processor affinity(s)

SteamWake · 09-21-09, 05:04 PM

I'll try to make this as brief as possible.

I recently purchased 'Starwars Knights of the old Republic' from Steam.

It runs okay (great game btw) but it crashes randomly with no pattern. I did a little research and it seems it has issues with dual core processors. Its an older game.

The recommended work around was a minor edit to the .ini file and then to use an applet called imagecfg.exe. This applet can be used to modify any program .exe file so that it calls to run on a single core fixing stability issues.

imagecfg works in as much as it modifies the .exe file as advertised. However now steam has issues as it looks at the .exe and declares it invalid (error 51)

So my questions are...

Is there any other way to set the affinity of a process?

Failing that is there any way to force your system to just use one core (temporarly of course) ?

SteamWake · 09-21-09, 05:08 PM

I just tried setting the programs affinity in the task manager.. still crashed

FIREWALL · 09-21-09, 05:15 PM

Hi SteamWake

I heard awhile back here about turning off one core.

I don't recall if it was for this game or if it could be done.

Sorry. But thats all I can remember.

Good Luck

Zachstar · 09-21-09, 09:51 PM

I gave up on Kotor because of the crashes...

I tried the one core trick and others and nothing helped with me

Arclight · 09-22-09, 08:05 AM

How far did you get untill it crashed? Played through that intro, untill just after crashing on the planet in the escape-pod. Playing on quad-core with no issues untill then. Also recently purchased from Steam btw.

Other than setting affinity in task-manager, I've got nothing.

SteamWake · 09-22-09, 08:53 AM

More like when doesent it crash. It crashes on battles, it crashes when just walking down the street, it crashes at cut scenes, it crashes at loading screens, and on and on.

My play style has come down to go through a door- save, fight a battle - save, have a conversation - save, in other words save like every 30 seconds.

I made it to Tatoeene and have a few 'quests' completed there. I think about 8-10 hours of game play.

goldorak · 09-22-09, 12:30 PM

What cpu do you have Intel or AMD ?
Early AMD dual cores (and maybe quad cores) had timing issues which could create havoc with certain games.
AMD released an official patch, its on their website.

Who knows, maybe its a steam related problem ?
I have KOTOR (the original retail release) and I played it the first time on a P4 with HT (that simulates multicore) and an ATI card (9800pro !!!) without any problems.
Maybe I should try again on a real quadcore and see how it goes.

SteamWake · 09-22-09, 12:34 PM

Its a genuine intell chip. Already checked that.

KOTOR is the only game I have this issue with and I play many other older games.

SteamWake · 09-22-09, 04:22 PM

Dual core Intel Pentium 4 (3.8ghz)

Ive tried setting the game to run on core zero or core one using task manager, no improvement.

I so want to play this game but I'm about to give up.

Arclight · 09-22-09, 04:30 PM

Try disabling HyperThreading (HTT), probably in BIOS.

goldorak · 09-22-09, 11:09 PM

Ok a little bit of internet search has uncovered a possibile solution

Quote:

"Vertex Buffer Objects are an OpenGL method of storing vertex data in video memory. Enabling Vertex Buffer Objects (Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=0) can improve performance in certain situations, however it seems KOTOR 2 [and 1] has some issues with this method and you should set it =1 if you want to resolve slowdown issues in the game (e.g. on Dantooine). It may also help reduce the incidence of crashes in KOTOR 2. Note that this setting does not exist by default, so you should create it under this section and set it to =1."

Source : http://www.tweakguides.com/KOTOR2_7.html

To do this find the swkotor.ini file which you will find in the games installation folder, open the file with notepad or any other text editor and scroll until you find the graphics section and insert the following line Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1. Save the file. Start the game.

This solution applies both to Kotor and Kotor2.

SteamWake · 09-23-09, 08:13 AM

Already tried that... in fact the version from steam already has that edit in the .ini file. Which kind of supprised me.

Hrm... maybe I will edit it out and see.

SteamWake · 09-25-09, 03:42 PM

Well here I was all excited because I tried disabling HTT like arclight said and played for a few minutes.

I 'stress tested' running between zones, warping back to the ebon hawk, etc.

Wooh Hoo !

Till I got into some combat, a total lock with looping sounds

So game runs better but now it hangs up... Sigh.. I guess I will have to admit I lost 10 bucks

Arclight · 09-25-09, 04:19 PM

Oh for the love of...

Good news is you fixed the problem relating to using dual-core CPU (though it seems a problem with HTT itself; still working fine on my quad). This new problem may well be heat related; console ports tend to overheat the memory before the core heats up (ie cooling doesn't spin up).

Could try lowering graphics and/or setting the cooling higher manually with something like Rivatuner.

On HTT: there's no such thing as a Pentium 4 dual-core. It's actually a single-core CPU with HTT. HTT creates a second virtual core. Though turning it off might fix some compatibility issues, it (your PC) is probably faster in day-to-day use with it enabled.

goldorak · 09-25-09, 04:41 PM

The last versions of pentium 4 before the core 2 era were dual core versions.

09-21-09, 05:04 PM	#1
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	processor affinity(s) I'll try to make this as brief as possible. I recently purchased 'Starwars Knights of the old Republic' from Steam. It runs okay (great game btw) but it crashes randomly with no pattern. I did a little research and it seems it has issues with dual core processors. Its an older game. The recommended work around was a minor edit to the .ini file and then to use an applet called imagecfg.exe. This applet can be used to modify any program .exe file so that it calls to run on a single core fixing stability issues. imagecfg works in as much as it modifies the .exe file as advertised. However now steam has issues as it looks at the .exe and declares it invalid (error 51) So my questions are... Is there any other way to set the affinity of a process? Failing that is there any way to force your system to just use one core (temporarly of course) ? __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-21-09, 05:08 PM	#2
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	I just tried setting the programs affinity in the task manager.. still crashed __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-21-09, 05:15 PM	#3
FIREWALL Eternal Patrol Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: CATALINA IS. SO . CAL USA Posts: 10,108 Downloads: 511 Uploads: 0	Hi SteamWake I heard awhile back here about turning off one core. I don't recall if it was for this game or if it could be done. Sorry. But thats all I can remember. Good Luck __________________ RIP FIREWALL I Play GWX. Silent Hunter Who ???

09-21-09, 09:51 PM	#4
Zachstar Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Shreveport, Louisiana Posts: 1,956 Downloads: 13 Uploads: 0	I gave up on Kotor because of the crashes... I tried the one core trick and others and nothing helped with me __________________

09-22-09, 08:05 AM	#5
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	How far did you get untill it crashed? Played through that intro, untill just after crashing on the planet in the escape-pod. Playing on quad-core with no issues untill then. Also recently purchased from Steam btw. Other than setting affinity in task-manager, I've got nothing. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

09-22-09, 08:53 AM	#6
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	More like when doesent it crash. It crashes on battles, it crashes when just walking down the street, it crashes at cut scenes, it crashes at loading screens, and on and on. My play style has come down to go through a door- save, fight a battle - save, have a conversation - save, in other words save like every 30 seconds. I made it to Tatoeene and have a few 'quests' completed there. I think about 8-10 hours of game play. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-22-09, 12:30 PM	#7
goldorak Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,320 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	What cpu do you have Intel or AMD ? Early AMD dual cores (and maybe quad cores) had timing issues which could create havoc with certain games. AMD released an official patch, its on their website. Who knows, maybe its a steam related problem ? I have KOTOR (the original retail release) and I played it the first time on a P4 with HT (that simulates multicore) and an ATI card (9800pro !!!) without any problems. Maybe I should try again on a real quadcore and see how it goes.

09-22-09, 12:34 PM	#8
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Its a genuine intell chip. Already checked that. KOTOR is the only game I have this issue with and I play many other older games. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-22-09, 04:22 PM	#9
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Dual core Intel Pentium 4 (3.8ghz) Ive tried setting the game to run on core zero or core one using task manager, no improvement. I so want to play this game but I'm about to give up. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-22-09, 04:30 PM	#10
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	Try disabling HyperThreading (HTT), probably in BIOS. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

09-23-09, 08:13 AM	#12
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Already tried that... in fact the version from steam already has that edit in the .ini file. Which kind of supprised me. Hrm... maybe I will edit it out and see. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-25-09, 03:42 PM	#13
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Well here I was all excited because I tried disabling HTT like arclight said and played for a few minutes. I 'stress tested' running between zones, warping back to the ebon hawk, etc. Wooh Hoo ! Till I got into some combat, a total lock with looping sounds So game runs better but now it hangs up... Sigh.. I guess I will have to admit I lost 10 bucks __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-25-09, 04:19 PM	#14
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	Oh for the love of... Good news is you fixed the problem relating to using dual-core CPU (though it seems a problem with HTT itself; still working fine on my quad). This new problem may well be heat related; console ports tend to overheat the memory before the core heats up (ie cooling doesn't spin up). Could try lowering graphics and/or setting the cooling higher manually with something like Rivatuner. On HTT: there's no such thing as a Pentium 4 dual-core. It's actually a single-core CPU with HTT. HTT creates a second virtual core. Though turning it off might fix some compatibility issues, it (your PC) is probably faster in day-to-day use with it enabled. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

09-25-09, 04:41 PM	#15
goldorak Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,320 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The last versions of pentium 4 before the core 2 era were dual core versions.