you can turn off aero
i just don't mind 60 fps so i don't turn it off
Why does tron suck on vista?
Err, now this is a bit embarassing. It turns out I don't have a free memory slot left 
P probably shouldn't have gone for the el-cheapo KG7-Lite back then. My laptop would have a free slot, but a while back, it had weird problems starting up, and the thing that fixed it was moving the memory bar from one slot to the other (a common problem and solution for Inspiron 8200's, I read later), so I have to assume the other slot is not working reliably. So no cheap memory upgrade available anywhere.
Another problem: Home Basic may not be good enough. It comes without Aero Glass, and the most plausible theory issued here so far is that Glass is a crucial part of the trouble.
But I found a Vista RC1 DVD I made a while back. I think I'll try that one before going for a full final version installation. I've got a single partition left that doesn't hold an OS, I'll make some space there.
This astromenace game is CPU limited for me; the framerate is independent of the resolution I choose. In the main menu, it's > 120, but ingame, it goes below 60 sometimes. Roughly the same performance as HL2 (mainly CPU limited, too), I haven't tried CS:Source yet. Seeing that you have a GeForce 7300 LE and mine's a 6800, our setups are probably not comparable enough.
Another test: AFAIK, the Source engine supports both OpenGL and DirectX as rendering targets. Could you compare the two in CS:Source?
P probably shouldn't have gone for the el-cheapo KG7-Lite back then. My laptop would have a free slot, but a while back, it had weird problems starting up, and the thing that fixed it was moving the memory bar from one slot to the other (a common problem and solution for Inspiron 8200's, I read later), so I have to assume the other slot is not working reliably. So no cheap memory upgrade available anywhere.Another problem: Home Basic may not be good enough. It comes without Aero Glass, and the most plausible theory issued here so far is that Glass is a crucial part of the trouble.
But I found a Vista RC1 DVD I made a while back. I think I'll try that one before going for a full final version installation. I've got a single partition left that doesn't hold an OS, I'll make some space there.
This astromenace game is CPU limited for me; the framerate is independent of the resolution I choose. In the main menu, it's > 120, but ingame, it goes below 60 sometimes. Roughly the same performance as HL2 (mainly CPU limited, too), I haven't tried CS:Source yet. Seeing that you have a GeForce 7300 LE and mine's a 6800, our setups are probably not comparable enough.
Another test: AFAIK, the Source engine supports both OpenGL and DirectX as rendering targets. Could you compare the two in CS:Source?
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kyle
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as i said it is the best pre release
meaning best for the game
and RC2 did get a bit worse but still nothing too troublesome
The only thing that bothers me with any version of Vista is full screen
i have one gadget out on my desktop that moves i know that this is because i have a low resolution for the game. But anyway to keep it where it is at without changing the game resolution?
meaning best for the game
and RC2 did get a bit worse but still nothing too troublesome
The only thing that bothers me with any version of Vista is full screen
i have one gadget out on my desktop that moves i know that this is because i have a low resolution for the game. But anyway to keep it where it is at without changing the game resolution?
I'm getting more and more embarrassed about my knowledge about my own setup The partition I was talking about is a FAT partition and has to stay that way, and Vista refuses to install on FAT. It can run there, but it can't install. So I salvaged the 20Gb HD from my old laptop that had my now migrated to an virtually unused external USB drive box. That's even better, it makes sure my regular installation stays untouched. If I extrapolate what the Win2k and XP installers do to Linux bootloaders, that could save me some trouble. Installation is running now, and I hope RC1 doesn't mind getting installed when it is already obsoleted by the real release. I also failed to get a beta key, but according to reports, the installation should run for 14 days regardless.
The partition I was talking about is a FAT partition and has to stay that way, and Vista refuses to install on FAT. It can run there, but it can't install. So I salvaged the 20Gb HD from my old laptop that had my now migrated to an virtually unused external USB drive box. That's even better, it makes sure my regular installation stays untouched. If I extrapolate what the Win2k and XP installers do to Linux bootloaders, that could save me some trouble. Installation is running now, and I hope RC1 doesn't mind getting installed when it is already obsoleted by the real release. I also failed to get a beta key, but according to reports, the installation should run for 14 days regardless.Got it installed, and it seems to be running (horribly slow, I may add, some background processes must be scanning the HD all of the time, it got better after a while). With the drivers Windows Update gave me, no luck. It's software rendering all over. Which works, but it's in the nature of things that it's slow and ugly (or not so ugly and VERY slow). I'll try the beta NVidia driver now.
Check out my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@davefancella?si=H--oCK3k_dQ1laDN
Be the devil's own, Lucifer's my name.
- Iron Maiden
Be the devil's own, Lucifer's my name.
- Iron Maiden
Perhaps.
However, NVidia's beta drivers (I've linked to them earler) work for me. Compared to 2K, I get a performance drop of about 50% max (estimated from astromenace, I'll do a benchmark with Tron later) when I've got the Aero Glass UI active, but hardware OpenGL acceleration is fully available both in windowed and fullscreen modes, and Armagetron runs just fine. I tried both 0.2.8.2.1 and 0.3.0.
The beta driver made my screen flicker at times and forced me to restart, so it's beta for a reason. I'll also try the non-beta driver.
I did get that mysterious "This program might not have installed correctly" dialog on 0.3.0, but not on 0.2.8.2.1. I told it that it is installed correctly and that silenced it. We do honor the user configuration directories (which have changed from XP to Vista), and the installer hasn't changed much from one version to the next. It would help if the dialog would tell us why Vista thinks something is wrong.
However, NVidia's beta drivers (I've linked to them earler) work for me. Compared to 2K, I get a performance drop of about 50% max (estimated from astromenace, I'll do a benchmark with Tron later) when I've got the Aero Glass UI active, but hardware OpenGL acceleration is fully available both in windowed and fullscreen modes, and Armagetron runs just fine. I tried both 0.2.8.2.1 and 0.3.0.
The beta driver made my screen flicker at times and forced me to restart, so it's beta for a reason. I'll also try the non-beta driver.
I did get that mysterious "This program might not have installed correctly" dialog on 0.3.0, but not on 0.2.8.2.1. I told it that it is installed correctly and that silenced it. We do honor the user configuration directories (which have changed from XP to Vista), and the installer hasn't changed much from one version to the next. It would help if the dialog would tell us why Vista thinks something is wrong.
/me bangs head against table.
I don't really have RC1, I've got the last pre-RC1 build. For that, you need a beta2 key, and those aren't given out any more.
I should write a book titled "How to waste a perfectly good afternoon", I'm quite an expert on the subject.
The benchmark experiments surfaced a curious problem: recording and playback works (if launched from the command line interface, BUG for later, the start menu entries don't work, they pick Public/Desktop instead of Public/Public Desktop as target), but the recording file is nowhere to be found. Very, very bizarre.
Aaaanyway, the non-beta NVidia driver works fine, too. Benchmarks of a randomly recorded game in CT Wild and Cafe: 49 fps in Vista with non-beta drivers, 81 fps in 2k. A feelable difference, but given the performance dropdown in astromenace, not unexpected and not our fault.
So my verdict here has to be: There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Armagetron Advanced on Vista. You just need graphic card drivers with OpenGL support for your hardware.
For the various smaller problems and riddles, I'll create bug database entries, but they're not exactly blockers.
HyphyLeo: that means for you, you need to either install another operating system or look again or wait for suitable drivers. 100.59 and 97.46 worked for me, but you've got the lowest end card of the 7000 series, perhaps NVidia just doesn't bother with proper vista support for it. The thing that makes it different from higher level cards is this thing that makes your main memory usable for the GPU, was it called TurboCache? So a possible option may also be a graphic card upgrade. Or, for testing, a downgrade to an older card without TurboCache you may have lying around.
I don't really have RC1, I've got the last pre-RC1 build. For that, you need a beta2 key, and those aren't given out any more.
I should write a book titled "How to waste a perfectly good afternoon", I'm quite an expert on the subject.
The benchmark experiments surfaced a curious problem: recording and playback works (if launched from the command line interface, BUG for later, the start menu entries don't work, they pick Public/Desktop instead of Public/Public Desktop as target), but the recording file is nowhere to be found. Very, very bizarre.
Aaaanyway, the non-beta NVidia driver works fine, too. Benchmarks of a randomly recorded game in CT Wild and Cafe: 49 fps in Vista with non-beta drivers, 81 fps in 2k. A feelable difference, but given the performance dropdown in astromenace, not unexpected and not our fault.
So my verdict here has to be: There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Armagetron Advanced on Vista. You just need graphic card drivers with OpenGL support for your hardware.
For the various smaller problems and riddles, I'll create bug database entries, but they're not exactly blockers.
HyphyLeo: that means for you, you need to either install another operating system or look again or wait for suitable drivers. 100.59 and 97.46 worked for me, but you've got the lowest end card of the 7000 series, perhaps NVidia just doesn't bother with proper vista support for it. The thing that makes it different from higher level cards is this thing that makes your main memory usable for the GPU, was it called TurboCache? So a possible option may also be a graphic card upgrade. Or, for testing, a downgrade to an older card without TurboCache you may have lying around.
If you don't need the beta 2 key anymore, I'd be glad to take care of it 
I already removed the HD with the Vista installation and don't intend to touch it again; it's basically waiting to get reformatted. But plans can change, and a correct key would save me two hours of reinstallation.
According to Hyph's user.cfg, his card is a PCIE version. Actually, it says PCI, but I'm reasonably sure that it means PCIE. That leaves "not the right drivers installed" as the most likely root of the problem. Followed by "the final version of Vista does something differently than RC1", in which case blame would conveniently redirected to Microsoft. Does someone else here have the final version of Vista, or are we all diligent testers?
I already removed the HD with the Vista installation and don't intend to touch it again; it's basically waiting to get reformatted. But plans can change, and a correct key would save me two hours of reinstallation.According to Hyph's user.cfg, his card is a PCIE version. Actually, it says PCI, but I'm reasonably sure that it means PCIE. That leaves "not the right drivers installed" as the most likely root of the problem. Followed by "the final version of Vista does something differently than RC1", in which case blame would conveniently redirected to Microsoft. Does someone else here have the final version of Vista, or are we all diligent testers?