ATI Issues and Settings Recommendations
By
ActionJakson,
Posted on: 2007-07-09 15:58 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
My normal install didn't do it by default. It's possible Steam does something to make it turn Aero off. Not sure.
fixed it after a few hours nevermind
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Welp. Just got home from work and had the client install normally while I was out; the normal client still shuts off Aero for me. I wish I knew why it did this, I don't see what could make my install so different from others.|
Originally Posted by Kyasubaru
My normal install didn't do it by default. It's possible Steam does something to make it turn Aero off. Not sure.
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edit: Could this be because I have multiple monitors?
Also on windows 7, aero theme (not sure if it's disabling in the background or not), 5850 with latest drivers and i've made sure all the compatibility mode stuff is correct ... Can't alt-tab or windows key ...
I also have dual monitors ... Oh and i'm on a normal install rather than steam.
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For as yet unknown reasons Aero likes to disable itself. Switch you desktop theme to another Windows stock theme and you should get your alt+tab function back.
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Originally Posted by parabola_EU
Also on windows 7, aero theme (not sure if it's disabling in the background or not), 5850 with latest drivers and i've made sure all the compatibility mode stuff is correct ... Can't alt-tab or windows key ...
I also have dual monitors ... Oh and i'm on a normal install rather than steam. |
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This seemed to be even more of an issue, at least for me, that manifested itself after moving from 32 to 64 bit Windows. I'm not sure if anyone else has seen that, though.
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Originally Posted by Red Valkyrja
For as yet unknown reasons Aero likes to disable itself. Switch you desktop theme to another Windows stock theme and you should get your alt+tab function back.
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It seens 10.3 was released... anyone tested it yet?
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This has always been unchecked for me and I am now running 10.3 drivers on my 5850, Vista 64 bit. I had also went to Themes to change it to "Windows Vista" but every time I start the game it still switches to Vista Basic. Still no alt-tab for me but I just run two monitors and make sure any apps or browsers are already running on the second monitor. Would still like to get it to work.
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Originally Posted by Kyasubaru
If you're still getting this after you upgraded to 10.2, try this: Go to your CoH folder and Right Click-Properties on CityofHeroes.exe. Go the "Compatibility" tab and make sure "Disable desktop composition" and "Disable visual themes" are both unchecked. And just for good measure, do this for CoHUpdater.exe, too. That should hopefully fix it so Windows doesn't switch to a basic theme when running CoH. |
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Same sort of thing for me. ATI has released preview drivers for OGL 3.3/4 and I have those. Thus far, the problem has gone away for me. But it took the preview drivers to make it happen. None of the recent driver releases worked for me till those. So folks having the issue might give them a go.|
Originally Posted by Tutelary
This has always been unchecked for me and I am now running 10.3 drivers on my 5850, Vista 64 bit. I had also went to Themes to change it to "Windows Vista" but every time I start the game it still switches to Vista Basic. Still no alt-tab for me but I just run two monitors and make sure any apps or browsers are already running on the second monitor. Would still like to get it to work.
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http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles...ew-driver.aspx
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I started using the OpenGL 4.0 preview drivers this weekend. They fixed all my alt-tabbing issues. 
(I also have Aero turned off on my Win 7 system, because I think it's a stupid waste of resources. Furthermore, I've configured my theme to look like Windows 98... because I could.)
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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I had my doubts but you guys were right. I downloaded the OpenGL 4.0 preview drivers and I can now alt-tab. Wooohooo. I was scared at first because it did the same thing as always, switch from Aero to Vista basic, but tried alt-tab anyways. Nice to see some progress.
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On my system it switches to basic but only so long as the game has focus. If I switch to something else, Aero comes back on and goes back to basic only when I return to the game.
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Originally Posted by Tutelary
I had my doubts but you guys were right. I downloaded the OpenGL 4.0 preview drivers and I can now alt-tab. Wooohooo. I was scared at first because it did the same thing as always, switch from Aero to Vista basic, but tried alt-tab anyways. Nice to see some progress.
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It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
Hello.
Would you guys know whether there's any plans to fix Ultra Mode for Catalyst 10.3 (or 2) before i17 launches? Or should I make myself to the idea that I better reinstall 10.1?
I tried the Training room, and the game wouldn't stop freezing on Ultra Mode.
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Well, no one can actually answer that here, NDA and all. If you have CB access as you sound like, take the question to the beta forums.|
Originally Posted by Fantasyhero
Hello.
Would you guys know whether there's any plans to fix Ultra Mode for Catalyst 10.3 (or 2) before i17 launches? Or should I make myself to the idea that I better reinstall 10.1? I tried the Training room, and the game wouldn't stop freezing on Ultra Mode. |
Nothing to see here....move along....
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
OMG...when I eventually get home, I am trying out the OGL 3.3/4 drivers. I'll let you know my results.
Datastream
Works perfectly now. Thanks for the info!
Data
Hey, I'm using Windows XP and the Catalyst 9.12 drivers and CoH works (more or less!) fine - so I'm slow to adopt new things.
I was wondering if the 10.x drivers and/or the OGL preview drivers (aside from addressing Vista or W7 issues) enable greater in-game stability or graphics options (e.g. AA works from in-game settings vs. forcing through drivers) etc. Essentially is there something to recommend the new drivers over the older ones (except for the ALT-TABbing issue).
I've always wondered if CoH could leverage graphics cards more to improve performance or if newer drivers might help with that. By the way does anyone know what version of OGL CoH uses? Would OGL 3.3/4 help CoH or is that just an Aero UI issue?
Best Regards!
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As the game stands on Live, I think the only real improvement is the ALT-Tab fix and the Vista/7 stuff. I don't think they make any noticeable difference to the game as it stands. I17 is slated to fix all the issues that ATI cards presently have on Live and bring in UM. What difference the new drivers make there, no one can say. Well I suppose the Devs could but testers can't (NDA). I don't know offhand what OGL is used by the game but I know it's an older standard. Je_saist could probably tell you it for sure. Television has been rumored to state that they are working on some stuff incorporating the newer OGL specs but I'm not sure what that stuff is or when we'll see it. So for right now, I don't know that there's any overwhelming reason to update if you don't want to, but then I don't know of any big reason not to either.
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Originally Posted by LovesBigDogs
Hey, I'm using Windows XP and the Catalyst 9.12 drivers and CoH works (more or less!) fine - so I'm slow to adopt new things.
I was wondering if the 10.x drivers and/or the OGL preview drivers (aside from addressing Vista or W7 issues) enable greater in-game stability or graphics options (e.g. AA works from in-game settings vs. forcing through drivers) etc. Essentially is there something to recommend the new drivers over the older ones (except for the ALT-TABbing issue). I've always wondered if CoH could leverage graphics cards more to improve performance or if newer drivers might help with that. By the way does anyone know what version of OGL CoH uses? Would OGL 3.3/4 help CoH or is that just an Aero UI issue? Best Regards! |
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
Cool, okay thanks Back_Blast! Thanks very informative!
I have to say I've spent years looking up tweaks to various things and my system is the most stable I've ever had it. As with many people, CoH will sometimes crash/close for unknown reasons or being mapserved, but not often. But there is another thing that seems to bring down CoH. I've wondered if the following is a graphics issue:
After playing for a number of hours (could be two, four, eight...) when my pagefile goes over 2.2GB (could be 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6GB) CoH will at some point crash. Unlike previous versions i16 crashes "gracefully" in that I can hit the window key and use taskmgr to terminate the CoH process tree. I've noticed if I do a lot of base editing or AE mission building, this will hasten the process of a growing pagefile. I'm not sure if this is graphics related, or perhaps CoH storing 3D object information in (pagefile) memory.
Fwiw... I'm running a PIV 3.4GHz Prescott, 4GB RAM, Windows XP (latest patches), ATI 3850HD AGP (normal, not hotfix drivers --- doesn't make a difference for me), and a system managed but defragged pagefile (most stable configuration). Oh and an Ageia PhysX card! Setting the AGP aperture to 64MB helps (allows more virtual memory for system processes so the pagefile grows more slowly). But I can't run any application I have my hands on that makes the pagefile grow as big as CoH makes it grow. So (in my mind) there are two candidates: CoH or ATI drivers... I guess time will tell.
Fortunately CoH is very fluid for me (generally around 25 to 60fps), depending on what I'm doing, at 1280x1024 with high visual settings... but Rikti Raids brings it down a bit 
From my user experience, there's no need to upgrade... yet.
Ok, does anybody else have problems with the 10.x drivers? I updated mine to 10.3 and both test and live framerates dropped down to around 10 fps (I normally run at 60 fps.) So I cleaned 10.3 out and installed the 10.1 - same problem. I had to revert back to my original drivers from the CD to get my old framerate back.
My current drivers that work (from the CD) are 6.140010.6833 dated 6/24/08. I believe before I started this whole mess, that I may have had 9.12 installed, but I am not sure anymore (I think the CD drivers are 8.51).
I have a factory OCd ASUS EAH4850 HD with 1G of RAM, Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 3 (32 bit), 4 Gig of system memory, and an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale running at 3.16GHz/cpu. Before I changed the drivers, I ran with 4x FSAA, 16X animorphic, 1680x1050 res, everything maxed except I had turned off Bloom, DoF, and desaturation and water effects because they don't play nice with FSAA.
Any help or ideas?
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Weird. Before today I was using CCC 8.2 (yes...I'm behind), and had no issues alt-tabbing in Windows Classic. Upgraded to 10.3 today and had to use the Aero theme to get alt-tab to work.
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Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
I don't know the answer to that. Ever since I reset the desktop to one of the default Aero themes, alt-tabbing has worked flawlessly.
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ATTENTION: When the Catalyst 10.4 drivers are released this month, INSTALL THEM!
They contain a fix for the Shadow Map Shader crash issue that will otherwise affect any ATI users still running the 10.2 or 10.3 drivers once Issue 17 goes live (and is currently affecting any ATI users with those either of those drivers trying out I17 on the Training room right now). I have verified this myself by using a preview version of the 10.4 drivers that was released today. I will post links to the official release 10.4s in this thread when they become available.
Additionally, the ability to switch tasks via Alt-Tab has been fixed.
Positron: "There are no bugs [in City of Heroes], just varying degrees of features."
Good to hear. C'mon official release.
I posted about my issue in another thread, but i thought i'd ask it here too. Has anyone had the game crash on them when trying to adjust the Water Effects in Ultra Mode. Right now my settings are turned on at medium, and i'm unable to lower them. Each time i try the game crashes. I have a Radeon HD4670 1 G DDR3. I recently updated my drivers to 10.1 thinking it would fix the issue, but it keeps happening. Any suggestions?
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For your Steam CoH install, it should be in "Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\City of Heroes". For the normal CoH install it should just be in "Program Files\City of Heroes\" (or "Program Files (x86)" if you're using 64bit). Hope this helps.