Keyboard/mouse input lagging badly in games...

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
This is the strangest problem i've ever had in my many years of gaming, and i've never seen it happen prior to now, so I ask that you post anything that even might assist with the issue.

While playing resource-intensive games (BF2, GR:AW, COD2, but not in FEAR :\), basically, my keyboard and mouse inputs, well, lag!

Example : I press the keys for forward, then right, then prone, and then I click to shoot (sometimes simultaneously, sometimes not), and my character will just keep running forward for a bit, my system speaker will start beeping like i'm holding down five keys at once, and my character will proceed to unload his entire clip of ammo into the wall that I just rammed into.

I've ruled out the keyboard and mouse themselves, and it's not my i-net connection (my latest ping in BF2, where this problem started, was 9ms, and it happens in SP games too). Plus, as far as i've seen, it hasn't happened a single time while not gaming. It does happen in the server select screen sometimes though, while i'm trying to type something into one of the filters.

I've tried raising/lowering memory/cpu/graphics card voltages and plugging/unplugging internal and external devices to possibly rule out my PSU (420w TTake, better part of four years old), but the problem seems sporadic enough that I think it may very well be my PSU anyways. My only other thought is either my motherboard getting ready to retire, or possibly my CPU being too slow for my RAM and VCard to keep up, both of which I upgraded since this problem manifested itself.

Anyways, system specs are in my sig, and again, any help at all will make my day, err night :D Thanks in advance.
 

Fullmetal Chocobo

Moderator<br>Distributed Computing
Moderator
May 13, 2003
13,704
7
81
What kb / mouse? (Didn't see that in sig). Are they USB, or PS/2? And what do you have your kb type speed setting set at in the BIOS? And have you tried uninstalling any software for the mouse / kb, and seeing if there was a change?
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,043
875
126
I had that problem a few years ago. I rearranged the PCI cards I waqs using and it went away. Some IRQ thing. See what IRQ are being shared and if there are any devices running in PIO mode. Also, I normally disable anything I dont use in the bios, i.e. serial ports, LPT ports et..al.
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
Chocobo, i'm using an Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 (wired) and a Saitek Eclipse (the Red lit-up version), both of which are USB 2.0, and both of which i've tried plugging into all the different USB ports that I have available. I've tried a number of different typematic settings in the BIOS, including turning it off, with no results. I'll try un-installing Intellipoint; I didn't even think of that. As per the KB software, well, there isn't any; XP automatically detects it as exactly what it is.

Oyeve, i've already got everything disabled in the BIOS that i'm not using, but that is always a good policy to follow regardless, so thanks for mentioning it. I'll try moving around my PCI cards (only have a soundcard and SATA2 controller), especially because my system has been hanging up a tiny bit at the screen that shows all the IRQ assignments right after it POSTs. Are there any devices aside from optical drives that would run in PIO mode? My HD's are running @ UDMA5 and my DVD Burner and DVD-ROM are running @ UDMA2.

 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
Well, it was one of three things : re-installing Intellipoint, turning AGP Fast-writes back on (why they were off, I have no idea...), or turning the "Gate A20" setting to Normal, from the alleged BIOS default of "Fast". Thanks for the help again guys :D
 

Fullmetal Chocobo

Moderator<br>Distributed Computing
Moderator
May 13, 2003
13,704
7
81
Originally posted by: evilsaint
Well, it was one of three things : re-installing Intellipoint, turning AGP Fast-writes back on (why they were off, I have no idea...), or turning the "Gate A20" setting to Normal, from the alleged BIOS default of "Fast". Thanks for the help again guys :D

Sweet... Glad to hear it.
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
I spoke (posted) too soon... it's back already :( Anything else to try? Gonna move around the PCI cards and see if it helps...
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
Well, moving the PCI cards around didn't help, but I isolated the problem further to the USB ports on my MoBo at least, by installing a different PCI USB card. You would think that everything would be fine for the time-being, in that case, but the card, which was in my other rig, makes this comp (my comp vs. the family box) BSOD without even so much as a note in the event log after about five minutes of resource-intensive action.

I did kind of narrow it down to it only BSOD'ing when the VCard is under heavy load, however, which almost leads me to believe that since it's sucking more power from the PSU, other areas might be getting neglected... I checked the voltages in my BIOS, and they're at 3.4 for the 3.3 rail, just under 5 for the 5v, and 12.5 or 12.7, something like that, for the 12v one. Are those in the ballpark of a healthy PSU?
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,754
599
126
This is a weird one. Have you tried playing with a different keyboard and mouse? Possibly ones that are PS/2?
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
Yep. I'm in the process of trying out using my mouse with a USB-to-PS/2 adapter and nothing but the keyboard in the motherboard's USB ports, and so far I haven't run into the problem, but it always seems to sneak up on me anyways...
 

SparkyJJO

Lifer
May 16, 2002
13,357
7
81
If you are getting the BSOD I'd try another PSU just to try and narrow it down. 420W should be enough but then you do have quite a bit of stuff in there and I've heard good and bad about Tt PSUs.

As to the laggy mouse/KB thing... I have no idea atm. Just for kicks, try a different KB, maybe yours is doing something strange to the system
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,754
599
126
Despite the keyboard being the oldest component involved in the IBM PC I've still seen issues with it. I was setting up a machine last year and I couldn't get windows to install. After pressing F8 to agree to the license agreement in the installer, the machine was "frozen" and would accept no input from the keyboard. I researched it a lot and kept trying to figure out what was causing it to crap out. My instincts were hard drive problems, some kind of irq problem with the hard disk controller, etc. But after taking a good look at the actual symptom (keyboard not accepting input) and reading the bios update changes for the motherboard (which I had the latest revision of) I noticed in one of the older updates keyboard detection issues were mentioned as a being fixed. The keyboard had worked fine prior to this one point during the windows install, when I believe it was reinitializing it. I swapped keyboards and the problem went away. WTF right?
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
Late update... I tried another PSU in my machine, and the problem remained, but it was only a 350w, vs my 420w, so I don't know if it was able to fully power all my drives and still give my (OC'd) x850 AGP as much as it needed whilst running at full tilt. The computer didn't 'feel' any different though, with the new PSU, so i'm banking on something else.

I encountered the problem strictly using the ports on a PCI card also, so i've kind of ruled out the individual USB ports on my motherboard (and saved myself $15 by not buying a new PCI USB Controller :D), and i've seen the problem come *and* go without Intellimouse of many different versions running, so that's not it, however, I feel like it's a software problem, or possible some obscure setting in Windows/BIOS gone wrong.

I'd readily dismiss it as just another bug in BF2, but now that i've seen it sparingly in FEAR/Sin Episode1, and constantly in GR:AW, even with a sprinkling in CoD2, I have to believe that it's a problem in some piece of software somewhere.

I've installed myriad releases of DirectX, and even tried turning down the acceleration on everything but the video, but meh!, it's still happening! Somebody please help me :brokenheart:
 

JimPhelpsMI

Golden Member
Oct 8, 2004
1,261
0
0
Hi, I have observed a lag in a USB mouse on about 5 comps here. You move the mouse, the cursor stays where it is for about 1-2 seconds and then jumps to the new position. PS2 meeces do not do that. It does sound like an IRQ conflict, but couldn't cure it.
Luck, Jim
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
USB devices don't grab IRQ's though, do they, with the exception of maybe external soundcards and such?
 

JimPhelpsMI

Golden Member
Oct 8, 2004
1,261
0
0
Hi, Almost all devices use an IRQ (Interupt Request). That's how they let the processor know that they need help. Processor can POLL, but that wastes time.
Luck, Jim
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
I would suspect it as being an IRQ problem, but wouldn't that pretty much cause it to happen all the time? This comes and goes, seemingly at random...
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
TTT; Any other troubleshooting that somebody can think of for me to try? I could think of better things to do with my weekend, but... well, it's my baby, and if she's not alright, I feel like I have a kid in the hospital or something :(
 

pkrush

Senior member
Dec 5, 2005
468
0
0
Get yourself a copy of ATI Tray Tools, and use it to change the "Flip Queue" setting from 3 to 1 or 0. This fixed most of the mouse lag I was having in Oblivion. (Sorry, can't tell you where to go in ATI Tray Tools to change that setting, since I have a nVidia card). It's apparently due to a problem with the Havok physics engine. More info Here.
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
Cliff's for what's been tried with no alleviation of the problem, and for all the troubleshooting that i've done :

Diff mouse/KB.
Diff PSU.
PCI USB 2.0 Controller.
Diff version of Intellipoint, and running without Intellipoint.
PS/2 adapters on any KB/Mice that would work with them (everything 'cept the Saitek Eclipse Red edition).
Diff CPU/VCard/Mem voltages.
OC'd lightly, OC'd to all hell, and no OC whatsoever. (My 'standard' config = 12.5x166MhzCPU, VCard GPU and Mem by about 10%, none on DDR400 except tighter timings)
Moved PCI cards around, added/removed everything PCI 'cept SATA controller.
Tried with/without DaemonTools running.

Happens in pretty much all First-person Shooters (BF2 heavily, FEAR a bit, CoD2 a bit, Sin Episodes like it's on a freakin' timer, and even Duke Nukem 3D/ROTT through DosBox), though I haven't seen it at all in Dreamfall : The Longest Journey, an adventure game with pretty heavy graphics, and I haven't had a chance to test any other 3D games for the problem yet.

Going to try that Flip Queue thing, going to try running without ATITool and/or FRAPS, and going to try messing with my refresh rates (any ideas there? that's my next big idea, but I don't know much about them...) Any other ideas, especially at this stage, are golden and will be compensated with help on any problem that you post about for the rest of my time here on AT, which promises to be a damn long time :D
 

evilsaint

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2006
1,364
1
91
PKRUSH You fixed it! The setting was undefined on my video card, and in accordance with that article, after setting it to 5, it stopped the stupid KB/mouse lag, *and* got rid of a nasty jitter my rig was exhibiting too! Christ, I don't even know how to thank you :D