VOGONS


First post, by tikoellner

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Hi!

I have a decent setup for games like Doom or Blood, or similar: VLI-486SV2G (GX4) with POD83, 512kb cache, 2mb TSENG ET4000W card and 16MB of RAM. The PC runs from CF card that is installed in TEKRAM VLB caching controller.

I still can't play the aforementioned games fluently. They work very fine, but frome time to time (10-15 seconds) while I'm on the move they freeze for a little while (1 second or so). It seems that in most cases the disk icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen. It therefore seems to have something to do with HDD performance. I remember that it was running fine on this same configuration before, with no such problems.

I don't know where to start - would appreciate any suggestions.

Best,
Tom

Reply 1 of 4, by The Serpent Rider

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Drop caching controller.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 2 of 4, by amadeus777999

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Cache controller seems cool but may be the trouble maker.
Maybe try a normal HD and see if the pause remains there.

Reply 3 of 4, by Rawit

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Maybe your CF card is wearing out. I have one industrial card that I destroyed when using a CF->SATA adapter on a SIL controller. This card is now permanently slow, no matter how I format it.

YouTube

Reply 4 of 4, by pshipkov

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I hit this issue with few VLB boards and IDE/EIDE VLB controllers.
Set the CF adapter to 5 volt. This can help in some cases.
If not - try ISA IDE controller, or just don't load the drivers for the VLB one. This should work fine. If that's the case - then there is a specific incompatibility between the VLB one and CF.
Try another brand CF card. Transcend x133 tend to be less prone to problems like this.
There is no formula to follow really - just trial and error until things fit together.

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