#Help with Errors
8 messages in this thread
Well, here's a real strange one for you. As you probably know, I've used Rel 3,
4 & 4c1 successfully under a variety of configurations. With rel.4, I had a
couple of problems for the first time, with some display trashing and the
program thinking the dongle was missing every few minutes. However, once I
installed the latest Vibrant drivers and the 4c1 update, any intermittent
problems went away. OK, so I just installed a second EIDE HDD on this Intel
Pentium Premier PCI II system, and tested operation of most of my DOS & Windows
programs, and everything was fine…..except:
When attempting to test 3DS, a few seconds after initialization started I get a
Vibrant-generated screen:
" INITIALIZATION ERROR 1000: Unknown VDM mode number…this product does not
include the draw code for the selected video card. Your config. file is
possibly from another version of this product. Re-config. the s/w & select a
valid video card. This error should not occur, ….etc.. Note: you may need a
VCxxxxxx.vdc file to use this mode & VDC path to point to it "
Pressing any key dropped me back to the command prompt with " VCM_init mode
0x00040102 returned error 1000….specified display too small. "
Upon running Vib Cfg, everything was set up as usual for my Stealth 64 DRAM 2MB
PCI, yet every time I test a display mode, I get the error mssg. above. There
didn't appear to be any files missing from the 3DS4 root directory, no disk
corruption problems, no viruses. But, I tried the following:
1) I re-installed 4c1, and did NOT get the error message while configuring the
Vibrant drivers. The program would boot now. The program *seemed* to operate
OK, I could model/animate, load & view images, render, etc..
A) But, if I tried to load ANY 3ds mesh or project file, even those just
re-installed, I would get a "Not a Valid 3DS File" message. The viewports would
change to reflect the configuration of that file though (?) Even files I
created in that session and saved, could not be loaded back in. I could display
some flics I'd previously created, but others would crash the system.
2) So, I restored a backup of the 3DS directory made a week ago, and was just
used to restore all partitions of the first EIDE drive the other day. So, I
know the backup was good. I just used 3DS last night, at length. But, this
re-created the boot-up error message above. Back to square one.
3) I've used SmartDrive with 3DS for some time for flics, without problem. But,
I commented it out FWIW. Now 3DS would crash while booting with " Init 3DS,
Abnormal program termination: Page Fault CS:EIP=000Fh:002777171h "
3) After running every diagnostic procedure imagineable, I could not find any
sort of conflict. And with the current configuration, I could run all my other
DOS/WINDOWS applications without problem. This included other similar programs
such as Microstation, ACAD, Topas, Real 3D, Truespace, Rayman, etc.. But 3DS
alone, wouldn't go. I reduced my startup files to the minimum, with the same
results.
4) So, I ripped the newly installed second EIDE out, and started-up 3DS and
tested it without problems. (???)
What in the heck is going on here ? Help.
BILL
Bill,
>> 4) So, I ripped the newly installed second EIDE out, and started-up 3DS and
tested it without problems. (???)
Well; it sounds like you've isolated it to some kind of conflict with the new
H.D. Did you let the BIOS do the auto-configuration of the new H.D.? Did you
try another set of drive cables, in case there was in intermittent short or
break that was scrambling things? Are you using a "disk manager" that came with
the H.D. to enable 32 bit disk access in Windows? If so, run FDISK /MBR to
rewrite the master boot record, which will get rid of the disk manager, after
which you'll have to FDISK and FORMAT the disk again. FDISK /MBR *should* give
you the option of selecting which drive, but I'd have your good drive backed up
just to be sure. With the Premiere II, you don't need a disk manager to read
the larger drives; you can just run them bare right out of the box, and I've
found disk managers are far more trouble than they're worth, and the speed
increase they're supposed to give you in Windows aren't that significant,
especially on a Pentium.
If you already *aren't* running a disk manager or overlay, and have tried a
replacement drive cable, I'd suggest running FDISK on the new drive, deleting
all the partitions, including the primary, then start over with FDISK and
FORMAT again. If you *still* have problems, I'd think it's probably a fault in
the IDE translation circuitry on the H.D. circuit board, and I'd try a new
drive.
John
Hi John,
<< Well; it sounds like you've isolated it to some kind of conflict with the
new H.D. Did you let the BIOS do the auto-configuration of the new H.D.? >>
Yes, but it's really bizzare as I mentioned, that *ONLY* 3DS has a problem with
this drive connected. Yes, it's auto-configured, and it's correct. Let me make
this clearer:
The ONLY thing stored on the 2nd drive is MAPS & IMAGES. 3DS and the models
that it refused to recognize as "valid" are all on the *1st drive*. I
transferred all the files to the 2nd drive, and tested reading/writing to it
with most all my other programs, both DOS & Windows programs. No Problems. Then
when I went to test 3DS, all the stuff in my last message happened. 3DS was
affected **just by the prescence of the 2nd drive **. As I stated, it could
read/write BITMAPS off the new drive without problem. It *couldn't* load ANY
3DS FILE/PROJECT, no matter where it was stored or when it was created.
You see, all other programs have no problem whatsoever with this drive being in
the system. My current 3DS install caused the Vibrant error message preventing
3DS initialization. Re-Installing 3DS 4c1 (which means installing the
**next-to-the-last** vibrant driver release) causes the error message to go
away, but then the program thinks all 3DS files are invalid. And then if I
remove the 2nd drive and restore the current 3DS install, everything's fine
again!
The way I see it, ONLY 3DS has a problem with the prescense of the 2nd drive.
The drive works fine, and no other (of about 50) applications has a problem
with it, or using it. So, it seems to me that the problem is more 3DS, than the
drive.
BTW, in researching this, I was told some interesting information about this
Intel motherboard:
FROM WESTERN DIGITAL : They claim it's a known fact that there are bizzaro
problems with the Neptune chipset, but refused to elaborate. Intel refused to
comment.
FROM INTEL: They said there's a problem with the CMOS memory function. That is,
data written from previous hardware config's may not be erased/replaced
properly. You are supposed to move the J1-J6 CLEAR jumper to the left of the
SIMM sockets to pins 2-3, re-boot, then shut-down and put the jumper back on
1-2. I tried this.
FROM INTEL: Even more bizzare, they told me that using SIMMS with gold-plated
fingers was in conflict with their spec's. You're supposed to use tin-plated
SIMMS, as the gold/tin contact causes a chemical reaction over time, which
causes resistance to build up, which has been known to cause all sorts of
bizzare problems!! Especially as more devices are added, loading down the power
supply.
I'm not using the disk manager s/w. Thanks for jumping in.
Regards,
BILL
Bill,
Hmmm…we've got 4 of these motherboards; 1 has a single drive, 2 have dual
drives, and mine has 4 drives, and *nothing* like your problems has ever come
up.
>> FROM INTEL: Even more bizzare, they told me that using SIMMS with
gold-plated fingers was in conflict with their spec's. You're supposed to use
tin-plated SIMMS, as the gold/tin contact causes a chemical reaction over time,
which causes resistance to build up, which has been known to cause all sorts of
bizzare problems!! Especially as more devices are added, loading down the power
supply. <<
I think I can vouch for this; I originally had the gold SIMMS, and after about
6 months, I was starting to get an average of 3-4 GPE's, etc., per day in
Windows, and 3DS would sometimes just lock up during a render. About 4 weeks
ago, I replaced the gold SIMMs with tin ones, and have not had even a *single*
error since replacing the chips.
John
<< I think I can vouch for this; I originally had the gold SIMMS, and after
about 6 months, I was starting to get an average of 3-4 GPE's, etc., per day in
Windows, and 3DS would sometimes just lock up during a render. About 4 weeks
ago, I replaced the gold SIMMs with tin ones, and have not had even a *single*
error since replacing the chips. >
That's interesting, that you had that experience. I spent about a half a day
arguing with my supplier about this issue. They think it's ridiculous, but it
makes some sense to me.
I solved the problem 3DS had with the 2nd EIDE by dropping back and punting
<g>. I gave up on the EIDE after much experimentation and frustration, and
added a 2nd internal SCSI. The problem disappeared. I don't know what the deal
was with 3DS & the 2nd EIDE, it should be no problem. It's kinda' strange
though, in that this system has: PCI IDE controller, SCSI controller,
proprietary CD ROM controller, 3 physical hard disks, 13 logical devices,
Erasable Optical, CD ROM, SCSI Scanner, Tape Drive, PCI SVGA S3 display,
ATVista w/ daughtercard, Wavetable synthesis card, with a second as a
daughtercard, 2 MIDI Ports, 3 serial ports with Mouse/Tablet/Modem, 2 parallel,
2 FDD's…..and I can make it all work together flawlessly under
DOS/WINDOWS/NT….But I can't manage to add a second "Plug & Play" HDD and use
3Ds, to save my life <g>
Oh well, thanks for the info.
BILL
Bill,
>> I don't know what the deal was with 3DS & the 2nd EIDE, it should be no
problem.
I agree…very strange. But I'm glad you at least got it going, even though it
meant using a SCSI. Quite the machine!
John
Bill,
>> I spent about a half a day arguing with my supplier about this issue. They
think it's ridiculous, but it makes some sense to me.
For a one page info-doc from Intel on the gold/tin SIMMS issue, download doc. #
4229 from the Intel faxback system: 800-628-2283. There are a lot of other good
docs there, too. BTW, my Premiere manual says you *must* use tin SIMMS on this
motherboard; if your M.B. and memory supplier are the same, it should be their
responsibility to see that you got the correct ones.
John
Hi John,
RE:Simms>>
Other than adding a second EIDE <g>, this system works well with all the
garbage I've got stuffed in it. I believe the SIMMS are supposed to be X36's,
too…but these are X32's. Who knows ? Thanks for the info..
Regards,
BILL