Fixing The Sound-crash Problem
str0ngb4d
Join Date: 2003-03-02 Member: 14216Members
Join Date: 2003-03-02 Member: 14216Members
in Tech Support
<div class="IPBDescription">Only for some users :(</div> Well, the currently webbed solution doesn't work and that post gets no reading. I think this is extremely important - I dont' know how many people have this bug but those who do have considered quiting NS because of it. The post will go like this, "What the problem is", "Who this applies to", "What to do", "Underview".
<u>What's the problem?</u>
At its worst, it prevents you from playing more then 2 minutes consecutively. At other times, you'll go months with no problems. The problem itself is an odd sound made followed by a complete, and total lock-up of the computer. I run Win2k and have *never* had a crash that I couldn't recover from until now. This requires a force shutdown or pulling of the power. Not only is it annoying to keep reconneting/rejoining (especially w/ Win2k where the boot time is looonnnngggg), but its horrible for your computer to be shutdown like that so much (I've had it happen *20* times in 1 single day...).
For me, this only happens when NS is *installed*, but the problem occurs in all HL mods. I've re-installed NS, all mods, Half-Life entirely, and even reformatted and the problem didn't let up one bit - cancelling the suggestion that HL is just buggy about new mods. I came to the conclusion it was a driver problem: a.) Video (because it froze at 1 frame) or b.) Sound (the wierd sound it made when crashing)
<u>Who is this for?</u>
Before I start with the fix, let me explain who this fix is for: I believe the best way to do this is just to find compatible drivers that don't mess up with NS (that applies to all users), but this is particularly for people who use Kxxxxx Lxxxxx boards (particularly the K7S5A....a very popular mobo for the XP processors today. Medium quality, medium price, its the best price to quality ratio). These boards come loaded with the onboard SiS sound device or the more common AC97 onboard. Very little documentation/tech support/etc exists on either of these subjects...the K7 mobos or the AC97 onboard sound cards.
With a lot of sorting through forums, and a good amount of google'age I have dug up what I believe to be the correct answer (at least its worked for me). Basically, if you have a a Kxxxx or Lxxxx mobo, read on. If you have an AC97 onboard sound card....read on. Otherwise, this will not specifically help you but you can definitely get an idea of what the problem is and how to fix it on your card.
If you used the Install CD that came with your mobo after installing Windows, or just bought your PC pre-assembled, chances are you need the card. The problem seems to be that A.) people don't realize they need to update their sound card B.) don't know how to C.) can't find the drivers (even though the sound card is the problem, the MOTHERBOARD maker is providing the drivers for some reason...they were a **** to track down) and D.) if (in the rare case) people realize they need the new drivers and find the driver's DL website, their downloads never start because of the odd situation with their FTP server (read on to see whats up with that). I've done all of this searching for you guys... <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Also, I did nothing special here. This is basically just an updating of drivers, but *locating* the download site and figuring out which one you need is a very daunting task...that's what this post is here for.
<u>The Fix</u>
Let me present to you, the holy grail of all people with this problem:
<a href='http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/driver_sound_m.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/driver_sound_m.htm</a>
w00tage indeed
<i> WARNING: just going to that site will not fix your problem. the site is in taiwan and downloading tricky. Internet Explorer is bad w/ FTP, so if you notice the download locations are all FTP sites. Get an FTP client, and copy the addy of the shortcut to the file you need to download (right click on the link and go to Copy Shortcut). Login as anonymous/anonymous (or just click anonymous if your client has the option) on port 21. <b>It will be extremely slow...several minutes to login, and literally over a minute to change directories once in. BE PATIENT.</b>Even though the navigation/login is slllooowww, for some reason the download itself is fine. After 10 minutes simply navigating directories, I got to my download which came at an unexpected 60kbps.</i>
Just out of curiousity I tracert'ed them afterwards to find many middle nodes pinging at 400+. I suppose the server itself is fast and on a good pipe, but the nodes are slow. IE requests/responds are lagged, but constant flows are fast although they take a while to start.
Now just unzip, and install the drivers.
I don't want to go into specifics of how to pick out which one is right for you, and how to update drivers unless I know it will be necessary. If you need that kind of help, just respond to this post asking for it.
<u>What's the problem?</u>
At its worst, it prevents you from playing more then 2 minutes consecutively. At other times, you'll go months with no problems. The problem itself is an odd sound made followed by a complete, and total lock-up of the computer. I run Win2k and have *never* had a crash that I couldn't recover from until now. This requires a force shutdown or pulling of the power. Not only is it annoying to keep reconneting/rejoining (especially w/ Win2k where the boot time is looonnnngggg), but its horrible for your computer to be shutdown like that so much (I've had it happen *20* times in 1 single day...).
For me, this only happens when NS is *installed*, but the problem occurs in all HL mods. I've re-installed NS, all mods, Half-Life entirely, and even reformatted and the problem didn't let up one bit - cancelling the suggestion that HL is just buggy about new mods. I came to the conclusion it was a driver problem: a.) Video (because it froze at 1 frame) or b.) Sound (the wierd sound it made when crashing)
<u>Who is this for?</u>
Before I start with the fix, let me explain who this fix is for: I believe the best way to do this is just to find compatible drivers that don't mess up with NS (that applies to all users), but this is particularly for people who use Kxxxxx Lxxxxx boards (particularly the K7S5A....a very popular mobo for the XP processors today. Medium quality, medium price, its the best price to quality ratio). These boards come loaded with the onboard SiS sound device or the more common AC97 onboard. Very little documentation/tech support/etc exists on either of these subjects...the K7 mobos or the AC97 onboard sound cards.
With a lot of sorting through forums, and a good amount of google'age I have dug up what I believe to be the correct answer (at least its worked for me). Basically, if you have a a Kxxxx or Lxxxx mobo, read on. If you have an AC97 onboard sound card....read on. Otherwise, this will not specifically help you but you can definitely get an idea of what the problem is and how to fix it on your card.
If you used the Install CD that came with your mobo after installing Windows, or just bought your PC pre-assembled, chances are you need the card. The problem seems to be that A.) people don't realize they need to update their sound card B.) don't know how to C.) can't find the drivers (even though the sound card is the problem, the MOTHERBOARD maker is providing the drivers for some reason...they were a **** to track down) and D.) if (in the rare case) people realize they need the new drivers and find the driver's DL website, their downloads never start because of the odd situation with their FTP server (read on to see whats up with that). I've done all of this searching for you guys... <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Also, I did nothing special here. This is basically just an updating of drivers, but *locating* the download site and figuring out which one you need is a very daunting task...that's what this post is here for.
<u>The Fix</u>
Let me present to you, the holy grail of all people with this problem:
<a href='http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/driver_sound_m.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/driver_sound_m.htm</a>
w00tage indeed
<i> WARNING: just going to that site will not fix your problem. the site is in taiwan and downloading tricky. Internet Explorer is bad w/ FTP, so if you notice the download locations are all FTP sites. Get an FTP client, and copy the addy of the shortcut to the file you need to download (right click on the link and go to Copy Shortcut). Login as anonymous/anonymous (or just click anonymous if your client has the option) on port 21. <b>It will be extremely slow...several minutes to login, and literally over a minute to change directories once in. BE PATIENT.</b>Even though the navigation/login is slllooowww, for some reason the download itself is fine. After 10 minutes simply navigating directories, I got to my download which came at an unexpected 60kbps.</i>
Just out of curiousity I tracert'ed them afterwards to find many middle nodes pinging at 400+. I suppose the server itself is fast and on a good pipe, but the nodes are slow. IE requests/responds are lagged, but constant flows are fast although they take a while to start.
Now just unzip, and install the drivers.
I don't want to go into specifics of how to pick out which one is right for you, and how to update drivers unless I know it will be necessary. If you need that kind of help, just respond to this post asking for it.