some in-game texts are fuzzy

blix9 · Jun 23, 2002, 02:41 AM

People out there, read this through and help me plz.
I have Abit nForce board(without onboard video) and R8500 128MB retail.
I am having strange problem that no one seems to have.
In game texts are fuzzy, ugly, out of allignment, or something like that.
It looks like that you are looking through couple of glasses that is not prescribed for you. Some are almost illegible. I wish I have a screenshot of these symptoms. Other texts are fine in windows and not all in-games texts are screwed up like this.
so far, these games are Freespace 2, Flanker 2.5, X-Wing Alliance, certain on-screen messages in Counter Strike, and Giant:Citizen Kabuto Demo. And it's consistant from the day I built my PC a month ago.
Never had this problem with my old onboard graphic Celeron junk.

Some more issues other than this text thing.
It stutters in Sacrifice with all the settings at max after I installed the latest patch which incorporates DirectX 8.1. My PC is not supposed to be like this even at the max setting. Also, it can't run in OpenGl mode in Homeworld.
I tried 3 different RADEON drivers. I even flashed BIOS(7004) of my R8500.
No change. I am hopeless. Now, I just started to suspect the combination of my motherboard and garphic card. It could be maybe OS related. I have no clue.
Somebody please help me.

Thanks in advance.

here is my rig:

-AMD XP 1800 with Arkua 7228 HSF
-Abit NV7-133R(latest 84 BIOS)
-512 meg, 2 x 256 Xtreme DDR(single-sided)
-ATI Radeon 8500 128MB Retail (Catalyst 2.0 driver)
-Maxtor 60gig ATA133
-Pioneer DVD 16x S106(slot loadong)
-Win XP pro
-counter-strike (Mod version)
-nothing overclocked
-Antec 1030B case (with Antec TruPower 480W PSU)

Arikel · Jun 23, 2002, 08:12 AM

Are you using smoothvision? If so, try disabling it.

blix9 · Jun 23, 2002, 08:48 PM

For OpenGL SmoothVision is disabled and Aniso... is 'application preference'
For Direct3D Smoothe Vision is set 'application preference' and Aniso... is 'application preference'

Gregor7777 · Jun 24, 2002, 06:28 PM

Possible answer to your problem:

From your description of the problem, I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about. Here's how I recreate this issue : AvP2 had the funky issues for me with the flashing textures and whatnot. To disable this, I use the rage3d tweaker and use, under d3d: alternate pixel center, disable hieracal Z and leave zmask unchecked.

All of a sudden, AvP2 plays fine, but the text is all blurred. Like it is spliced in half and the two portions are just slighty misaligned. Readable, but like you said you have to squint like you're hard of sight.

Anyway, since I have changed these settings for AvP2, Unreal Tournament is now displaying the same odd text problems. I have yet to play any other games, but I can confirm and recreate your problem.

My point? Well, I haven't got one come to think of it. But more info is usually a good thing. Sorry for rambling.

Jeff · Jun 24, 2002, 06:30 PM

That text problem you have Gregor, is specifically related to Alternate Pixel Center, and that setting should only be changed if you have text problems in the first place.

(Of course I don't know if AvP2 is messed, and also requires it for other things.)

Hope you figure it out.

Yeti · Jun 24, 2002, 06:54 PM

Fuzzy text...(?)

By fuzzy do you mean torn or jagged?

If you mean torn (as in torn in half), then i really don't know what it could be.

If you mean jagged... (as in the pixels in successive rows don't line up) then you may need to disable fast writes or SBA in your bios.

While this may sound strange, i have experimented with my Radeon 85k on a high resolution monitor. It seemed to me that certain lines were just *knocked* over by a pixel or two. So even though the image was rendered correctly you would have weird display effects. e.g. a vertical line-

.|........
.|........
.|........
..|.......
.|........
...|......
.|........

Oddly enough turning off SBA or fast writes fixed this.

I imagine that (since i never really indulged in solving this problem), that it may actually be a driver issue or perhaps i just have a defective card. Hope this helps though....

blix9 · Jun 24, 2002, 08:52 PM

Guys, thanks.
I thought no one had this problem. I almost gave up on it. I almost exchanged my R8500 with nVidia 4400.

Yeti, that's exactly right, 'JAGGED' that's the right word.
Your expression for a vertical line is right on the money. Thanks.

Also, in X-Wing Alliance, the in-filght texts are like this.

A n r s e n t r e H e r s a c
d t a e d y p p e.

This is a little exaggerated. But you see teh point? If you underlined the sentence, it wouldn't be a straight line.

I'm sure Fast-write is already disabled in the BIOS. I will check the SBA, now.
What does these fast-writes do exactly? Why there is this option in BIOS when no one seems to enable it?

I'll keep you posted.

blix9 · Jun 24, 2002, 09:04 PM

Wait,
What's SBA and where can I find it in BIOS?

-AMD XP 1800 with Arkua 7228 HSF
-Abit NV7-133R(latest 84 BIOS)
-512 meg, 2 x 256 Xtreme DDR(single-sided)
-ATI Radeon 8500 128MB Retail (Catalyst 2.0 driver)
-Maxtor 60gig ATA133
-Pioneer DVD 16x S106(slot loadong)
-Win XP pro
-counter-strike (Mod version)
-nothing overclocked
-Antec 1030B case (with Antec TruPower 480W PSU)

Doomtrooper · Jun 25, 2002, 03:03 AM

Did you try checking alternate Pixel center in the driver tabs ??
You can download powerstrip and play with SBA....

blix9 · Jun 25, 2002, 05:38 AM

I enabled the alternate Pixel center in D3D compatibility setting then the problem in Freespace 2 went away. Looked really good as it should be. But in Counter-Strike(in D3D mode), now all the text is broken, even uglier. Before, it was only with flashing text like 'Press Buy to purchace weapon' message. Now all the text in CS is all broken.

I have Rage 3D tweak. Do I need PowerStrip to disable SBA? Isn't there any problem with installing and using both Rage 3D tweak and Powerstrip?

blix9 · Jun 25, 2002, 06:31 AM

I also downloaded and installed PowerStrip but it would not disable the SBA(Side Band Addressing). It says it can be disabled through video BIOS or proprietory windows registry.

ARRRRGGHH
What can I do?

Gregor7777 · Jun 25, 2002, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cyborg
That text problem you have Gregor, is specifically related to Alternate Pixel Center, and that setting should only be changed if you have text problems in the first place.

(Of course I don't know if AvP2 is messed, and also requires it for other things.)

Hope you figure it out.

Oddly enough, I can't seem to shake the flashing texture nonsense in AvP2 without enabling Alternate Pixel center although I've heard different results with only configuring the other two settings I mentioned. But certainly it is the cause of the really bad text in my case, and also in the case above where he enabled it and his text got worse.

blix9 · Jun 26, 2002, 11:01 PM

Can anyone help me?

Jun 23, 2002, 02:41 AM	#1
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	some in-game texts are fuzzy People out there, read this through and help me plz. I have Abit nForce board(without onboard video) and R8500 128MB retail. I am having strange problem that no one seems to have. In game texts are fuzzy, ugly, out of allignment, or something like that. It looks like that you are looking through couple of glasses that is not prescribed for you. Some are almost illegible. I wish I have a screenshot of these symptoms. Other texts are fine in windows and not all in-games texts are screwed up like this. so far, these games are Freespace 2, Flanker 2.5, X-Wing Alliance, certain on-screen messages in Counter Strike, and Giant:Citizen Kabuto Demo. And it's consistant from the day I built my PC a month ago. Never had this problem with my old onboard graphic Celeron junk. Some more issues other than this text thing. It stutters in Sacrifice with all the settings at max after I installed the latest patch which incorporates DirectX 8.1. My PC is not supposed to be like this even at the max setting. Also, it can't run in OpenGl mode in Homeworld. I tried 3 different RADEON drivers. I even flashed BIOS(7004) of my R8500. No change. I am hopeless. Now, I just started to suspect the combination of my motherboard and garphic card. It could be maybe OS related. I have no clue. Somebody please help me. Thanks in advance. here is my rig: -AMD XP 1800 with Arkua 7228 HSF -Abit NV7-133R(latest 84 BIOS) -512 meg, 2 x 256 Xtreme DDR(single-sided) -ATI Radeon 8500 128MB Retail (Catalyst 2.0 driver) -Maxtor 60gig ATA133 -Pioneer DVD 16x S106(slot loadong) -Win XP pro -counter-strike (Mod version) -nothing overclocked -Antec 1030B case (with Antec TruPower 480W PSU)

Jun 24, 2002, 06:28 PM	#4
Gregor7777 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	Possible answer to your problem: From your description of the problem, I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about. Here's how I recreate this issue : AvP2 had the funky issues for me with the flashing textures and whatnot. To disable this, I use the rage3d tweaker and use, under d3d: alternate pixel center, disable hieracal Z and leave zmask unchecked. All of a sudden, AvP2 plays fine, but the text is all blurred. Like it is spliced in half and the two portions are just slighty misaligned. Readable, but like you said you have to squint like you're hard of sight. Anyway, since I have changed these settings for AvP2, Unreal Tournament is now displaying the same odd text problems. I have yet to play any other games, but I can confirm and recreate your problem. My point? Well, I haven't got one come to think of it. But more info is usually a good thing. Sorry for rambling. __________________ ------------------- I got two guns...one for the each of ya.

Jun 24, 2002, 06:30 PM	#5
Jeff Yarr... I be blind! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 3,191 Rep Power: 80	That text problem you have Gregor, is specifically related to Alternate Pixel Center, and that setting should only be changed if you have text problems in the first place. (Of course I don't know if AvP2 is messed, and also requires it for other things.) Hope you figure it out. __________________

Jun 24, 2002, 06:54 PM	#6
Yeti DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 662 Rep Power: 0	Fuzzy text...(?) By fuzzy do you mean torn or jagged? If you mean torn (as in torn in half), then i really don't know what it could be. If you mean jagged... (as in the pixels in successive rows don't line up) then you may need to disable fast writes or SBA in your bios. While this may sound strange, i have experimented with my Radeon 85k on a high resolution monitor. It seemed to me that certain lines were just knocked over by a pixel or two. So even though the image was rendered correctly you would have weird display effects. e.g. a vertical line- .\|........ .\|........ .\|........ ..\|....... .\|........ ...\|...... .\|........ Oddly enough turning off SBA or fast writes fixed this. I imagine that (since i never really indulged in solving this problem), that it may actually be a driver issue or perhaps i just have a defective card. Hope this helps though.... __________________ --Oh lord not again

Jun 25, 2002, 03:03 AM	#9
Doomtrooper Driverheaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 206 Rep Power: 0	Did you try checking alternate Pixel center in the driver tabs ?? You can download powerstrip and play with SBA.... __________________ "It's time to kick A$$ and chew bubble gum....and I'm all out of gum." Duke Nukem November 1996

Jun 23, 2002, 08:12 AM	#2
Arikel DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 225 Rep Power: 0	Are you using smoothvision? If so, try disabling it.

Jun 23, 2002, 08:48 PM	Thread Starter #3
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	For OpenGL SmoothVision is disabled and Aniso... is 'application preference' For Direct3D Smoothe Vision is set 'application preference' and Aniso... is 'application preference'

Jun 24, 2002, 08:52 PM	Thread Starter #7
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	Guys, thanks. I thought no one had this problem. I almost gave up on it. I almost exchanged my R8500 with nVidia 4400. Yeti, that's exactly right, 'JAGGED' that's the right word. Your expression for a vertical line is right on the money. Thanks. Also, in X-Wing Alliance, the in-filght texts are like this. A n r s e n t r e H e r s a c d t a e d y p p e. This is a little exaggerated. But you see teh point? If you underlined the sentence, it wouldn't be a straight line. I'm sure Fast-write is already disabled in the BIOS. I will check the SBA, now. What does these fast-writes do exactly? Why there is this option in BIOS when no one seems to enable it? I'll keep you posted.

Jun 24, 2002, 09:04 PM	Thread Starter #8
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	Wait, What's SBA and where can I find it in BIOS? -AMD XP 1800 with Arkua 7228 HSF -Abit NV7-133R(latest 84 BIOS) -512 meg, 2 x 256 Xtreme DDR(single-sided) -ATI Radeon 8500 128MB Retail (Catalyst 2.0 driver) -Maxtor 60gig ATA133 -Pioneer DVD 16x S106(slot loadong) -Win XP pro -counter-strike (Mod version) -nothing overclocked -Antec 1030B case (with Antec TruPower 480W PSU)

Jun 25, 2002, 05:38 AM	Thread Starter #10
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	I enabled the alternate Pixel center in D3D compatibility setting then the problem in Freespace 2 went away. Looked really good as it should be. But in Counter-Strike(in D3D mode), now all the text is broken, even uglier. Before, it was only with flashing text like 'Press Buy to purchace weapon' message. Now all the text in CS is all broken. I have Rage 3D tweak. Do I need PowerStrip to disable SBA? Isn't there any problem with installing and using both Rage 3D tweak and Powerstrip?

Jun 25, 2002, 06:31 AM	Thread Starter #11
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	I also downloaded and installed PowerStrip but it would not disable the SBA(Side Band Addressing). It says it can be disabled through video BIOS or proprietory windows registry. ARRRRGGHH What can I do?

Jun 26, 2002, 11:01 PM	Thread Starter #13
blix9 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 315 Rep Power: 0	Can anyone help me?