The Gaming Den

Well, I can't play Heroes of Might & Magic 5 anymore; I've reached a stage in campaign mode (The Refugees) where it will assuredly crash during toward the end of the level during the computer's turn. I can't seem to find any real advice online to fix it, seeming to generally place it in the category of "stinks to be you" because the computer isn't running Windows 2000/XP.

Stahlseele, you don't need to install Windows 8 anymore in the transition to 10. You can use the latest version of the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool ( http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209 ) to install a fresh copy of 10 directly, and the authentication servers should accept win7/8 keys as valid. If the automated service doesn't work you can also activate by phone, which isn't particularly difficult either.

How is it that an OEM machine has SATA on the motherboard, but only Molex on the PSU?

Disks usually fail to burn because the continuity of the writing process was interrupted somehow. Frequently it happens because the burn data cache in RAM bottomed out for a moment. A modern machine should have sufficient specs to make this a non-occuring problem, but if you're burning invalid disks, try again and leave the machine alone completely while it's working.

Also, discmgmt has a GUI. You don't need to operate it from the command line (which is what a text-based shell is called, fyi, DOS is an operating system unto itself and its last Windows release was with ME), you can just just run it.

So I've actually been suffering for at least a year now, if not several, from a problem with my computer, but I've gotten so used to it that I almost forgot it was a problem.

My computer works perfectly fine right now. If it reboots for any reason (windows update, a manual shutdown, whatever) then for some reason that I cannot possibly figure out, my computer becomes incapable of running DirectX 11 and reverts to 10. Then, if I reinstall drivers, it works again. In all other respects the computer is fine, it can run DirectX 10 games with high graphical requirements no problem. It can't run even the minorest DirectX 11. Somehow rebooting the computer reverts DirectX for no discernible reason.

I've done google searches and never found any useful advice. (Really, uninstall and reinstall my drivers? That's not a solution I could even imagine attempting when an explicit part of my problem involves multiple me explaining how I reinstall drivers.)

What symptoms brought this to your attention? Do DirectX 11-enabled programs refuse to run, run in software mode, or run without DX11 features? Which graphics card do you have?

Eikre wrote:What symptoms brought this to your attention? Do DirectX 11-enabled programs refuse to run, run in software mode, or run without DX11 features? Which graphics card do you have?

I think I might have had this problem before I changed graphics card.

The symptoms that brought this to my attention over a year ago is the same symptom that pissed me off today causing my post this. Games which use DirectX 11 don't function. They give different errors, but it happens to all of them and if I google the problems (sometimes I forget about this issue and wonder why a new game doesn't work) it always says "that's the error you get if you don't have a DirectX 11 graphics card" and then I remember the problem and reinstall my drivers and it works until the next time my computer restarts.

Yeah I don't think the problem is with the drivers, but reinstalling them is likely forcing desirable behavior because it's starting the drivers outside of the boot sequence. If the APIs aren't being invoked properly it is likely something to do with their installation or registration. DX is a versioning nightmare with strange legacy stacking and way, way too many compilations than they would have you believe so I'm not really shocked.

You can try to brute force it by wiping all the versions of DX you've got and reinstalling them somehow, but I'd still be interested to learn what specific GPU you're running.

@Eikre
i have no fucking clue whos clever idea it was to put an only molex psu into a sata system. but there it is. IDE and sata, and the PSU only does molex.

so i could just try to use the media creation tool to make me a win10 iso or USB stick and use that to directly install using the win8 key?


also:
my luck with tech keeps going.
today, finally got my new tablet pc . .
and the display is shot -.-

Precisely.

i'll try and give that a go then.
thank you for the information.

Thank you Eikre.
It works. It's installing Win10 using the Win8.1 key i have right now.

oh come on!
now, AFTER installing, it tells me the key i bought is invalid -.-

And now, after DAYS of cursing i have the old computer up and running, using Win10 on an SSD . . fucking hell x.x

The Gremlins continue:
Now my big rig is acting up.
I am using a combined Sound/Network card.
Both my Speakers and my LAN Cable are connected to it.
I can, as you see, access the Interwebs just fine.
But not hear any audio anymore.
Because Windumb is telling me, that the fucking card is not there anymore.
Neither the soundcard nor the network interface card bit.
Fuck. Computers. Sideways. With a Blowtorch!

I fucking hate computers.
came home, no internet on computer anymore because of aforementioned problem probably.
shut down computer, removed the combined NIC/sound card.
push power, fans spin up, fans spin down, no boot.
try again. same problem . .
re insert NIC/soundcard.
push power. computer boots.
this is like chewbaka on endor!
IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE!

Aaand now my computer is telling me, that it is -63° Celsius on the motherboard . .

Who the hell makes a combined sound and network card? Chirst, dude, PCs aren't the problem, the weird post-soviet knockoff shit that you're building yours out of is the problem. You're like a guy going elbow-deep into the electrical system of the '67 Alfa he uses as a daily driver, yelling, "I hate automobiles!!!!!"

Socket 2011 Asrock X79 Extreme 9
That is not something i would describe as weird post-soviet knockoff shit.
And the combined sound/network card came with the board, so i might just as well use it.

okay, I just looked up that model, and that's weird as fuck. That said...use the LAN connection on the motherboard, not the expansion card. Buy an external USB sound card (Creative makes a couple good ones). Or a name brand internal card. But this whole 'sound/NIC combo card' is just madness.

And next time...buy a mobo with INTEGRATED sound and networking. Asrock isn't an unknown company (I prefer Asus and Gigabyte, but Asrock is reasonably solid), but by the Surly Beard of Mrifk, that board you've got is bizarre.

That i will freely admit was part of its charme at the time <.<

MSI also makes a decent motherboard.

While that is probably true, i am having trouble finding ANY replacement Socket 2011 Boards with x79 chipset.
Actually FOR SALE All i can find are the not compatible 2011-3 boards.

When i built this system about 2 years ago, there were dozends such boards to be had for reasonable prices (200-400€), now i am looking at less than a hand full different boards with the non µ-itx starting at 400€ <.<

Hadanelith wrote:I prefer Asus and Gigabyte

Don't buy gigabyte.

Stahlseele wrote:While that is probably true, i am having trouble finding ANY replacement Socket 2011 Boards with x79 chipset.

Yes. That is because they sold all of them already, and then stopped making more. Doing business in that old hardware is an infrequent prospect, so stocking it requires a higher margin of profit to be worthwhile.

But this economic reality means that the part you own also carries a higher price, if you care to find a buyer. List it on ebay for a hundred bucks and buy yourself an equivalent Haswell suite.

Yeah, but i could not with good conscience sell this defective board.
The southbridge got up to 80° celsius on occassion, when the temperature sensor was still working properly.
And i don't suspect it to run cooler now, so it will still get as hot but it will not tell that to anybody, and also not increase cooling power to the component either. So it will probably burn through sooner rather than later.

And this was the first board where i did not go with Asus.
I am going straight back to Asus, never had any problem with them <.<

I wasn't talking about selling the board. I was talking about selling the processor. The temperature is still fine on all your cores, right? Your only problem seems to be with I/O?

I do imagine that your motherboard's thermometer is fucked, but if you're curious, it likely reported a negative number as a result of signed underflow, and not merely because it became detached from all reason. It's common for thermal sensors to determine heat by calculating a delta from a fixed value. For example, if you're running at 80 degrees, your sensor might recognize that as being 20 degrees fewer than 100. And then, when your heat-sink suddenly falls off and the temperature spikes to 110, the sensor will recognize it as... Ten degrees more than 100? No, the format is "X subtracted from 100." So, 110 degrees is negative ten degrees fewer than 100.

Well, okay. Let's subtract 1010 from 0000 0000. Well, we can subtract in the one's place, but in the twos place we need to take 1 out of 0, so we'll just increment this value and then borrow from a left-hand digits. All of them are 0 until we get to the 512's place, which doesn't exist. Perfect. We deincrement the null value from null to null and then subtract the rest of our shit from 1111 1100; it ends up being 1111, 0110. Wait, 246? Ha, ha, no. Of course not. We anticipated a need for negative numbers, and the left-hand digit is a negative sign. So, this number's absolute value is actually 118. Excellent. It then follows that if the temperature is -10 degrees fewer than 100, then the temperature is -18 degrees!

Since calculating very large deltas introduces greater inaccuracy than smaller ones, a thermal sensor is generally pinned to a temperature that is actually relevant to the use case, like the maximum acceptable value. The ones on your motherboard are likely set lower than the 100c they use for processors. If it was calculating the delta from 60c, for example, then you would only need five degrees more than than to get back a value of -63. But, like I said: maximum values. Whatever the actual temperature is, it's probably still too much.

i am going to admit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1DNtTIua6I

And the PROBLEM is the Temperature Sensor OF THE SOUTHBRIDGE/CHIPSET/MAINBOARD itself.
The CPU-Temperature is still detected just fine and even under load does not get much above 50 due to AIO Watercooling with a 280mm radiator . .

Then, absolutely, pitch the mobo, and sell the processor in good conscience.

Eikre: thanks for the heads-up, I was not aware of that. Right then, ASUS or MSI. I personally like ASUS boards, as I've used a bunch and never had trouble with them (I have had them die on me, but always after years of service, so I'm not terribly fussed about it).