3Dfx trouble with [mac]->please read

[blood_red_carpet]

i hope this is an easy one for ya. i have a g4, 350mhz, os 8.6, 128 ram an UT ver 413. i just got the voodoo3 3000pci and downloaded the beta 12 drivers. i unpacked the file and placed the prefs in the prefs folder .then(here is part of the problem) the read me said take the FOUR(4) extentions and put them in the extions folder. i had SIX(6) extentions. so i put them all in the extentions folder. i ran the rom and entered the file name and saved the pc rom just in case (yada yada yada) and i restarted.
ALL good? it seems yes... but when i run UT and then change the driver (which restarts the game) i get to the choose driver screen and check off 3dfx and hit continue (HERE IS THE PROBLEM!!!) the intro to UT quickly flashs on and then the screen goes black(once it was a nice green white black vert stripe look) no sound.. nothing.. freeze.. crash.. or what ever.. i have to hit the restart button. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!!!!\
please help a geek out so he can get back to fragging!!
thanks in advance,
nate

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[Little-Zen]

I'm not much of a mac guy, just so you know, but I think I know enough where I can offer up some half-decent suggestions.

did it say which four extensions, or did it just say "the four extensions"? it's possible that one of them might be causing some kind of conflict.

Also, does it happen on your other games as well? And lastly, is this for OpenGL and Glide?

I *AM* The Little Zen Companion!

 

[blood_red_carpet]

no it just said four, no specifics.
here are the extentions givin:
-3Dfx glidelib2.x
-3Dfx glidelib3.x
-3Dfx graphics accelerator
-3Dfx hardware recource manager
-3Dfx open gl renderer
-3Dfx rave

because i have a voodoo3 3000 i tried it w/o the glidelib2.x file but same problem happened. i dont know what open gl and glide and rave mean so i cant help you on the last question. and i dont really have any other games that reqire a graphics accelerator.

so i hope that helps.
b-r-c

ape shall not kill ape

 

[Little-Zen]

Well, lemme give you a crash course here on 3D stuff. ;-)

the glidelib2 and glidelib3, and openGL renderer are for different APIs (Application Programming Interface is what that stands for I think, basically its how the graphics are displayed).

See, there are three ways of displaying graphics in hardware-accelerated 3D. OpenGL is a standard that works on any platform, Mac, Windows, Linux, BeOS, whatever. Glide is specifically made for 3dfx-based cards (voodoo 2s, Banshee, etc), and then there's Direct3D, which is windows-based.

There are 2 versions of Glide, Glide 2 and Glide 3. Different programs use different versions, and while I'm not sure what the differences are, that's what those two extensions are. ;-)

The "graphics accelerator" and "hardware resource manager" are standard extensions for the card.

Now, "Rave" - that one throws me off. I have no idea if it's a different kind of API or something else.

So, in an attempt to solve the problem, let me ask - where did you download the drivers for the card from? I didn't see them listed on 3dfxgamers, so I can only assume that they're "unofficial" beta drivers.

I *AM* The Little Zen Companion!

 

[blood_red_carpet]

i am pretty sure rave is a mac only api. the rave read me said it is a used for some MAC games that require it.
i did get the driver from 3dfx and it is a beta driver. i know beta drivers can have problems but its the only thing i could use. from what i hear,converting these voodoo PC boards to mac is a common move for any serious mac gamer. and because i have a new machine i thought it would be easy. i read it is easier to install in a mac than a pc ;b i am trying the 3dfx forums but no response yet. thank you again for lending a hand , every bit helps.
nate

 

[Deathbuster]

I dunno if this'll help or not, but you select to use RAVE if you have an ATI Rage 128 or ATI Rage Pro 3D graphics accelerator card. If you dont have that card then I guess there's really no use for you to have that extension in your extensions folder, as it can, and usually will, conflict with other extensions specifically used in conjuction with other 3D graphic accelerator cards. So my best advice is to get that 3Dfx RAVE extension out of your extensions folder, and if that does not seem to work, then um, I dunno what to say. Just give it a try. I have a feeling that it *MIGHT* work!

Time is never wasted when you're wasted all the time.

 

[Deathbuster]

Oh yeah, also take out that OpenGL extension too. =)

Time is never wasted when you're wasted all the time.

 

[Deathbuster]

Oh yeah, also take out that OpenGL extension too. =)

Time is never wasted when you're wasted all the time.

 

[LagMonster]

RAVE is the mac equivilent of Direct3D, except it's defunct and is being replaced by OpenGL. I beleive RAVE actually existed for sometime before DirectX/D3D, though it's hard to be certain. RAVE exists for Windows as Quickdraw3D.

As for the 3DFX problem. My hunch is that the ROM is bad. Try flashing and reinstalling the Mac 3DFX ROM again and see if that fixes it. I doubt if removing the RAVE and OpenGL extensions would do much good since they're loaded on demand, not at startup. I guess it couldn't hurt though.

Dustin

 

[blood_red_carpet]

thanks guys ! every bit of info helps. i am still trying to get this working and i will try your suggestions now. i was on the 3dfx home page and read that i may be out of frequency because voodoo3 needs 75mhz, where as i was at 85mhz. but i changed this and i still didnt get it working. i get more info here though than i do at the 3dfx forums! UT gamers united to lend a hand.... its a beautiful thing. maybe its the spirit of the independance day here but i am tearing up.

b-r-c

 

[blood_red_carpet]

i tried the extention mix and match but no improvement. i did run the ROMflash again and entered the "3dfx-v3-3000.img" when it asked for the rom name. is this right? anyway i ran UT and i was surprised to see the intro on my screen with no crash! so i get all excited and start a practice session and not even 10 seconds after i start the game(after the load) the game carshes and i hear the music but do not see the game and i had to reset. i tried once more to see if it was still messed and again, 10secs and BAM green/black stripes...reset..
what does flash mean? i hear ROM flash and i have no idea. how do i know if mine is flashing. i read in a FAQ that some v3 3000 pci have a ****ed chip that does not enable to flash the rom on a mac and that you need to get a new card. how can i tell if mine works?
thnks
nate

 

[Little-Zen]

Rom "flashing" is the process of updating the information on a ROM chip. ROM stands for read-only memory, but some chips (like those that store a BIOS) are "flash memory" which can be updated via a simple program.

As for the thing about the Voodoo 3 incompatibilities, well, that's very possible... did the FAQ where you read it say how to identify the card, or provide any links to it? Honestly it's news to me.

I *AM* The Little Zen Companion!

 

[blood_red_carpet]

i was just about to send the card back when i remembered i did not yank the ATI rage drivers from the extentions. so i did this and the lasted for about 5 min before crashing again. so i was obviously bummed. so i took a break for a day and then tried it again. i immediately (sp?) changed all the details to low or medium (they were all on high) and then started a game...i went through 3 games with no problem and then turned the details back up to high...still working. so for now i have fixed it but i will still be running more tests to see if anything initiates a crash. thanks for all of your help.
b-r-c

ape shall not kill ape

 

[blood_red_carpet]

PS---> i got rid of the beta 12 drivers and hooked up the beta11 drivers

ape shall not kill ape

 

[Little-Zen]

well, good to hear it's working! enjoy!

I *AM* The Little Zen Companion!