SFFT alpha drivers - V3/4/5 - Join to Testing

[Raff3DC]

Originally posted by ps47

ok,seems like the opengl issues are gone (opengl/glide works again no matter what glides and icds).great work

I don't get it. The Glides and the opengl32.dll are exactly the same as the ones in Alpha 46. Is it really possible that there is a connection between the D3D core and these DLL's? SFFT, did you change anything? I can't believe it.

Greetings,
Raff

[ps47]

Originally posted by Raff3DC

Originally posted by ps47

ok,seems like the opengl issues are gone (opengl/glide works again no matter what glides and icds).great work

I don't get it. The Glides and the opengl32.dll are exactly the same as the ones in Alpha 46. Is it really possible that there is a connection between the D3D core and these DLL's? SFFT, did you change anything? I can't believe it.

Greetings,
Raff

the d3d core itself is not connected to opengl/glide.however,the registry entries and some other parts of the driver are,so if an error gets there opengl can get broken..its not the first time I'm seeing this,the last full version of the evolution driver has opengl issues as well,they are fixed in the latest lite release,and both drivers use the same opengl/glide dlls..

[ps47]

ok,new 3dfx rig is ready and running,epox8k5a2+/athlon3000+/voodoo5 5500agp,using xpsp2 and SFFT A47,so far so good,everything seems to run like butter,D3D,opengl and glide alike.

however,all opengl settings are still missing from the 3dfx tools,I had to import them to the registry manually (the opengl branch is simply not created by the driver install)..


edit: found another bug in A47-it is not possible to enable D3D FSAA (opengl FSAA works normally via 3dfx tools or vcontrol),no matter what tool or utility.no such problem with A42..

[Rolo01]

Originally posted by ps47



edit: found another bug in A47-it is not possible to enable D3D FSAA (opengl FSAA works normally via 3dfx tools or vcontrol),no matter what tool or utility.no such problem with A42..

I can confirm that. Changing FSAA settings with VControl has no effect with Alpha47.

I encountered some old and new problems :
- SLI-Bug in 1600x1200 is still there
- 3DMark2000 does not work anymore ( yes, I ran it in compatibility mode )
- 3DMark2001 does not work anymore

Game01 of 3DMark03 works fine.

[Raff3DC]

Ah, thanks Rolo for testing the SLI ****up. SFFT, pleeeease fix it!

About 3DMark: interesting. I thought it's due to my mainboard that the benches don't work anymore ... it's quite crappy. See this as confirmation that they don't work on my machine either.

Positive things I encountered over the last ~5 releases (that I remember now):

- Half-Life 2: No texture errors anymore, mip-mapping works again
- World of Warcraft: dito

The new Tomb Raider Anniversary Demo doesn't run. But it's a realistic goal to get it working. According to the Readme, it can even run with non-T&L cards!

Greetings,
Raff

[SuperFurryFurryThing]

Both 3dmark 2000 and 3dmark 2001 work ok. I have tested them both with the Alpha 47. I am skeptical of not being able to set AA in D3D mode, although I will check this, how are you determining that it has not been set, can you check if the registry keys are being changed. I would suggest that you both re-install your drivers having removed any previous ones, and the tools and re-install you 3dfx tools, and then try again.

SFFT

[Rolo01]

When I started the 3DMarks the main menu worked OK. But when starting a benchmark I only got a black screen. Did you do something special ?
Anyway, I will remove and re-install this evening.

[Raff3DC]

I had exactly the same symptoms! Sometimes windows reset the driver, but in most cases I directly had to reset.

Gree

[Rolo01]

Very strange :
Yesterday 3DMark2000 and 2001 worked OK here, but I changed nothing !
I dont know what was wrong the day before, but SFFT is right when saying those 2 benches work with Alpha 47.

[SuperFurryFurryThing]

Setting D3D AA via the tools also works.

SFFT

[ggab]

alpha 47 + v4500agp + xpsp2

i got:

BSOD... 3dfxvs
STOP:
0x000000EA (0x84D62508, 0x85E8D388, 0xF78C2CB4, 0x00000001)

Launching a glide3x application...

thanks

[ps47]

just tried A47 again,stil no luck with FSAA.the key gets modified (1.showing the default setting=fastest performance,the key value is "2".FSAA 4x is "4",FSAA 2x is "3"),but no FSAA is applied (same as FSAA off,no slowdown,no image smoothing).I have already mentioned,all opengl/glide settings are still missing (see 2.the glide folder should have quite a few subfolders,just like d3d),and opengl FSAA tab as well (3.the glide folder under features is missing completely).3dmark 2001se works fine (but that has never been an issue even if it wouldnt,nobody has ever won that game anyway)..

[SuperFurryFurryThing]

Why do you think D3D FSAA isn't working?. What are you testing it with. If you have set the resistry key succesfully, and then reboot, and the run up a direct 3D application you should see AA being used try Freelancer as a test, that usually shows a difference. As to the Opengl / Glide keys these aren't written by the driver anyway, so you may have screwed up something in your machines registry at some point. The inf file may set defaults for some of these keys you could check the file, if not then they are written by the tools, and I would try re-installing the tools.

SFFT

[ps47]

as for FSAA,its pretty simple,when using A47,I enable FSAA,launch a D3D game,and see no FSAA.I do the same thing with A42,and voila,it works.its pretty easy to tell if there is FSAA aplied when you look at the screen (jagged edges are smooth,and FPS are lower).tried a few games,same behaviour.clean install of A47 driver,then reinstaled A42,installed A47,still the same.

as for the opengl/glide registry keys,the only way is to import them to the register manually (they should be created by the driver,3dfx tools are not creating anything,they just look up the registry and display anything they find.and I doubt its only my machine,at least 3 more people have the same issue),I have created two reg files that do it,the first one reactivates opengl/glide settings,and the second one the opengl/glide FSAA tab (ignore the fxfsaa file,just some alternative mode of FSAA I was trying out some time ago): http://www.inc_exe.szm.sk/sfft_fix.rar


something good on the end: dungeon keeper2 runs stable and without choppy sound with A47 (was crashy & had weird sound with A42)

[SuperFurryFurryThing]

The driver does not write the OpenGl keys. The inf file may set defaults, so I would suggest that you check the inf file. To see if it should be setting them up, if it does then you have an install problem. Try testing the D3D AA after having set the key and rebooted the machine. try Freelancer or soemthing similar at a reasonably low resolution say 800x600 16 bit and see if you get AA enabled.

SFFT