Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Complete Idiot's Guide?

I

IAmDumb

New member
Hi all,

As my username replies, I am pretty much retarded about certain areas of computers... the use of emulators appears to be one of them. I sincerely apoligize for being the idiot "newb" that plagues message boards such as these, but I'm on a serious nostalgia binge, and I wanted to feed my addiction with some Zelda and Harvest Moon.

I downloaded PJ64 some time ago, and I attempt to play certain ROMs that I got from 'somewhere'. Certain problems arise, which I'll state below.

*My FPS starts extremely high, at like 143 or so, then drops to about 50 during the startup video, then by the time I get to playing, it crawls at about 20. It leaps around sporatically, and never really gets to a level where I can comfertably play.
*The sound is always choppy, for every game I try.
*The usage for my CPU goes to 100%, always.

Though I am not very knowledgable about computer specs, I have 60 GBs on my hard disk (30 free) and 512 MB of RAM. Beyond that I'm clueless. My system settings have been adjusted so that it is optimized for preformance.

Does anyone know what I should do, or perhaps have any suggestions? If you do, I would be eternally grateful.

:party:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Modem

Modem

ph33r teh hammy!
You really shouldn't mention where you get the roms (will likely get yelled at). Other than that, you can find most any question you have using the search button. Trust me, 90%+ if your questions will get answered that way. :)
 
D

DarkSoul

New member
id like to add this about your 100% useage, im having this problem too, and it isnt related to pj64, this is something to do with my computer, and it may be the same case in yours. and due to my situation, i believe that the choppy audio is ENTIRELY caused by the high CPU usage. like i said ive been having the same prob, and when my CPU useage is low, the audio is about 98%. when this shit happens and my CPU useage jumps my audio goes right through the window. you could also try using a different audio plugin and setting the audio buffer as high as it can go.
make sure "Sync game to audio" (Not all plugins) is turned OFF, or your game will match the speed of your audio.

my CPU useage stays fairly low all the time, but at random times when i do certain things, it leaps to 100% and nothing i close can fix it. i find that when i swtich back and forth between windowed and full screen this happens, also if im switching and changing settings.

this MIGHT be your situation as well.

Frame Rates: i dont know if this will help out with the low frame rates, but under the "System" menu select "Limit FPS" this will stop the FPS from going above 60 FPS.

also try using a different plguin for video.

plugins are easy to use... painless actually.
 
OP
I

IAmDumb

New member
Well, I have an update...

It seems the new update immediately righted all wrongs. It runs perfectly... steady at 60 FPS. The audio is smooth and the cpu usage even went down. Amazing...

Thanks for your help guys.
 
OP
I

IAmDumb

New member
Smiff said:
er.. what update? :)
Click to expand...

oops... i meant the newer version of PJ64. The copy my friend sent me was 1.5.

However, I spoke too soon, it seems. Same stuff keeps happening. Choppy audio, screen flashes to blacvk frequently, and when gameplay starts. the FPS drops like a rock. Limit FPS doesn't work.

And yes, I've tried the search feature... no luck so far.
 
ScottJC

ScottJC

At your service, dood!
If you want to find out your computers spec, try the following, click the start button, then click "Run...", now type in DxDiag and hit enter. DirectX Diagnostic program will now be on your screen.

Here's a shot I took, i've highlighted the areas on your DirectX diagnostics that are of interest to us. Click Graphics or the Sound Tab and it'll tell you what graphics card you have or sound card.
 
Last edited:
OP
I

IAmDumb

New member
Ok, here's the information I got from Direct X.

It appears most of my specs are in line with what is recommended by the user manual, but I have no idea about my sound card. It is the stock I got from Dell with my PC, so there's a good chance its vastly obsolete.
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/1/2005, 13:10:18
Machine name:
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Inspiron 9100
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A02
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 287MB used, 960MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700 AGP (0x4E50)
DAC type: Internal DAC(350MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E50&SUBSYS_51021028&REV_00
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Default Monitor
-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: SigmaTel Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24D5&SUBSYS_01591028&REV_02
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: stac97.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.3887.0000 (English)
---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: SigmaTel Audio
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: stac97.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.3887.0000 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 11/7/2003 16:23:58, 248752 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x41
Format Flags: 0xCC0
------------------
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
elitemperor

elitemperor

Master Mariokarter
yea once you try updating the drivers, it works like a charm. also, did you check to see if limit FPS is on? that miight stop the HUGE spikes in FPS.
 
OP
I

IAmDumb

New member
thanks for the links. though for some reason, the video driver doesn't download properly. Is there any other driver compatible with ATI?
 
Modem

Modem

ph33r teh hammy!
Link seems to work fine for me. 880kb/sec from that place. Did you try the "if the download doesn't start click on the link" thing?

Or does the driver not install properly?
 
OP
I

IAmDumb

New member
Modem said:
Link seems to work fine for me. 880kb/sec from that place. Did you try the "if the download doesn't start click on the link" thing?

Or does the driver not install properly?
Click to expand...

it didn't install properly.

After I run the setup executible file, and it extracts everything, the installer runs. Then, it says INF Error. Video driver not found.

That one confused me a bit...
 
OP
I

IAmDumb

New member
ScottJC said:
You might be installing the wrong drivers, yours is an ATI mobility, try this one:
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=19546
Click to expand...

dead link... :homestar: but i appreciate the help.

i also have a random question... for some reason, when I'm trying to enter my keyboard commands for the controller plugin, most of the commands are cut off by the window. There's no maximize or resize option.. so that's a little weird.

And thanks for the prompt answers to all my questions... :bouncy:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top