Swap File questions (Win98)??

[JustStarting]

I have had my system running for a few weeks and the swap file has been about 260mb (as Norton configured it- instead of Windows). I just recently installed some new applications- Corel Draw 9, QIII Arena and Team Arena and encountered some problems. I have my monitor set to shutsdown after 15 minutes, and upon returning to the desktop now- it is sometimes just a rainbow blur of horizontal lines across the entire screen. I optimized my swap file through Norton again and it is now set to 520mb. Could my computer have been crashing like described due to swap file problems? 260mb is a lot of swap to run out of. I do run Seti@home 24/7 as I have for months with the same setup_ although I'm transmitting an awful amount of work units through it. Any ideas??

 

[ianbergman]

it's amazing how much swap file space windows likes to eat... i'm currently running a 1.6GB swap file, and that might have to increase.

It's quite possible that lack of swap space was causing your problems... what you didn't mention is, did your problem go away after the size increase?

 

[JustStarting]

My problem only exists after I play QIII. What I don't understand is that the game plays fine and I can exit the game and return to the desktop and other applications as well. The problem exists only after I play QIII and then try to "wake " the monitor from it's shutdown state. I'm stumped here!!

 

[Slikkster]

Ok, still not clear on this. You're saying you play QIII, then exit out and do whatever for however much time. But the next time the monitor shuts down during this session, upon wakeup the screen is hosed?

Or, are you leaving the game running (yet you're not at the pc), and the monitor shuts down after 15 mins, then it doesn't refresh correctly upon wakeup?

What video card/monitor you using?

 

[JustStarting]

<Ok, still not clear on this. You're saying you play QIII, then exit out and do whatever for however much time. But the next time the monitor shuts down during this session, upon wakeup the screen is hosed?>

This is exactly what is happening (above)^.

If I don't play QIII on a fresh boot, I don't get the problem, even after many shutdown/wakes of the monitor. As soon as I play, when I wake the monitor after shutdown, it is hosed. I'm thinking it is a fresh rate/driver problem. Any other ideas??


BTW- This is on the "Qickness" rig in my profile- (nothing overclocked presently).
GF2 Ti450- w/ 22.50 drivers (refresh set to optimal- no value displayed, although plenty of choices when optimal is not selected)
QIII Arena/Team Arena- update patch 1.31 (the latest I've found)
Monitor- Cybervision CV70

 

[Slikkster]

You say nothing is overclocked, but do you have the "coolbits" option enabled giving you the ability to set clock speed on the nvidia card? Here's a blurb from the Geforce Faq:

Q. When I resume from monitor power saving modes in Windows 9x/ME, I get display corruption and / or instability problems, or my card seems slower than usual. How can I fix it?
Thanks to Jarhead for pointing out this problem.

In the 6.47+ drivers under Windows 9x/ME only, there is an issue for some (not all) systems when using monitor power saving modes. On these systems, if you allow the monitor to go into standby mode, the drivers may try to reapply any overclocking settings ON TOP of your current settings when the monitor resumes from the power savings mode. This causes display corruption and instability, and can seriously damage your card if the card is used in this overclocked state for a long period of time.

For the most part, this only affects people that are actually overclocking with Coolbits, but it has been reported to happen even if Coolbits is not enabled.

To see if your system is affected by this problem, perform the following steps:

Right click on your desktop, click Properties / Screensaver / Settings / Power Schemes, and set your monitor to shut off within 1 minute. Sit back and allow Windows to shut off your monitor. Wait about a minute and then move the mouse a little to wake the system up.

If you can see display corruption or the computer crashes, you have got the problem. Do not enable the monitor power savings modes or go into Standby mode on this system.

If you are using Coolbits to overclock, and the system does not display any problems after you perform this test, check the NVIDIA hardware options tab to see if the overclock setting you have previously made is still there. If it is, then the bug does not affect you.

If you are not using Coolbits to overclock, and the system does not display any problems after you perform this test, wait for the power saving mode to kick in and then move the mouse 5 or so times more and see if you then get the problem. If you do not then it is almost certain that the bug does not affect you.

This problem is eliminated for some after version 6.50, but not for others. You should test your system before enabling monitor power saving modes.

Alternatively, you may find that when you come out of power saving modes your 3D card seems slower because the clock speed has not been restored correctly. If this is the case, you can use NVresume to reset your clock speed when you come out of power saving modes - just put it in your Startup group. You can download NVresume from the following website:


Get NVresume here (Nvresume is a freebie...give it a shot)

 

[JustStarting]

The problem was with the difference between the desktop refresh rate (optimal) and the QIII refresh rate(60). The game would leave the desktop @ 60 upon exiting. When the monitor was awakened it tried to load @ "optimal" (whatever that was- obviously not 60), and would corrupt the screen. I set the desktop to 75hz and hacked the QIII console to set the game to 75hz. All is well now. I thought the problem was with refresh rate or drivers.