#Flics crashing
12 messages in this thread
I'm hoping that somebody can help me figure out my problem.
Problem: I have two computers (lets call them Computer "A" and Computer "B").
Computer "A" is a P60 , 32mb ram, using a Matrox MGA Ultima + 4mb video card.
Computer "B" is a P90 , 64mb ram, using a Number 9 GXE PRO64 4mb video card.
Computer "A" will play whatever flic I throw at it.
Computer "B" will play most flics just fine, but on others…it will start to
play and then freeze up my computer – I have to reboot.
I've been comparing "A" 's and "B" 's settings to see if there was just
something that I was blatantly missing. I compared the 3ds.set files and the
3ds vibcfg Flic Drivers settings. The only real differences were those that
are "individual computer specific" – video card, etc. I can't find anything
that should prevent me from playing flics on "B"…but then I'm not all that
sure what I'm looking for 🙁 And I'm even more confused by it working fine
with some flics and crashing on others. I get the feeling, ( that sick, evil
feeling ), that the answer is right in front of me but too close to see.
Any ideas and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
T.I.A.
Gary 🙂
Hi Gary,
->"I have two computers…."
Sounds like "B" isn't working. <G>
Actually it sounds like your P90 might have a hardware config problem. If you
have a copy of Animator Pro or some other program that plays FLC's you might
try them to play the problem flc's. This may isolate whether it's a problem
that only shows up in 3DS (doubtful).
Also, find out whether it just crashes on the BIGGER flic files. This may
indicate a problem with one of your RAM SIMMS.
Good luck,
-Heinz.
Hello Heinz,
>>> Also, find out whether it just crashes on the BIGGER flic files. This may
indicate a problem with one of your RAM SIMMS. <<<
This does appear to be the case. I did a little bit of testing yesterday
evening to see if I could pinpoint the conditions under which the P90 would
hang. I rendered out the same 30 frame flic at three different
resolutions….640×480, 480×360, and 320×240. The 320×240 played fine and the
others hung.
Anyway…any suggestions on how to proceed? I purchased the P90 thru Paul L. –
if it is indeed a problem with a RAM SIMM, is there a way to verify this or
should I just bring it up with Paul ?
Thanks Heinz,
See you in a few weeks.
Gary 🙂
<<Anyway…any suggestions on how to proceed? >>
Here is something to try. Boot clean (files and buffers only). Start the player
and play one of the larger flics. It should crash. Note the time or frame where
it crashes.
Repeat this. It should crash in the same spot, right?
Now, open the computer, and swap around the RAM chips so that the simms are in
different banks from where they started. Boot clean and play the flic. Does it
stop in the same place? Or does it stop in a different place?
Different place tells us the RAM is having problems.
Same place tells us the RAM is most likely not the problem here.
-Brian
<<… Boot clean (files and buffers only)…>>
I'm a little confused ? Just *how* clean should this boot be ? Literally
everything gets REM'ed out except files and buffers ??? How about the
autoexec.bat?
<<.. Start the player and play one of the larger flics. It should crash. Note
the time or frame where it crashes…>>
I'm playing flics thru 3ds…am I just looking for an approx. crashing point or
an exact figure ?
t.i.a.
Gary 🙂
Brian-
O.K., I figured out this clean boot thing – the only driver that I loaded was
the mouse driver to play the flic in 3D Studio. The flics locked in the same
spot. I then rotated my SIMMs so each was in a different bank than before.
Rebooted (clean) and the flics locked in the same spot as before.
>>…Same place tells us the RAM is most likely not the problem here…<<
How about the BIOS ? Both systems use AMI Bios', but different versions.
Computer "A" Computer "B"
Bios Ver. 1.00.03.AF1 1.00.10.AX1
Bios Date 9/24/93 8/23/94
Data Segmt 9FC0 1k none
Computer "B" is the one that's crashing…….
How about video cards ? "A" uses Matrox 4mb "B" uses #9 gxe64 pro-4mb
Video Bios' ??? O.K., perhaps I'm getting carried away – I just hate having my
computer act "flakey" and not understanding why. I mentioned the problem to my
dealer – didn't really have an opinion one way the other, but at least he's
aware of it.
Anyway…Any further help/advice/wisdom/ideas are greatly appreciated !!
Thnx again,
Gary 🙂
<<O.K., I figured out this clean boot thing – the only driver that I loaded was
the mouse driver to play the flic in 3D Studio. The flics locked in the same
spot. I then rotated my SIMMs so each was in a different bank than before.
Rebooted (clean) and the flics locked in the same spot as before. >>
Well, this tells us it is most likely not a bad RAM chip.
<<How about the BIOS ? Both systems use AMI Bios', but different versions.>>
Unlikely, but you can call the computer manufacturer and request a BIOS
upgrade.
<<How about video cards ? "A" uses Matrox 4mb "B" uses #9 gxe64 pro-4mb
Video Bios' ??? O.K., perhaps I'm getting carried away – >>
No, that is not so crazy, swap the video cards between the two computers and
see if that makes a difference.
<<Anyway…Any further help/advice/wisdom/ideas are greatly appreciated !!
Thnx again,>>
Have you already:
1. checked for viruses?
2 done a hard disk integrety check and surface scan looking for bad sectors and
lost clusters?
3. run any other system diagnostics you can get your hands on?
4. tried copying the same file to the bad computer with a different file name,
without removing the first one? (this way we know it is not on the same
location of the hard disk)
-Brian
Brian,
Thanks for all the advice/things to check… Unfortunately, I'm going to have
to delay checking them until Monday or Tuesday – deadlines and committments !!
I'll let you know how things go next week.
Again, much thanks !
Gary 🙂
Gary,
May I ask what version of the Vibrant in-line driver you are using?
Blake [Vibrant]
Blake,
I started 3ds vibcfg and pulled the number off of the first screen that comes
up… if this was the version # you were refering to ?…then, version 1.0.5 P1
( Oct. 7, 1994). Somebody ( Brian Rudolph, I believe ) told me that there were
updated vibrant drivers in the forum libraries…so I found them and downloaded
them. I'll have to wait, however until later this evening to transfer it over
to the other computer and fiddle with it. If you get this message and can
respond by this evening – let me know if I gave you the version number you were
looking for ? I noticed a "big-bad" disclaimer on the library
discription…anything I need to be concerned about ? F.Y.I. – both computers
are using the same driver version.
Thanks for jumping in !
Talk to you soon
Gary 🙂
Blake,
I download the updated drivers and they worked out fine for my P90-with the #9
video card (flics started playing without vapor-locking, even at larger
resolutions). However…I updated the drivers on my P60 ( with Matrox card )
which priveously had no problems. After loading the new drivers I got an
annoying flicker while in the Materials Editor. Even the video test for the
Materials Editor in "3ds vibcfg" was flickery – I believe it was 640x480x16
mill colors. I don't know why that happened but I just reset to the old
drivers – if it ain't broke…..!
Anyway, the new drivers *did* help my "sick one" !!! <BG>
Thnx-
C.U.
Gary 🙂
Gary,
There could only be one thought on the Matox card and that would be a utility
to correct the scan rate of the video card. I'm still not sure how our drivers
might effect the refresh rate on MGA cards, and this problem has been brought
to my attention before.
Glad to hear that ver 1.0.6 fixed the S3 lockup.
Blake [Vibrant]