Important for VIA users (With problems after game loads)

Glidefan · *Last edited by Glidefan; 11-07-2002 at 22:40.*

This was originally posted by Hagar.

He explains about a patch that solves game crashing problems with VIA chipsets so if you r interested read along and download the patch if you need it.

With regards to Arden1's problem, It sounds like the hell I've just been through. I installed windows XP with SP1 integrated and no matter what I tried, every single game crashed within seconds of the map/level loading. I spent four days of formats,un-installs, re-installs and every imaginable driver,hardware and bios setting combination you can think of and no matter what I kept on getting the same problem.

I won't bore you with all the details of my troubles I'll just tell you that I eventually came across an old beta driver for via chipset based motherboards which solved the problem. This is a snippet from the readme explaining what it does:

"It closes the RX55 memory register in BIOS. The RX55 register's official name and function is Memory Write Queue (MWQ) timer. The MWQ timer is actually a timing device included in the memory host controller to prevent write data being held in the memory queue too long. After the data has been in the queue too long it times out. This timed out data is then given a higher write request priority. Now that might sound nice ? a bit of extra performance BUT the procedure fails when overloaded. 3D games and Win XP put too much load on the memory queuing timer procedure. The nVidia new driver exaggerates the problem even more as the driver enables nVidia cards to use even more memory than previous driver versions.

So in a nutshell it?s a memory timing problem that only happens when the RX55 register is opened. Some motherboard manufacturers have already released new BIOS that have the register closed. In other instances, this patch is needed."
-
They also say in it that this driver will "probably end up being a silent install patch in the next version of the 4in1 drivers" I don't know why but this obviously never happened as the date of the zip containg the drive is "03 December 2001" !!!! and there's been a hell of a lot of 4in1 drivers since then.

So like I said this worked for me and if you're absolutely at the edge of your sanity looking for a solution (and you've got a via chipset motherboard of course) you may as well give it a try also.

I should also point out to anyone else thinking about trying it that they should bear in mind that is specific to a problem of games crashing within seconds of the map/level loading. The more common instabilities of random re-boots or lock ups after a fair amount of time are more likely to do with the usual reasons and this driver isn't likely to do much for you.

Here's the url if you want to give it a try:

http://downloads.viaarena.com/driver...st_driver1.zip

Good luck

MrOuija · 11-08-2002, 16:23 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

yes!this is very important eh,i've been messing around with this thing for weeks,all the anger and irritation,frustration and all the typicall stuff when your computer doesn't do what it is supposed to...i am so relieved that i can finally play games again,i almost brought the damn thing to the store,so i can't thank you enough Hagar!!

ice2hot

Quote:

Originally posted by Glidefan
This was originally posted by Hagar.

He explains about a patch that solves game crashing problems with VIA chipsets so if you r interested read along and download the patch if you need it.

With regards to Arden1's problem, It sounds like the hell I've just been through. I installed windows XP with SP1 integrated and no matter what I tried, every single game crashed within seconds of the map/level loading. I spent four days of formats,un-installs, re-installs and every imaginable driver,hardware and bios setting combination you can think of and no matter what I kept on getting the same problem.

I won't bore you with all the details of my troubles I'll just tell you that I eventually came across an old beta driver for via chipset based motherboards which solved the problem. This is a snippet from the readme explaining what it does:

"It closes the RX55 memory register in BIOS. The RX55 register's official name and function is Memory Write Queue (MWQ) timer. The MWQ timer is actually a timing device included in the memory host controller to prevent write data being held in the memory queue too long. After the data has been in the queue too long it times out. This timed out data is then given a higher write request priority. Now that might sound nice ? a bit of extra performance BUT the procedure fails when overloaded. 3D games and Win XP put too much load on the memory queuing timer procedure. The nVidia new driver exaggerates the problem even more as the driver enables nVidia cards to use even more memory than previous driver versions.

So in a nutshell it?s a memory timing problem that only happens when the RX55 register is opened. Some motherboard manufacturers have already released new BIOS that have the register closed. In other instances, this patch is needed."
-
They also say in it that this driver will "probably end up being a silent install patch in the next version of the 4in1 drivers" I don't know why but this obviously never happened as the date of the zip containg the drive is "03 December 2001" !!!! and there's been a hell of a lot of 4in1 drivers since then.

So like I said this worked for me and if you're absolutely at the edge of your sanity looking for a solution (and you've got a via chipset motherboard of course) you may as well give it a try also.

I should also point out to anyone else thinking about trying it that they should bear in mind that is specific to a problem of games crashing within seconds of the map/level loading. The more common instabilities of random re-boots or lock ups after a fair amount of time are more likely to do with the usual reasons and this driver isn't likely to do much for you.

Here's the url if you want to give it a try:

http://downloads.viaarena.com/driver...st_driver1.zip

Good luck

Hi hagar I have the same problem. How do I find out which motherboard do I have I dont have th manual for it any ideas how to look for the MOBO brand. thanks alot

11-11-2002, 15:22 | posts: n/a

hee go to www.viaarena.com download 4043 4 in 1 , they are muchhh better for your via board..i had the problems to , these drivers are for agp....if you install it it all worx like god himself

MrOuija · 11-11-2002, 18:20 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

if you read the message of hagar proparly you will see that updating the via drivers will not allways work,i did the same and it didn't work,so....

DeathtrapX · 11-12-2002, 00:57 | posts: 204 | Location: Tennessee

I am using xp home 1.2ghz athlon gf4 ti 4400 (blue screens on gf2 ultra to ) phills dynamic edge (was using sb live thought it was creative causing probs so I took it out). Anywase I am blue screening non stop in games .. sometimes in first min, sometimes in 8 min .. but its always first 1-10 min i blue screen. Is that considered random? Its a 100% chance i ll blue screen in a 3d game .. so should I still try this patch? I am on a via board, first international model ad 11 ... should I try these?

MrOuija · 11-12-2002, 08:49 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Quote:

Originally posted by DeathtrapX
I am using xp home 1.2ghz athlon gf4 ti 4400 (blue screens on gf2 ultra to ) phills dynamic edge (was using sb live thought it was creative causing probs so I took it out). Anywase I am blue screening non stop in games .. sometimes in first min, sometimes in 8 min .. but its always first 1-10 min i blue screen. Is that considered random? Its a 100% chance i ll blue screen in a 3d game .. so should I still try this patch? I am on a via board, first international model ad 11 ... should I try these?

You could allways try ofcourse,i have no idea if it could do bad to your computer,but i don't think so,i've downloaded it and it solved all my problems...but you might wanna ask someone else,
good luck

DemonNeno · 11-16-2002, 08:17 | posts: 151 | Location: Skokie, IL

Quote:

Originally posted by DeathtrapX
I am using xp home 1.2ghz athlon gf4 ti 4400 (blue screens on gf2 ultra to ) phills dynamic edge (was using sb live thought it was creative causing probs so I took it out). Anywase I am blue screening non stop in games .. sometimes in first min, sometimes in 8 min .. but its always first 1-10 min i blue screen. Is that considered random? Its a 100% chance i ll blue screen in a 3d game .. so should I still try this patch? I am on a via board, first international model ad 11 ... should I try these?

That almost sounds like a temp related problem? What temps are you running? Is your system a rig? I'd suggest you find a proggie that'll give you temps in windows. Many like Motherboard Monitor 5 (MBM5) but i've found it to be a hassle in most cases.

I, on the other hand, will give this patch a hoot and hope it might cure my current problem running Max Payne. The game hangs on the desktop splash screen and errors the .EXE, which ti didn't do before on my Win98SE and never did w/ my XP and my GF3ti200... hmmm.. Oh well, anything for Max!

Also, i don't see this patch hurting anything whatsoever. Just give it a shot if those temps look normal.

SHAGGA · 11-17-2002, 00:39 | posts: 1,673 | Location: Surrey, England

The hardware monitor in your BIOS should give you the Temps.

**I love you man -** 11-17-2002, 08:57 | posts: n/a

My ti4200 and xp pro are screaming on my kk266
I cannot thank you enough.
I can play 1942 again

**Same problem !!! -** 11-18-2002, 20:33 | posts: n/a

But with a P4 Mobo

Can anyone help PLEASE !!!!!!!!!

Cheers m8's

/BAD

11-19-2002, 17:58 | posts: n/a

Ahhh, been trying to fix this problem for ages and just came across this. Thanks alot, i can now play all the games ive got again!

lucky i found it because i was very close to going out buying a whole load of new hardware...

SUnSpot · 11-24-2002, 22:29 | posts: 471 | Location: Sweden

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Still Didn't Work -** 11-26-2002, 04:32 | posts: n/a

Ugh, I was praying to God this would fix my problem, but of course not. I have an Iwill KK266 Mobo which is the KT133a chipset I believe and all my games except for 1 lock up, CTD, or reboot me within seconds of starting them. The one game that will play is a FPS called, "Gore". I have no idea why this one will play and no others. I've changed/updated every driver, bios setting, XP setting that I know of to no avail. I really hope one of you guys could help me with this. My hardware is listed below. This problem happens with an original TNT Video card, my Kryo II 64mb, and a MSI 4200 128mb.

T-Bird 1200mhz OC'd to 1350
Thermaltake Heatsink with 7K fan.
Iwill KK266 mobo
Kyro II 64mb
256mb Crucial PC150 Ram
Fujuitsu 20gig HDD
Diamond MX400 Soundcard
Old Intel ISA Network Card
300watt PSU

MrOuija · 11-26-2002, 09:11 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

check how ur irq's are assigned,at least that is what i allways hear,i'm not so good at these things but i suggest you start a new thread with your problem so more people will see and try 2 help ya,succes

**Link doesn't work -** 12-01-2002, 18:58 | posts: n/a

I would like to download the file but the link doesn't work. Is there any other way i can get the file?

12-02-2002, 00:36 | posts: n/a

NEVERMIND-

The link works now, but the driver didn't solve my problems.

12-04-2002, 20:02 | posts: n/a

Hrmpfs. That patch dosen't work for me.. =(( I'v hade this problem for a long time, I thought it was something wrong with a chips or something on the moderboard, so I was returning it to ABIT and they was giving me a new one, "took about 4 weeks" So yesterday I finaly got it, and still i have the same problem, that it crashes in games, windows, listens to mp3, watching a movie, whatever you name it and it will crash! and its freaking annoying.. =(( I really need something to fix it. And i cant really phone em or something to explane, whats wrong.. =(

My stuff is:
Abit kg7-raid
Amd athlon 1800+ Xp
512 DDR 2100 Pc Orginal
Geforce 2 pro 64mb
SB live 1024 player.

I'v tryed everything, chaning ram, grafic, with or without some parts, and so on.. but nothing work.. please help me..

regards

Snus

MrOuija · 12-04-2002, 20:29 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

you might want to start a new thread with your problems,that will get some more attention and reactions, have you tried completely other ram?maybe there's something with your cpu?have you tried it with no things in your pci slots at all?

12-05-2002, 09:18 | posts: n/a

Yes, I'v done that..

Changed CPU.
Changed Ram
Changed Grafik card

Tryed with soundcard, with out soundcard, on a diffret place.
same with the lan card.

Tryed Windows 2000
Tryed windows Xp
driffrent drivers, to the Via chip, grafik card, bios.
the chip is AMD 761 btw.

And the moderboard is totaly new from ABIT. now manual, and stuff come with it..

this is ****y.

12-05-2002, 19:37 | posts: n/a

Think this will help my situation? My PC locks up when I try to play any game that requires 3D graphics or when I select the 3D Screen Savers that come bundled with XP. Nothing else locks it up. I've replaced the power supply, RAM and sound card, and tried a clean install of XP.

I'm getting desprate to get back to Neverwinter Nights! Thanks for any input.

System Mainboard
Manufacturer : HOLCO (Shuttle)
Model : VT8366-8233
BIOS ID : 04/12/2002-VT8366-8233-6A6LVH28C-00
System Chipset : VIA KT266/A,KT333 Chipset
Processor Manufacturer: AMD
Processor Type: Athlon XP 2000
Processor Speed: 2.0 Ghz
Operating System / Service Pack: Windows XP with SP1
System RAM: 384 megs
Video Card Manufacturer: Nvidia
Video Card Model: GeForce2 MX/MX 400
Video Card RAM: 64 megs
Video Card Driver Version: 40.72
Sound Card Manufacturer: Creative Labs
Sound Card Model: SB Live
Sound Card Driver Version: 5.1.2501.0
Power supply: 300w

MrOuija · 12-05-2002, 20:45 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

i dont know if it will solve your problems,but it wont hurt 2 try

12-07-2002, 15:26 | posts: n/a

Nice one

I've tried loads of things, and finally one that works.

One interesting thing I've found, and not seen anyone else comment on, is that the *only* drivers I'd ever managed to get to work prior to this fix, were 27.42 - I hope this helps someone assuming they can't find a better solution

12-10-2002, 08:21 | posts: n/a

I have another kind of problem for which there isn't any solution, it seems. 3D games freeze within the half hour, it usually takes 20 mins, and once i've been able to play almost 1 hour.

I have the apparently unknown VT133 chipset (it's bullsh*t anyways) and an XFX Geforce 2 MX 400 64MB SDR PCI (so I assume it can't have anything to do with AGP stuff).

I'm quite desperate here.. *sob*

MrOuija · 12-10-2002, 09:50 | posts: 3,907 | Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

start a new thread for the attention,maybe it's an overheating problem