STICKY: Dual Core Machines may need a driver update

bump, because sticky isn't working

Is it possible for Stardock, to help dual core users who are less than programmers to work through this issue?

I checked the links, but I do not fully understand the first link and what one is suppose to do, nor do I run Windows x64, and the last link does not seem to help me understand things any better of what I would have to do.

I have yet to receive my copy from EB Games but if I have issues I am wondering if I have trouble...

1. Will SD update GCII to run on Dual Core Systems?
2. What steps would I need to take?
3. Is it possible to have a complete step by step explaining what we must do to make GCII work?

Thanks

Another helpful link. Link HardForum Dual Core Gaming Fix Guide. I found this one to be the most informative. I did the AMD update and XP SP2 update then made sure all my drivers were good and have had no problems with the game.

I have a Athlon Dual Core machine and I definitely experienced the problem listed above, where the models were jittery and the game was unplayable. I took the following steps, which seemed to fix it.

1. Installed the latest NVidia Driver. [I have a GeForce 6800 GS]
a. www.nvidia.com
2. Uninstalled the DirectX SDK [I had this on my machine because I keep imagining I'm going to use it for something]
3. Installed the latest version of DirectX
a. "http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3F2828FA-0E3C-4837-AFC0-6C67DCAA54BF&displaylang=en"

So like I said, one of these steps fixed my problem. I never tried the step described by CariElf with the updated processor driver. My system specs are:

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
AMD Athlon Dual Core
NVidia GeForce 6800 GS

It looks like the forum editor didn't like my nvidia driver link, suffice it to say if you can't puzzle out the url I was going for then go to www.nvidia.com and find the latest drivers for your card.

OK, I've actually had to go through some of this due to my new upgrade. First off, go to the first link and download/install the appropriate AMD driver for your PC (depends on OS, they have many, just make sure to get the 32 bit if XP standard, 64 if XP_64, etc.). Next, if you have CnQ enabled, and you don't have a good reason to have it on, TURN IT OFF! It causes all sorts of fun, and not just with multi-threading.

Unfortunately I haven't found a good tool to check for CnQ within windows, so unfortunately, your best bet is to just go into the bios and disable it (if it isn't already). The Microsoft download is simply a fix for the power management profile, and isn't relevant if you're not using CnQ. Oh and of course, latest and greatest video drivers, as they're still fixing multi-CPU issues with them (both nVidia and ATI).

Now if you're still having issues, you can always set GalCiv2 to run on only 1 CPU, by starting up task manager, right clicking the galciv2 process, and set affinity. Simply uncheck one of the CPU's, and you're set (don't do both or else naughty things can happen

Just as an FYI, I've been running the digital version of GalCiv2 with very few issues, none of which appear to be dual core related. Now the software I'm working on, is another matter, but alas, I stink at writing properly threaded code

. Will SD update GCII to run on Dual Core Systems?

It's not an issue with our game. It's an issue with older AMD drivers for Dual Core machines.  Some games do use less reliable timers, but we are using the correct one.

Please let me know if I have this right. There seems to be 3 potential problems:
1) AMD drivers for the dual core itself.
2) MS Drivers for XP? (not sure about this one)
3) The Cool and Quiet (CnQ) functionality messing up the threading.

I'm not home to check this.... BUT.... the AMD drivers for Windows XP on the AMD sote are dated May 2005. My machine is brand new, while it is possible that Gateway loaded the old drivers, I'm not sure that's the case at this point.

Are there XP updates that wouldn't show up on the MS auto-updater?

I also want to download the updated motherboard drivers from Nvidia for my nforce401 chipset board, as well as disable the CnQ.

I'll try to go one at a time to see which specifically fixes the issue.

How can I check my CPU Driver info?

About the post in the Serios Sam Forum: it might seem that disabling Cool'n'Quiet solves the problem. It doesn't. The cores' times still drift enough to cause significant problems.

The MS hotfix may be a bit problematic, it didn't seem to work at first. After installing the hotfix several times recently (thanks to RAD Game Tools support), I haven't encountered those timing problems anymore. Your best bet would be to really close all programs, install the thing and reboot immediately. Afterwards, the usepmtimer option mentioned by Tripp Parks in the second link doesn't seem to be necessary anymore. I haven't found a way to quickly determine if the fix was installed properly, even in the broken installation all files were there and had the correct versions.

Now, why MS isn't integrating that stuff into a regular update is beyond me. The fix is essential, but not regularly available, you only get it if you have a boxed, non-OEM version of Windows. OEM and SB owners are officially out of luck. Many game forums do however have some "outsourced" download locations available. Search engines are your friend.

When in trouble or in doubt, use the task manager to set the affinity of Stardock Central to a single CPU and start GC2 from there. That works around the timing problem. (To set affinity in Win2k/WinXP: press ctrl-alt-del to open the taskmanager. in the first tab, select Stardock Central, right-click and choose "jump to process" or whatever it's called. You'll end up on the list of running processes with the proper one highlighted. Right-lick, select affinity and remove all checkboxes but one. Press OK and start GC2.)

I cannot resist to say this: my Linux installation had the same problem, but that was fixed with one tiny kernel option and I haven't had problems since.

Probably control panel, System, Hardware, Device Manager, Processors and then double-click on your CPU and click the Driver tab.

1) AMD drivers for the dual core itself. 2) MS Drivers for XP? (not sure about this one) 3) The Cool and Quiet (CnQ) functionality messing up the threading.

1) Something like that. It's different than what Windows has and it's from the CPU maker. Plus it doesn't seem to do any harm (didn't help me either, but well...)

2) This is supposed to fix timing issues. It's not available in any auto-update. See above.

3) It doesn't mess up threading, it just makes an unreliable timebase even less reliable. At some point, on some Pentium, someone (who should IMO be strapped to a rocket and shot into the sun) decided that it would be a good idea to count CPU cylcles as a measure of time. Needless to say that the approach is doomed if a CPU decides to change speed or if the process switches CPUs which may now suddenly lead to time jumping "backwards" from the processes point of view.

About disabling CnQ : that just makes the problem occur less frequently.

Ugh, so I guess I'm on the SOL list since I have an OEM version of XP Media Center. I thought I was going blind or daft since I couldn't find the download link on that support page. I think I have my old XP Pro serial number hanging around so I'll probably stretch the truth and use that.

I have a few more people for that rocket trip to the sun. So don't start the launch just yet!

I wonder if there is a downside to the MS Hotfix since they seem to steer people away from it.

I don't know of any new problems caused by the hotfix.

Google finds some stuff for "kb896256 download", like this:
Link

(German site) See the first download. -ENU is for english installations -DEU for german.


(edit: GAH! Stupid link parser!)

I have a 4800+ chip and never had any issues. Only issue I have is that the game frequently drops to the desktop, but I think that's because I'm playing the same game through a few of the betas to the final product.

So, I don't think anyone is SOL (no pun intended). Just be patient and try to get all of the updates. I had to get SP2 and all of the ms patches working for the proper cool and quiet driver to install. God I hope the Cedega guys add this game soon so I boot linux instead.

I tried the one fix where I adjusted the 'Affinity' but it was only temporary. I managed to play for over an hour with the planets and ships spinning normally, but just about 10 minutes ago they started to spin really fast again.

I guess I'll give the AMD Driver a shot and see if that helps any.

Okay, would someone who knows let me know if this is the correct Driver.

I am running an...

AMD 64 x2 4200+
DFI nF4 SLI-DR Expert
Nvidia 6800GT
2 Gig Ram
X-Fi Platinum

My Driver Info says the following:

Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 4/1/2004
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.0
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Publisher

What should I do if anything?

Thank you

HI I was having the spinning problem reported here so seriously that the game was virtually unplayable.

I installed the AMD chip patch, and the MS-Hotfix. I wanted to try each separately but I was pressed for time. At any rate, either one or the combination of the two fixed my problem. The game seems to be running normally at this point. I can alt-tab back and forth (albeit with a minor delay when switching back), and restart the game without the problem reintroducing itself.

Thanks for the help in resolving this problem!

My current driver for the AMD Athlon X2 4200+ after installing the AMD patch:

Provider: Advanced Micro Devices
Driver Date: 10/26/2004
Driver Version: 1.2.2.0
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Publisher

Like I said, this is a fresh rebuild that happened 2 weeks ago (maybe Feb 9th) and I have the most current drivers, which includes the Nvidia system drivers, nvidia video and AMD patch. Nothing else was needed for me.

If I do have problems, I refer to the HardOCP link. It seems to explain the most right off the bat.

Glad im only 64bit, not dual core. had to disable cool n quiet, it was ramping down clockspeed mid-game and causing some horrible fps spikes. From 1,8ghz ro 750mhz and things would just die. *shakes fist at amd*

had to disable cool n quiet, it was ramping down clockspeed mid-game and causing some horrible fps spikes. From 1,8ghz ro 750mhz and things would just die. *shakes fist at amd*

You're shaking your fist at the wrong people. AMD is just trying to lower your electricity bill. It's a bit hard to decide who's to blame, but ultimately it's the people who didn't get the idea of the HPET a lot earlier

If all else fails: run something like SETI@home in the background. That keeps CPU utilization at 100% and effectively prevents CnQ from kicking in for longer periods of time.

Ah but no, you misunderstand! Cool'n'Quiet isn't for lowering your electrical bill; It throttles your PC in idle times to a lower clockspeed for temperature reasons (and often to lower your cooling system - especially in shuttle PC's and laptops). it is however not supposed to happen during 100% CPU useage, which it *was* doing, usually mid-game while I was playing Half-Life2, Civ4 and whatnot. Technically changing your power management to "Desktop" obliterates this problem but it did no such thing for me and Acer tech never replied to my emails (and im not rining a premium rate number for first line tech that im more qualified than) so I just removed the AMD driver from windows and it's all good

Hope this isn't an insanely dumb question but will I need this patch if I'm running a dual core but not from the X2 line of AMD processors? I was fortunate enough to land a small windfall recently and bought a FX-60...will I need to use this goofy patch too?

Thanks for any answers. I anticipate getting my copy of the game tomorrow (if Gamestop pulls its head out of its, er...nether regions, and I'd like to know what to do if I run into any problems ahead of time. Thanks all!

Only AMD knows that, StarBane. If you ever scroll off the map by, oh say, five million sectors, you need it

I guess that the "problem" ist the same with the FX60 as it is with the X2s since they aren't all that different. The FX CPUs are generally low-yield units that meet higher standards than the bulk of a fabs output, not drastically different CPU cores. Today's FX is tomorrow's standard.

This needs to be bumped. This fixed all my issues with this game.