Unable to run Realflight G2

[Mkaz]

I bought Realflight 2 weeks ago. At first I tried to run it with a plain ATI video card but I soon understood that i had to upgrade my system.

Since then I have upgraded to a Geforce Mx video card and a Vibra128 sound card. I have also freshly installed Windows98 SE into a new directory and tried all versions of G2 (CD, 230 and 256). I have maybe rebooted my system 100 times but so far have only been able to run G2 for about 5-6 minutes.
Realflight either hangs right at the intro screen (most of the times), during the 'loading' section (sometimes) or during flight (twice so far, those are the only times i had been able to 'fly').
When the system hangs the screen freezes, the music continues but most of the time the mouse still moves. The only way to continue is with a hard reboot.
Otherwise my system is very stable and never hangs.

I send a support request to GreatPlanes but thought that maybe one of you guys could come up with an idea that would help. I am out of ideas.

Thanks for any input or help.

Michael Kaz

[Slider]

Michael,
Have to hit and run because I have to go somewhere in a couple of minutes but. If you haven't downloaded and installed the latest direct X 8 drivers, try that.
Also stating what your computer's speed is and how much ram might help others in helping you solve your problem.
Also when it does run, what resolution are you using? 800x600x16bit or 1600x1200x32bit etc., maybe your monitor can't handle the higher resolution setting? If your using the high setting, try lower ones.
Also if you haven't already, try checking other post in here that might possibly be the same as yours and what was done to fix it.
Dang, restarted 100 times, hopefully very soon someone will be able to help you get it running.


:confused:

Adlai

[Mkaz]

Thanks for your anwser, Slider. I appriciate taking time to anwser before a meeting.

Before posting this and my prior message i read all messages on the KnifeEdge forum, read FAQ's at KnifeEdge and GreatPlanes and searched the Internet. I wouldn't have bothered any members of this forum if my problem was solved before.

Sorry I missed mentioning the following details.

I installed (and reinstalled several times) Directx v8.0a
Normally I am running at 1024x768. I'm not sure what the default resolution of G2 is, my system hangs before i get there and I did not find a way to look at the G2 setup without actually running it (kinda catch 22 situation).

My system has 128MB of Ram, speed 300MHz. The motherboard supports only AGP 2, anybody there that had a problem because of missing AGP 4 support?

My monitor can handle frequencies up to 85Hz at 1024x768. Normally if the monitor does not support a frequency set at the system the displayed image will be garbled. You might even damage the display but you will not hang the system.

Thanks for any help,
Michael

[Buckaroo]

I am not familiar with that sound card. But for it and the Video get the latest drivers if you havent already.

I am using the Detonator 3 drivers from Nvidia on my Geforce 2 and they work great in G2.

http://www.nvidia.com/Products.nsf/htmlmedia/software_drivers.html

You say the CPU is 300? is that intel or something else? Disable the sound card on the computer altogether and see it you can get it to run.

Eric Kler
Visit My unofficial G2 swap page (http://zeus.rcwizard.com/fubar_hill/G2.htm)

[Madmax]

I definitely agree with Buckaroo... Either a soundcard or video driver problem.

Since you are running Win98, you can also try a strtup with "disbled startup group".

Click on Start, run, then type "msconfig" and click "OK". Then select "selective startup", and uncheck the "load startup group items" box. Click apply and ok, and restart.

This will prevent windows from loading a bunch of unnecessary programs and drivers during startup. Very often, you will find that problems are caused by incompatible software running at the same time.

To go back to normal startup, same steps but check the "normal startup" box in msconfig.

Hope this helps

Maxime Michaud

[Madmax]

Oh yes.. If it works with msconfig, then you know you have a conflict somewhere... You can go in the "startup group" page in msconfig, and enable/disable each programs separatelly... until you find the culprit. PITA, I know, but welcome to the wonderful world of Windows! :rolleyes:

Maxime Michaud

[Mkaz]

Thanks everybody so far, but i'm still not running.
As I wrote in my first message I already reinstalled Win98SE into a new/fresh directory and so far installed ONLY G2. That means G2 is running alone, startup is empty, there are no software incompatibilities.
I'm using the latest (560) NVIDIA drivers for the GeForce and also new drivers for the Creative sound card.
DirectX is version 8.0a (also the latest).
I have also tried to check my memory chips (128MB) with checkit. No failures. Before the fresh install my system was very stable, no hangs with any software.
I'm thinking no about AGP2 via AGP4 problems, any input?
The next stage would be to exchange the motherboard. I'd be willing to do that if I knew for sure that it would solve the problem. I've already invested a lot in G2 and all the hardware changes. But I'm also investing a lot of time and am so far pretty disappointed.

Thanks again for any help,
Michael Kaz

[Slider]

Thinking

:rolleyes:

[Slider]

Only thing that comes to mind now. Your 300mhz system is the minimum that is recommended to run G2. I have a pentium II 266 mhz with 96mb ram and I can still run it. But I set my ( windows ) resolution to 800x600x16bit and when I run G2, the windows default resolution will be the same. I set the full screen mode resolution for ( G2 ) to 1600x1200x16bit and it will work. But if I fool around with some of the goodies ( chosing music, or instructor or whatever ) in G2 while running in full screen with the 1600x1200x16bit resolution, and I MOVE to quickly from one item to another the sim will sometimes lock up. ( To avoid this I just hit the "TAB" key and run in the windows mode when chosing the different goodies in G2 ). Anyway guess what I'm trying to say is. If your new 3d card and your new sound card aren't what's causing the problem. Maybe try setting your windows resolution to 800x600x16bit.
Also if your using 32bit resolution that will slow your computer down even more and I would also suspect that maybe you did do something incorrect with your settup of your new sound card and 3D card. Also, which version do you have of G2, upgrade or just G2 strait? If you have the upgrade version, you need to install the original RF before installing the G2 upgrade. I'd say, try setting your windows resolution to 800x600x16bit before trying anything else.

Adlai :rolleyes:

[This message was edited by Slider on 03-26-01 at .]

[Buckaroo]

I dont think the X2 AGP is a problem thats what I'm running. Im also at DX8 not the updated 8a.

Also unless thats a typo the newest Nvidia drivers are 650. :)
Im useing 3 year old drivers for my SB PCI128 and they work ok, but different cards, ddifferent problems. Do you hear music when it starts?

Hopefully you will get it sorted out and it will be worth it.

Its probably something simple, just a matter of finding what the conflicion is.

Eric Kler
Visit My unofficial G2 swap page (http://zeus.rcwizard.com/fubar_hill/G2.htm)

[Jim Coleman]

What soundcard chipset are you using? You probably already know but random lockups are usually driver related.

[Slider]

:rolleyes:

[Mkaz]

Thank you all for your valuable input.
I did not manage though to get G2 to run on my system with any imaginable setup.

I finally gave up and reacted on my initial gut feeling. I bought a new motherboard (Asus P3V4x) and exchanged the older one. Everything else stayed them same (hardware and software) except for the memory which I had to change for faster chips (133).

G2 started up wihout any problem and has not stopped the system so far.

The new motherboard has additional support for AGP 4, IDE DMA66, ACPI and an other Bios. My initial feeling was that the Geforce 2 i bought is optimized for newer, more modern boards and thats the reason I changed the board. But it could have been also something totally different, i'll never now.
The old board, btw, is perfectly alright and running without a hinch (and no hangups) in an other system now.

The total cost of adapting my system for G2 is now up to around $400. Pretty steep and far more than I had intended. I could have ruined a plane or 2 for the same price. But - i'm enjoying flying a lot (I am a beginner with no experience at all).

Thanks again,
Michael Kaz

[Buckaroo]

Well computers are a money pit, no matter what you run on them.

As far as whether its worth it or not is strictly up to you. But consider this, when you crash a plane you might get away with some repair, but a lot of times you total the plane, there is at least $100. Then sometimes you break the engine, reciever servos. It adds up fast. Start getting up into ssport or scale planes bigger more expensive engines and realflight is a bargain ;)

Eric Kler
Visit My unofficial G2 swap page (http://zeus.rcwizard.com/fubar_hill/G2.htm)

[Slider]

Michael, Have to hit and run again, but just wanted to say, glad you got it running even though it took a new mother-board. You probably could have gotten it to run with your 300mhz system setup, But main thing is you got it running and hope you enjoy.
Have a good one, :D

Adlai

[EMan]

I have to install a new video card for the G2 to work in my PC. I am using a PII 400, 128 MB Ram, Soundblaster Live, and a GeForce 2 MX 32mb SDR. My motherboard only supports AGP 2x. The set up works fine, the heli flies well even with full graphics. :D

However, it was a pain in the butt for the initial installation. I have to reinstall my win98 for it to work. Just override it so that all the rest of your setting stays.