Every game inevitably has it's issues w/ drivers/configs. It was just killing me that lfs would lock so randomly. So much easier to fix a game that locks during load or main menu. I ran lfs in sp mode this morning before I ran out for errands. Set the bots to race around for a few hours. This definetly would've locked my machine(s) in the past. Low and behold all is still well.
tweakguides.com explains write combining as

Enable Write Combining: Write Combining is a technique which merges multiple operations into a single read or write, increasing graphics performance. However just like Fast Writes (See BIOS section above), having it enabled may cause problems and exacerbate instabilities on various system configurations. For most people, I recommend ticking 'Enable Write Combining' as it increases performance and should not cause any problems. However if you continually experience crashes, particularly the 'infinite loop' error, you can try unticking this setting to see if things improve.


Dunno why it cooperated w/ previous lfs versions but for now seems to have done the trick.

mmm happy day : ) ...now I just gotta fix my racing
Pimp

It's a new computer for lfs, meaning I just built it and all it does is lfs. No unecessary services/procs are running for performance sake alone.

However...

Earlier tonight I turned off 'enable write combining' within nvidia's properties panel and the game ran perfectly. About 5 hours (3 racing, 2 spectating) 1600x1200 32bit @70ish fps 120degF no problem. Dunno how this would affect ATI users with this issue but so far so good over here. We'll see what happens.

Thanks everyone
Pimp

Last edited by crxPimp, Sat, 27 May 2006 05:16.

Thanks for the ideas Devil007. I have the same sound card in this machine and lfs ran fine, I even put ver U back on this machine to test and it locks too. So unless the sound card drivers conflict w/ lfs' newer versions it's never been a problem before ... and with that can't imagine it's OS. If two machines show same results and the 1 actual gaming machine has a month old xp on it; and quite litteraly nothing but lfs/firefox and a few games. I'll keep plugging away at it.

Anybody that has this problem still looking for answers checkout "game freezes" post on first page as of 5/26/06 ... Discusses 1024 skins being the problem and that 512x512 has fixed it for now. Seems to get more attention as this post is burried a few back. There's gotta be a variable though. Not everyone running 1024 is locking; I'd imagine.

Glad I found this thread; I've been bitching in "LFS Locks" a few pages into forum. My copy is doing the same exact thing and coincidently I've tried all the solutions that have worked for others. Running an nvidia ti4200, amd 1800+. It's nothing stupid like defrag/trojans/crappy OS. It's a new machine w/ a formatted drive. I even went as far as putting lfs ver U on my other puter and it locks as well; and that machine used to run demo/s1 for over a year w/ no problems. So we can all agree perhaps it's version R/S on, problem is what is it and why. I'll try the 512x512 skins but to be honest I'll be pissed if that fixes it. Shouldn't have to cut back gfx on a seemingly simple game; especially since I built a new machine just for lfs. Got tired of reclamping wheel so just made a permanent lfs 'pod' in the corner of my office : )

Pimp

Last edited by crxPimp, Fri, 26 May 2006 23:11.

Welp, new full install and it locked on me again last night. Here's what happens.

Driving around and game just stops; sound keeps producing the last thing it did before lock (ie: engine is just reving) I can hear msg beeps but can't see them of course. I managed to shift-f4 but nothing beyond that was responsive, no bsod, no fatal exception, no error log in the event viewer, natta. Had to pull the cord again.

Running XP Pro formatted 3 months ago
Current nvid drivers, sbaudigy, dx, mobo, etc ... Infact, that machine (using my bitch right now) was purely built for lfs. It runs nothing but mozilla, lfs and a few other games, which work fine.

I'm at a loss at this point. I'm not looking to point fingers at the prog (I know it could still be my machine/os) it's just killing me that since U it locks. Nearly afraid to race my event this weekend cause I know it'll happen on the last lap :/ ..

Any input whatsoever, anybody.

Pimp

edit: removed ramble, updated symptoms...

My copy of lfs version U is showing the same behavior. I haven't tried new gfx drivers yet b/c version S/T ran perfectly under my same setup. Unless windows has taken a crap nothing has changed. Was just wondering if this was still an issue for some.

I shuold probably just reinstall lfs full before I start asking stupid questions : )
I'll try that tonight.
Problem is it's so random it could lock 5mins into game or 3 1/2 hours; like today.

crxPimp

Last edited by crxPimp, Sun, 21 May 2006 19:59.

True ...
The game is running pretty good nowadays w/ maybe 10max players; after that it chops way too much ... I can live with this until I get a new setup or perhaps some future patches/options come along.

Thanks everybody.

crxPimp

Holy crap, and uereka!
So the cfg.txt jumped my fps to 90+ but still 20ish when peeps are near; I could care less what the track/racers look like as long as I can race properly; and not bang into people because of chop. Oh, and get this. Using Artic Silver 5 and a new heatsink/fan I've dropped my cpu temp to 99 and case to 90; wether it helps the game or not it's certainly better for the pc (threw a fan on memory too). Still some tweaking to do but hopefully now you'll see me on the track; and not the sand/grass/wall/air.

Thanks all...
Pimp

Oh, still open to suggestions on that vid clock and whatnot.

I appreciate all the suggestions, thanks guys.

Forbin, killing AA and AF in the nvidia properties did help (40+ fps driving, 15-20fps when taking off or drafting; somewhat playable).

SamH, I had thought about overheating as well and ran Intel Active Monitor (stupid heat, fan speed prog) and logged any results during play. CPU never gets hotter then 115f, and mobo never past 95f. After this post I'm shutting down and doing some spring cleaning on this case, dust, heatsink paste, new ball-bearing fan etc. Will let you know what it does 'cause Intel's prog could be lying; no doubt.

mRodgers, will also try that .cfg file ... the settings in lfs aren't explained well and it took me a day or two to realize LOD should be min on cars/world but max on 'reduction' in Misc, seemed a little dyslexic .

Would overclocking my vid help any? if infact HVS is taking any load off the proc...

Pimp

I played around w/ the LOD settings some more and I get an avg of 15fps when other racers are near; which is a huge improvement. So atleast now I know it's not some software/driver issue; my machine truly is too pathetic to handle 5+ racers. Sucks though that S1 ran so great and S2 requires a new puter : / ... meh

Okay, I don't have the fastest machine in the world by any means; puter has taken a back-seat to rent/utils : /

P3 850, 512pc133, 128 nvidia ti4200, XP Pro stripped to bare minimum (services, startup etc) The machine is a beast; never gives me any problems and just won't die. Tasks like a beotch too ... either way:

LFS runs great locally and online, but briefly online. After a few races my fps drop from 35+ to 5-6 when starting a race, trying to draft or when 2+ racers are in view. I've lowered all the graphic settings, max'd track LOD, all new vid/audio/mobo drivers and upgraded my linksys befw11s4 firmware but to no avail. Now sure, I can spend hours trying different puters, controllers, bypass router etc but I figured I'd give a shoutout first to see if anybody has experienced this. Oh, S1 (demo) never did this and the only thing different (besides being s2 licensed) is my new Momo wheel and I could have sworn I saw something about it in forums besides the centering issue. Would greatly appreciate any thoughts and/or solutions.

Thanks,
Pimp