Latest ATI Drivers
- Thread starter ainwood
- Start date
). Of course I use Omega ones I had a much troubles with 5.x drivers and i tried that 4.x and it worked. My problems were that game suddenly halted and ended. Or just basic reboot. After i search this forum ppl with same kind of problems, i founded that installing way older would solve problems. That i did, but my display setups for tv went straight to the stoneage. Now i heard that there is a 6.1 drivers available and i tried and vóila! Everything seems to be working like a steamroller... So far no problems what so ever.
Thanks for those who had helped in here with the problems...
Thanks for those who had helped in here with the problems...
Zydor
Emperor
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2005
- Messages
- 1,120
Lt Mor
Your hassle is the 9250 card, its boarderline for the game. Need to reduce as much as possible the load on the Video Card. The error you got was likely caused by the increased load V1.52 put on the Video Card - 1.52 had a significant shift from main system RAM to Video RAM to free up system RAM for lower end machines. You have a good cpu, but low end card, if you can get hold of a mid range card you will resolve many hassles with this.
Meanwhile...
By now doubtless you have had many trys at sorting it. I strongly suggest you do a clean deinstall/install - see
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=152620
Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52, but, also ensure that the memsaver switch in the ini file is set to 0 (figure 0 not a letter O). The reason is that 1.52 placed more load on video cards to help those with low main RAM, if memsaver is switched on (using a 1 in the ini file entry) it switches on that feature which you dont want as your graphics card is your weak spot.
Reduce System & Graphics Load
- Turn off textures in the game Options menu
- Set the game resolution to as low as possible
- set your desktop resolution to the same as you are going to use in the game
- set the res in the ini fileto16 bit or even 256 colours
- set the desktop refresh rate to 60Hz
- Turn off any background application or services running that you dont really need (via MSconfig). That includes going off line to play Civ, and turning off Anti-V & Firewall (obviously not an option if an MP)
Pagefile
Set it to 2000Mb - Civ IV is a memory hungry beast and willpage a lot with your system due to the card
Background Applications & Services
Start Button - Click - select Run - type "msconfig" no quotes - press enter
Click Service tab - tick the box "Hide all Microsoft Services"
tick the box "Hide all Microsoft Services" is very important - you MUST have this ticked to avoid stopping essential operating system services - it MUST be ticked (not empty)
Press disable all
Click the startup tab
Click disable all
Go back to Services Tab - double check the "hide all Microsoft Services" Box is ticked and not empty
Click ok at the bottom of the screen
Reboot
When it settles after boot, run the game.
If it works, bingo - read the intro above again
Video Drivers
Try older Video drivers, they will suit your card better (more uptodate ones have features that your card know nothing about)
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
Click ATI Radeon - Click sub menu Archive - Click sub menu Win 2K
Scroll down that page until you see Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.97a (Catalyst 4.12) they are not the latest,but they are a very stable reliable set, and probably better for your older setup. If they dont work properly, try Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.83 (Catalyst 5.11) at the top of the page
ini File Changes
Go to
C:\Documents and Settings\New User\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\CivilizationIV.ini
Open it with Notepad
Set the ini lines to the figure shown below (in ini file Figure 0 means "off", figure 1 means "on"). Back up ini file so you can recover to staret point if get confused. As in all memory things - there is a trade off, less use of memory will in many cases slow performance.
; Allows some memory savings *** ALT-TAB WILL NO LONGER FUNCTION ***
MemSaver = 0 (this is v important, V1.52 change vis the use of graphics cards)
; Use managed interface textures (may be safer but shouldn't be needed, uses more memory)
GUIManagedTextures = 0
; Allow Screenshots. May affect performance on some video cards
AllowScreenShots = 0 (Turns off ability to do screen shots)
; Disable PAK memory mapping (May affect performance)
DisablePAKMemoryMapping = 1
; Don't skip frames if falling behind
BinkNoSkip = 0 (0 may cause movie "stutter / skipping")
; Show movies using hi-color, not true-color (may be faster)
Bink16Bit = 1 (also set desktop to 16bit if use this setting)
; Copy ever other scanline during movie playback (faster)
BinkInterlace = 0
; Set to 1 for no in-game movies
NoMovies = 1 (turns off movies)
; Specify the number of turns between autoSaves. 0 means no autosave.
AutoSaveInterval = 1 (less memory use if only stores moves for 1 turn)
; Enable D3D9 Queries
D3D9Query = 1
You are boarderline for graphics, if you have the dosh and the machine will takeit, get a mid range card, that 9250 will cause you long term grief with Civ IV
If still issues please post as a separate thread on the main forum - not here
Regards
Zy
Your hassle is the 9250 card, its boarderline for the game. Need to reduce as much as possible the load on the Video Card. The error you got was likely caused by the increased load V1.52 put on the Video Card - 1.52 had a significant shift from main system RAM to Video RAM to free up system RAM for lower end machines. You have a good cpu, but low end card, if you can get hold of a mid range card you will resolve many hassles with this.
Meanwhile...
By now doubtless you have had many trys at sorting it. I strongly suggest you do a clean deinstall/install - see
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=152620
Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52, but, also ensure that the memsaver switch in the ini file is set to 0 (figure 0 not a letter O). The reason is that 1.52 placed more load on video cards to help those with low main RAM, if memsaver is switched on (using a 1 in the ini file entry) it switches on that feature which you dont want as your graphics card is your weak spot.
Reduce System & Graphics Load
- Turn off textures in the game Options menu
- Set the game resolution to as low as possible
- set your desktop resolution to the same as you are going to use in the game
- set the res in the ini fileto16 bit or even 256 colours
- set the desktop refresh rate to 60Hz
- Turn off any background application or services running that you dont really need (via MSconfig). That includes going off line to play Civ, and turning off Anti-V & Firewall (obviously not an option if an MP)
Pagefile
Set it to 2000Mb - Civ IV is a memory hungry beast and willpage a lot with your system due to the card
Background Applications & Services
Start Button - Click - select Run - type "msconfig" no quotes - press enter
Click Service tab - tick the box "Hide all Microsoft Services"
tick the box "Hide all Microsoft Services" is very important - you MUST have this ticked to avoid stopping essential operating system services - it MUST be ticked (not empty)
Press disable all
Click the startup tab
Click disable all
Go back to Services Tab - double check the "hide all Microsoft Services" Box is ticked and not empty
Click ok at the bottom of the screen
Reboot
When it settles after boot, run the game.
If it works, bingo - read the intro above again
Video Drivers
Try older Video drivers, they will suit your card better (more uptodate ones have features that your card know nothing about)
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
Click ATI Radeon - Click sub menu Archive - Click sub menu Win 2K
Scroll down that page until you see Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.97a (Catalyst 4.12) they are not the latest,but they are a very stable reliable set, and probably better for your older setup. If they dont work properly, try Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.83 (Catalyst 5.11) at the top of the page
ini File Changes
Go to
C:\Documents and Settings\New User\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\CivilizationIV.ini
Open it with Notepad
Set the ini lines to the figure shown below (in ini file Figure 0 means "off", figure 1 means "on"). Back up ini file so you can recover to staret point if get confused. As in all memory things - there is a trade off, less use of memory will in many cases slow performance.
; Allows some memory savings *** ALT-TAB WILL NO LONGER FUNCTION ***
MemSaver = 0 (this is v important, V1.52 change vis the use of graphics cards)
; Use managed interface textures (may be safer but shouldn't be needed, uses more memory)
GUIManagedTextures = 0
; Allow Screenshots. May affect performance on some video cards
AllowScreenShots = 0 (Turns off ability to do screen shots)
; Disable PAK memory mapping (May affect performance)
DisablePAKMemoryMapping = 1
; Don't skip frames if falling behind
BinkNoSkip = 0 (0 may cause movie "stutter / skipping")
; Show movies using hi-color, not true-color (may be faster)
Bink16Bit = 1 (also set desktop to 16bit if use this setting)
; Copy ever other scanline during movie playback (faster)
BinkInterlace = 0
; Set to 1 for no in-game movies
NoMovies = 1 (turns off movies)
; Specify the number of turns between autoSaves. 0 means no autosave.
AutoSaveInterval = 1 (less memory use if only stores moves for 1 turn)
; Enable D3D9 Queries
D3D9Query = 1
You are boarderline for graphics, if you have the dosh and the machine will takeit, get a mid range card, that 9250 will cause you long term grief with Civ IV
If still issues please post as a separate thread on the main forum - not here
Regards
Zy
Zydor
Emperor
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2005
- Messages
- 1,120
It will....
It has the latest Intel Express chips - they have integral Video RAM and process Video stuff via the PCI-e bus - totally different beast.
Older IGPs - no chance, they have no processing power
It is probably slow due to the main RAM at 256 - but the Pentium M will help there as it was designed ground up for multi media. It will have problems in Large maps / Huge maps late games. It works at present due to the 915 pulling it through - long term as you get into more complex games you will meet problems unless it gets up to 512 Mb
Regards
Zy
It has the latest Intel Express chips - they have integral Video RAM and process Video stuff via the PCI-e bus - totally different beast.
Older IGPs - no chance, they have no processing power
It is probably slow due to the main RAM at 256 - but the Pentium M will help there as it was designed ground up for multi media. It will have problems in Large maps / Huge maps late games. It works at present due to the 915 pulling it through - long term as you get into more complex games you will meet problems unless it gets up to 512 Mb
Regards
Zy
Zydor
Emperor
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2005
- Messages
- 1,120
For sure - go for it - dont get hung up on 256Mb on board - can be useful, but in truth not often used to the full ( at the moment 
).
9700 much better card than the 9550, go for it.
Please forgive what maybe a statement of the obvious ... but .... make sure you look twice and get the right bus type for the card (AGP or PCI-e depending on your beastie). Seen it happen too often, kinda painfull when discovered after buying ....
Regards
Zy
). 9700 much better card than the 9550, go for it.
Please forgive what maybe a statement of the obvious ... but .... make sure you look twice and get the right bus type for the card (AGP or PCI-e depending on your beastie). Seen it happen too often, kinda painfull when discovered after buying ....
Regards
Zy
After reading through this thread, and a half-dozen others around the net, I was pulling my hair out with the Screen-Freeze-Music-Keeps-Playing error. It was definately the ATI drivers, and I tried so many versions. I tried the latest Catalyst drivers, the 4.12 official ATI drivers, the Omega 4.12 drivers....nothing worked!!
I suppose it's worth noting I am running a Radeon Mobility x600 in my Asus W3V notebook.
Anyway, the new Omega 3.8.205 (Catalyst 6.1) drivers have worked on my setup. I've been playing now for an hour, whereas a crash was previously a certainty within 5-20 minutes.
Oddly, the offical ATI Catalyst 6.1 drivers just gave me the same crash problem.
I am also running the amendments to the .ini file suggested above by Zydor.
Also, and I can't be sure right at this moment, but I did make sure to turn off my internal wireless network, and disable my antivirus. However, I had been doing this for some time previously and it made no difference. Hope you all find a solution.
I suppose it's worth noting I am running a Radeon Mobility x600 in my Asus W3V notebook.
Anyway, the new Omega 3.8.205 (Catalyst 6.1) drivers have worked on my setup. I've been playing now for an hour, whereas a crash was previously a certainty within 5-20 minutes.
Oddly, the offical ATI Catalyst 6.1 drivers just gave me the same crash problem.
I am also running the amendments to the .ini file suggested above by Zydor.
Also, and I can't be sure right at this moment, but I did make sure to turn off my internal wireless network, and disable my antivirus. However, I had been doing this for some time previously and it made no difference. Hope you all find a solution.
Maestro_Innit
Warlord
adam_ said:
Good news! I have also installed the latest Omega drivers and I've just played a 3 hour session without a crash. This is the first time since I bought the game months ago! I've made no other amendments to the .ini file, all at default except the auto-save feature at 1 turn. Looks like these babies might just work for ATI owners... or at least some of us
I'm using an X800XT/PE, 1600x1200, 2xFSAA, max settings. Performance is great and I finally have some semblance of stability.
Sadly, I am affixing my wagon to the "Spoke Too Soon Express"!! 
Today, game play was as flaky as ever. Not a thing changed from my previously working setup as far as I can see. This is most frustrating. I'll try re-installing the Omega 6.1 drivers and setting everything (.ini file included) back to default to see if that has any effect.
Today, game play was as flaky as ever. Not a thing changed from my previously working setup as far as I can see. This is most frustrating. I'll try re-installing the Omega 6.1 drivers and setting everything (.ini file included) back to default to see if that has any effect.
Maestro_Innit
Warlord
Well, I guess I'm about to find out. I'll report back when I've had a new game.
My computer exceeds all the "recommended" requirements & I still crash d/t memory problems. The game is unplayable after I've mapped enough of the world. I've tried various fixes that have been effective. Is 2K Games going to release a patch that should enable us to play their game? I'm not a tech-head & really don't think I should need to learn & implement all this stuff just to play an off-the-shelf game.
CPU = 2.6 Ghz; RAM = 1 Meg; Video card (NVIDA 7200(?)) = 256K
Civ = slow and crashes....WTH?!?
CPU = 2.6 Ghz; RAM = 1 Meg; Video card (NVIDA 7200(?)) = 256K
Civ = slow and crashes....WTH?!?
Markus Auraleus
Chieftain
I have your answer Buy any Video card that has nothing to do with NVIDIA
Maestro_Innit
Warlord
Maestro_Innit said:Well, I guess I'm about to find out. I'll report back when I've had a new game.
Well guys, I can happily report that since I upgraded to the latest Omega drivers for my ATI X800XT/PE ...... I haven't had a single crash! Not a glitch, nothing
Hoorah!
I have been having similar problems with my desktop computer as many of you have. I'm running and Intel 3.0 Ghz w/ 1 Gb RAM and an ATI Radeon X600 128 Mb video card. I've had CTD, Crash & Reboot, total lockups, funny colours... you name it. I've tried older drivers, newer drivers and omega drivers to no avail.
Here is the only thing that enables me to play a game without a problem: run Civ4 in a window. I can't explain why it works, I just know it does for me. I changed from full screen to window in the options menu, restarted Civ4, and haven't had a problem since. When I switch back, it crashes. Go figger...
Here is the only thing that enables me to play a game without a problem: run Civ4 in a window. I can't explain why it works, I just know it does for me. I changed from full screen to window in the options menu, restarted Civ4, and haven't had a problem since. When I switch back, it crashes. Go figger...
pablo01
Chieftain
So I waited until a patch came out before I bought this game but I am getting lockups after about 2 or 3 minutes. Now I have the Omega drivers and it seems to be a little better but still locking up. I think running it in windowed mode helps even more but damn...other games I have run fine and this puter never crashes except playing civ4 so I don't plan on messing around with too much stuff here but the Omega drivers are much better than that crap from ATI - why would they use that .net framework just to install the control panel - ridiculous I say, ridiculous.
