sound.dll--help? - Alpha Centauri Forums

  Alpha Centauri Forums
  Support and Troubleshooting
  sound.dll--help?

profile | register | prefs | faq | search

Author Topic:   sound.dll--help?

Ishamael posted 06-06-99 12:38 AM ET
Sorry if you have heard about this before, but I scanned down for many days and didn't see anything that looked like this. After getting 3.0 patch (I kept the file, didn't delete it yet) I noticed quickly (not certain if immediately) that the voices at tech advances started sounding scratchy or staticy. The other sounds may have been the same way, but it is harder to tell. After awhile (several hours perhaps) I got constant errors to sound.dll. These were illegal ops. that forced SMAC to close. After a while I got sick and re-executed the update, just to see if something went wrong the first time. The odd thing was that it restarted with the static and no illegals for a little while before it started forcing me out again.
It is late, and I can't get at my system or sound card info right now. I can say this much about it, and if you need it reply with more details, my computer is a Win98 Dell bought Dec. 98. Not DVD, but other than that pretty up to date for what was offered then.
I can get you more system or sound card info later if you need it. Mainly I wanted to know if this was something I could fix currently or if I would need to wait for a patch to fix it. Ultimately I uninstalled SMAC and re-installed V 1 off my CD and have had no sound problems since.
ANY official feedback would be appreciated, or anyone else who had and fixed this bug. If you want I can copy and paste the illegal opp. errors (would d'load the patch and put it on again). If I remember and heard correctly, the static SEEMED to occur only on the voices. The errors, however, were caused by anything and unpredictably, mind worms, unity pod exploration, technology quotes, automated movement little blips, anything. I hope providing such specific reports on the nature of the problem can compensate for lack of technical data. If you need that, though, say so and I can provide.
MichaeltheGreat posted 06-06-99 01:04 AM ET
There was a post about sound problems some time ago, with some replies by Jeffrey Morris of Firaxis. There are problems with some soundcards, and I don't know the specifics. Maybe others on here can help you, but I know that some specific issues have occured with the 3.0 patch. I find that I get scratchy voices and sounds later in the game on one machine, but not on another where I have 768 Meg of RAM and Windows VM turned off. The scratchy sound may be a separate RAM or SMAC config related problem, separate from the illegal errors.
Depending on how much RAM you use, you may have find MemTurbo (www.MemTurbo.com) to be helpful - it is a memory defragmenter, if you haven't heard of it, and very useful.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 06-07-99 08:37 AM ET
What's the soundcard? It think most consumer level Dell's ship with Turtle Beach Montegos, which do have some DS3D problems with SMAC. Try setting the EAX and DS3D entries in the alpha centauri.ini file to 0, or renaming the sound.dll to sound.dl_.
jkm
firaxis games
Ishamael posted 06-08-99 02:19 PM ET
sorry it took so long to reply
you are correct about my sound card
I didn't find what you were reffering to in "alpha centauri.ini". Most of it seemed to merely reflect back on the preferences menu. Would this be there?
Changing the sound.dll to sound.dl_ took all sound out of Alpha Centauri. Or did you want me to change it before running the update so that it would remain unchanged?
I played Alpha Centauri a while after updating, and the sounds are just now starting to get static with any consistency. I haven't had an illegal op. yet, but if it is like before there will probably be one soon.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 06-08-99 02:28 PM ET
If you've applied either v2 or v3, at the top of the alpha centauri.ini file you'll see EAX=1 and DS3D=1. Those are the ones you'll want to switch to 0.
jkm
firaxis games
Ishamael posted 06-09-99 12:23 AM ET
thanks a lot. For some reason i didn't see them before, maybe I forgot to close the window from when I loaded it up before patching.
BTW, another sign that showed something had been wrong was that when I first loaded SMAC there was a funny noise and it showed the little load screen w/ the logo that looks like non-linear math picture. However, there was what looked like a part of another logo cut on top of it, all I could see was an "A." This did not occur either with version 1, when I lost all sound from renamin sound.dll, or after I changed the values.
Just to close, the problem has been solved, I just thought I would provide you with more information on it. I don't know what could be useful at your end. Thanks again.
To close this thread, click here (moderator or admin only).


Hop to:

Contact Us | Alpha Centauri Home

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Version 5.18
© Madrona Park, Inc., 1998.

Author	Topic: sound.dll--help?
Ishamael	posted 06-06-99 12:38 AM ET Sorry if you have heard about this before, but I scanned down for many days and didn't see anything that looked like this. After getting 3.0 patch (I kept the file, didn't delete it yet) I noticed quickly (not certain if immediately) that the voices at tech advances started sounding scratchy or staticy. The other sounds may have been the same way, but it is harder to tell. After awhile (several hours perhaps) I got constant errors to sound.dll. These were illegal ops. that forced SMAC to close. After a while I got sick and re-executed the update, just to see if something went wrong the first time. The odd thing was that it restarted with the static and no illegals for a little while before it started forcing me out again. It is late, and I can't get at my system or sound card info right now. I can say this much about it, and if you need it reply with more details, my computer is a Win98 Dell bought Dec. 98. Not DVD, but other than that pretty up to date for what was offered then. I can get you more system or sound card info later if you need it. Mainly I wanted to know if this was something I could fix currently or if I would need to wait for a patch to fix it. Ultimately I uninstalled SMAC and re-installed V 1 off my CD and have had no sound problems since. ANY official feedback would be appreciated, or anyone else who had and fixed this bug. If you want I can copy and paste the illegal opp. errors (would d'load the patch and put it on again). If I remember and heard correctly, the static SEEMED to occur only on the voices. The errors, however, were caused by anything and unpredictably, mind worms, unity pod exploration, technology quotes, automated movement little blips, anything. I hope providing such specific reports on the nature of the problem can compensate for lack of technical data. If you need that, though, say so and I can provide.
MichaeltheGreat	posted 06-06-99 01:04 AM ET There was a post about sound problems some time ago, with some replies by Jeffrey Morris of Firaxis. There are problems with some soundcards, and I don't know the specifics. Maybe others on here can help you, but I know that some specific issues have occured with the 3.0 patch. I find that I get scratchy voices and sounds later in the game on one machine, but not on another where I have 768 Meg of RAM and Windows VM turned off. The scratchy sound may be a separate RAM or SMAC config related problem, separate from the illegal errors. Depending on how much RAM you use, you may have find MemTurbo (www.MemTurbo.com) to be helpful - it is a memory defragmenter, if you haven't heard of it, and very useful.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 06-07-99 08:37 AM ET What's the soundcard? It think most consumer level Dell's ship with Turtle Beach Montegos, which do have some DS3D problems with SMAC. Try setting the EAX and DS3D entries in the alpha centauri.ini file to 0, or renaming the sound.dll to sound.dl_. jkm firaxis games
Ishamael	posted 06-08-99 02:19 PM ET sorry it took so long to reply you are correct about my sound card I didn't find what you were reffering to in "alpha centauri.ini". Most of it seemed to merely reflect back on the preferences menu. Would this be there? Changing the sound.dll to sound.dl_ took all sound out of Alpha Centauri. Or did you want me to change it before running the update so that it would remain unchanged? I played Alpha Centauri a while after updating, and the sounds are just now starting to get static with any consistency. I haven't had an illegal op. yet, but if it is like before there will probably be one soon.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 06-08-99 02:28 PM ET If you've applied either v2 or v3, at the top of the alpha centauri.ini file you'll see EAX=1 and DS3D=1. Those are the ones you'll want to switch to 0. jkm firaxis games
Ishamael	posted 06-09-99 12:23 AM ET thanks a lot. For some reason i didn't see them before, maybe I forgot to close the window from when I loaded it up before patching. BTW, another sign that showed something had been wrong was that when I first loaded SMAC there was a funny noise and it showed the little load screen w/ the logo that looks like non-linear math picture. However, there was what looked like a part of another logo cut on top of it, all I could see was an "A." This did not occur either with version 1, when I lost all sound from renamin sound.dll, or after I changed the values. Just to close, the problem has been solved, I just thought I would provide you with more information on it. I don't know what could be useful at your end. Thanks again.