1.08 /1.12 etc.

#3: If you have any addons running or if you're playing Vanilla

[Lou Montana 101]

Hello, yes I have this too, it happens in normal or window mode, and doesn't care about the maxmem=512 or anything else. There was absolutely no problem with ArmA 1.04, 1.05, 1.08, 1.09, 1.11 (==> though not truly tested)

It freeze (for me, and sometimes only) ~30s on the first "loading checkbox", then sometimes in server multiplayer menu (only 5-10s), and sometimes on the graphics settings menu, after clicking "OK" (5-10s too).

I think it's related to the new memory management, Windows API maybe working too much to find back/create needed memory adresses ? (C++ noob here )

Please help, even if it doesn't happen in-game !

Edit : my specs

WinXP SP2

AMD Athlon 3500+

2GB DDR1 Corsair

7200 rot/min 250GB HDD (with ArmA on the external border)

2x Asus EN7800GTX (did this too with only one)

and a guy eagerly waiting Arma2

[FritzDaKat 0]

Well, if it's been happening all along, I think the first thing I'd suggest is to disable any resident scanners you may have running in the background (Anti-Virus / Spyware) probably good to run a check for spyware as well.

I have a similar issue when running the game whle AV is checking every file that gets accessed for presence of malware,,,

Anyway, in the event that doesn't help alot of people will suggest to just "run out and get the latest drivers, service packs, etc". I'd be tempted to do the same if it weren't for the fact that I've been dealing with the "Display driver has stopped responding but recovered" issue ever since I installed SP1. But in thinking of it, perhaps the studdering is simply a "lesser-case" of the display drivers not responding for a shorter period therefore not triggering the recover-mode and popping the error message up? If this is in fact the case, all we can do is wait till Microsoft, Nvidia, ATI or whoever the culprit may be come out with a hotfix or updated driver. (I've seen reports elswhere of ATI users having similar issues)

On a brighter side however I will say that with SP1, the Direct X update and the beta 174.85 forceware drivers installed, the game is running as smooth as a baby's ar$e up till the eventual driver hanging or game crashing or any number of other strange video-related issues (which have appeared since SP1 in my case)

So I guess, other than shutting down Antivirus/spyware apps while you play, the only worthwhile suggestion (least risky proposal) I've got for fellow Vista users is to be patient, wait for MS / Nvidia / Ati to get their act together and fix their buggy software

I'm currently running thru the list of various whql & beta Nvidia drivers to see if any one of them will work properly, if I dont find one (3 to go   working from version 162.22 thru 174.85) I'll be uninstalling SP1, re-running the DX update and going thru the process again. Any positive or very negative reports on my progress will be posted in the Vista troubleshooting thread.

last note In all cases, regardless of Card or OS installed, check to be sure that your installed vid card drivers are all current and of a relatively equal time in the "last modified" date (Within a week or so I'd say)

[Lou Montana 101]

Oops, yes, forgot to mention, but all drivers up-to-date blahblahblah ( ) and no spy-virus-idiot program.

I found that disabling Folding@Home process (which use 100% of the processor, but in lowest priority) does improve a LOT freezing : 2s instead of the 30 on the beginning !

(OK, stupid to keep it in the background, but hey it worked well, before)

So maybe (still the same noob here ) Antivirus and resident scanners are more sensible to ArmA HDD access since (from what I understood ?) the file is now asked each time by the game, and not totally loaded anymore; so maybe Avast (and all) is checking each time, slowing the thing.

[FritzDaKat 0]

So maybe (still the same noob here ) Antivirus and resident scanners are more sensible to ArmA HDD access since (from what I understood ?) the file is now asked each time by the game, and not totally loaded anymore; so maybe Avast (and all) is checking each time, slowing the thing.

Yes, I've noticed that even when I have my ArmA folder, subfolders, & / or .exe added to the standard shield/custom level/advanced tab/ scanner exceptions list there is a notable performance hit. Just right click the taskbar icon and pause the standard shield provider, goes away. Thou as I havent played the game online, not sure if the Network or Web shield has much if any impact on game performance.

Another possible issue could be fragmentation or bad clusters on the hard drive. I had about a weeks period during the 1.07 patch where my performance gradually declined to the point where my avg. was about 10 fps on all low settings. I ran chkdsk which found a number of bad clusters, after they were fixed the framerates were back up to the low 30's mid 40's. Defragging also improved performance after I went about 6 months without doing so, started noticing alot of studdering and pauses in all my games, COD:UO, MOH:AA/SH, ArmA, etc. untill I defragged, then it was almost like a fresh install.

Again thou, with regard to the video drivers, open your windows\system32 & windows\system32\drivers (Or XP equivalent) folders and verify the files last modification date (right click-properties-details tab\date modified) as I've noticed with Nvidia, there are often "left overs" when uninstalling old drivers which dont allow the new drivers to update properly. I'd have to guess that it's possible for the same to be the case with some ATI driver components (as it seems to be the result of Windows XP\Vista's ability to cache old driver files away for use in the event of rollbacks etc.)

I'm really thinking it's a matter of getting the game to run "as best as possible" but the real solutions to playability aren't going to come from BIS as the root of the trouble is in the mess of buggy drivers from hardware vendors scrambling to catch up to Microsoft and from MS who seem to insist that all faults seemingly related to their software are in fact due to bad hardware, bad ram, or basicly anything they can think of that doesnt involve them taking any blame...

it depresses me to see how many people are getting duped into running out and buying new hardware in hopes that their App. of choice will work, only for a hotfix which addresses their old issue to be released some months down the road.

Another topic I've seen very little mention of aside from Video and soundcard drivers are the mainboard chipset drivers which can have an incredible impact on the performance of the hardware you install .

I.E. The last system I built, started with an old TnT2 untill I got a Ti4400 (When they were still $500). At first when I installed it, I found I had gotten better performance with the old 64Mb card untill six months later after Intel released an update for the i850 chipset after which, the Ti4400 began to perform how one would hope it would after spending $500 on it (Too bad by that time they were already retailing for $200 and the 5x00's were out. lol)

Hmmm.... Mabey I'm gonna go do that myself now come to think of it.