Performance Tweaks & Bug Fixes

[jchance]

Hey Everyone.

 

I was dealing with the speradic sound issue like others. I did notice that a few were running variants of SB Live sound cards like myself. Here is the system I was having the problem on:

 

Processor:

- AMD Athelon 2600+ (Barton)

 

Motherboard:

- Chaintech CT-7NJL3

 

Memory:

- 512MB Compusa (PNY)

 

Video:

- ATI Radeon 9000 All in Wonder w/ 64 MB

 

Sound:

- Sound Blaster Live 5.1 PCI (Digital output for 5.1 only). Configured for 2 speakers.

 

Other Peripherals (PCI Cards):

- Lynksys 10/100 Etherfast

- SIIG UDMA 133 EIDE Card

 

Hard Drive:

- Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 UDMA 133, 10Gb (120 GB), 8MB Cache, 7200 RPM

 

Removable Devices:

- LG CDRW 40x12x40

- Creative DVD ROM 16x

- Liteon DVD +/- R +/- RW DL 16x

 

Operating Environment:

- Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2

 

My Solution:

I am assuming many out here like myself used the drivers shipped with Win XP. Nope wrong thing to do. Just because they are 'signed' and shipped with Windows, don't mean it is a good thing. Go to Creative and download the Live Drive Pack and the patch. Install both of these and you should be fine. It solved my problems

[Rutkowski]

Okay, I got two problems.

 

The first is that when I play, the game freezes the entire computer in some briefing cutscenes. At first, I were able to get around this by rebooting the computer and try it over and over until it worked, but lately, this doesn't work, and therefore I can't progress with the story. Quite annoying, I must say.

 

When I tried to find a way to get around that, I fiddled with some things, but suddenly, I can't start the game anymore. I click on the icon and...

...nothing. I have tried to delete the *.set file, but it still doesn't work. I have also reinstalled the full game, but the problem persists. I've tried to move the savegame and clear my Gallery folder, but alas, it doesn't work. Any help please?

 

 

- Intel 2.8GHz Pentium IV Processor.

Memory:

- 256MB

Video:

- ATI Radeon 9200 with latest drivers.

 

Don't know what more to add for the specs, as most are surely irrelevant.

[forcefull]

Hey guys i just started playin GTA sanan and the men or characters on the game arnt whole... Its just flashing with the out lines of every character ...i'ver updated my graphics card which is a ATI radeon 9200 to 5.6 and i dont kno wat else to do please help me its hard only seeing outlines of enemy!!

[Cran.]

AF can get rid of those black textures in the distance, I have it on 16x and I haven't seen a bit since. Oh, NvHard is good to tweek your drivers, i'm running Forceware 75.90 and I tweeked them with NvHard and i;m now running it on 1680x1050x32, full draw distance, 16x AF, 3 aa from menu and high detail at about 35-50fps (60-100 in interiors)

 

Oh, my specs are:

3.4GHz P4

GeForce 6800 Go 256mb GDDR3

1GB DDR2 ram.

[andre911]

When i try to ride a bike game crash and said that is a gta_sa.exe problem. I can do evything but when i try to ride a bike game just crash. I dont know what to do.

My Pc is:

Athlon 2200+

512 MB DDR 333

FX 5200 128 MB

SB Live 5.1

[s l i m]

having problems with the sound... when the peds or characters speak.. i hear cracking noises as if the Hz are too high or smth.. some bikes make that cracking noise too.. its like my speakers are gonna break or something.,.. i have the latest sound drivers...

 

P4 2.8 ghz

ATi Radeon 9800 pro

512 ddr

SoundMAX Digital Audio / Analoge Devices 5.12

 

another thing is... my mp3's don't work on the user radio station... i copied and pasted a shortcut to My Documents\GTA San Andreas User Files\User Tracks but still nothing... they are mp3's and from what i read in the readme.. it would work as long as i have wmp10.. which i do.. any help at all would be greatly appreciated.. TIA

[Bored83]

is it possible to have EXACT the same controls as in GTA III and Vice City. In SA the controls seem a bit different, camera mode is different, and of course driving is different, e.t.c. Is there such a mod to have those kind of controls as we had in previous games?

[daver18qc]

Random Reboots with nVidia AC97 Drivers (Thanks to [DMA]Blunted)

Description: If you are using an nVidia chipset with AC97 on-board sound, you may experience random reboots.

Fix: Use official Realtek drivers (Click here to download) instead of the drivers supplied by nVidia.

Status: Unconfirmed

Worked for me, now i can play !!! WOOHOO

[DarkKnight]

@slim: did you click the "scan user tracks"? If you did, then i didn't say anything. If you didn't, it will most likely solve your problem and as most of the times: RTFM!

[capa don]

nevermind i found my problem, sorry. it seems to be the pizzadox trainer i used to startup the game..

Edited June 16, 2005 by capa don

[Majuub]

 

I had this problem too, it seems my modem also doubles as a soundcard and was conflicting with my Audigy LS. I had to simply turn off the hardware acceleration for the modem in dxdiag.

I dont know if your problem is the same but you can try

 

My above quote was about the sounds missing issue, it worked ok for GTA SA but every other game had either no sound or really bad static sound.

 

I turned off my modem under Sound Video and Game Controllers in Device Manager and now my sound is not only clearer overall for all my games, but it also solved my inability it use user tracks.

 

So my suggestion is if you have 2 sound devices active at once, turn one off in device manager

Edited June 16, 2005 by Majuub

[c0kelicious]

how does updating ur driver help ?

[maf]

having problems with the sound... when the peds or characters speak.. i hear cracking noises as if the Hz are too high or smth.. some bikes make that cracking noise too.. its like my speakers are gonna break or something.,.. i have the latest sound drivers...

 

P4 2.8 ghz

ATi Radeon 9800 pro

512 ddr

SoundMAX Digital Audio / Analoge Devices 5.12

 

another thing is... my mp3's don't work on the user radio station... i copied and pasted a shortcut to My Documents\GTA San Andreas User Files\User Tracks but still nothing... they are mp3's and from what i read in the readme.. it would work as long as i have wmp10.. which i do.. any help at all would be greatly appreciated.. TIA

I was having sound problems, too: gun sounds all wrong and muffled, sounds disappearing when other sounds are happening... pretty bad.

 

I tried the DirectX fix of going into the dxdiag config and moving the sound acceleration setting down to Basic. That fixed that sound problem; they're all correct now. I had the problem today of the ambient and other effects going silent but the radio still plays. Nothing seemed to work until I got back to the home save point and then the sounds came back.

 

It's probably one of the game glitches R* will fix with a patch very shortly.

[lafra002]

Hey guys,

 

listen up, I just passed my exams and I got a new Sony Vaio laptop from my parents, lucky me

 

So the first thing I do is install GTA SA to see what the looks are on the laptop, my pc is 2 years old.

Guess what happened, the game loads, but when you get the 'main intro text' with all the bullsh*t beneath the pictures, it flashes once and then I get a message like: gta-sa.exe blabla, send your error report to Microsoft.

 

I have a Ati Mobility Radeon 9200 and a Pentium IV. I tried to update my drivers, but it seems a have the latest because the Catalyst install file said I didn't have the proper hardware for this driver. Driver version is from end 2004 :S

 

Does anyone now what to do?

 

Thanx in advance...

[Legoguy]

I can't even install the nvidia drivers you posted up there. Running the 71.89 update gives me the following error during installation:

 

"The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."

 

My machine looks like this:

 

Windows XP Media Center Edition

P4, 3.2 GHZ with H/T

1024 MB DDR SDRAM

nvidia GeForce FX Go5700, 128 MB

This is the same situation I'm in; I have an HP zd7380us, with exactly the same specs - and according to nVidia, they don't release Go drivers, only the laptop manufacurer does. Bummer, eh? We have to wait for HP to release new drivers.

 

Are you seeing pedestrians missing entire polygons (not just a "texture problem")?

 

I'm going to shoot HP a message and see what I can do about getting them to update their drivers.

[Cran.]

I can't even install the nvidia drivers you posted up there. Running the 71.89 update gives me the following error during installation:

 

"The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."

 

My machine looks like this:

 

Windows XP Media Center Edition

P4, 3.2 GHZ with H/T

1024 MB DDR SDRAM

nvidia GeForce FX Go5700, 128 MB

This is the same situation I'm in; I have an HP zd7380us, with exactly the same specs - and according to nVidia, they don't release Go drivers, only the laptop manufacurer does. Bummer, eh? We have to wait for HP to release new drivers.

 

Are you seeing pedestrians missing entire polygons (not just a "texture problem")?

 

I'm going to shoot HP a message and see what I can do about getting them to update their drivers.

For those drivers, all you need is a modified .inf file, and it will work. Any of the omega or DNA drivers are modifed and will work with all Go cards, so try those out

 

www.dna-drivers.nl

www.omegadrivers.net

 

Those drivers work on my 6800 Go, and the nvidia ones dont.

[ech0]

Random Reboots with nVidia AC97 Drivers (Thanks to [DMA]Blunted)

Description: If you are using an nVidia chipset with AC97 on-board sound, you may experience random reboots.

Fix: Use official Realtek drivers (Click here to download) instead of the drivers supplied by nVidia.

Status: Confirmed

 

How do I know if I have a nVidia chipset? My computer reboots randomly, but I dont know what chipset I'm using. How do I find out?

[Dutch Wink]

 

Another user with problems now

 

Everything works fine for me, with this setup

 

WinXP Pro, P4 2.4 533 FSB, POS Dell Mobo, 512 1066 RDRAM, Radeon 9600XT 128, SB Audigy 2, WD 120gb 7200rpm, 16x DVD, DVD±RW

 

The problem I have is with the damn DDR style minigames...the framerate goes to hell with them. I've tried running with the lowest res possible, lowest settings and no mipmapping, with and without frame limiter and lowest draw distance too. Nothing has worked so far. I'm using the latest drivers for everything in my system, and of course, R* only says "update your drivers" even though I specifically said that they were the most recent ones (crappy ass support if you ask me...I hate automated responses).

I also lowered the sound accel to the lowest setting and it still didn't do anything (I've tried all settings).

 

Right now I don't know what to do...I can't get passed the OG Loc - Lifes a Beach mission. I barely made it through the Cesar Vialpando thing, by hitting the arrows in an "every other arrow" fashion...

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

Apu

dude, i'm getting the same problems, but my hardware is nothing like yours. A64 3200+/DFI NF4 Ultra/2GB Ram/hda x-mystique (c-media 8768+ chipset)/geforce 6800GT PCI-E. it's got me baffled, and annoyed.

[maf]

intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz

512MB DDR333 (PC2700)

WinFast A340 T GeForce FX 5200 128MB DDR [Forceware 71.89]

Pioneer 16x DVD-106S

Creative Sound Blaster Live!

TDK MP100 Headphones

Windows XP SP1

 

===

 

Same here. The DDR-style minigames seem very sluggish to controls; it's very hit and miss

 

EDIT: The beach party mission dancing game was easy, though.

Edited June 19, 2005 by maf

[Andreas915]

I have pedestrian texture bug. My GFX card is GeForce FX5200 64MB. So I decided to try DirectX downgrading. But when I hit the install button, it finshed very fast and told me "the components installed are now ready for use". I checked dxdiag and what a surprise I still have DirectX9.0c. Can somebody help me downgrading DirectX or knows another way of fixing that texture bug.

I should try to download new driver but I'm afraid that this might mess up my Vice City. I had a texture problem and the cause of this was too new driver. Should I try to install new driver?

 

Oh and for clarification my specs:

Intel P4 2,4Ghz

Win 2000

RAM 256MB

GF FX5200 64MB

 

[Torchz]

I downgraded DIrectX to 9.0b (checked dxdiag) and I still have pedestrian problem. I've also tried every combination of ingame settings (changing resolution, detail, mipmaping...) and installed newest nVidia drivers (I have FX5200).

I really don't know what else to do

[Dutch Wink]

intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz

512MB DDR333 (PC2700)

WinFast A340 T GeForce FX 5200 128MB DDR [Forceware 71.89]

Pioneer 16x DVD-106S

Creative Sound Blaster Live!

TDK MP100 Headphones

Windows XP SP1

 

===

 

Same here. The DDR-style minigames seem very sluggish to controls; it's very hit and miss

 

EDIT: The beach party mission dancing game was easy, though.

hmm @ your edit. i found the first one (that i did) at the carpark with the hydros on the car ran at a much better framerate than the beach one. unplayable

 

i ended up setting up another machine here and just porting my savegame onto it, and it ran fine. win2k/256mb ram/9800pro/cat5.5/dx9c/xp1800+ . guess i have this luxury of another machine, but a proper fix would be great

[maf]

If there's one thing that's consistent, it's that everyone has a different level of game performance with San Andreas

[lan-evolution]

I currently am running on with a Mobility Radeon 9000. Yeah it's pretty shabby, but it ran VC pretty well. It's a lil choppy now even at 800x600 on street intersections. Anyway, I noticed that everytime a cutscene takes place indoors, everybody, including me, becomes invisible. I would see guns, bottles, and hell even smoke out of Ryders mouth, but the body's would be invisible. Then when it goes back to gameplay, it remains that way. I noticed that after I toggled the framerate limiter, it reverts back to normal. I'm tired of having to look at nothing during cutscenes. Can anybody help me out? By the way, I have no idea where to get an updated driver for my card.

 

Windows XP (Pro I think) SP2

Intel Centrino 1.39 GHz

512MB RAM

ATI Mobility Radeon 9000

Edited June 19, 2005 by lan-evolution

[leo_agm]

Great! Thanks a lot. My problem was that the game reboot constantly. I just downloaded the realtek drivers cause i have an Nforce motherboard. So I change the drivers for the audio and it works!

 

Thanks again.

[unUsual]

hi guys

 

i also encountered a problem when playing GTA SA. The game lagged in some situation.

 

MSI KT-333

AMD Athlon 2100

750 MB RAM

 

AND: ATI Radeon 9800 pro (128 MB)

 

I've read some posts on this forum, and it seems to me that a lot of ppl with this graphic-card experience some laggy situations. (not heavy though)

 

What ive done is to reduce my resolution to 16bit, and now it runs total smooth at 1280x1024 with draw distance set nearly to max.

 

Anyone got the same problem with another solution? (would enjoy it to play it with 32bit ^^)

[Dutch Wink]

i dunno, it's only a 98pro, try turning some of the detail down? your cpu looks like it's a generation or two older than current too.

 

i'm struggling to maintain a steady framerate on my box, 6800GT + a64 3200+ at those settings. yes, it's more than 30fps, but it does have its smooth moments and its not-so-smooth moments

[SuRFaCiNg]

ATI Graphics Card on Windows XP (Home or Professional)

This link doesnt work .

[Kindo]

For me, San Andreas has always been quite stable. My frame rate isn't the best (it's locked around 20-30), but there's nothing I can do to change that. Trust me, I've tried lowering everything to the very bottom, as well as cranking it up to the very top. There is no visible difference, and no obvious change in framerate (tested using Fraps). The only thing that really lowers the framerate is if I turn Anti Aliasing to 3, and I enter or see a forest or a big grassy field.

 

I still thought I'd hold back a bit, and not run at the very highest (mainly because my specs aren't that awesome; which I'll report below).

 

1280x960, 32 bit (It's my desktop resolution)

Anti Aliasing: Off

Mip Mapping: On

Visual Effects Detail: Very High

Draw Distance: Max

Frame Limiter: Off

 

Now, the last two I don't understand. When I switch between lowest and highest Draw Distance, I see no difference whatsoever. The same with Fram Limiter. What does that do, anyway? I'd appreciate a friendly explanation. Until then, here's my specs.

 

 

Intel Pentium IV, 1,7 gHz

512 mb SD Ram

ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, 128 mb

Creative Sound Blaster Live!

 

 

Yup, pretty old can, there. And also, I have the usual sound errors and annoying freaking sound bugs as most others do. In previous GTA games, that was easily fixed by changing an in-game option in the Sound menu (basically changing the sound driver from Miles *something* to Creative *something*, if I remember correctly. That's not apparent in this game, though, so I don't know what to do.

If there are too many sounds going on, everything is turned off except the music in cars. Rain makes everything else die, for example. My sound also has a 50% risk of dying whenever I listen to my User Tracks station. It's INSANELY annoying, but I assume Rockstar is working on a fix for it, seeing how widespread this problem is.

 

Thoughts?

[maf]

intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz

512MB DDR333 (PC2700)

WinFast A340 T GeForce FX 5200 128MB DDR [Forceware 71.89]

Pioneer 16x DVD-106S

Creative Sound Blaster Live!

TDK MP100 Headphones/Creative PC Works Speakers

Windows XP SP1

 

===

 

Well the frame limiter set to OFF can increase FPS; especially noticeable in less graphically dense areas on my system, but at the expense of some possible graphics glitches - although smooth, I notice panning around quickly creates some corruption in the display.

 

Most people, I think, are running with Visual FX Quality set to 'Low', at least those of us with cheaper video cards. Frame rates vary on my system, though fog and rain don't seem to affect the FPS, while other users report they do on theirs. It's a mixed bag, that's for certain; the results and problems differing from PC to PC. Someone else pointed out that's the downside of having to develop for PC, the wide range of system configs as opposed to the single architecture of the PS2 or Xbox, and it's true.

 

The sound problems I had - missing, muffled, no sound - I fixed with the DirectX tweak, and I've had no problems since.

 

Today I had the third gta_sa.exe crash. The randomness of it makes me wonder if this is the program itself running a random check to see if the DVD is in the drive, and if not, crashes the game (I'm using HOODLUM's no-DVD patch on an authentic installation).