rec.autos.simulators

I have had alot of trouble with NROS working as reliable as Hawaii.
It is hard to say which problems the Diamond Stealth II S220 is to be
blamed for until every mystery is solved.

The 4 pauses every few minutes ended up being a tcp/ip config using
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.  Once I "temporarily" disabled
DHCP, this conflict between my normal use of Windows95 and my NROS use
of Windows95 can be managed if I remember to make the changes and I am
willing to re-boot the machine before and after every use of NROS.

The hang on the blank screen problem after a NROS race ended up being
a conflict between the power saving feature of my BIOS and the timing
needed by the NROS.  NROS would not wait for my hard drives to spin up
to speed and proceed to return back to the TEN connection.   Once I
"temporarily" disabled the energy saving features of my BIOS, this
conflict between my normal use of Windows95 and my NROS use of
Windows95 can be managed if I remember to make the changes and I am
willing to re-boot the machine before and after every use of NROS.

The hang on the blank screen problem while leaving the TEN scheduling
software and entering the NROS.EXE code ended up being a timing
problem that seems to be solved my changing the PCI latency timer from
the default (ASUS P55T2P4 board) 32 to 60.  NROS would not enter the
proper video mode.   Once I changed the PCI latency timer in my
computer's BIOS, this problem seems to be solved.  I have no idea if
this PCI latency timer change will have any other side effects to
other software.  For now, I am changing it back and forth along with
the other BIOS changes that the NROS requires.

When a rendition version of NROS.EXE is available, there will be more
Diamond Stealth II S220 compatibility concerns.

I have been tinkering with memory settings, ramdrive in config.sys,
etc. to try to get rendition and non-rendition versions of nascar2 to
run.

In DOS, I cannot get any rendition titles to run in rendition mode.

No new video BIOS or Windows95 driver has been released in over a
month for the Diamond Stealth II S220.

My e-mails to Diamond two weeks ago have not been answered.

Like I said, the jury is still out in my opinion.  It is a fast card
for the things it can do.  If or when the compatibility problems are
solved will determine the future of this card.

The Herculese Thriller 3D is currently in production.  We will see
quantities of these cards available soon!  This card might really be a
"thriller" if it comes out of the box with a good video BIOS and a
good set of drivers.  As of yet, this card is a bigger unknown than
the Diamond Stealth II S220.

--
Best Wishes!!!
Robert Huggins
Raleigh, NC