rec.autos.simulators

Pent. 450 with 128MB
Viper550 and 12mb Monster II
2.53 glide in gpl folder with 2.54 in windows /system( I also tried 2.53
here but no dice)
6.1 Directx (4.06.02.0436)
Direct3D version 4.10.01.0207
3.01 winglide 3.x
Monster driver = mnstr2.drv    version 4.10.01.0205****
My Directx diagnostics says that this driver(mnstr2.drv) is not certified.
Whatever that means?

Thanks in advance for any input. Please also note that I can run nascar2 and
nascar99 just fine in 3dfx mode.
Allen
A-Boyd

 Lutrell :-)

D Sport Racer #74
http://www2.scca.com/amateur/club_racing/runoffs/photogal/dsr-74.jpg

When GPL was first released, we saw several reports of people having
lock-up problems using Voodoo II boards with the same symptoms you
describe.  We had never seen this problem, and were unable to reproduce
it in-house.  So we bought a machine that exhibited this problem from a
customer.  We've been working with 3Dfx to identify the problem.  We
determined that, after a while, the board simply stops responding to
Glide.

As near as we can tell, this not due to GPL either sending improper
data to Glide, or, in general, using Glide improperly.  It also does
not appear to be because of any adverse interactions between the
affected Voodoo II board and the system it's installed in.  We can take
the affected Voodoo II board, put it in any number of different
systems, and it exhibits the same problems, even when other Voodoo II
boards do not exhibit problems in those same systems.  This leads us to
believe that the problem is hardware related, and that neither Glide,
nor GPL are operating improperly.

The only thing that helped was to underclock the Voodoo II board.  The
more it was underclocked, the longer it would run before locking up,
though it would eventually lock up even then.  The more it was
overclocked, the sooner it would lock up.  Although it is possible that
the problem is heat related, this could only be so due to a faulty
component on the board; one that is not capable of operating within its
design specifications.  We've sent the board to 3Dfx so that they can
analyze it.

My suggestion would be to return the board to your retailer and
exchange it.  Due to the multitude of issues that can lead to similar
symptoms (screen savers, overclocking, DUN disconnects, incompatible
drivers, etc.), I can't tell whether one manufacturer's boards are more
susceptible to the problem than another.

Try bring up the task list (hit ctrl-alt-del while at the desktop) and
look for a task named either "GPL" or "Papyrus Window".  If either
exists, kill it.  When it's dead, check once again (I think generally,
you'll see "Papyrus Window", kill it, then "gpl" will appear, which
also needs to be killed).

Randy

Randy,
    My neighbor has a Monster 3dII that works just fine with GPL. So I tried
his card in my machine with the same results. The outcome was the same. It
still locked up. So that makes me wonder how it could be my card when his
card did the same thing but works fine in his machine. I did underclock the
Monster card to 90 as was suggested on this thread and ran a few laps to
test it. It did fine but then again I didnt play long. It is very
discouraging  that you mentioned that it will eventually freeze up again. If
that is the case, I give up. I don't know what else to do or try.  :-(
Allen

 This leads us to

% Randy,
%     My neighbor has a Monster 3dII that works just fine with GPL. So I tried
% his card in my machine with the same results. The outcome was the same. It
% still locked up. So that makes me wonder how it could be my card when his
% card did the same thing but works fine in his machine. I did underclock the
% Monster card to 90 as was suggested on this thread and ran a few laps to
% test it. It did fine but then again I didnt play long. It is very
% discouraging  that you mentioned that it will eventually freeze up again. If
% that is the case, I give up. I don't know what else to do or try.  :-(
% Allen

%  This leads us to
% >believe that the problem is hardware related, and that neither Glide,
% >nor GPL are operating improperly.
% >
% >The only thing that helped was to underclock the Voodoo II board.  The
% >more it was underclocked, the longer it would run before locking up,
% >though it would eventually lock up even then.  The more it was
% >overclocked, the sooner it would lock up

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A week ago "someone" reported that using the Glide wrapper from
http://www.grandprix2.com/gpl/patches/glide2x.zip helped. Using it
results in a small delay during GPL glide calls, because it passes
them through to the original glide driver.
However, as I experience those lockups too (but very seldom, approx.
once in two or three weeks, and I usually can play GPL for hours
without freezing), it seems a bit strange to me that it should be a
overheating problem. Games that use both TMUs of my Voodoo2 like
Unreal or Half-Life run fine for hours, and IMHO GPL doesn't use the
Voodoo2 that much that it would be more likely to cause overheating
than those games.  And, when it actually happens, I can close GPL +
Papy Window, restart GPL, and play again for 2 hours or so. Doesn't
look like a overheating problem to me...
btw, 90 MHz isn't really underclocking, you should also try 85 MHz. Or
try to place the V2 in another slot. Or put a fan on your Monster, if
it doesn't have one already.

Daniel

--
    Daniel Lichtenberger, Vienna/Austria
 "If I ate spinach I'd be called spinach D"