Hatchet

Mr. Evil-..., or is it Dr. Evil-Scotsman? ;-) Great ideas, but this is happening on three different systems. loaded with three different install CDs of Lock On. The only common component is the Leadtek 6800GT. RL snuck up on me and has occupied my time for the last couple weeks, but I have some more time now to solve this bizarre problem (with ya'lls help of course.) I am really looking forward to hearing about Joe's experience with his new Leadtek... And thanks for the thoroughness compliment - it is hard to solve a comp problem without examining ALL variables/possibilities. Hatchet

It is off - problem still exists. Thanks for the input though. Hatchet

Really curious... Joe, How did/does it work? Any issues? RL got in the way with me actively looking in to this. I will be back to trying to solve the issue this week. I am WAY curious about your experiences with the Leadtek. Hatchet

All, I do have another issue though. I went to run 3dmark 2005 to check for corruption, and it will not run. I says I don't have at least pixel shading 2.0! Odd, the Leadtek 6800GT datasheet (and all 6800GTs as far as I know) have PS3.0! What gives? I re-installed 3dmark2005, and am running driver version 77.62. I am going to remove 77.62, do the driver clean, and install 77.72. But this should not matter. I wonder what is up with the PS version being reported or running... Hatchet

Joe, While I agree that the 12v line is a bit low, I don't think that it is "way too" low. The report (run during LOMAC) shows a low of 11.66 and an avg of 11.71. Even using the "low" of 11.66 that is still within 5% of target voltage. I may tweak the PS only because I would like to be higher than 12v and still within 5%. ;-) Thanks, Hatchet

HL2 test Lungbutter (uhg!) ;-) I will install HL2 right now to test. Thanks for input. I will report back asap. Hatchet

Man Joe! I was not really expecting that level of support from this board! ;-) lmao VERY nice of you to risk ~$300 like to help me fix this. ;-) Seriously, I can hardly wait to hear your experience with it. The following is a link to a (hopefully, and most likely) different set of problems with Leadtek 6800GTs: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic17943.html Also, what would be some other 3d applications to install, run, and test that are similiar to Lock On 1.02? LOMAC is DirectX 8.1, right? Does it use any special, or rarely used video display attributes (Pixel shading, vertex shading, etc.) that I could test with other 3d apps? I am in over my head as far as these special rendering methods, so please excuse this, if it is a stupid question. By the way, I spent 4 hours last night getting spun up on BIOS settings as related to AGP, and bookmarked many that explained each setting and why it needs to be set certain ways. If anyone would like these links, let me know and I will post them. Thanks for responding Joe, Hatchet

All, Just quick data while the system is idle. Information courtesy of SSandra 2005. I have to check to make sure the Environment Monitor is the correct one, but SSandra says it is. Having trouble configuring MM5 to use this ITE IT8705/12 ISA. I will report again tomorrow under 3d load (LOMAC.) Environment Monitor 1 Model : ITE IT8705/12 ISA Mainboard Specific Support : No Temperature Sensor(s) Board Temperature : 29.0°C / 84.2°F CPU Temperature : 33.0°C / 91.4°F Power / Aux Temperature : 30.0°C / 86.0°F Cooling Device(s) Auto Fan Speed Control : No CPU Fan Speed : 2679rpm Voltage Sensor(s) CPU Voltage : 1.57V Aux Voltage : 1.54V +3.3V Voltage : 3.38V +5V Voltage : 5.11V +12V Voltage : 11.54V -12V Voltage : -11.87V -5V Voltage : -3.45V Standby Voltage : 5.03V Battery Voltage : 4.08V AGP Bus(es) on Hub 1 Version : 3.00 Speed : 8x Fast-Writes Enabled : Yes Isochronous Mode Enabled : No Addressing Enabled : 32-bit Aperture Size : 128MB

D17S, Great ideas, except... (1) different install CDs, and (2) like you said, quality PSs (although they could be defective) (BUT, the odds of three quality PSs going bad... quite high, and (3) there are actually THREE vid cards doing this. I did dl MM5 a couple days ago, but got distracted trying to diagnose these in different ways. I am running it now, and will configure it to report/record the data on all the diff volt lines. Thanks! I forgot about this potential problem. Course, that would mean the brand new Antec true power is bad, as well as my trusty Enermax (which has moved with my best components to my "best" system three times in the last couple years), AND my brother's new PS (generic 550 watt-er) is bad too. Would have to be VERY coincedental. (But possible.) One last thing: ALL my computer stuff runs off of APC UPS systems. (Heck, even my TV and ReplayTV run off APC UPS's. lol. West Texas thunderstorms can knock power out easily, and lightening is about as common here as sunshine is to Southern California!) So, I think my AC line-in power is fairly "clean." At least clean enough for a quality PS like an Enermax to function properly. Plus, the other two systems are now both in other States, so their local power would have to be flakey too. I will report the voltage logs tomorrow. I am really leaning toward thinking that the Leadtek BIOS is not LOMAC compatible. I really need to find some folks running this particular Leadtek 6800GT to see. I wimped out on calling Leadtek today, but most likely will tomorrow. I will be referencing this forum thread to give them tons of data to look at. Thank you so much for responding. I will definitely look at the volt lines, and make sure they are stable and within tolerances. Hatchet BTW, all, I have installed a temp monitoring system (WINFOX) from Leadtek, so I can even more closely monitor the temps on the card. (This card has got to be the most monitored, coddled, and pampered card on the flippin' planet, and still it will not behave. ;-) )

Just uploaded some more corrupted graphic pics, so I thought I would add them. Some are catastrophic, and some are merely irritating, like the smoked pattern on the canopy...

ztrl, I connected my Enermax temp probe between the pc board and the heatsink, as close to the GPU as possible, and got temps in the 36-38C degrees today while flying. Only 1-2C degrees difference between severly underclocking the card down to 175/500 and 428/1119 OC. (Remember stock on that card is 350/1000.) I have just started to OC that card; I was experiencing problems before I even thought about OCing it. And also remember, that the other two problem cards have never been OC'ed. (I mention this to head off comments like, "Your OC'ing has caused these problems...etc.) I don't think the temp sensor on the 6800GT is low: I think the temps are low because, (1) it is a massive heatsinkfan, and (2) I have very good cooling within the tower. Thank you all again for submitting ideas. I had to restart the sim several times today because of graphics so bad, that I could not even see. Sometimes the corruptions were just on exterior shots of the aircraft and sometimes they were views from the cockpit. It is so strange. BTW, the Underclock made no difference whatsoever as far as the anomalies were concerned, and surprisingly to me, it did not have the FPS impact that I though it would also. I expected to get half the FPS of stock speeds, and got about 75-80% of normal stock FPS. Thanks again to all offering help and advice, Hatchet Hatchet

EVIL-SCOTSMAN give frustrated A-10 pilot idea... Thanks for the input. I don't think it is the card, because I have three of them all doing the same thing. And for 90% of the time on Card 1, I have run at stock speeds, and on Card 2 and Card 3, they have been run at nothing but stock speeds. BUT, you have given me an idea. I am going to severly UNDERclock this card and see what it yields. I will try to post asap with the results. Thanks, Hatchet

ztrl, Wow, a lead (tek) that I really did not want to hear. ;-) So, did the improved cooling fix your Leadtek 6600GT's problem with the bad textures? Or does it still mess up? I am very interested in knowing. Like I said earlier, I have a case with three 80mm intake fans, and (not counting the two in the PS) two more output fans. So I think I have sufficient cooling. One of the intake fans, blows directly on the Leadtek from the side window. I will move the temp prob (Enermax temp probe and fan control) from my memory to the card for immediate and constant monitoring right now. I can't rule out cooling as a contributing factor, but I never have any trouble in any other sims and games. Thanks so much for your input, and please let me know if you are still having the texture problems with your new cooling. One reason I bought the Leaktek above others was the huge, heavy, massive, stock cooling system on the card. (It must weigh 2 pounds!) http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/Leadtek1.jpg http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/Leadtek2.jpg I have OC'ed mine to "Optimal Overclocking" as determined by the XG 77.62 driver to 439/1170, and did not experience any more severe graphic problems than at stock speeds of 350/1000. (This alone leads me to believe that cooling is not the issue, BUT I want (need) to rule it out, so I am moving the temp probe as soon as I get done typing this. I am also going to contact (email/call) Leadtek and ask them to look into the issue. Maybe they just need to tweak the card's BIOS a bit. As I said a couple posts ago, my brother and I both flashed ours, and I think it helped a bit. I flew for almost two hours last night and just got a couple instances of bad textures. (Enough to be pestering, annoying, and not right, BUT not enough to stop me from testing, and certainly not enough to stop me from TRYING to quench the withdrawl ;-) of not flying Lock On in months!) Thanks again everyone for helping with this issue, Hatchet

S~ all, And AGAIN, thank you all for helping/contributing. I guess I am so frustrated, because I know that the simple things are not causing this issue. (Cooling, driver installs, and an old, cruded-up windows installation.) As I have said in the first few posts, this is occurring on two machines, with diff CPUs, motherboards, memory; but using the same Leadtek 6800GT (although one is PCI-E, and one is AGP.) NOW I have a third machine with the same issue! Same video card, but different mobo (Asus a8n, I think) and AMD 64 3500+. This is my brother's comp, and I had him install and patch Lock On, to 1.02 to test it. He has had his comp for 6 months, and has no trouble with other "games." He was running 71.84 until I had him install 77.62 to test it. Same trouble with both drivers. We even flashed our BIOSes on the video cards! The latest for the Leadteks is Oct 2004, where we had a July 2004 date BIOS when purchased. I AM NOT saying this is a Leatek issue, I just am saying that all three cards are Leadtek 6800GTs. (My brother's is the AGP version like mine.) Wombat1940, my trouble, and the trouble on the other two is with Lock On 1.02. My CDs for 1.1 were shipped today from NaturalPoint, and will arrive Thursday. I will test like mad after they arrive. Thank you for weighing in. Joe, I would be inclined to agree with you, if it wasn't happening on three different computers. I built two, but the third is out of state and besides recommending the hardware, I had nothing to do with designing/building it. (Thank God!) System 1 (mine) did have a 9800 Pro in it before, but I stripped the old drivers before I installed the 6800GT. System 2 (new one) was built fresh, with the 6800GT PCI-E card, and System 3 had a GF 4600 in it for a month before being replaced with the 6800GT. (I am sure my brother removed the old drivers before installing the stock drivers that came with the Leadtek 6800GT.) Thank you for the lead though. Nate Dogg, I have never seen a temp over 56C, as far as I can remember on the card itself, and that was right after hours of flying PF (with no trouble, I might add!) I really don't think temp is the issue. I appreciate the lead though. I have encountered many comp problems over the years, that were very hard to diagnose and fix, but this one is really giving me fits. I have even bumped the AGP voltage up on System 1 up to 1.55v to see if the card was just a little low on juice. (Made no diff. I may try 1.6v tomorrow, if I am feeling lucky.) I think my next step is to monitor the boards (Ubi, here, etc.) for those with Leadtek 6800GTs, and ask them directly if they have, or have had, any trouble. It is all I have left... :-( Please, please,please... (too needy? hmmm.) '-) Please feel free to offer any more suggestions (and a fix! lol) if you all can think of anything else, because I have just about had it! lol. Thinking of buying an ATI X800XL or something else, if I can not get my buddy's system (System 2) working real soon. I really don't want to be out $300 bucks, but I feel bad that I built him a system almost exclusively FOR Lock On, and I can't get the dang thing to work!!! Thanks again all, for weighing in and helping, Hatchet

Thank goodness it worked. I thought the titles would appear too, but obviously they did not. First pic is with driver 76.45, and the second is with 77.62. 77.50 gave me some weird black patches on the cockpit glass (no pic.) Hatchet

VMFA-Blaze, Thanks for the lead on some place to host my pics. Here are the ones that I tried to load here on past posts. http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/35d021dc.jpg http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/LOMAC77.jpg I have this trouble on two diff machines, so I think the likelihood of two pad cards ordered a month or so apart is pretty low. (Considering that LOMAC is the only program that is giving any trouble.) 1.1 was shipped today, so maybe that will solve the problem. I'm interested in seeing if these pics get loaded on this post. Again thanks for the lead. Hatchet

Ok, the latest: Ran driver Cleaner Pro, and installed 77.62. Still same prob. No weird shadows yet, but the canopy on the A-10 is smoked with yellow stripes. Unless this canopy is part of the new "Hog Up" upgrade program, I am still hosed. I appreciate all the leads, but I am still frustrated. Lock On is the ONLY program that is giving me ANY kind of graphics problems. (No lock ups since 71.89 though, thank goodness!) Hatchet

S~ all, I ran Detonator RIP from guru3d.com and installed 77.50, but still have the same type problems. Next step will be to totally reformat and re-install XP, LOMAC, and 77.62 or 77.50. I sure wish I could paste / attach some pics with these messages, but it does not seem to load properly. Hatchet

CountryCowFreak, Oxking, and Coldcrew, Thanks for the replies. I really do need to do a driver clean. I will do that today. And as OxKing says, I will try 77.30. As far as cooling goes, I am fairly certain I am good there. 6 intake/output fans with cumulative CFM in the 100 CFM range (Vantec tornado...yes it is loud on the CPU), and massive copper cooling on the Leaktek 6800GT. CPU never gets above 38C and ambient case temp is around 30-32 normally. This system did not have a fresh install, but it was less than 4 (working) months old, and that second system, the one with the 3800+ was brand new. Fresh install. Thanks again for the leads. I will driver clean this one, wipe LOMAC clean, install 77.30, and test. I will post the results asap. Hatchet

Thanks for the reply. Not my issue though. I am a mere "DX9.0c user"; I have no where near the ability to do any SDK stuff. Nice lead though, thanks. Hatchet

Gonna retry the attachment pic follows... (hopefully)

S~ all. Hopefully you all can help me. I have tried about 6 different driver versions before settling into 76.45 as the most stable. I have an AGP Leadtek 6800GT, and on another comp, a PCI-E version of the same card. AMD 2600+ mobile on Shuttle AN-35 Ultra with the AGP, and an ASUS A8N-SLI with an AMD 64 3800+ with the PCI-E one. Problem is the same on both systems. I get huge, weird shadows that extend across the entire screen (for miles) and/or weird psychedelic, LSD colors. I have a 420 watt Enermax on the Shuttle and an Antec 480 on Asus machine. I have tried all different (hundreds of combinations) of settings from very low to high within LOMAC, and still have these problems. Now don't flame me, but I am still using 1.02 UNTIL my two copies of 1.1 get here the week of June 20th. I hope at the least that 1.1 will fix these problems, but there has got to be something else wrong. I have NEVER had these problems flying with three different ATI 9800 Pros and two GF4 4600+s. I am attaching a screen shot of the LSD colors. Next time I get the huge, obscuring shadows problem again, I will post that example too. Thanks in advance for the help. (BTW, cooling is not an issue here. Multiple Panaflo fans with Enermax controller and temp readout.) Hatchet (frustrated A-10 pilot)