Re: Mechwarrior Video Display issue

From: Bob Krieter (bkrieter_DelMe_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 07/26/04 

Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 10:41:00 -0700

If that didn't work, then another troubleshooting step
could involve opening the case, and blowing a big fan on
the card Note: The fan part is important; a window fan on
high is even fine. Opening case without fan might make it
hotter or cooler, depending on how good the case flow was.

I consistently experienced corruption in my video display
within a minute or two with two separate games, until I
got a PCI-slot cooling fan (because u can't leave the case
open too long). Now I don't have corruption any more.

However, I had parts of the screen turning white and
garbling colors, rather than text appearing; so I don't
know if that's your problem.

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi Jim,
>
>Updating video card drivers can solve most gaming
issues. Here's some
>simple abc's to always keep in mind. a. Shut off download
accelerators,
>firewalls and antivirus programs when downloading or
installing updates;
>b. Check for game patches:
www.avault.com/pcrl/patches_list.asp?letter=a
>c. Make sure you meet the game's minimum video and system
requirements.
>
>Before you update your drivers, I recommend that you
install DirectX 9.0b:
>http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/9/c/c9c8a1d4-
7690-4c98-baf3-0c67e7f3751f/dx90update_redist.exe
>
>Here are the steps I recommend you use to update your
driver:
>
>1. To identify the make and model of your card, right
click your
> Desktop, choose Properties / Settings / Advanced /
Adapter.
>
>2. Download the latest video driver for your card online,
using
>
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#drivers
> to find the website to download from. I also have
advanced
> video driver and direct X troubleshooting steps on
that page.
>
>3. Save the .exe driver (or extract the zip file) to a
folder
> in My Documents named after the driver version number.
>
>4. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8
key
> about once every second as it's rebooting to pick
Safe Mode.
>
>5. Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System /
Hardware
> Device Manager / expand +Display Adapters / right
click on
> the adapter, pick "Uninstall", and click No if asked
to reboot.
>
>6. Use Control Panel / Add-Remove programs to uninstall
the
> previous driver (exe)software which may have been
installed.
>
>7. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8
key
> about once every second as it's rebooting to pick
Safe Mode.
>
>8. If the driver is NOT a (.exe)program file, GO TO step
11.
>
>9. When Windows prompts you to install the video
adapter, click
> "Cancel" and Double click the driver program to begin
installation.
> * Even if not prompted, doubleclick the driver and
install it.
>
>10. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display /
Settings and
> choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 800x600 or higher
Resolution.
> That's it! Scroll down to the Troubleshooter if you
have problems.
>
>11. When Windows prompts you to install the video
adapter, click
> "Install from a list or specific location", click
the "Browse" button,
> browse to the My documents folder where you saved the
driver,
> and finally click on one of the driver files to begin
installation.
>
>** If you are not prompted, or if the driver was updated
automatically:
>Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System /
Hardware Device Manager
>expand +Display Adapters / right click on the adapter,
pick "Update Driver"
>to start the Update Wizard, choose the "Install from a
list..." option:
> Browse to My Documents\ folder with
the driver in it
> Click OK and click Next to begin
the update.
>
>12. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display /
Settings and
> choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 800x600 or higher
Resolution.
> That's it! Try the advice in the Troubleshooter if
you have problems.
>
>TROUBLESHOOTING:
>
>Test your drivers using DXDiag: Click Start / Run /
type: DXDIAG
>Click the "Test" buttons in the Display, Sound, Music &
Network Tabs;
>If any of the Display options are Disabled and you cannot
Enable them,
>your most likely solution would be to update your Chipset
Drivers as per
>my website:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11
>
>Your program might not support dual monitors, or "dual
head" video cards
>You can disable the extra video output in your display
properties control
>panel. Click Start>Settings>Control
Panel>Display>Settings>Advanced.
>
>Along with your Video card, Sound Cards, Motherboard
Chipsets,
>and Video Monitors may also require updated drivers.
Even your
>motherboard's BIOS may need to be updated for
compatibility with
>your Video card. These steps are listed at:
http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk
>
>Perhaps the old Video drivers did not completely
uninstall. If that's the
>case, use these utility to completely uninstall the
drivers and go to step 7:
>nvidia: http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?
page=detonatorrip&menu=0
>or for all cards including nvidia use:
http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/
>
>The latest video drivers sometime don't work with a
particular game.
>(Check the Video suggestions in the readme.txt file in
your game folder/CD)
>If there's no suggestions, try an older (WHQL) driver,
and/or if you still
>experience problems try a Beta driver, or even an Omega
driver instead:
>
> BETA Drivers: http://download.guru3d.com/
> OMEGA Drivers: http://www.omegacorner.com/
>
>There you have it, if you have any questions feel free to
post them! :-)
>
>--
>Cheers, Windows XP MVP
Shell / User
>Jimmy S.
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>
>Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
scid=FH;[LN];gms
>Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite:
http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
>MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
scid=sz;en-us;top
>My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I
confer any rights.
>_________________________________________________________
>
>"Jim" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:059901c472ab$0f7079a0$3501280a@phx.gbl...
>|I am running Mechwarrior 4 on a 3GHz machine using a
GForce
>| 4 TI 4400 card under Windows 2000. The game starts
normally
>| and the starting video runs ok.. but when I get to the
>| options screen a bunch of flickering characters are
>| displayed and the display starts getting distorted
really
>| bad (like lots of lines or triangles running across the
>| screen).. It displayes lots of white characters on the
>| screen kind of like this
>|
>| 1234567890@#($*%&*@#!
&ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789@#
>| ($*%&*@#!&ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789@#($*%&*@#!
&AB
>| CDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789@#($*%&*@#!
&ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
>| OPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789@#($*%&*@#!
&ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
>| 123456789@#($*%&*@#!&ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ123456789
>|
>|
>| ANY IDEAS?
>|
>| Email me at majestyssecretservice@yahoo.com
>|
>| THANKS!
>
>
>.
>