Very long loading times

[Guest Roopoo99]

I have this problem, 2.5 minutes to load a mission is FAR too long when all other games load in a reasonable time. System is Dell XPS420 with 6600 quad-core cpu. 3Gb RAM and 8800GTS 512Mb video. It's only this game that takes a looong time to load. Is there a way of installing the game with the mission files already expanded as I wonder if it's the unpacking that takes the time. My hard drive is taking one heck of a hit...

[jspec3]

I had a funny thing happen the other day with Black Shark, it's probably a long shot but I thought I'd post on the off chance it will work.

 

I bought the english download a few months ago, and it had been playing fine on my system (c2d e8400, 4gigs of ram, xpsp2, gtx285) since I bought it. I took a little break from playing, and when I came back to the sim last week the load times took forever - like what you guys are experiencing, 10 minutes. Before it was a minute, two tops. Game didn't run that great either, lots of stuttering (which I never had before).

 

Spent a while trying to figure out what I had changed to cause this problem (thought maybe a new driver I had installed?) but what fixed it (and I don't know why) was re-installing a program called "cacheman".

 

It's a little program to help manage the memory on your system (basically to try and squeeze a little more preformance out of a lower memory machine). I took it off the computer because while doing a little system clean-up I realized I probably didn't need it to be running it anymore (since I have 4 gigs now).

 

Anyway, I really don't know why, but as soon as I reinstalled cacheman on my machine the long load times disappeared, as did the stuttering. Went back to a normal.

 

Not sure you can even run cacheman on vista, but figured it might be worth a shot - 10 minutes is a long time to wait!

[crazyeddie]

I have just downloaded that and tried it, not that I am having problems with loadings but any improvement is worth a try - not a massive difference the first time round but certainly enough enough to notice. It can only get better.

 

Cheers jspec3.

[jspec3]

cool, glad you like it and it's giving you a little boost.

 

I wish I knew why I have to have it installed in order to not get those super long load times. But since its working again, I think (for now) I'll just leave well enough alone and resist the urge to tinker.

[Tez]

Has someone with loading problems tried installing the cacheman?

[LazerPotatoe]

I tried it and it didn't help. Still taking 3 minutes to get into the game. After I launch, it takes 1 whole minute to even see the DCS splash-screen, after the menu app disappears.

(Russian DL version)

[Vitesse2l]

I have had an improvement in loading times. Down from five minutes to two and a half.

 

I had changed my page file to a different HD from my BS install and got loading improvements in BS and ROF. Also defragged the page file.

 

Win XP SP3, btw.

 

Worth a try!

 

Cheers!

[Tez]

Vitesse2l what's the RAM amount on your PC?

[Vitesse2l]

Hi Tez,

 

Got your PM...

 

I just checked my load time using the first mission in the list (I have a Russian download copy, think it's called Patrol the Valley) and got 2 minutes 25 seconds from clicking 'fly' to cockpit.

 

My PC is a P4 3.0 with 2GB ram. Windows is XP SP3 Version 2002. GPU is a 7600GS 256mb AGP.

 

I have BS (and most applications) on a 500 GB Sata drive and my XP install on another 80GB drive. This is partitioned C, D and E. XP is on C, Page File on D only, and system managed. There is about 25gb free space on the D partition.

 

Please let me know if there is anything else you need - it's no problem.

 

Cheers!

[LazerPotatoe]

I've seen an improvement with the 1.01 patch. Went from 3 minutes down to 2 minutes from menu to cockpit. Only 30 seconds before seeing splash screen now.

 

Windows XP Home SP2

Athlon 64x2 3400+ 2.2Ghz

1GB RAM

[Vitesse2l]

Hi LP,

 

I've been doing some experimenting and I now think the improvement is nothing to do with the page file.

 

I'd been trying to improve object-load pauses in ROF by moving the page file off my main HD and defragging the drive and the page file. Definitely better all round with ROF for me, and then I tried BS for the first time in a while...I usually go and make coffee while it loads!

 

I have told Tez this, BTW.

[Sjokkel]

I replicated the problem yesterday. I forced Anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering through the nvidia control panel. When i tried to load a mission it would take nearly 5 minutes. Resetting it to default fixed it for me.

So a graphics driver setting could be causing the long loading times.

[Tez]

Sjokkel could you tell your graphics card model, amount of RAM on it, amount of system RAM, operation system version and graphics drivers version.

 

Thank you for reporting! It could help us.

[Sjokkel]

Sorry, I was in a hurry, forgot to post my specs.

 

I tested it both on the same machine in Vista 32 and Win 7 64.

It's a Q9450 with 4 GB Ram, GTX 280 1GB running the latest WHQL drivers 191.7.

 

I just noticed it yesterday so i didn't test it with different drivers.

 

Hope this helps!

[LazerPotatoe]

I have an Nvidia card too. I will test this when I get home tonight.

 

EDIT: did nothing for me. Changed to 2x Anisotropic and 2x Antialias. Changed back to default (application-controlled). Made no difference for me.

 

Windows XP Home SP2

Athlon 64x2 3400+ 2.2Ghz

1GB RAM

GeForce 7600 GS (256MB) PCI-E

Forceware drivers v 175.19

Edited October 20, 2009 by LazerPotatoe

[Sjokkel]

Sorry for the late reply. I've been checking with other drivers with the same result.

 

In the process i swapped my freetrack setup for a Trackir and suddenly i started experiencing strange problems in windows 7. After uninstalling drivers and reinstalling, updating sound and networkcard drivers it finally turned out to be a defective mouse causing problems to the usb root hub in the PC

.

After all the fiddling around with freetrack i can't seem to be able to reproduce the startup slowdowns anymore. Because of my hectic way of working i cant pinpoint what could have fixed the issue.

 

Maybe the defective mouse flooding my USB hub with unused commands had a hand in it. I'm going to keep looking and try a driver rollback to see if i can reproduce it again.

[Tez]

I have just got an email from one DCS user about exactly the same problem. He told that there was a problem with his DirectX which was solved by Windows reinstallation.

 

You can check whether there are problems with DirectX by dxdiag.exe. Run it and browse through tabs checking the Notes section on the bottom for records about problems.

 

As far as I know there were some utils for DirectX deinstallation. Use with extreme caution. We are dealing with a microsoft product.

[EtherealN]

Not positive that this is the case mentioned, but it gives an example of how it can look: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=48041

In that thread I have quoted some portions of the DxDiag file that should raise concern.

 

That tool is invaluable as a first step to detecting problems - though unfortunately it can sometimes be a quite volatile operation to set those problems straight. That particular user elected to just reinstall the operating system to get a clean slate.

 

Being able to replicate the issue on a confirmed healthy system would be very interesting though. (I haven't been able to do so myself.)

[Panzertard]

Use with extreme caution. We are dealing with a microsoft product.

I like that quote! ;)