I recently upgraded from Civ IV 1.61 to Warlords with patch to 2.08. Previously, I had no issues running 1.61 on the hardware that is now experiencing the problems. My relevant system configuration is:
IBM Thinkpad T41 with 1.5GB RAM
ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 w/32MB vRAM
Windows XP SP2+
DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) -- from dxdiag
ATI Driver Version: 6.14.10.6546, which is most current available from IBM/Lenovo
Analog Devices SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio Driver Version: 5.12.1.5410, again most current available from IBM/Lenovo
I am playing on an externally-attached monitor, driven by the video port on the side of my Thinkpad. I have tried it with 1600x1200x32bit, 1280x1024x32bit, and 1024x768x32bit settings. This monitor is set to be my primary screen in a dual-screen configuration with my Thinkpad display running as a secondary in 1024x768x32bit resolution.
The problem I encounter is system lockup, sometimes accompanied by a bluescreen caused by ati2mtag.sys (the ATI Mini VDD). When I say lockup, I mean interrupts are frozen (can't get keyboard lock indicators to toggle, no mouse, sound stuck when music is on). The only recovery from this state is a power button hold for DC power cycle. This lockup most typically occurs when a unit is active, either simply selected (with the cycling circle on the screen oscillating) or engaged in combat (both offense and defense during turn rotation). The problem is intermittent, but seems to occur at least once every thousand or so unit selections. Anecdotally, I've seen this once at system initiation screen (the gypsy by the campfire menu screen). The easiest way to get the problem to happen is to load a game, get to end of turn and then walk away with the game either waiting for you to hit enter or paused.
I have not been able to work around the problem with any of the following activities:
I got the ideas above from the forums and can't seem to find any more things to try. I realize that the video hardware I have is marginal, but the fact that 1.61 worked fine with my hardware leads me to have hope that I can run Warlords on my machine. At this point, I'm pretty frustrated that my $29.99 investment has caused such a drastic reduction in gameplay capability. Any suggestions or, better yet, some indication that this is a known problem with a solution forthcoming would be most welcome.
Finally, apologies for my first post being a cry for help...
Thanks,
fred
IBM Thinkpad T41 with 1.5GB RAM
ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 w/32MB vRAM
Windows XP SP2+
DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) -- from dxdiag
ATI Driver Version: 6.14.10.6546, which is most current available from IBM/Lenovo
Analog Devices SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio Driver Version: 5.12.1.5410, again most current available from IBM/Lenovo
I am playing on an externally-attached monitor, driven by the video port on the side of my Thinkpad. I have tried it with 1600x1200x32bit, 1280x1024x32bit, and 1024x768x32bit settings. This monitor is set to be my primary screen in a dual-screen configuration with my Thinkpad display running as a secondary in 1024x768x32bit resolution.
The problem I encounter is system lockup, sometimes accompanied by a bluescreen caused by ati2mtag.sys (the ATI Mini VDD). When I say lockup, I mean interrupts are frozen (can't get keyboard lock indicators to toggle, no mouse, sound stuck when music is on). The only recovery from this state is a power button hold for DC power cycle. This lockup most typically occurs when a unit is active, either simply selected (with the cycling circle on the screen oscillating) or engaged in combat (both offense and defense during turn rotation). The problem is intermittent, but seems to occur at least once every thousand or so unit selections. Anecdotally, I've seen this once at system initiation screen (the gypsy by the campfire menu screen). The easiest way to get the problem to happen is to load a game, get to end of turn and then walk away with the game either waiting for you to hit enter or paused.
I have not been able to work around the problem with any of the following activities:
- Reducing video resolution from high to medium
- Reducing screen resolution from 1600x1200x32bit to 1280x1024x32bit to 1024x768x32bit
- Disabling music
- Enabling "Fast Moves" for both offense and defense
- Turning off AGP Texture Acceleration via dxdiag
- Deleting the cache for both Civ IV and Warlords
- Uninstalling Warlords and reinstalling to version 2.0 (out of box)
I got the ideas above from the forums and can't seem to find any more things to try. I realize that the video hardware I have is marginal, but the fact that 1.61 worked fine with my hardware leads me to have hope that I can run Warlords on my machine. At this point, I'm pretty frustrated that my $29.99 investment has caused such a drastic reduction in gameplay capability. Any suggestions or, better yet, some indication that this is a known problem with a solution forthcoming would be most welcome.
Finally, apologies for my first post being a cry for help...
Thanks,
fred
