SonicandTails58 Posted April 14, 2014 Every time I try to load Zandronum on my laptop, it loads correctly, but it immediately gives me a perpetual black screen. The Task Manager says it's not responding, and waiting for a response will only result in time wasted. I have tried running it in compatibility mode, but that does nothing. Why does this always happen? It's probably because my computer is running Windows XP SP3, but I got Doom 64: Absolution working on a computer that runs XP SP1, so I don't know what else to try. 0 Share this post Link to post
plums Posted April 14, 2014 I'm running XP SP3 and I've had no trouble with Zandronum. At what point exactly does it crash/freeze? Do you get the welcome screen that asks you to pick an IWAD and has some basic video settings? Have you tried different video options? What's your laptop's resolution? 0 Share this post Link to post
SonicandTails58 Posted April 14, 2014 plums said:I'm running XP SP3 and I've had no trouble with Zandronum. At what point exactly does it crash/freeze? Do you get the welcome screen that asks you to pick an IWAD and has some basic video settings? Have you tried different video options? What's your laptop's resolution? In terms of other source ports, I can select an IWAD and it loads. But the difference with Zandronum and, say, Skulltag, for instance, is that Skulltag actually plays the game/WAD. It freezes where Skulltag would show me the title screen of the game and menu, and it's just an everlasting black screen with Zandronum. I tried running it in compatibility mode with some older versions, but no luck. I'm not sure what my laptops resolution is, but the Device Manager says I have 2 Turion 64 X2 Mobile Technology processors. I also have troubles with anything DirectX or Direct3D related, or OpenGL related. From what I'm guessing, my laptop is just too old and too shitty to run Zandronum. 0 Share this post Link to post
GreyGhost Posted April 15, 2014 It's most likely the video chip and/or driver that's letting you down, what's the make and model of your laptop? 0 Share this post Link to post
SonicandTails58 Posted April 15, 2014 GreyGhost said:It's most likely the video chip and/or driver that's letting you down, what's the make and model of your laptop? Dell Inspiron 1721 Model No. PP22X Register code: 76477-OEM-0041135-30353 I can't say anything more, because I got this computer a while back, and when I did, it was a used laptop. 0 Share this post Link to post
GreyGhost Posted April 16, 2014 A service tag number would have helped since it appears Dell have multiple hardware configurations for the Inspiron 1721, I did at least find the manuals and how to check your video controller configuration. 1 - Click Start, and then click Help and Support. 2 - Under Pick a Task, click Use Tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems. 3 - Under My Computer Information, select Hardware. That should tell us what we need to know, a bit of googling suggests it might be a Radeon Xpress 1270. Might also pay to check how much RAM is allocated to it. 0 Share this post Link to post
SonicandTails58 Posted April 17, 2014 GreyGhost said:A service tag number would have helped since it appears Dell have multiple hardware configurations for the Inspiron 1721, I did at least find the manuals and how to check your video controller configuration. 1 - Click Start, and then click Help and Support. 2 - Under Pick a Task, click Use Tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems. 3 - Under My Computer Information, select Hardware. That should tell us what we need to know, a bit of googling suggests it might be a Radeon Xpress 1270. Might also pay to check how much RAM is allocated to it. http://postimg.org/image/r2qdj5an1/ This was what my computer says, and from the looks of it, my computer has a better chance of surviving a Double Barreled Shotgun blast than running Zandronum.. 0 Share this post Link to post
GreyGhost Posted April 18, 2014 SonicandTails58 said:http://postimg.org/image/r2qdj5an1/ That doesn't help much, probably missing a few of Dell's OEM add-ons. Time for Plan B. Run System Information (Start Menu/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information) and see what it says in the Components/Display subcategory. That should identify the video controller and tell us how old its driver is, amongst other stuff. 0 Share this post Link to post
SonicandTails58 Posted April 18, 2014 GreyGhost said:That doesn't help much, probably missing a few of Dell's OEM add-ons. Time for Plan B. Run System Information (Start Menu/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information) and see what it says in the Components/Display subcategory. That should identify the video controller and tell us how old its driver is, amongst other stuff. There is literally nothing in the Display subcategory. The oldest thing in the video codec subcategory is from 4/13/2008, 9:42 PM, if that helps. :/ 0 Share this post Link to post
GreyGhost Posted April 18, 2014 Nothing!? I can only assume you're using the default VGA driver that's installed with Windows, so we're either back to grabbing the Service Tag and getting the details from Dell or using a third-party program to identify your hardware. 0 Share this post Link to post
Bloodshedder Posted April 18, 2014 I took a look at the manualVideo type: integrated ATI graphics with 64 MB local frame buffer Video controller: ATI Radeon X1270 Graphics Controller Video memory: Up to 256 MB of shared memory (64 MB local frame buffer with HyperMemory™) 0 Share this post Link to post