Freeze during load or while accessing servers

[Sandman_USMC]

This issue may also affect some Intel processors as well, so be sure to bookmark it and pass it along to others. I just built a new computer based off of the Asus AN8-SLI motherboard and an AMD Athalon 64 processor. The box is insanely fast, but when I started to run either Battlefield 1942 (BF42) or Battlefield Vietnam (BFV) my system would freeze when I selected Multiplayer->Internet. Sometimes it froze while loading a map too. Depending on how I tweaked my RAM settings it would vary when it would freeze. I dug for about a week and pieced together a solution that I hope will be a silver bullet for many gamers. This issue will surely affect Battlefield 2.

RESOLUTION (also posted at www.hardwareanalysis.com):

All, to anyone who gets their system up and running well, installs the latest nvidia nforce4 standalone kit & the latest graphics drivers which include DirectX 9c, but some how their favorite game runs like crap this fix worked for me. The problem is application specific, but I have a hunch it will affect a lot of high end graphics games that need to run against DirectX.

e.g.

Battlefield 1942 (and all mods like DC)
Battlefield Vietnam
Battlefield 2 (soon to be released)
...and many others

Symptom: You launch the game, go into Multiplayer mode and choose "Internet" to play an on-line game and your screen freezes. Often times the only way to proceed is to use Alt + Tab and kill the process or completely reboot because your keyboard & mouse eventually freeze up too.

This problem appears to plague Asus motherboards with AMD processors, but I have seen some forums where Intel Pentium processors were also affected.

Resolution: You need to modify the shortcut to the application and add append -heapsize and -dxlevel arguments. Otherwise either your memory will not be available to run the game properly, or your graphics card will not like the latest version of Direct X. In my case adding both of these arguments had to be used!

Here are the steps:

1. Select your startup icon for the game on your Desktop. In this example I'll use my Battlefield 1942 icon.
2. Choose Mouse Button 3 (MB3)->Properties
3. In the Target field append the arguments noted above as follows:

"DProgram Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe" -heapsize 512000 -dxlevel 9b

Where 512000 = the amount of RAM you have (e.g. 512 MB in this case). This will work for most people who are running with 512MB.

My system actually had a 1GB stick of RAM in DIMM_B1, which where it should be per p. 2-11 of the A8N-SLI user guide. My arguments actually looked like this:

"DProgram Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe" -heapsize 1024000 -dxlevel 9b

Note: If your game has fits with DirectX 9b (which most don't, but if they do), you can tweak the -dxlevel argument as necessary to force the game to run at the DirectX level it was tested, certified & shipped with.

For Battlefield 1942, this is DirectX 8.1 I believe. I tested the argument below and it worked well for that game:

"DProgram Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe" -heapsize 1024000 -dxlevel 81

I pounded on this solution for about a week and ended up finding pieces of the answer in two different locations. Combining the two works great.

Tip: If you game is from EA Games there is another tweak you can add to your Target field. It's the +restart 1 argument. This one will make the marketing department at EA games all angry and p**sed off, but it serves them right for inserting such a RAM-drinking wasteful banner before you launch every game!

"DProgram Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe" +restart 1 -heapsize 512000 -dxlevel 9b

When you launch the game now it will take you directly into the game. If your box is fast, you'll be ready to play at warp speed. If your box is slow and you hate waiting for the EA game banner & song to disappear this will be your savior.

Feel free to post this tip to all gamers. I have read stories about people with these symptoms who never found the answer and ended up buying another motherboard or machine all together. What a bummer they didn't try this.

Happy Gaming!


PS If you're building a new computer the folks at http://hardwareanalysis.com are extremely, I do say "EXTREMELY" helpful.

PPSS Below is my configuration:

-A8N-SLI (base model, not the deluxe, bios rev = 1002-003) with 6.39 driver
-AMD 3000+ Winchester with factory heatsink/fan
-Corsair DDR 2GB RAM
-Realtek nVidia PX6800 256MB PCI Express (sli compatible) with 66.93 driver
-Maxtor Ultra16 250GB 7200rpm HDD
-Asus DVD/CD ROM (forgot the speed...new fast one)
-NEC DVD/CD Burner (forgot the speed...new fast one)
-Mad Dog 500W BTX PSU
-Antec Lanboy Chassis (large dual fans)
-Windows XP SP2 (OEM CD shipped from Newegg)
-Logitech X-530 5.1 5-PieceSystem with Subwoofer Speaker
-CH Flightstick Pro joystick (very rugged & reliable)

Cost: Around $1800
Savings: Retail box like this will cost ~$3000 to 3500.