Which driver version to install on XP? - Page 2

GarySargent · 04-21-2002, 10:24 AM

Hi,

I registered and downloaded V1.1 yesterday but I too am having lockups in Win XP Pro with a GeForce3 card.

I downloaded the latest nVidia beta drivers V28.80 - is anyone else using these successfully or should I try an earlier version of the drivers?

Is this definitely a driver bug and not a possible bug in the screensaver? I had no such problems with the WinXP plus pack version. It would seem odd that they would fix the problem in V27.51 and then bring it back in V28.80.

Is it worth trying the beta widescreen version to see if that works any better?

Thanks,

Gary Sargent.

Tiny Turtle · 04-21-2002, 11:18 AM

Gary, a possible reason for that the PlusPackVersion works alright and 1.1 doesn't is that the former uses DirectX 8.0 and the latter DirectX 6.0.

The reason 1.1 isn't DX8 based is that some of the screen-saver libraries used are incompatible with Win 95/98/Me. Jim has talked about bringing the Aquarium over to DX7, but I'm not sure when we'll see such a transition.

I'm not using a nVidia-based card myself so I can't really offer any personal advice on the driver issue except trying around is generally a good idea.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

/Tiny

GarySargent · 04-21-2002, 11:41 AM

Thanks Tiny Turtle.

I've just tried V27.51 that people mention in this thread but still no joy. I feel a bit annoyed that I paid for the upgrade but now I can't use it

Tiny Turtle · 04-21-2002, 01:28 PM

Too bad, Gary. We'll keep on experimenting here this'll be the place to find out if someone comes up with a solution. (Sorry if I sound too positive for someone not offering any actual help.)

Has anybody out there experienced these spontaneous freezeups with a video card other than a GeForce3/GeForce3Ti200/GeForce3Ti500 in conjunction with Windows XP Pro?

NotNoisy, did the driver change fix the problem on your machine?

NotNoisy · 04-21-2002, 02:39 PM

Since the last time I have reinstalled the OS. It became increasingly sluggish - frequent hangsituations and 5 minutes to boot up

Now it runs perfectly, snappy and stable.
I'm running nvidias 28.32 driver now.

I'm not going to blame my computers rapid detoriation on the screensaver, I'm sure it's not to blame for that, but I do belive the screensaver was causing the hangs.... I will wait for a version that runs on dirextX 8 before attempting to use it again.

It's a shame, because it really is the most beautiful screensaver I've ever seen - the only one I was ever willing to pay for.

Anyways, that's the story so far, I'm sorry I don't have more uplifting news......

feldon34 · 04-24-2002, 10:28 AM

Welcome to the forum, Gary!

Can you give a list of programs that are running at the same time as the Aquarium?

Does it lock up immediately, or after a time, or after pressing a key?

GarySargent · 04-25-2002, 02:44 AM

No programs running - straight from reboot.

Probably some start at bootup like Microsoft Messenger.

It hangs after about ten mins of usage - just leaving it on its own, no key presses etc.

Tiny Turtle · 04-25-2002, 03:07 AM

If you start the task manager (Press Ctrl + Alt + Del, choose Task Manager and the Programs tab) you'll notice that there are some programs running in the background. I believe Morgan would like you to post a list of those.

feldon34 · 04-25-2002, 09:27 AM

After 10 minutes?

Hmm. Video driver overheating the video card or CPU?

Could you get temperature monitoring software for your motherboard/CPU and run it? And can you check to see if the heatsinks on your video card are too hot to touch?

GarySargent · 04-25-2002, 10:34 AM

I don't think its a heat related issue - I've run other very graphically intensive apps before without issues.

I'll do some more checks at the weekend when I get home.

Yodelking · 04-25-2002, 11:12 PM

The V28.32 Detonators got Microsoft Certified 23rd of April 2002. So if you wish to run only certified drivers, I can tell you that they are working nice...

NotNoisy · 04-26-2002, 12:23 AM

The screensaver is stable on version 28.32 - on WinXP?

feldon34 · 04-26-2002, 09:39 AM

Microsoft Certification? Let me have a moment's flatulence in celebration.

surfer · 04-26-2002, 10:07 AM

I am also using Windows XP with a GeForce3 Ti500 and drivers 28.32. All versions of the screensaver have worked great, including 1.1. I have had no problems with either the noncertified or certified version 28.32s.

NotNoisy: You said you had reinstalled XP, I would try the screensaver again. It should work this time with the clean install and the 28.32 drivers.

GarySargent · 04-26-2002, 02:32 PM

Good news - I installed the newly released certified 28.32 drivers and this seems to have done the trick!

Early days - I'll see how it goes over the weekend, but its certainly stayed ok for a lot longer than it did.

Thanks to you all for your help

Tiny Turtle · 04-26-2002, 02:53 PM

Yay! *does cute happy-dance next to computer*

bear73 · 07-20-2002, 12:30 AM

Originally posted by NotNoisy
What makes me really curious to know, is how come the same driver version will perform so completely different on otherwise similar systems.

Same videocard, same OS same directX version - and still the the driver that crashes one system is rock solid on the next....

It's easy to think the MB or prosessor wouldn't directly have any influence on how a video driver is managing it's video card...?

The mobo has SUPREME influance over the operation of your system. Any Mobo using a VIA chipset in the past would have the most problems (nowadays VIA is a good supplier) Also, the mobo manufacturer is a major influence of the stability of your system and influences how well an add-in card will play with your system. A few years back I had 4 SOYO boards that had issues with a sound card, video card, and SCSI card. Went with ASUS after convincing the vendor to refund my money on the SOYO and bought the ASUS. No problems from the word GO, and still no problems today. machine now does duty as a dedicated server.

walterwhiteiv · 07-24-2002, 12:35 AM

i am using an ATI video driver and my screne saver works for a lil while but when i leave my laptop for a longer length of time i come back and the entire system has crashed. i am running xp and using the latest drivers and each time it crashes XP tells me it was the ATI that caused the crash. I hate to do it but i think I may have to uninstall the SS and give it to someone else. does anyone have any ideas?

Jav400 · 07-24-2002, 07:31 AM

You might check and see if there are any other drivers available for your laptop that you can try. Unfortunately, laptops are different animals than desktops and drivers aren't as plentiful. The latest, isn't always the best as far as drivers go.

walterwhiteiv · 07-26-2002, 07:16 PM

ok now......the problem cleared up....what i did was uninstall my video adapter and let xp install one that it thought worked best and it used an AtI rage one too but i think it's a previous version other then the one on dell.com that is supposed to be the current one. also i uninstalled directx 8 and installed version 7. i don;t know which one took care of the crash problem but it's all fine now. it runns at around 25fps which is too damn slow but hey, i get to see my fish and the laptop is about 2 years old. i'll be getting a new one soon so no worry about that. thanks everyone.

04-21-2002, 11:18 AM	#22
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Gary, a possible reason for that the PlusPackVersion works alright and 1.1 doesn't is that the former uses DirectX 8.0 and the latter DirectX 6.0. The reason 1.1 isn't DX8 based is that some of the screen-saver libraries used are incompatible with Win 95/98/Me. Jim has talked about bringing the Aquarium over to DX7, but I'm not sure when we'll see such a transition. I'm not using a nVidia-based card myself so I can't really offer any personal advice on the driver issue except trying around is generally a good idea. Oh, and welcome to the forum! /Tiny Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

04-21-2002, 01:28 PM	#24
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Too bad, Gary. We'll keep on experimenting here this'll be the place to find out if someone comes up with a solution. (Sorry if I sound too positive for someone not offering any actual help.) Has anybody out there experienced these spontaneous freezeups with a video card other than a GeForce3/GeForce3Ti200/GeForce3Ti500 in conjunction with Windows XP Pro? NotNoisy, did the driver change fix the problem on your machine? Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

04-24-2002, 10:28 AM	#26
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Welcome to the forum, Gary! Can you give a list of programs that are running at the same time as the Aquarium? Does it lock up immediately, or after a time, or after pressing a key? "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

04-25-2002, 03:07 AM	#28
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	If you start the task manager (Press Ctrl + Alt + Del, choose Task Manager and the Programs tab) you'll notice that there are some programs running in the background. I believe Morgan would like you to post a list of those. Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history. Last edited by Tiny Turtle; 04-25-2002 at 03:11 AM.

04-25-2002, 09:27 AM	#29
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	After 10 minutes? Hmm. Video driver overheating the video card or CPU? Could you get temperature monitoring software for your motherboard/CPU and run it? And can you check to see if the heatsinks on your video card are too hot to touch? "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

04-21-2002, 10:24 AM	#21
GarySargent Registered Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 5	Hi, I registered and downloaded V1.1 yesterday but I too am having lockups in Win XP Pro with a GeForce3 card. I downloaded the latest nVidia beta drivers V28.80 - is anyone else using these successfully or should I try an earlier version of the drivers? Is this definitely a driver bug and not a possible bug in the screensaver? I had no such problems with the WinXP plus pack version. It would seem odd that they would fix the problem in V27.51 and then bring it back in V28.80. Is it worth trying the beta widescreen version to see if that works any better? Thanks, Gary Sargent.

04-21-2002, 11:41 AM	#23
GarySargent Registered Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 5	Thanks Tiny Turtle. I've just tried V27.51 that people mention in this thread but still no joy. I feel a bit annoyed that I paid for the upgrade but now I can't use it

04-21-2002, 02:39 PM	#25
NotNoisy Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 17	Since the last time I have reinstalled the OS. It became increasingly sluggish - frequent hangsituations and 5 minutes to boot up Now it runs perfectly, snappy and stable. I'm running nvidias 28.32 driver now. I'm not going to blame my computers rapid detoriation on the screensaver, I'm sure it's not to blame for that, but I do belive the screensaver was causing the hangs.... I will wait for a version that runs on dirextX 8 before attempting to use it again. It's a shame, because it really is the most beautiful screensaver I've ever seen - the only one I was ever willing to pay for. Anyways, that's the story so far, I'm sorry I don't have more uplifting news......

04-25-2002, 02:44 AM	#27
GarySargent Registered Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 5	No programs running - straight from reboot. Probably some start at bootup like Microsoft Messenger. It hangs after about ten mins of usage - just leaving it on its own, no key presses etc.

04-25-2002, 10:34 AM	#30
GarySargent Registered Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 5	I don't think its a heat related issue - I've run other very graphically intensive apps before without issues. I'll do some more checks at the weekend when I get home.

04-25-2002, 11:12 PM	#31
Yodelking yodeler Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Staffanstorp, Sweden Posts: 294	The V28.32 Detonators got Microsoft Certified 23rd of April 2002. So if you wish to run only certified drivers, I can tell you that they are working nice... Yodelking - För god att kolsyra!

04-26-2002, 12:23 AM	#32
NotNoisy Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 17	The screensaver is stable on version 28.32 - on WinXP?

04-26-2002, 09:39 AM	#33
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Microsoft Certification? Let me have a moment's flatulence in celebration. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

04-26-2002, 10:07 AM	#34
surfer Registered Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 17	I am also using Windows XP with a GeForce3 Ti500 and drivers 28.32. All versions of the screensaver have worked great, including 1.1. I have had no problems with either the noncertified or certified version 28.32s. NotNoisy: You said you had reinstalled XP, I would try the screensaver again. It should work this time with the clean install and the 28.32 drivers. Last edited by surfer; 04-26-2002 at 10:28 AM.

04-26-2002, 02:32 PM	#35
GarySargent Registered Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 5	Good news - I installed the newly released certified 28.32 drivers and this seems to have done the trick! Early days - I'll see how it goes over the weekend, but its certainly stayed ok for a lot longer than it did. Thanks to you all for your help

04-26-2002, 02:53 PM	#36
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Yay! does cute happy-dance next to computer Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

07-20-2002, 12:30 AM	#37
bear73 Registered Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: McChord Air Force Base, WA Posts: 1	Originally posted by NotNoisy What makes me really curious to know, is how come the same driver version will perform so completely different on otherwise similar systems. Same videocard, same OS same directX version - and still the the driver that crashes one system is rock solid on the next.... It's easy to think the MB or prosessor wouldn't directly have any influence on how a video driver is managing it's video card...? The mobo has SUPREME influance over the operation of your system. Any Mobo using a VIA chipset in the past would have the most problems (nowadays VIA is a good supplier) Also, the mobo manufacturer is a major influence of the stability of your system and influences how well an add-in card will play with your system. A few years back I had 4 SOYO boards that had issues with a sound card, video card, and SCSI card. Went with ASUS after convincing the vendor to refund my money on the SOYO and bought the ASUS. No problems from the word GO, and still no problems today. machine now does duty as a dedicated server.

07-24-2002, 12:35 AM	#38
walterwhiteiv Registered Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: chicago Posts: 2	i am using an ATI video driver and my screne saver works for a lil while but when i leave my laptop for a longer length of time i come back and the entire system has crashed. i am running xp and using the latest drivers and each time it crashes XP tells me it was the ATI that caused the crash. I hate to do it but i think I may have to uninstall the SS and give it to someone else. does anyone have any ideas?

07-24-2002, 07:31 AM	#39
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	You might check and see if there are any other drivers available for your laptop that you can try. Unfortunately, laptops are different animals than desktops and drivers aren't as plentiful. The latest, isn't always the best as far as drivers go. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

07-26-2002, 07:16 PM	#40
walterwhiteiv Registered Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: chicago Posts: 2	it's all good now ok now......the problem cleared up....what i did was uninstall my video adapter and let xp install one that it thought worked best and it used an AtI rage one too but i think it's a previous version other then the one on dell.com that is supposed to be the current one. also i uninstalled directx 8 and installed version 7. i don;t know which one took care of the crash problem but it's all fine now. it runns at around 25fps which is too damn slow but hey, i get to see my fish and the laptop is about 2 years old. i'll be getting a new one soon so no worry about that. thanks everyone.