hardware recommendations for ToEE

Updated post # 7 in this thread...discussed data cables for connecting a hard drive to a IDE connector on a motherboard.

general updates to each of my posts listed above - hopefully, more clarity and easier reading

 

Yes. Indeed, it did, sir. Nod.

Uhm, in case you are wondering, when I installed Co8 Fan Fixes and Livonya's Beta 1.5.1 MOD, I had it checked to remove fog and added your new voices and your mod 1.2.1 [if that is why you are asking].

 

This can, hopefully, illuminate why dual channel mode requires matched pairs of DDR memory. Matched pairs of DDR RAM are supposed to be identical.

1. Simply stated, the Front-Side Bus connects the central processing unit (CPU processor) to the system memory [the RAM].
2. How fast data moves to and from your CPU and RAM depends on the speed of your Font-Side Bus.
* FSB333 and slower motherboards use DDR memory in 64-bit streams in a single channel of data. FSB400 amd faster motherboards have a new technology that can allow two controllers to work together, simultaneously, on the motherboard using two dual streams of 64-bits of data totaling 128-bit streams in dual channels of data.
3. There are four basic rules for the dual channels to work together and use memory on a FSB400 enabled motherboard and for how well it works.
- DIMMs must be installed in pairs
- Both DIMMs must use the same density memory chips
- Both DIMMs must use the same DRAM bus width
- Both DIMMs must be either single-sided or dual-sided.

In plain english, this means you have to buy and install two of the exact same brand, style/type, and size of DDR modules to use dual channel on a FSB400 motherboard. Any derivation from these rules can cause problems.

 

Let's say you go to your favorite web sites for buying computer hardware cheap. You look to buy new PC hardware and cannot find a price that makes you happy or fits your budget.

Check this site...not to steal William Shatners line--yes it is--shop and compare before you buy.

http://www.pricewatch.com/

Helpful hint: Using this site will pull long lists of stuff. So, for example, if you want to look for a video card yet reduce the queried list, click video card in the list and when the page opens, use the search field.

Here are the steps I went through to use pricewatch to buy a CPU about 1 or 2 weeks ago. It can be used kind of like a checklist.

**************************************************

search for an Athlon XP 3200+ Barton 2.2GHz 512KB 400MHz FSB Socket A OEM CPU

used -> http://www.pricewatch.com

search for CPU

tried search in queried list for k7 AMD 3200+ (no results)

tried search in queried list for AMD athlonxp 3200+ (no results)

tried search in queried list for AMD athlon xp 3200+ (returns results)

1st item in list is the lowest price (description shows 333 MHz FSB - do not want this, unless your motherboard is FSB333 and will not support a FSB400 CPU)

2nd item in list is the next to lowest price (description shows 400 MHz FSB - you want 400 MHz for a FSB400 motherboard)

click buy now button (opens a new web page, still http://)

click radio button to select 30 day warranty [free - not extra; 60 and 90 day warranty costs money]

make sure quanity is set to only 1 item

click checkout button

hmm, this site only uses paypal (personally will not use paypal ... continue search)
[IMO - This is my personal choice. You can setup and use a paypal account if you want to do transactions that way.]

go back to perusing pricewatch list again

3rd item in list is still a good price (description shows 333 MHz FSB - do not want this)

4th item in list is still a good price and is only about 10 dollars more than the least expensive CPU price (description shows 400 MHz FSB - want this one)

click buy now button (opens a new web page, http://)

leave warranty drop-down menu item set to 30 day warranty

make sure quanity is set to only 1 item

click checkout button (opens a new web page, https:// - means uses SSL port connection)

!!! important -> looks at the top of the web page for the credit cards logo image
* It has the logo. [Check the attached picture at the bottom of this post to see what the credit card logo is of which I am referring to.]

!!! also important -> looks at the top and both sides of the webpage for hacker proof testing date shown on webpage
* It has a test date and shows the current date.

This site is secure to make an Internet purchase...proceeds with and buys this CPU using this site.

 

I, recently, found a site with numerous awesome looking computer gear for outstanding presence.

Hot PC gear that makes people go Wow!..if nothing else, look at these to see wild PC mod stuff.

check post # 9 for xoxide entry

 

updated hardware in post # 9

45 US dollars = NEC ND-3540A fastest ever burner & writes DVD+R/-R Dual Layer (1st one ever to do this)

Now you can see Internet prices for both SONY and NEC brands!..

 

I have received my new Thermaltake Silent Boost heatsink/fan. I should receive my AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 400 MHz CPU in the next day or two, maybe three days. This will make for interesting testing.

The CPU presently in my XP computer is a K7 AMD 2500+ 333 MHz processor. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in how the DDR400 memory modules work when they are 400 MHz and are matched with a 400 MHz bus speed CPU on the Abit AN7 motherboard.

__________________________________________________
I confirmed this with engineers at Abit.
**************************************************
With a CPU FSB of 333 MHz and DDR RAM of 400 MHz on a AN7 motherboard, the CPU and motherboard FSB will both run at 333 MHz while the RAM, itself - internally, will run at 400 MHz. When using two modules of DDR RAM in slots DIMM3 and DIMM2, regardless of the DDR speed and the CPU speed, the AN7 motherboard will run in dual channel 128-bit mode.
**************************************************

 

Don't hook into the defense grid...it might become self-aware... :nervous:

 

Not tieing in to full automation and centralized machine controls is what saved humanity in Battlestar Galactica.

 

Friggin' Cylons...but I was thinking of another cyborg tale:

"Come with me if you want to live..."

 

What?! You say you have absolutely no idea what hardware is installed in your computer? What follows will determine exactly what hardware is installed in your computer.

* You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, ODBC Connections, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

SiSoft Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) - is a Windows installation program for Windows 2000 and XP computers

-> SiSoft Sandra 2005 SR2a -=- for Windows 2000 and XP computers (ONLY, no other user operating systems)

 

updated post # 6

(new) -> check [Alternately] section in post 6

 

someone was having hardware problems. I suggested this.

The click noise might be a physical noise from the hard drive or, maybe, something electrical...it's too difficult to guess. If you heard the click immediately before the Windows Stop Error - Blue Screen of Death, it's possible you might have bad sectors on your hard drive.

Having said that, Welcome to the World of Computer Fubar.
* Boot to safe mode using [press] the F8 key several times during the DOS screen portion of bootup. In Windows XP and 2000, booting in to safe mode requires you logon using the Administrator account. If you have to use the Administrator account and don't know what the password is, try leaving the password field blank. If that does not work, you'll need to see if you can boot normally and change the password for the Administrator account. If the Administrator account is not available, then, it's never been used before with respect to a user logon. If you have a user account with administrator privledges, you should be able to change the local administrator password. If, for whatever reason, you have dificulty changing the administrator password, download the Ultimate Boot CD [search the Internet for Ultimate Boot CD or UBCD], a setup utility to make a bootable CD disk. Make an Ultimate Boot CD and boot using the CD disk. It has a utility to change the local admin password. Change the local admin password. And finally, remove the UBCD if you used one and boot to safe mode. Delete the content of the TEMP folder, the C:\Windows\TEMP folder [and empty the recycle bin], and also run an antivirus scan while in safe mode.
** While still in safe mode, use the add/remove programs applet in the control panel and uninstall ToEE. Use Windows Explorer and delete the remaining ToEE folders and reboot the computer.
-> should be C:\Program Files\Atari\Temple of Elemental Evil\
*** Boot back in to safe mode. Open the My Computer icon on the desktop. Right-click the listing for Local Disk (C) and click Properties. Click the Tools tab and click the Check Now button. Checkmark the two options to "automatically fix.." and "scan for..". Click the Start button. You should get a prompt asking about "this cannot be done now and do you want this to be done when you reboot..". Click Yes/OK. Let the computer reboot and let it do its thing. It may take a couple of reboots. You'll see stuff taking place in a DOS screen. Yah, its supposed to do all of this. Do NOT interrupt it and let it run its course doing what it needs to do to finish its tasks. When its done, it'll boot in normal mode back to what is a normal Windows logon.
**** I would suggest you also run Scandisk inside of Windows XP and 2000 at this point. When Scandisk [inside Windows] has completed, reboot the computer.

Then, try to install ToEE following these steps.
__________

This considers ToEE has not been installed, yet.

Install ToEE using the original 2 CD disks

Reboot

Install the Atari Official Patch1 -> official Atari Patch1

Install the Atari Official Patch2 -> official Atari Patch2

Install the Co8 Fan Fixes 3.0.4 -> Co8 Fan Fixes 3.0.4
* Extract the executable file from the zipped file and run the executable file.

Install the Livonya's Beta 1.5.1 MOD -> Livonya's Beta 1.5.1 MOD
* Save the file to your hard drive. After it is on your hard drive, then, run the executable and install this MOD.
** If you use the setup.exe version of Livonya's MOD, you do NOT need to add the single temple.dll fix as her MOD uses his temple.dll patched file.

Reboot

You can replace the ToEE.exe executable file with the no-cd fix executable file after you reboot your computer the third time.
* You can get the ToEE no-cd fix below.

This post is for you to download the RAR file version of the NO-CD fix.
> Are you using the English NO-CD VERSION 2 fix?
* some patch notes
- a. Atari Patch1 installed = use NO-CD version 1 fix
- b. Atari Patch2 installed = use NO-CD version 2 fix
- c. Atari Patch3 installed = use NO-CD version 3 fix
** do NOT use Atari Patch3 installed on ToEE and its related NO-CD VERSION 3 fix
*** English NO-CD VERSION 2 works for ToEE + Atari Patch 1 and 2 + Co8 3.0.4 MOD
-> ToEE v2 [ENGLISH] NO-CD/Fixed EXE <- use MIRRORs 1 to 10, NOT 11, NOT 12

__________

Here's the bad news, if you have general problems with a variety of programs and Windows over time, plan on saving all of your data files to include your Internet Explorer favorites, email PST files, the entire content of your My Documents folders and any other folders where you keep your files on to CD disks or on to an External USB2 hard drive. Plan on reinstalling Windows from scratch meaning delete absolutely everything (and I do mean everything) on the internal boot hard drive. Then, reinstall all of your applications, including ToEE. Hopefully, the problems go away. If the problems do not go away, but persist, after reinstalling Windows from scratch, plan on replacing computer hardware, maybe even replacing the entire computer if you do not know what to replace or how to do it. (Note: Dell sells their low-end brand new PC+monitor+keyboard/mouse/speakers for like 300 US dollars. So, it may not be so bad.)

And, if I may be so bold, I would like to suggest you use PeoplePC, instead of AOL...just take a look at it.
* http://www.peoplepc.com/connect/index.asp
fyi - PeoplePC has about 9,000 local-call phone numbers for local access across/in the USA and its low cost with good services at 1/2 the price of AOL Dial-Up. Note: Also, DSL is like 30 US dollars per month and cable modem service is like 50 US dollars per month, if interested.

__________________________________________________
Here was the user response.
**************************************************
Wow. I was sort of down this morning wondering what, if anything, I was going to do to fix this mess up. Thats everything I needed to know I cannot thank you enough Krunch. That safe mode instructions is like gold for me. For example I'd been in safe mode before but only for virus scans maybe Adaware scans. And I had considered wiping the drive and, I know this is unwise, but in the couple of years since buying the machine I have yet to make a backup. Now I know what I have to do thanks again.
**************************************************

 

One thing I can do is additionally mention information about an addon audio card on the previously used motherboard with a VIA chipset and support chips.

When I was using that other motherboard with a VIA chipset and a brand name addon 16-bit audio card, ToEE experienced ocassional glitches (CTDs). Updating the audio drivers for the addon audio card helped, but the random wierdness of problems never completely went away when using the addon audio card. When I removed the addon audio card, and also uninstalled its software, and just used the onboard audio of the VIA motherboard and updated those drivers, most of the wierd CTD crashes stopped. Playing the game was still glitchy, however, even after I updated all the VIA drivers using the latest VIA ALLin1 Hyperion driver updates.

Personally, I like and enjoy playing ToEE more on the nVidia n2 motherboard, Abit AN7 FSB400 with an AMD CPU processor, than on the motherboard with the VIA chipset and its support chips and the same CPU processor.

* Atari support told me (as a general statement) that of the problems they get to deal with for ToEE not working properly, half of the problems they must try to resolve are with regard to motherboards with VIA chipsets. That says a lot.