BioShock and lockups

Kizo · Sep 3, 2007, 05:20 PM

Hi to everyone,
I've just installed BioShock and latest drivers and patch for this game from ATi's site, and I have a problem.
The game locks up after 3-5 mins of playing. Everything else seems Ok: the graphics, the sound etc. while I'm playing. When it locks, I have to manualy kill the process in task manager.
I was wondering if anyone else has the same problem, or if it's known driver issue or something. All other games (Lost Planet DX10, CSS, F.E.A.R.) play just fine.
If anyone has some information about this, please share. (OS, driver or game issue, or maybe a combination of all above)
On the other hand, maybe it's just in my case.

***Zardon*** · Sep 3, 2007, 05:52 PM

my friend had a problem with the game and his x1950. he had to underclock the card to get it stable. (about 30mhz on the core).

I think he said he was going to order a third party cooler to see if it sorted out the problems.

Kizo · Sep 3, 2007, 06:12 PM

Thanks very much for your reply, Zardon.
I have just tried that, went even lower (50MHz), and it doesn't work in my case.

Maybe it's something software related. Hopefully any of the ATi guru's might have idea what it is,
or maybe even a solution in future drivers.
Anyway, thanks for the idea.

Tipstaff · Sep 3, 2007, 09:18 PM

Are you using the Catalyst 7.8 drivers, or the "hotfix" Catalyst drivers (the ones that AMD put out for HERE BioShock)?

DJShamrock · Sep 3, 2007, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kizo

Hi to everyone,
I've just installed BioShock and latest drivers and patch for this game from ATi's site, and I have a problem.
The game locks up after 3-5 mins of playing. Everything else seems Ok: the graphics, the sound etc. while I'm playing. When it locks, I have to manualy kill the process in task manager.
I was wondering if anyone else has the same problem, or if it's known driver issue or something. All other games (Lost Planet DX10, CSS, F.E.A.R.) play just fine.
If anyone has some information about this, please share. (OS, driver or game issue, or maybe a combination of all above)
On the other hand, maybe it's just in my case.

Thought it was just me and I have (2) x1900'x running crossfire. I reformated my HD and still locking up. Thanks for the hotfix. See if it helps.

Kizo · Sep 4, 2007, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

Are you using the Catalyst 7.8 drivers, or the "hotfix" Catalyst drivers (the ones that AMD put out for HERE BioShock)?

Yes, I did installed it, and doesn't help. I even installed the Vista hotfix for nVidia graphic cards. nothing seems to help. It appears that it effects some configurations with X1x00/X1x50, as well as some with HD2x00, so it's very hard to pin-point the problem.

@DJShamrock: It didn't work in my case, but you may still give it a shot. Different HW/SW configurations may have different solutions.

Kizo · Sep 4, 2007, 04:52 PM

Hi,
I kinda found a solution to my problem. For some reason the game locks up when its in DX10 mode. The thing is, when you have a DX10 card and you turn DX10 mode OFF in the game, you get something like DX9/DX10 hybrid textures. In a sense, thats why nobody could see any big differences between DX9 and DX10 in this game.
So I started the game using Command Prompt like this "BioShock.exe -dx9", and the lockups were gone.
Needless to say, there are some noticeable differences in graphics, but it still looks great, and whats more important, it WORKS.
So, I'll be waiting for Cats 7.9, and try DX10 again.
Gotta go now, some plasmids are waiting to be collected.

Thanks to everyone for their help !!

***Zardon*** · Sep 4, 2007, 05:44 PM

well im glad you got it working, however its a weird solution. ill mention this to my contacts in AMD/ATI and see if this has been reported.

Enjoy the game, its brilliant.

***Zardon*** · Sep 5, 2007, 09:37 AM

Kizo after speaking with Steve in ATI/AMD he asked if you could detail the exact steps it takes to encounter the problem. They are trying to reproduce it.

Kizo · Sep 5, 2007, 10:40 AM

Well, I'm not sure what steps you need so I will start with the installation of the game.

1.) Installed the game (at this point I have Cats 7.7).
2.) Runned the game in DX10. The game runs fine, except for some dark textures. I played a little while.
3.) Download and install AMD BioShock hotfix from AMD's site.
4.) Runned the game in DX10. The game locks up after about 5 mins of play. I have to open Task Manager and manually kill the process. The music is stil playing, but in Task Manager it says Program Not Responding.

After that I even tried various Vista hotfixes (performance and compatibility, virtual memory management of nVidia cards), and they made no difference whatsoever.
I have the latest DX installed.
I should maybe mention that for sound I use SRS Audio Sandbox, a software for emulation of my Realtek AC'97 soundcard, so I could have 5.1 sound in Vista.
I have disabled EAX in game, and all graphic settings were on max (res. 1024x768).

If you need any other info, please tell me.
Thanks VERY much for your help, Zardon. (I love this forum)

*CATALYSTCATCHER* · Sep 6, 2007, 01:35 PM

Thanks,

We have identified an issue with the drivers and the 2600. Unfortunately I can not be certain if this is the same problem you are running into. Although, there is a very good chance as it crashes the game.

This issue will be resolved in Catalyst 7.10 in October.

Kizo · Sep 6, 2007, 01:53 PM

Well, I think I should be thanking you, because you're doing all the work.

Anyway, I hope it's the same problem (and solution), and will be waiting patiently,
even though October seems a bit too long to wait.
Nevertheless, I have seen the game the game in both DX9 and DX10, and DX10 is worth the wait.

A great thanks also to everyone participating in this tread, especially Zardon.

***Zardon*** · Sep 6, 2007, 02:04 PM

no problem, that is what we are here for. Hopefully the catalyst update resolves your problems.

Steve works his ass off helping quite a lot of people on DH, very much appreciated.

*CATALYSTCATCHER* · Sep 6, 2007, 02:08 PM

I apologize for the wait. But it seems that the issue I mentioned was only uncovered 2 weeks ago. And it does take a while for the fixes to migrate through the process.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

CC

Tipstaff · Sep 6, 2007, 02:40 PM

Here's a funny one. The hotfix drivers work great with BioShock, and were great right to the end, and thats when I started to notice something. I went to play a couple rounds of Supreme Commander.. and damnit.. all 3D graphics are bright/washed out, and the screen.... well.. pulses slightly. It's particularly noticeable on the edges of things, such as all around the outside of the screen, and some objects within the image. I also tried playing Overlord, and the same thing was happening.

Since I'm at work I won't be able to test it again. I played those games right after having played BioShock, so I didn't reboot the machine, so when I get home I'll boot the machine up to see if it still happens.

Kizo · Sep 28, 2007, 07:09 PM

Well, whatever it is that you guys working in ATi's driver team did, it WORKS.

I'm extremely happy now that I can continue the game in DX10.
A BIG thanks to everyone.
For anyone that has the issue, you can download the Catalyst 7.9 Hotfix at AMD Customer Care

P.S. Awesome driver support is why i buy ATi products.