I'm trying to play "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault" and after playing for about 5 minutes, the screen goes black and the sound gets stuck in a loop with a complete loss of Keyboard control, forcing a reboot/shutdown.

Other times, the screen will go black, and I'll get a little floating window "Sync out of range".

My System:

Monitor: Samsung 17" Flat-CRT 753 DF
OS: Windows XP Pro.
MainBoard/CPU: AMD Athalon 1800+ Ghz (VIA 4-in-1 Chipset AGPx4)
Memory: 256m DDRam
Video: GForce4 Ti4200 128m DDRam w/TVO (TVO is disabled) (AGPx8)
Sound: Sound Blaster Live Value

Here's what I have done to try and remedy this problem...

* Updated with all the latest drivers (including my 4-in-1 VIA driver)
* Updated to DirectX 9x. (But had problems prior with DirectX 8x as well)
* Tried game with the lowest possible resolution (safe mode).
* Tried game with an empty tray (all tasks shut down).

So far Zippo. Game runs fine for about 4-5 minutes, then it locks up, black screen and sounds loop. I have had this problem before in the past with other Hi-Res 3D multiplayer games, like Unreal Tournament 2003, Tribes-1, Marrowind, but after reinstalling my OS, and re-installing all of my drivers that peticular problem dissappeared for those games. But now it's doing it with "Medal of Honor: AA" but it runs fine with the other games. Very odd.

Any and all help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Malice.

Scott,
I had the same problems and I posted the resolution in the thread no one here seems to read what is written unless it is formally directed to them.

As stated above nVIDIA cards (All no matter who makes them) have a refresh problem. You also need to read about DirectX 9 that is not the solution but a who new problem you caused yourself. DirectX 9 is a BETA and drivers were written for ATI 9700 pro only.

Resolution:
Not update the VIA AGP Drivers
But who make your card update the card drivers to the latest NVIDIA Detonators (This is my theory)
And change the refresh rate to Adapter Default. For some reason nVIDIA has problems with refresh rate kind of like the Trident 9680 had the same problem in Windows 95.

Read here (“http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/geforce/all_print2.php?prog=g...mp;lang=en).

Note to this thread all who keep posted the same problem if you would go and do some research your problems would be over unless your card is shot from all the stress you are putting it through. I had all the same problems this room had and now I do not. I posted a possible resolution that worked for me and several other people I gave it to in the chat rooms but you all seem to ask for help and not take what is given. Also I am not saying that my resolution will fix your problem but the link I provided will put you on the write track to a resolution.

PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE

Thanks Kevin, Sorry about not reading. In the fret of having these video problems I haven't had the time to read this extensively large message board. I will print out a copy of what you said, and I'll try the link see if it helps. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Thanks big time.

Ok, I tried changing my "refresh rate" and I've also tried tweeking my AGP settings in the BIOS. Still no luck.

My lowest Refresh rate setting was "60 hz" and my highest is "80", I set it to "75 hz" and no change, still crashes in games.

Any more ideas?

Under display properties Choose Adapter Default Only and you mite have to find a way to remove DirectX 9. DirectX 9 is a beta and its backward compatibity works with ATI video cards only.

DirectX 9 Uninstall ("http://www.3dcenter.de/downloads/directx-dx9uninstaller.php")

Ok guys, a update of my problems.

As you have readed (please read all the topic), i resolved some problems, now i can run/play:

Jedi Outcast (640x480,800x600,1024x768)
Return to castle wolfenstein
MOAA
Quake 3 Arena
Flight Simulator 2000 and 2002
Combat Flight Simulator
3dMark 2001

but i still can't play Fifa 2002 and 2003 without problems.

The things i have do and work for those programs are:
Install latency patch,
Override refresh control to 60hz
Install last VIA Hyperion
and install my monitor drivers (very important, without this drivers the games crashes in my pc)

Many of the problems disappear, but with the cost of the HDD performance from 100% to 70-75%. The games load faster in a pentium 3 866mhz with 256mb pc133 and the same hard disk and video card than in my actual AthlonXP 2000+ with 256 DDR with those devices. =(

I have this instalation of Windows XP with the only purpose of find a solution, if i can solve all the problems (included the performance of my hard disk) after a new fresh instalation of WXP and testing. i'll tell you.

Not every GeForce 4 has problems w/ DirectX on XP. I've used 3 different GeForce 4's on XP with DirectX 8.1b. I got a 4600, 4400, and a MX440. None of them have ever had problems. Now if your trying DirectX9, yeah your going to have problems.

Casanova
Happy Gaming

Ok first, I see no "Adapter Default" under display properties, being a little more specific would help.

Second, I found that using a program called "RivaTuner" recommended by a very genious poster in here (can't remember whom, or what thread) I was able to turn off my AGP card, forcing my system to use my card in PCI mode. It worked! No more Black screen, no more "sync out of range" messages. I was told that by doing this I would suffer resolution/quality loss, and so far I don't see much of a difference between AGP and PCI mode.

However, some day I'm going to need to figure out why I can't play my games in AGP mode with a GF4.

Casanova,

I don't find any problems with directx 7 8 or 9 with this video card (Geforce 4 MX440) if i'm using a pentium 3 or 4. but if i use the AthlonXP with the VIA chipset (No problems with a Nvidia chipset) i found those problems, i have the same problems with a gforce 2 TI and a Geforce 2 MX, (both with the via chipset). so i can figure the problem was;

Nvidia Gforce, AMD Processor and VIA Chipset together. not the directx.

I agree. I'm also using an Ahtlon AMD, VIA chipset as well. Must be a mfg problem, or an incompatability of software to hardware. It's strange.

I agree. I'm also using an Ahtlon AMD, VIA chipset as well. Must be a mfg problem, or an incompatability of software to hardware. It's strange.

I agree. I'm also using an Ahtlon AMD, VIA chipset as well. Must be a mfg problem, or an incompatability of software to hardware. It's strange.

Hi Gang:

The machine custom built 30 days ago by a guy who knows what he's doing.

AMD xp 2400
Asus a7n8x
geforce4 ti
Aopen dvd+rw/+r
80g 7200 rpm
6g(old hd)
floppy
cpu tornado fan
Big ass case fan
Neon light

Do you see where I’m going here?

POWER CONSUMPTION!

It's fast! until it crashes.

I have done everything suggested and attempted by the people here.
drivers, tweeks, everything listed above
Same result. normal use email word processing web browsing. No Prob.
Monster directx game reboot. freeze. stop screen. etc..

This didn't seem logical!?

PLEASE READ THE ARCTICAL POSTED AT

http://www.firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/power_supply/

Seems like the problem is fast amd & p4 cpu's are designed to consume
copius volumes of power from the 12V rail as do fans, drives and hig end GPU's like geforce 4

I'm not a full on computer geek, I do have extensive experience in professional audio systems and components and I do know that machines like steady and plentiful power, hate heat and dirt.

When I read the article it started to sound a lot like speaker clipping.
The best way to blow your speakers is not to over power them it's to under power them. When a speaker requests 100w from an amplifier to produce a certain sound and frequency it would be best if you had at a minimum a 150w amp. That way the speaker has lot's of headroom and it won't clip.

Loading a giant direct-x game is like cranking your stereo up to 10!
If your computer is the speakers and the power supply is the amp you had better have enough juice to get the job done.

DIG?


The way it's described is that most generic power supplies that come with that generic case do not send enough juice down the 12v rail.

I just checked and my generic 400w PSU is only cranking out 12A on the 12V rail. No wonder my bitchin new dream machine chokes! (Clips)
I'm attempting to power a dragster with a sewing machine motor.

Read the article! I'm going to the computer shop to lay out some coin for a PSU with massive 12V Rail output. 22A ore better.

I’ll let you know what happens.

Derrin

Stability is KING!

Well, it's NOT a power problem on my end. I've got a mere 350w Power Supply and it never had problems running games. I turned my AGP mode off, and I'm running my Games in PCI mode and now they work fine. So the question is, why won't my AGP setting enabled run my games without crashing?

First I would like to say to Casanova I am so happy for you that you have the top dog system here and your machine supports any new device out there. Second this is a problem thread and since you do not have problems stay the hell out a**hole.

Scott Buron,
Did you find Adapter Default yet?

Now about the power issue

1.2.9.How powerful should my power supply be?
Question:
How powerful should my power supply be in order to use the GeForce?
Answer:
At least 250 watts is recommended and 300 watts is ideal: however, you may still be able to run it on 230W or lower (I once had a machine that ran on 200W, and I've had a report of someone running on 150W).

You need a more powerful power supply if you have a more power hungry processor like the Athlon or more peripherals than usual in your system.

If you have a GeForce2 series card you may not need such a powerful power supply as they consume less power.

Elsa provides the following power supply recommendations when using a GeForce card and Athlon processor:

20A for the +3.3V power.
30A for the +5V power.
165W for the combined +5V/+3.3V power.

If you think that your power supply may be causing problems, try temporarily unplugging any extra cards, drives, fans and memory sticks that you have and see if that helps with the problem. If it does, you will need to get a more powerful power supply.

Question:
What are the recommended BIOS settings for a GeForce card?

Note that the settings in italics may have to be changed in order to maintain stability on some systems. The changes that may have to be made to them are detailed in the instability section, and in particular the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question.

The settings described here should provide maximum performance and stability:

UC or USWC - USWC. See 'I have a Video Memory option in my BIOS that I can set to UC or USWC. What should it be set to?' question.
Fast Writes - Enabled.
AGP Mode - 2x or 4x, depending on whether your motherboard supports AGP4X or not.
AGP Driving Control - Auto.
AGP Master 1 WS Write - Enabled.
AGP Master 1 WS Read - Enabled.
AGP Aperture - see 'What should my AGP Aperture size be set to?' question. Also, you may wish to read the 'How can I change my AGP Aperture size?' question.
Assign IRQ to VGA - Enabled.
Video BIOS Shadow - Disabled.
Video BIOS Cacheable - Disabled.
Video RAM Cacheable - Disabled.
C8000 - xxxxx Shadow - Disabled.
Peer Concurrency - Enabled.
Concurrent PCI Host - Enabled.
PCI Streaming - Enabled.
VGA Palette Snoop - Disabled.
You can also try these settings if you are having problems:
Memory hole between 15-16MB - Enabled.
For other BIOS settings, see the excellent BIOS Optimization Guide at Adrian's Rojak Pot here:

How can I force AGP1X to be used instead of AGP2X or AGP4X?
There are a number of methods:

Some BIOSes support forcing AGP1X in the BIOS setup.

If you have a VIA chipset motherboard, installing the AGP drivers in 'Normal' mode instead of 'Turbo' mode will force AGP1X.

If you have a Creative card you can use AGP Wizard. Read more about this in the 'What is and where can I get AGP Wizard?' question.

You can use the forceagp1xon.reg registry file to force AGP1X in Windows 9x/ME - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xon.reg
If you want to go back to auto detection of the AGP rate, you can use the forceagp1xoff.reg registry file - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xoff.reg
Note that these registry keys may not work with the 10.xx drivers.

You can use the forceagp1xonw2k.reg registry file to force AGP1X in Windows 2000 - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xonw2k.reg
If you want to go back to auto detection of the AGP rate, you can use the forceagp1xoffw2k.reg registry file - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xoffw2k.reg
Note that these registry keys may not work with the 10.xx drivers.

Finally, you can use PowerStrip- you can download a demo of PowerStrip at the following website:
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/.

Note that forcing AGP1X from AGP2X or AGP4X may help with some problems such as instability, but will reduce performance slightly in certain 3D applications.

1.2.4.How can I change my AGP Aperture size?
Question:
How can I change my AGP Aperture size?
Answer:
It should be set to half your system RAM if possible, and if not it should be set at some point below or equal to the amount of RAM that you have. However, it is possible to experience speed advantages of 2-3 fps from setting the AGP Aperture size to 256 regardless of the amount of RAM that you have, and there are some games that may have visual problems fixed by setting the AGP Aperture size to 256.

Beware that setting the AGP Aperture size too low (below 32) will actually disable AGP which will cause a speed decrease, although stability problems may be solved - see the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question for more information.

There are also some programs that have problems (stuttering, flashing or corrupted textures, blank screens) when the aperture size is set too high. Experiment and see which setting is best for your system and programs.

It's possible that if you set your AGP Aperture size to 256 you will be able to load the 64MB texture test in 3DMark2000 even if you haven't got enough video memory. In addition, if you set the aperture too large you may get 'Out of Memory' errors - see the 'I get 'Out Of Memory' errors although I have plenty of RAM installed. How can I fix it?' question for more information.

You can only change this in your BIOS setup - it may be called something slightly different, so look for a setting that is measured in MB and can be set to values such as 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256. Different motherboards allow different settings - for example, i815 motherboards will not allow you to set the aperture size above 64MB.

I can keep given you all the information about resolutions to your geForce problems all day but you need to use them and and read the thread all of it even the s**t that the a**holes wrote here. The information I gave you will put you on the right track to the resolution.

Re The power supply article and the link to it.

I pasted the link to the page above but it's not working.

go to

http://www.firingsquad.com select the "guides" tab and the

"Choosing the right Power supply" article is right there on top.

HALP!! i think im having the same problems but im not sure yet ... my system is AP+2000 ge4mx440 256ddr ram asus motheboard a7n266vm..... it usually happens when im playin games like warcraft please help me !!!!

ivandaman,
I am sure that if you would do the work like read what has been post you will find the solution to your problem. Anothers words stop being lazzzzzzzzzzzzzzy and read.

=========== Kevin Durler ===========
Scott Buron,
Did you find Adapter Default yet?
=========== End Quote ============



No, I was still unable to find the EXACT location of that setting.



=========== Kevin Durler ===========
Now about the power issue

1.2.9.How powerful should my power supply be?
Question:
How powerful should my power supply be in order to use the GeForce?
Answer:
At least 250 watts is recommended and 300 watts is ideal: however, you may still be able to run it on 230W or lower (I once had a machine that ran on 200W, and I've had a report of someone running on 150W).

You need a more powerful power supply if you have a more power hungry processor like the Athlon or more peripherals than usual in your system.

If you have a GeForce2 series card you may not need such a powerful power supply as they consume less power.

Elsa provides the following power supply recommendations when using a GeForce card and Athlon processor:

20A for the +3.3V power.
30A for the +5V power.
165W for the combined +5V/+3.3V power.

If you think that your power supply may be causing problems, try temporarily unplugging any extra cards, drives, fans and memory sticks that you have and see if that helps with the problem. If it does, you will need to get a more powerful power supply.
=========== End Quote ============


Ok, my power supply used to be a 300w when I first purchased my system. When I had this problem in the past, that was the first thing we tried - replacing the power supply. I now have a 350w power supply, and it still had the same problem. 400+ watt ? I don't think the power supply is the problem. Here is why, when I switch to PCI mode everything works fine. When I switch back to AGP mode (playing 3D games) it freezes. That doesn't seem like a power problem to me, unless the AGP mode itself "sucks more power" is that so? Otherwise, we've tested my system under multiple hardware conditions, removing and modifying settings thoroughly and still same 'crash' results in 3D games.

But If it was a power problem, it wouldn't be giving me a "Sync out of range" error. I did some reading on this type of error, and it has something to do with the "video" being thrown out of resolution/wack caused by a conflict or incompitability with something, or along those lines. I am currently running 'multiple fans' in my system to prevent over heating, which btw, after extensive testing, we found that my system under the coolest enviroment/conditions still 'crashed' in 3D games. But, I did try and remove some of my cards and a fan to see if that made a difference with the power issue, and it didn't. Same problem. So it's not a heating problem, and it's probably not a power problem, but again, I'm not 100% on the power theory. What more can I do to test it?



=========== Kevin Durler ===========
Question:
What are the recommended BIOS settings for a GeForce card?

Note that the settings in italics may have to be changed in order to maintain stability on some systems. The changes that may have to be made to them are detailed in the instability section, and in particular the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question.

The settings described here should provide maximum performance and stability:

UC or USWC - USWC. See 'I have a Video Memory option in my BIOS that I can set to UC or USWC. What should it be set to?' question.
Fast Writes - Enabled.
AGP Mode - 2x or 4x, depending on whether your motherboard supports AGP4X or not.
AGP Driving Control - Auto.
AGP Master 1 WS Write - Enabled.
AGP Master 1 WS Read - Enabled.
AGP Aperture - see 'What should my AGP Aperture size be set to?' question. Also, you may wish to read the 'How can I change my AGP Aperture size?' question.
Assign IRQ to VGA - Enabled.
Video BIOS Shadow - Disabled.
Video BIOS Cacheable - Disabled.
Video RAM Cacheable - Disabled.
C8000 - xxxxx Shadow - Disabled.
Peer Concurrency - Enabled.
Concurrent PCI Host - Enabled.
PCI Streaming - Enabled.
VGA Palette Snoop - Disabled.
You can also try these settings if you are having problems:
Memory hole between 15-16MB - Enabled.
For other BIOS settings, see the excellent BIOS Optimization Guide at Adrian's Rojak Pot here:

How can I force AGP1X to be used instead of AGP2X or AGP4X?
There are a number of methods:

Some BIOSes support forcing AGP1X in the BIOS setup.

If you have a VIA chipset motherboard, installing the AGP drivers in 'Normal' mode instead of 'Turbo' mode will force AGP1X.

If you have a Creative card you can use AGP Wizard. Read more about this in the 'What is and where can I get AGP Wizard?' question.

You can use the forceagp1xon.reg registry file to force AGP1X in Windows 9x/ME - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xon.reg
If you want to go back to auto detection of the AGP rate, you can use the forceagp1xoff.reg registry file - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xoff.reg
Note that these registry keys may not work with the 10.xx drivers.

You can use the forceagp1xonw2k.reg registry file to force AGP1X in Windows 2000 - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xonw2k.reg
If you want to go back to auto detection of the AGP rate, you can use the forceagp1xoffw2k.reg registry file - available here:
http://www.technologyvault.co.uk/fixes/forceagp1xoffw2k.reg
Note that these registry keys may not work with the 10.xx drivers.

Finally, you can use PowerStrip- you can download a demo of PowerStrip at the following website:
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/.

Note that forcing AGP1X from AGP2X or AGP4X may help with some problems such as instability, but will reduce performance slightly in certain 3D applications.
=========== End Quote ============

Ok, here is what I have discovered. My motherboard is an "AGPx4" maximum setting. My GForce4 Ti4200 128m is an "AGPx8". But I did some reading on this, and I discovered that from many sources (techincal sites like this one) that the Mainboard AGP setting being lower than the Video Card AGP setting is harmless. In your opinion or knowledge, could that be why my AGP setting won't work in 3D Games, the fact that my Video card is higher AGP then my motherboard? Or is it an AMD/GForce/3D Game issue?

Otherwise, for the most part, I went over your BIOS settings (above) and my settings for the exception of a few settings that my BIOS doesn't seem to have, they have all seem to match your above settings. Still it crashes in AGP mode. I've also had a computer nerd buddy of mine look over my BIOS and he's test multiple settings, none of the BIOS changes seem to relate or aid my current AGP problem. My retailer/friend whom I purchased the system from, he is a certified technician and he's been through my BIOS and says that it's setup exactly as it should be given the system specs/design. But even he is still unable to find out why it's crashing in 3D games, he mentioned that it could be something to do with the AMD/GForce problems when running games. But that could be anything.


=========== Kevin Durler ===========
1.2.4.How can I change my AGP Aperture size?
Question:
How can I change my AGP Aperture size?
Answer:
It should be set to half your system RAM if possible, and if not it should be set at some point below or equal to the amount of RAM that you have. However, it is possible to experience speed advantages of 2-3 fps from setting the AGP Aperture size to 256 regardless of the amount of RAM that you have, and there are some games that may have visual problems fixed by setting the AGP Aperture size to 256.

Beware that setting the AGP Aperture size too low (below 32) will actually disable AGP which will cause a speed decrease, although stability problems may be solved - see the 'My GeForce keeps on locking up or drops me back to the desktop during 3D applications. How can I fix it?' question for more information.

There are also some programs that have problems (stuttering, flashing or corrupted textures, blank screens) when the aperture size is set too high. Experiment and see which setting is best for your system and programs.

It's possible that if you set your AGP Aperture size to 256 you will be able to load the 64MB texture test in 3DMark2000 even if you haven't got enough video memory. In addition, if you set the aperture too large you may get 'Out of Memory' errors - see the 'I get 'Out Of Memory' errors although I have plenty of RAM installed. How can I fix it?' question for more information.

You can only change this in your BIOS setup - it may be called something slightly different, so look for a setting that is measured in MB and can be set to values such as 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256. Different motherboards allow different settings - for example, i815 motherboards will not allow you to set the aperture size above 64MB.
=========== End Quote ============


I have also been over my BIOS AGP Aperture size and we tested it at exactly HALF of my RAM, that didn't seem to effect anything, so we increased it to match my RAM, and again that didn't do anything either, it still crashed.

I'm confident that this problem, whatever it may be, has something to do with my "Video-System" (Monitor, Mainboard or Video Card) giving me a "Sync out of range" error. If we could find the root of the "Sync out of range" error or how it's caused, then I'm confident we can cure this problem, and it would definately help others with this problem as well.

As for the other posters who have taken the time to 'offer' information and 'help' the many problems in this thread, I thank all of you and I want you all to know that your 'help' although often not acknowledged/read is more than appreciated deep down.

So, Black screen, Sound Looping, then a little floating window appears in the middle of the screen containing the text "Sync out of range". Can't hit "Ctrl-Alt-Del" as I lose total keyboard control, the system freezes, leaving me no choice but to hit the RESET button on the tower case. This is where my issue is, and we need to find the root of *this* peticular error message, then we can solve this bastard of a problem.

Once again, my system Specs in detail (so you don't have to read up):

17" Samsung SyncMaster Flat 753DF CRT (2+ yrs old)
AMD Athlon 1.5ghz (XP 1800+) AGPx4-max (Gigabyte board) (New)
256mb DDR System Ram (New)
MSI-GForce4 128m Ti4200 w/TVO (New)
SoundBlaster Live Value! (3+ years old)

* All the latest VIA, Nvidia, DirectX and SoundBlaster drivers have been installed and updated.