Sound Problems

JGorski · 03-30-2003, 10:23 AM

Can someone help me with a sound problem?

I've been playing the game for about 2 weeks without any adverse incidents. It was working beautifully and I was really enjoying it. Today, however, something happened that I am at a loss to explain.

I was playing this morning and everything was fine. Sometime this afternoon, my son installed a new game called 'Freelancer' and began playing that. While installing this game, my son uninstalled some other games. Then I tried to play OOTP5 - it was uncharacteristically sluggish in loading and then very slow playing. The in-game sound was sporadic. I exited and restarted the game and it gave the same sluggish performance only this time as I began to play a game something funny happened: during the initialization (after the roster and lineup screens) the crowd sounds bleeped on shortly, then off, then on shortly again then the game simply froze. This happened a number of times.

I tried to reinstall the game - no help. Rebooting the computer was no help either. After a number of trial and error experiments, I seem to have gotten the game to work again except that I can't enable the in game sounds. And I am still afraid that the game will lock up.

I have a Dell dimension 8100 series, Pentium 4 processor - 1.3 GHz, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP Sound Card (factory installed), and a 32 MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX AGP Graphics card.

I know it is not the sound card because it was running fine for 10 days previous to the development of the problem.

One last thing: after the game locks, the rest of the computer locks, I cntl/alt/del and end task. Then when I try to open internet explorer I get a message that states I have a error in KERNEL32.DLL

I hope someone can help me.

dbacks · 03-30-2003, 05:17 PM

Geez, that's a problem. Thanks for providing details and explaining the situation carefully -- always helps. I will do my best, and can only offer suggestions one at a time, and hopefully something will work.

Suggestion #1 - One thing you did not provide me was HD space. How much hard drive space did 'Freelancer' take up? That might be your biggest problem right there. And how much do you have left?

dbacks · 03-30-2003, 05:22 PM

According to the Microsoft website -- the game will take at least 900 MB of space, and you still need a several gigs left on your HD if you want either game to run semi-smoothly. I have like 20 GB left on my laptop HD, and it runs OK, not great, but not terribly sluggish. A bit worse than OOTP4, but I dread the thought of having a mere 5 GB left if it only runs decent with 20.

JGorski · 03-30-2003, 08:32 PM

I have 44 GB of free disk space left with both games loaded. I also unloaded the microsoft game and OOTP5 still freezes up when I have the sound enabled

dbacks · 03-30-2003, 09:23 PM

OK - I think you have plenty of HD space. Let me think a moment now, and when I come up with another suggestion/idea, I'll let you know...

dbacks · 03-30-2003, 09:30 PM

Alright - let's start with the usual suggestions we give to all OOTP'ers when they're having trouble.

1. Try defragging the disk. Probably won't help - maybe it will. Takes several hours - so try doing it when you don't need your computer.

2. If you don't mind turning of in-game sounds, do so if you say that helps. I think you did above.

3. Try updating your drivers. This gets suggested a lot in this forum, as it sometimes makes the difference. The tough part is that it WAS working fine, like you said, and then suddenly became sluggish, etc. I really don't think you need to update your drivers, because, like you said, it used to be working fine, then when you installed the other program, it all of a sudden became weird. That's what Microsoft'll do to you.

Start with that, let me know what works. I will keep trying to come up with a solution to your problem, but like I said, start with these.

JGorski · 03-31-2003, 10:27 PM

Did all that - same result

dbacks · 03-31-2003, 10:38 PM

hmmm... let me think.

dbacks · 03-31-2003, 10:49 PM

Just for the heck of it, try uninstalling 'Freelancer.' You don't have to keep it uninstalled - you can install it again in just a few minutes, but see if the game will work again without that on your computer. Not sure how it works - so if there's anything saved games or something - don't delete them. If you have to delete the saved games or whatever - don't bother uninstalling it. I just want to see if the game messed up or did something to your computer, or if there's something that OOTP just doesn't like about having that game on there. I am understanding this correctly, right, that as soon as you first installed this game, THEN OOTP crapped out on you?

dbacks · 03-31-2003, 10:52 PM

Also try disabling the screen saver. Doubt that will have any effect, but OOTP is pretty unstable when it comes to screen savers. Again, I doubt it will have any effect, but try it and see what happens.

JGorski · 04-03-2003, 06:52 PM

Sorry I haven't been on the forum but I just started a new job this week and haven't had much time.

I have tried unstalling 'freelancer' and trying OOTP5. I've also tried various permutations of that, e.g. uninstalling 'freelancer' then uninstalling and reloading OOTP5; uninstalling OOTP5, then uninstalling 'freelancer'; etc. etc.

The one thing I haven't tried is the screensaver bit. I'll try that now and let you know.

I appreciate all of you help. Thanks

JGorski · 04-03-2003, 06:57 PM

Tried the screensaver bit: no luck.

JGorski · 04-03-2003, 07:07 PM

One last thing: when the game freezes I can't shut down windows properly - I have to use the hard shutdown

Jon7athan · 04-05-2003, 04:27 PM

Hello,

I initially had the exact same problem after updating to Direct X 9. And then went and updated my audio drivers for my Creative Labs Soundblaster Live! Value. The problem fixed itself and I could get past the loading sounds bit before a game. I would have to hard boot my machine as well.

But, just yesterday, Microsoft released an update to Direct X 9.0a and I had the exact same problem. But, this time there was no update for my soundcard yet from Creative Labs. And there probably won't be since the Audigy is the current sound card in channels. Because this happened both times after updates to DirectX. I think there needs to be a lot more development done on the way the sound has been created. Because, the moment I went and disabled sound in the OOTP5 configuration applet, problem solved.

I'm willing to bet the Freelancer update required an update to the latest version of DirectX.

dbacks · 04-07-2003, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JGorski
Sorry I haven't been on the forum but I just started a new job this week and haven't had much time.

I've been in Chicago for the past week (baseball-related), so sorry for the rather delayed response on my end this time.

One last suggestion. I hate this one, and I know you will too, but that's what happens when the others don't work. Like I said, I hate it when I have to do this, but try re-installing Windows. As you can tell, we are really running out of options here. I try to do everything possible to avoid that, but sometimes you've just gotta do it.

dbacks · 04-07-2003, 11:20 PM

Woops... kinda tired, here, so bare with me. Didn't read John7athan's post very clearly. Try his suggestion first, and if that works, don't bother re-installing Windows. That's just an absolute last-resort option, which is kinda where we're at.

LonghornNole · 04-08-2003, 08:34 PM

JGorski do you know if you are using DirectX 9 as Jon7 mentioned? I don't have the same problems you do but I do have sound problems in OOTP5 and one other "smaller" game called Legacy Online. I've tried 3 different versions of sound drivers for my Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer and none of that resolves my issues either.

Perhaps it's all Microsoft's fault with DX9.

04-05-2003, 04:27 PM	#14
Jon7athan Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 1	Have same Problem without Freelancer install Hello, I initially had the exact same problem after updating to Direct X 9. And then went and updated my audio drivers for my Creative Labs Soundblaster Live! Value. The problem fixed itself and I could get past the loading sounds bit before a game. I would have to hard boot my machine as well. But, just yesterday, Microsoft released an update to Direct X 9.0a and I had the exact same problem. But, this time there was no update for my soundcard yet from Creative Labs. And there probably won't be since the Audigy is the current sound card in channels. Because this happened both times after updates to DirectX. I think there needs to be a lot more development done on the way the sound has been created. Because, the moment I went and disabled sound in the OOTP5 configuration applet, problem solved. I'm willing to bet the Freelancer update required an update to the latest version of DirectX.

03-30-2003, 10:23 AM	#1
JGorski Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9	Sound Problems Can someone help me with a sound problem? I've been playing the game for about 2 weeks without any adverse incidents. It was working beautifully and I was really enjoying it. Today, however, something happened that I am at a loss to explain. I was playing this morning and everything was fine. Sometime this afternoon, my son installed a new game called 'Freelancer' and began playing that. While installing this game, my son uninstalled some other games. Then I tried to play OOTP5 - it was uncharacteristically sluggish in loading and then very slow playing. The in-game sound was sporadic. I exited and restarted the game and it gave the same sluggish performance only this time as I began to play a game something funny happened: during the initialization (after the roster and lineup screens) the crowd sounds bleeped on shortly, then off, then on shortly again then the game simply froze. This happened a number of times. I tried to reinstall the game - no help. Rebooting the computer was no help either. After a number of trial and error experiments, I seem to have gotten the game to work again except that I can't enable the in game sounds. And I am still afraid that the game will lock up. I have a Dell dimension 8100 series, Pentium 4 processor - 1.3 GHz, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP Sound Card (factory installed), and a 32 MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX AGP Graphics card. I know it is not the sound card because it was running fine for 10 days previous to the development of the problem. One last thing: after the game locks, the rest of the computer locks, I cntl/alt/del and end task. Then when I try to open internet explorer I get a message that states I have a error in KERNEL32.DLL I hope someone can help me.

03-30-2003, 05:17 PM	#2
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	Geez, that's a problem. Thanks for providing details and explaining the situation carefully -- always helps. I will do my best, and can only offer suggestions one at a time, and hopefully something will work. Suggestion #1 - One thing you did not provide me was HD space. How much hard drive space did 'Freelancer' take up? That might be your biggest problem right there. And how much do you have left?

03-30-2003, 05:22 PM	#3
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	According to the Microsoft website -- the game will take at least 900 MB of space, and you still need a several gigs left on your HD if you want either game to run semi-smoothly. I have like 20 GB left on my laptop HD, and it runs OK, not great, but not terribly sluggish. A bit worse than OOTP4, but I dread the thought of having a mere 5 GB left if it only runs decent with 20.

03-30-2003, 08:32 PM	#4
JGorski Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9	I have 44 GB of free disk space left with both games loaded. I also unloaded the microsoft game and OOTP5 still freezes up when I have the sound enabled

03-30-2003, 09:23 PM	#5
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	OK - I think you have plenty of HD space. Let me think a moment now, and when I come up with another suggestion/idea, I'll let you know...

03-30-2003, 09:30 PM	#6
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	Alright - let's start with the usual suggestions we give to all OOTP'ers when they're having trouble. 1. Try defragging the disk. Probably won't help - maybe it will. Takes several hours - so try doing it when you don't need your computer. 2. If you don't mind turning of in-game sounds, do so if you say that helps. I think you did above. 3. Try updating your drivers. This gets suggested a lot in this forum, as it sometimes makes the difference. The tough part is that it WAS working fine, like you said, and then suddenly became sluggish, etc. I really don't think you need to update your drivers, because, like you said, it used to be working fine, then when you installed the other program, it all of a sudden became weird. That's what Microsoft'll do to you. Start with that, let me know what works. I will keep trying to come up with a solution to your problem, but like I said, start with these.

03-31-2003, 10:27 PM	#7
JGorski Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9	Did all that - same result

03-31-2003, 10:38 PM	#8
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	hmmm... let me think.

03-31-2003, 10:49 PM	#9
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	Just for the heck of it, try uninstalling 'Freelancer.' You don't have to keep it uninstalled - you can install it again in just a few minutes, but see if the game will work again without that on your computer. Not sure how it works - so if there's anything saved games or something - don't delete them. If you have to delete the saved games or whatever - don't bother uninstalling it. I just want to see if the game messed up or did something to your computer, or if there's something that OOTP just doesn't like about having that game on there. I am understanding this correctly, right, that as soon as you first installed this game, THEN OOTP crapped out on you?

03-31-2003, 10:52 PM	#10
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	Also try disabling the screen saver. Doubt that will have any effect, but OOTP is pretty unstable when it comes to screen savers. Again, I doubt it will have any effect, but try it and see what happens.

04-03-2003, 06:52 PM	#11
JGorski Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9	Sorry I haven't been on the forum but I just started a new job this week and haven't had much time. I have tried unstalling 'freelancer' and trying OOTP5. I've also tried various permutations of that, e.g. uninstalling 'freelancer' then uninstalling and reloading OOTP5; uninstalling OOTP5, then uninstalling 'freelancer'; etc. etc. The one thing I haven't tried is the screensaver bit. I'll try that now and let you know. I appreciate all of you help. Thanks

04-03-2003, 06:57 PM	#12
JGorski Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9	Tried the screensaver bit: no luck.

04-03-2003, 07:07 PM	#13
JGorski Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9	One last thing: when the game freezes I can't shut down windows properly - I have to use the hard shutdown

04-07-2003, 11:20 PM	#16
dbacks Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,735	Woops... kinda tired, here, so bare with me. Didn't read John7athan's post very clearly. Try his suggestion first, and if that works, don't bother re-installing Windows. That's just an absolute last-resort option, which is kinda where we're at.

04-08-2003, 08:34 PM	#17
LonghornNole Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 4	JGorski do you know if you are using DirectX 9 as Jon7 mentioned? I don't have the same problems you do but I do have sound problems in OOTP5 and one other "smaller" game called Legacy Online. I've tried 3 different versions of sound drivers for my Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer and none of that resolves my issues either. Perhaps it's all Microsoft's fault with DX9.