Messages

1

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / 8-Bit Paletted Textures failing in FF7... help! (also, some

« on: 2002-02-06 04:56:00 »

On 2002-02-04 18:27, ficedula wrote:
I suggest you use the NVidia patch because it works fine for *me* and you may be able to reduce the hard disk requirements using the registry edit I suggested.

Meh, don't worry... I'll be reformatting and repartitioning again some time this week. I didn't want to do it, but there's some stuff of mine that simply MUST be run in Windows9x, even after trying all the compatibility mode stuff.

On 2002-02-04 18:27, ficedula wrote:
As a side note, I've found the latest Radeon driver set to be fine. Unlike earlier ATI drivers (which were *notorious* for problems) the current ones work great for me, no problems at all.

Uhm, sorry... are you referring to the currently supported drivers or the new betas? The above quote uses too many pronouns to properly understand its context... at least to me it is.

2

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / 8-Bit Paletted Textures failing in FF7... help! (also, some

« on: 2002-02-04 19:59:00 »

On 2002-02-02 15:42, ficedula wrote:
No, Radeons *don't* AFAIK support 8-bit paletted. The hardware is probably capable but I'm saying I don't know of *any* drivers for it (for any OS) that support it. I could be wrong ... but that's what I've found. You simply can't get it so far as I know.

Crap. Would this be a hardware-related problem, or a driver-related problem? Meaning, is it a physical limitation of the card that has no chance of being changed, or is ATi's stupid support department to blame for releasing new drivers every two years or so on average?

I mean, Jesus... the latest supported WindowsXP Radeon driver was released on October 15, 2001. Yeah, I know there's the BETA drivers they released five days ago, but with ATi's reputation for buggy drivers, I'm really not willing to take the risk and put my trust in these completely unsupported, non-qualified drivers.

3

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / BIOS

« on: 2002-02-03 12:57:00 »

Look on your motherboard and on your BIOS chip, and write down any numbers you see on it. Then run the numbers on the motherboard through Google. I guarantee you'll find out what your motherboard is with that, since one of the numbers on your motherboard should be the model number. Then all you gotta do is search for those BIOS numbers on the motherboard manufacturer's website itself. Most websites should have a site search function, otherwise use Google's site searcher.

That's how I found out what BIOS and motherboard I had on my old refurb a while back, it should work for you too.

4

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / 8-Bit Paletted Textures failing in FF7... help! (also, some

« on: 2002-02-02 13:29:00 »

Gah... that was me. Forgot to log in, sorry.

Why is anonymous posting enabled, anyway? I don't really see a point in it... registration takes two minutes flat, and from an administration point of view, mandatory registration is good for cleaning out notorious spammers and trolls (read: banning.)

If Qhimm ever stepped down and left this message board in my hands (not friggin likely, I should imagine... but whatever), anonymous posting would be the first thing I'd disable.

5

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / 8-Bit Paletted Textures failing in FF7... help! (also, some

« on: 2002-02-02 06:53:00 »

Krrgh... damn WindowsXP (and Windows2000 for that matter), neither of those OSes seem to like cooperating with 8-Bit Paletted Textures. Windows95? Fine. Windows98? No problem. Something that involves NT? Yeah, right. Anyway, I'm not making this thread to rant... I'm here for help, of course. I'll need all the info you guys can throw at me about getting 8-Bit Paletted Textures to work in XP. Here's my system specs just in case you need 'em:

Processor: Intel Pentium III Slot 1 @ 550MHz
Motherboard: Spacewalker AV61 v1.4
Sound Card: Creative Labs Soundblaster PCI128
Video Card: ATi Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO
Memory: 128MB PC100 CAS3 SDRAM (Generic)
Monitor: Azura 17A+
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Yes, I have the latest drivers for my video card. Yes, I have the latest crap from Windows Update. Yes, I have the latest 4in1 drivers for my mobo. No, I will not play FF7 in software rendering.

Now it's time for me to brag... you may skip past this part if you don't care to hear my ramblings (and quite frankly, I don't blame you...)

I just bought and installed my ATi Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO today... and I experienced Unreal Tournament and Half-Life in hardware rendering for the first time in my life. There are not enough words in the English language available for me to express my pure amazement. Rockets have smoke trails? Blood can stick to walls? Explosions leave carbon ash stains on the floor? Wow. Just... wow. Heh... This card puts my old ATi Rage Pro to shame in so many categories it's not funny. GET OUTTA MY AGP SLOT, BIATCH! MAKE ROOM FOR YOUR NEW GOD.

I am in complete bliss with this new card of mine. Heaven on Earth, I tell you.
[edited] 269 2002-02-02 15:07

6

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Gather around, class, time for a Windows2000/WindowsXP trick

« on: 2002-01-29 10:29:00 »

On 2002-01-04 19:42, Joey wrote:
MSSS: MS so stupid.

MCSE: Must Consult Someone Else

7

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / AMD AthlonXP2300 vs P4 3000MHz

« on: 2002-01-29 10:27:00 »

On 2002-01-28 16:49, FFTactic_Boy wrote:
Please delete this topic. I double posted.

You can delete this topic yourself. Edit your thread post (meaning the post at the top of the page), and click on Delete This Post. Click submit, and it's all done.

Some people, I tell ya...
[edited] 269 2002-01-29 11:27

8

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / AMD AthlonXP2300 vs P4 3000MHz

« on: 2002-01-29 10:20:00 »

You people need to learn something... Tom is a stupid corporate whore. He'll say anything that'll make his sponsors happy, even if it's at the expense of those sponsors competitors. He uses his website's popularity and previously good reputation to try and brainwash people like yourselves into believing his insane nonsense.

He's not saying the P4 is a faster processor because of his "test results", or vice versa. He's saying it for his sponsors. They're PAYING HIM to pimp their products. And about those "test results"... I'd be willing to bet my schlong that no tests even occured, and any photos taken from his "tests" are just from when he pulled some spare parts out of a dusty cardboard box, made them look all nice for the camera, snapped some photos, applied the THG watermark to them, and there you have it, photos from the "test lab."

Don't get me wrong, THG used to be a good site... until Dr. Pabst let the money and popularity get to his head too much, that is. Just look at that article he did a while back about the overheating Athlon problem (as well as how Intel's chips didn't have this problem, of course), and how he said he SINGLE HANDEDLY notified AMD about this and SAVED THE COMPANY FROM DESTRUCTION. That's a damn lie, AMD had already known of the problems with the thermal diodes in their latest thunderbirds, and had already issued a recall of the chips before the said article was even posted on THG.

Oh, and did anyone notice that the above mentioned article showed pics of the AMD processors' HSF units being held on by holding clips? What friggin HSF units of those sizes use HOLDING CLIPS? Even if such beasts exist, I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to use them seeing as nearly EVERY motherboard has those holes around the processor sockets for fastening the holding brackets which the reliable HSF units use.

Well guys, it seems he's gone pro-AMD for now, but who's to say how long that'll last. I'd bet its probably proportional to whichever chip maker presents him with a better offer when he rolls out another article of pure bullshit.

Last but not least, don't double post. Click the submit button ONCE, and ONLY ONCE. Double clicking leads to lots of problems when doing pretty much anything on the web, especially online shopping, where you run the risk of getting double billed if you double click the submit button.

That is all.
[edited] 269 2002-02-06 06:08

9

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Gather around, class, time for a Windows2000/WindowsXP trick

« on: 2002-01-01 11:38:00 »

On 2001-12-18 11:40, Jari Huttunen wrote:

Eh? So, just about every Windoze Tweak site is already plagiarizing  you (or is it the other way around?), so why do you care what we do?

I'm talking about the guide itself, not the actual trick it covers. I mean the way it's worded, the layout, the context, THE GUIDE. The actual trick is technically owned by Microsoft, since they made the damn operating system in the first place.

And note that I said

If you like this tutorial, and want to copy it for someone else, make sure you give credit where it's due.

This does not mean

If you find this trick useful, and you think Microsoft Windows XP is for you, then Implicit Distrust's XP Mastermind Guide is the book for you! Get your credit card ready and call the number below, or send a check or money order for $450.95 to the address on your screen to get the new Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition AND the hardcover limited edition of Implicit Distrust's XP Mastermind Guide. Call within the next ten minutes and recieve the Microsoft Windows XP Plus! expansion pack (an $80.00 value) absolutely free! Supplies are extremely limited, so order now before it's too late... call now!

 
[edited] 269 2002-01-01 12:40

10

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Gather around, class, time for a Windows2000/WindowsXP trick

« on: 2001-12-18 13:34:00 »

Edit: I moved the guide up onto my website. Here's the URL: http://www3.sympatico.ca/you-oughta-know/BDA7DD/guides/bulkware.htm
[edited] 269 2002-01-29 11:28

11

General Discussion / microsoft: where do you want to get p*ssed today?

« on: 2001-12-15 21:11:00 »

Heheheh, I got the corporate edition of WindowsXP Professional for free from work, since I'm a technician and all... gotta love those employee benefits! If you're working in a tech related field, and your company is relatively large, chances are you can just ask your supervisor or administrator for a copy.

Otherwise, you're gonna have to get a bootleg.

12

General Discussion / FORUM MOVE COMPLETE

« on: 2001-12-14 03:06:00 »

On 2001-12-12 23:53, Joey wrote:
saint: Does spoiler mean a big black box?

Highlight the "big black box" with your mouse, Einstein.
[edited] 269 2001-12-14 04:06

13

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / FF7 in WindowsXP... am I missing something here?

« on: 2001-12-14 02:59:00 »

CRAP CRAP CRAP, WHY ISN'T MY LOGIN BEING COOKIED PROPERLY??? URRGH!!! AND WHY IN GOD'S NAME IS ANONYMOUS POSTING EVEN ENABLED IN THE FIRST PLACE??? WHAT'S THE FREAKIN' POINT OF IT ALL???

In conclusion, the above post is from me... damn this pointless anonymous posting garbage, and damn phpBB for not properly saving my login information.

The way I look at it, from an administrative point of view, anonymous posting should be disabled to prevent people from causing trouble. If you require everyone to sign up as a registered member, you can ban those people who want to start problems, and keep everyone in check to make sure no other problems start up. Anonymous posting is just asking for trouble in my opinion.
[edited] 269 2001-12-14 04:02

14

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / FF7 in WindowsXP... am I missing something here?

« on: 2001-12-12 05:16:00 »

I've successfully been able to get FF7 working in WindowsXP before... but now that I've reformatted my HD and reinstalled everything (after a repartitioning process gone horribly wrong), I can't get FF7 to work in WindowsXP anymore.

Before, I had just installed FF7 and it was working the moment I clicked on it's icon in the Start menu. No big deal... but now there's a problem. You see, the game works fine, it's just that none of the CG videos will play. This can be seen when the EIDOS and SquareSoft videos that display at the beginning are replaced with blank space. The CDROM activity light is not flickering, which leads me to believe that it's not even bothering to load the videos. Pressing the [OK] button gets me into the New Game/Continue screen, like it normally would.

Here's what I've done to try and get it working:

• Doing a Maximum Install (didn't need it before)
• Running in Windows95 and Windows98/Me compatibility modes (again, didn't need it before)
• Making sure I have everything from Windows Update (everything's done, everything's okay)
• Getting a priest to exorcize the demons from my computer.
• Browsing through some old porn mags I had almost forgotten about (okay, so this has nothing to do with this issue... sue me)[/list:u]
  
  However, there are two major changes I've done with my system. The first is that I'm now running WindowsXP on a FAT32 Primary Partition, as opposed to an NTFS Logical Partition like I had been doing before. The other is that I've overclocked my PIII from 550MHz to 605MHz.
  
  So... can anyone suggest anything else? There must be something I've missed. Any help is appreciated.

15

General Discussion / microsoft: where do you want to get p*ssed today?

« on: 2001-12-03 23:57:00 »

On 2001-12-03 18:18, Darkness wrote:
i have NO antivirus software.... bad thing?

I'm using an antiviral program... it's called "common sense of how to use a friggin' computer properly". I mean, really... the only reason viruses are created is to pick on the idiots who don't know jack about how to use their new Gateway systems. Unfortunately those same idiots are the vectors for spreading these viruses, often infecting the sensible and knowledgeable users through their careless and utterly stupid actions.

The way I see it, if there weren't any stupid people on the net, it would just be a waste of time for people to create viruses and worms, since they wouldn't get past our impenetrable security layer known as "common computer sense".
[edited] 269 2001-12-04 00:58

16

General Discussion / Possibly another forum move in progress...

« on: 2001-12-03 23:44:00 »

I pity the fool who don't got broadband!

Oh, and make sure you know what you're doing when setting up a server with a Cable/DSL connection. Make it so your ISP will have a hard time detecting it (such as putting it on a strange port number for HTTP instead of the standard 80), or else you'll probably get in shit for violating the ToS (most highspeed ISPs say you can't run a server as part of the ToS agreement).
[edited] 269 2001-12-04 00:45

17

General Discussion / Curiosity... did it kill the cat, or is the cat just faking

« on: 2001-12-03 23:38:00 »

On 2001-12-03 18:23, Darkness wrote:
i cant tell if that was an "i found it" or "i like useless spam"

I'm just acting crazy like the thread starter is. I hadn't read the other pages before I posted it, so I hadn't known that the topic got derailed into technical issues. My apologies.

18

General Discussion / Curiosity... did it kill the cat, or is the cat just faking

« on: 2001-12-03 03:25:00 »

19

Troubleshooting / Just a little suggestion for FF8MIDI...

« on: 2001-12-03 03:08:00 »

I know that Qhimm probably isn't working on FF8MIDI anymore, but just in case some programmer wants to impliment this with the source code, here's my suggestion.

First of all, you know how it's designed so you can listen to the MIDIs, but just not extract and play them? I know that's because of the soundfonts and stuff like that, but here's an idea that could let you extract them and play them perfectly.

Most of you probably know of the DiskWriter plugin for Winamp (comes preinstalled with the latest Winamp version), that lets you output whatever's being played to a WAV file on the hard drive. Why not use this kind of technology in FF8MIDI?

It won't exactly be an "extraction" per se, but more of just taking the data that would normally be outputted to the speakers and instead output it to a WAV file, just like the Winamp DiskWriter plugin does! Then if we wanted to, we could use those WAV files on an MP3 encoder to cut down on the filesize, and have our own FF8 soundtracks at our own specified bit rates and sampling rates.

So, anyone else agree with me on this? You think this would be a good idea? Most of all, are you a programmer that could possibly impliment this? If anyone can do this for me, you will be my new Jesus Christ. Thank you and good night.

20

Troubleshooting / Question?????

« on: 2001-12-02 08:07:00 »

On 2001-11-26 18:35, Aaron wrote:
You can probably find any Adobe program on Morpheus if you don't want to spend the money

Hey... I didn't say that.

Morpheus? BAH! I hardly ever bother with Morpheus/KaZaA anymore. First of all, they lie about it being a distributed network (it's centralized like KaZaA... because it's connecting to the SAME FRIGGIN SERVICE), they say it's better than the gNet (NOBODY downplays the gNet), and it takes me DAYS to download full length DivX movies on my DSL connection!

No thanks, I'm sticking to LimeWire and the gNet, thank you very much. Oh... and can't forget about good ol' USENET, if you're a serious pirate like myself, that's the place you should be going to. Filesharing networks are okay, but USENET almost always seems to prove better.
[edited] 269 2001-12-02 09:08

21

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Parts for my planned future computer... yay or nay? (I'm als

« on: 2001-12-02 00:27:00 »

ficedula: I'm always making those DOS boot menus, they rock. Once I'm done with them, I always just screw around with the menu colors to make it look nice. I've got that exact same setup on my old 486DX (I still have it, and I still use it, ph33r me), and the games boot has a submenu to choose between loading the CDROM drivers or not. I've got Windows 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups) instead of Windows 3.1, though.

Jedimark: With good money management and budgeting skills, a small part time job that pays a little over $7.00/hour, and a hell of a lot of resistance to the tempation to splurge, I've saved up this much money in just a few months.

I've decided to make a few changes. Here they are, in no particular order:

• Motherboard changed to the Soyo K7M DRAGON Plus. The six channel onboard CMI 8738 audio is probably what convinced me to switch, the EPoX only has AC-97 (which sucks). Plus it's got a smartcard reader and onboard LAN. Although, there's one less PCI slot than the EPoX 8KHA+, but I think five slots will be enough for me.
• Thermal Paste changed to Arctic Alumina.
• Took the Gravis Eliminator Aftershocks off the list after I tried one at my friend's house. It's okay... but it follows the same Gravis Gamepad tradition of making the DPAD horribly flimsy and loose. I'm already pissed off about the loose DPAD in my dual Gamepad Pros, I don't want this problem with my new gamepads.
• Removed the DVD Decoder card from the list. My sound card and the motherboard's onboard audio support SPDIF, and as ficedula said, that should compensate just fine.[/list:u]
  

22

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Parts for my planned future computer... yay or nay? (I'm als

« on: 2001-11-30 21:35:00 »

On 2001-11-30 15:16, Jedimark wrote:
Is that the kinda pay you get when your a Configuration Technician then!!

Actually, I don't get paid... this is a high school level co-op placement, so I'm not even allowed to be paid according to the school's regulations.

23

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Motherboards

« on: 2001-11-30 15:47:00 »

On 2001-11-29 22:36, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
I know.  I'm the one who recommended it to you over at FFA.

Hunh? You're at FFAlpha? You must be using another username... wait, I just noticed some guy named Orlandu who suggested it... his sig is "404 - Sig Not Found"... now I get it! You and Orlandu are one in the same!

On 2001-11-29 22:36, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
My old mobo was an AGP 4x.  DDR RAMs some great stuff.

Oh, that explains it

On 2001-11-29 22:36, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
Heh heh . . . I know all about the wonders of ghost.  It's especially good when you have a network full of computers with the same hardware.

You probably already know this, but if you've got a WindowsNT/2000/XP machine Ghosted, make sure you use Ghostwalker to regenerate the SID. Otherwise, those computers can be detected as illegal copies.

24

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Motherboards

« on: 2001-11-29 22:51:00 »

You've made a wise choice with the EPoX! They make some damn good boards, and I'm gonna get the 8KHA+ for my new PC later on once I get enough money to buy all the parts for it.

On 2001-11-12 23:08, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
I ended up having to 'repair' (basically, reinstall over top) Win2K.  It would get to the point where the Windows 2000 splash screen should appear, and restart.  Other than that I didn't have any issues using the board for the first night.

It's always best to just do a format and reinstall when changing your mobo. Using the HD without a clean format can lead to some problems.

On 2001-11-12 23:08, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
So far, everything's running good.  I haven't noticed any speed increase on ePSXe or Project64, but ZSNES runs faster with Super 2xSai turned on (before I had to run regular 2xSai.)

Soldier of Fortune, which used to run slightly choppy, now runs extremely smooth.  I'm HOPING the FF8 World map runs smooth now (didn't get a chance to test it out yet.)

That's kind of strange that you got a speed increase in your graphics, seeing as the bottleneck for graphics performance these days is the video card. Unless you've got an AGP 4× video card and your old mobo only supported AGP 2×, then that would be a different story.

On 2001-11-12 23:08, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
Only quirky issues I have- I can't seem to get the on board sound chip, which is basically for backward compatibility with DOS games, to play through my SBLive!  This is probably something I'm doing wrong, as I have no real idea how to connect 2 sound cards.  I always assumed you hooked them together with a CD-audio cable through their Auxilary connectors.  Also, the board doesn't seem to have an Auto-power off.  Win2K just goes to the "It is now safe to turn your computer off" screen.

Don't disable any of the sound (either in the BIOS or device manager), there's a better way to do it. Get a Male-Male audio cable (I'm assuming your sound cards use 3.3mm jacks) and connect the Speaker Out of the not-so-good card to the Line In port on the good card. Go into your volume properties and make sure that Line In isn't muted on your good card.

Then go into the audio properties, choose the good card from the drop down menus (for recording and for playback), but make sure that "Use Only Preferred Devices" is DISABLED. If it's enabled, the other card can't do anything. Last but not least, test everything out and make sure your volume settings are set properly (you don't want it to be too loud.)

On 2001-11-27 23:15, TiadaghtonDude wrote:
Ghost came with my new motherboard, so I am planning on making an image of my hard drive once I get the new one.  That way I'll always have a good ghost of a clean, freshly installed system.  (I'll just have to back up my files the old way.  Not a big deal.)

Ghost > God. Definitely ghost your HD, you wouldn't believe how many times it's came in handy for me. When you ghost your HD, what you gotta do is first format your HD, then install the OSes you want. Install your games, Internet Explorer, service packs and critical updates, etc., but don't install any drivers for your hardware. Instead, use SysPrep for the drivers, and put that into your ghost image. Remember: Ghost for software, SysPrep for hardware.
[edited] 269 2001-11-29 23:56

25

Scripting and Reverse Engineering / Parts for my planned future computer... yay or nay? (I'm als

« on: 2001-11-29 20:50:00 »

Threesixty... wouldn't that just take up resources in Windows by loading all those DOS drivers at startup? If I were you I'd just put all my DOS startup commands in DOSSTART.BAT and choose Restart in MSDOS Mode from Windows's shut down menu whenever I'm playing my DOS games. That frees up a hell of a lot of resources, believe me.

Seph3D, I did take a look at the cases... they don't look like aluminum to me.

My uncle just recently got a cordless freedom optical, so I'll talk to him and see if he's got any issues with it. This is just for a second opinion, I'm not doubting you or anything, don't worry. And for the DVD burning, I'll be making VCDs with good ol' DivX (best codec I've ever seen), not burning them onto DVD-R(w) discs.
[edited] 269 2001-11-30 16:28