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21st Oct 2005, 04:56 PM
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 Problems with graphics
#1
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airam89
Original Poster
Test Subject
Join Date: Jul 2005 |
Hello! My old Nvidia geforce 4400 stopped working a month ago and I was forced to buy a new graphics card. The new one is Nvidia 5200fx (did'nt have money for a better one then), and I can't play Sims2 with it. I never had any problems with the old card, but with this new one I haven't been able to play Sims2 since I installed the card and I'm getting quite annoyed. The problems is that when I start playing the graphics won't work properly. The screen flashes red and black, and all letters are blurry. After choosing a neighbourhood the graphics seem usually normal (sometimes all trees look funny, the green parts of trees' are white horizontal lines), but when you choose a family and start playing with it, the people disappear and objects turn into lines of red and black. And all the while the screen flashes red. And after a while the game crashes. My computer: AMD Duron, 1,2 ghz, 512 RAM. I have the latest driver installed, and while it helped a little, it still didn't stop these problems. What should I do? Buy a better card, buy more RAM, buy a new processor? Help me please. |
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21st Oct 2005, 05:24 PM
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#2 |
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Cajun1692
Test Subject
Join Date: Mar 2005 |
I don't know if this will help, so often things are blamed on hacks. Anyway, before I got nightlife, I had the same video card you have. I would get flashing red effects, lots would get buggy, censor patch made lot disappear whenever someone got naked, god forbid more than one sim using the bathroom at the same time, etc. I uploaded nightlife, expecting the worse, then found a site, can't remember which one, that gave a list of hacks not compatible with nightlife. I got rid of all hacks that wouldn't work right with it and my game now runs better than it did before. Occasionally I will notice an object that will flash and I delete it from the game. Since then, I haven't had a problem at all. But this works for me, maybe it will work for you. I only have a 900 processor and 384 mb ram. I never thought that it could be hacks effecting my game, but apparently it was the case. |
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21st Oct 2005, 05:34 PM
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#3 |
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bairy
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2005 |
Yeah I'd try disabling the hacks first, though I don't think it's that. Which driver do you have/where did you get it from, there are some reported problems with the absolute latest. Have you reinstalled DirectX since upgrading the driver? |
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21st Oct 2005, 06:03 PM
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#4 |
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airam89
Original Poster
Test Subject
Join Date: Jul 2005 |
I downloaded the driver from Nvidia's homepage and it is 78.01 for Windows XP. I haven't reinstalled DirectX in a long time, I did the dxdiag and at least according to it there are no problems with the programm. I'm not sure what the hacks are you are talking about. I have only downloaded sims and objects, should I uninstall/delete them? |
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21st Oct 2005, 06:17 PM
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#5 |
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jaxad0127
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Use Clean Installer to make sure. |
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21st Oct 2005, 07:56 PM
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#6 |
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airam89
Original Poster
Test Subject
Join Date: Jul 2005 |
^downloaded and checked, no problems there. Before playing I have closed the modem, and other programs open. |
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21st Oct 2005, 08:12 PM
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#7 |
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jaxad0127
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That should help. Other programs might be using the graphics card, keep it it buisy and less usable for the game. |
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21st Oct 2005, 08:25 PM
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#8 |
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Drakron
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Make sure you uninstalled the other card, video cards are not "plug-and-play" ... they need to be uninstalled. |
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21st Oct 2005, 09:04 PM
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#9 |
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Braveheart
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I have an FX5200 and have had many graphics issues since installing Nightlife. I have even had my graphics suddenly go all garbled and then my computer reboots! I have tried 10 or more different drivers. I have installed and reinstalled. I have formatted my system. I even checked my system temperature and fans (all is fine). I have looked into all other possible conflicts and have come to the conclusion that Maxis may need to look into patching the game for use with a few of the video cards that they say are compatible. I believe that it is a software conflict with certain cards. I have read other forum posts around the community that others have had the same kind of issues with graphics. You are certainly not alone. |
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'Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes....at least then he'll be a mile away and barefoot' |
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Last edited by Braveheart : 21st Oct 2005 at 09:09 PM.
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22nd Oct 2005, 01:50 PM
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#10 |
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billyd1000
Field Researcher
Join Date: Jun 2005 |
I have had an FX5200 card up until yesterday. I have had very good luck with mine in playing the sims2+uni+NL.  The reason I replaced it is I found a good deal on an FX5500 with 256Mb of video ram. I knew the memory bump would help out my slow processor. I am pleased with the new card, but the FX5200 for the money is a solid device. I have a second computer I use now for the legacy challenge. It also has the FX5200 card, and I have no plans of replacing this one. Nvida is constantly updating their drivers so check one more time to be sure you have the latest. The fact you have a fairly slow processor will slow down your graphics some. The computer I play the legacy challenge on only has a 1Mhz celeron. But it does ok for what I use it for.
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Burn The midnight oil, it will be daylight soon... |
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22nd Oct 2005, 04:44 PM
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#11 | |
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ilikefishfood
Field Researcher
Join Date: Oct 2004 |
Quote:
I'm having exactly the same problems since installing NL. I have a fairly new graphics card (3 months old) at NVidia GeForce FX 5500. I've got a Pentium 4, 2.26 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. And I have had all of the probs you've listed above, and have tried all that you have. I've even gone so far as to use a driver cleaner after uninstalling the many drivers I've tried. I also make sure I'm disconnected from the net when I'm reinstalling drivers. I'm going to keep seraching for a solution, and looking for drivers that work (what elese can we do!). If I come up with a solution, I'll post here....and pleeeease, I beg you, let us know if you find a resolution. I'm really frustrated. | |
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"If..." a TS2 epic about friendship, romance, break-ups, make-ups, misunderstandings, fights, quite a bit of silliness and a little bit of rock and roll."
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22nd Oct 2005, 10:37 PM
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#12 |
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billyd1000
Field Researcher
Join Date: Jun 2005 |
ililefishfood, which driver version are you running on that FX5500? I am using 81.33, it works very well on my system. One thing probably different than yours is I use a PCI version. I like having the 5500 card I picked up for the video ram boost from 128 to 256 Mb, but except for going downtown in NL I had no major complaints with my FX5200 either. |
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Burn The midnight oil, it will be daylight soon... |
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22nd Oct 2005, 10:55 PM
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#13 | |
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ilikefishfood
Field Researcher
Join Date: Oct 2004 |
Quote:
No, I had no luck with the 81.33. I couldn't even get in to the neighbourhood! I got the blue dump screen! I've just downloaded 81.85 and will install shortly and report back. The most luck I've had so far, is with the original drivers that came with the graphic card. But when I replace too many of my downloads, I start having graphic corruption in the neighbourhood view; weird stuff like the menu isn't available, and the plumbobs over the houses are clear/transparent (instead of green), and I can't access any of the houses. Sometimes some roofs display yellow. I can't associate the graphic corruption with any partiular downloads (I've got my stuff nicely sorted in folders). I can put in a a few random folders without probs, and can enter lots etc. There just seems to be a point at which there are too many downloads and the video card freaks out. I haven't figued out what that limit is, nor does it make any sense that the number of downloads would affect the graphic card's abilty to work properly? Does it? | |
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"If..." a TS2 epic about friendship, romance, break-ups, make-ups, misunderstandings, fights, quite a bit of silliness and a little bit of rock and roll."
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22nd Oct 2005, 11:07 PM
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#14 |
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billyd1000
Field Researcher
Join Date: Jun 2005 |
I'm not sure about your question. I made my self a promise 2 months ago to be very careful with downloading, and I really do not use many anymore. I try to make my own sims in body shop, and live with the default clothing and geneteics. I use only a small handful of hacks. Post your results with the other driver as I am curious how it works for you.
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Burn The midnight oil, it will be daylight soon... |
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22nd Oct 2005, 11:09 PM
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#15 |
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jaxad0127
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Download numbers shouldn't affect the video card. A single download might be overriding the game code, causing corruptions. |
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22nd Oct 2005, 11:25 PM
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#16 |
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ilikefishfood
Field Researcher
Join Date: Oct 2004 |
That's what I figured. But for instance......I had a number of folders in Downloads (mostly body shop and recolours). 1. I added a folder called "garden" that had some custom objects. 2. Graphic freakisness began to dislay. 3. Shut down game removed all downloads, and put in just the "garden" folder. 4. No problems, no graphic corruption.......and I can enter and play lots. Therefore, I can only assusme it's not specifically the garden folder (this is just an example btw; it's happened with other folders)....it's some combination of custom content that's causing it. BTW, the blue physical dump screen does reference a Nvidia dll file (nv4_disp.dll). I called DELL and they suggested going back to my old drivers, and as reported previously, those are the ones I've had the least number of problems with. I'm gonna give the latest drivers (mentioned above) a shot, and barring that, I'm gonna just give up custom content so that I can play again. Suffering from major Sims withdrawal here. :insane: |
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"If..." a TS2 epic about friendship, romance, break-ups, make-ups, misunderstandings, fights, quite a bit of silliness and a little bit of rock and roll."
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Last edited by ilikefishfood : 22nd Oct 2005 at 11:31 PM.
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23rd Oct 2005, 12:59 AM
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#17 |
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happygolucky
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I've been posting in another thread about the video and reboot problem. I have an fx 5500. I went through several drivers before I found one that took care of the graphics problem. I had to downgrade to 71.25. I haven't had the red flashing or the white or yellow patches with this driver. And I thought my rebooting problem had been solved. But just found out a few minutes ago.. that it hasn't. Anyway.. back to the drawing board. BTW.. this rebooting problem doesnt have anything to do with downloads. I thought it did at first, but when I rebooted without any downloads or skins or anything, I realized it's something else that is causing it. |
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23rd Oct 2005, 01:17 PM
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#18 |
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ilikefishfood
Field Researcher
Join Date: Oct 2004 |
Some results to report: I've been testing with the latest drivers I can find: 81.85 (available at http://www.guru3d.com/). No crashes (or in my case, blue dump screen)......and I can replace practically all of my downloads. In fact, I can put them all in, but on loading the neighbourhood screen, there's a brief hang and then the graphics become slightly blurry, but I am still able to access and play lots. I remember with my old graphics card, back in the days of only bodyshop and recolours, I found the more downloads I had the blurrier my graphics became. Which is why I bought the new card (and btw, had no probs with it up until NL). Again, I can't identify any partciular download as being the problem. If I place a few random custom content folders in the game, there are no problems at all. I have been testing all night. I can tentatively give the 81.85 drivers a heads up.....but there are still issues - in my analysis - pertaining to the amount of custom content. I am now finally (and I should have done this a long time ago) deleting alot of crap, and will give a final report if that resolves the bluriness. |
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"If..." a TS2 epic about friendship, romance, break-ups, make-ups, misunderstandings, fights, quite a bit of silliness and a little bit of rock and roll."
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Last edited by ilikefishfood : 23rd Oct 2005 at 01:25 PM.
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24th Oct 2005, 04:17 PM
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#19 |
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billyd1000
Field Researcher
Join Date: Jun 2005 |
ilikefisffood, This is an ironic situation! I had no problems with my new fx5500 card, until I started up the time following these posts! It seem windows does not like the new nvidia drivers very much. I went from 81.33 to 81.85 and it still give me error messages at boot up. Sometimes just that stupid "computer recovered from serious BS-BS" error, sometimes the big blue message about system problems probably associated with drivers..., I don't think much of the way Microsoft addresses these issues. Anyway I have now went to 77.76 which is what shipped with the card. It has not fuzzed out on me yet. I am beginning to believe the 5500 chipset is ah, er, perhaps not the best! |
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Burn The midnight oil, it will be daylight soon... |
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Last edited by billyd1000 : 24th Oct 2005 at 04:18 PM.
Reason: spelling-as usual
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24th Oct 2005, 07:54 PM
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#20 |
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jaxad0127
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The blue screen of death doesn't show in 2000 and above. billyd1000, is there one in between you could use. |
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24th Oct 2005, 09:30 PM
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#21 |
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ilikefishfood
Field Researcher
Join Date: Oct 2004 |
I checked out EA games' tech information, and notice that the GeForce FX 5500 is not on the list of supported video cards. Interestingly though, the 5200 is, and there are others having these same probs with the 5200 as well. I was also able to access my lots without problems when I first installed NL. In fact it took me nearly two weeks to enter each lot and rennovate with driveways and cars, and have each Sim drink the renuyu porta-chug. It was after all that, that one fine day, I went to enter a lot and bam (!!!!) got the blue dump screen! I have since reintalled. Put back in my back-up neighbourhoods at the University reintall, and have then re-installed NL and patched it (all without any custom content in)......and have had nothing but the nighmares listed above since then. The blurriness gets progressively worse, to the point of the graphics looking almost smudgey, but at least I have an alternative......ie, use no custom content; but that can't be the solution. There're thousands of people out there playing NL with CC. I've already started pricing new video cards. This is crazy! |
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"If..." a TS2 epic about friendship, romance, break-ups, make-ups, misunderstandings, fights, quite a bit of silliness and a little bit of rock and roll."
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Last edited by ilikefishfood : 24th Oct 2005 at 10:44 PM.
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25th Oct 2005, 03:10 AM
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#22 |
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billyd1000
Field Researcher
Join Date: Jun 2005 |
Jax, I do not have the blue screen of death, or at least I wouldn't call it that, just errors from drivers. ilikefishfood, I am pleased I put the old drivers on my machine! Actually much better than the newer drivers. 77.77 would probably be a little better tham 77.76, but all in all 77.76 is (so far) proving to be stable, with no windows errors. Graphics are very good. If it continues I would say the fx5500 is ok. Perhaps just matching the right driver, not the newest is the trick. |
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Burn The midnight oil, it will be daylight soon... |
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Last edited by billyd1000 : 25th Oct 2005 at 03:11 AM.
Reason: typo
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25th Oct 2005, 06:39 AM
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#23 | |
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jaxad0127
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You said: Quote:
Sounds like the blue screen of death to me. |
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25th Oct 2005, 11:00 AM
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#24 | |
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ilikefishfood
Field Researcher
Join Date: Oct 2004 |
Quote:
I'll give that a try. I've already ruled out 77.77 on my system. I was getting horribly corrupted graphics in the neighbourhood view. Re the blue screen of death: you'll only get it if a computer is set not to reboot automatically. Otherwise, rather than the blue screen, a computer will just reboot. Personally, I prefer the blue screen, cuz at least it gives you info on why the system shut down. | |
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"If..." a TS2 epic about friendship, romance, break-ups, make-ups, misunderstandings, fights, quite a bit of silliness and a little bit of rock and roll."
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25th Oct 2005, 01:00 PM
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#25 | ||
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happygolucky
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Quote:
Well, isn't that a blip. They've taken the FX 5500 off of the list. Because it sure used to be on there. Not to mention on the BOX! The NL Box says "GeForce2 GTS or greater". Now that I think about it though.. the way they had it on the site they made a typographical error... and had it listed as "FX 55500".  Someone probably reported it and they removed it instead of correcting it.Quote:
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Last edited by happygolucky : 25th Oct 2005 at 01:25 PM.
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