your modem. you may even have a combo modem/sound chipset.

But how can it be my modem? How does it interfere with VDMSound after connection is closed and modem isn't in use anymore?

I have SB64PCI and some kind of Conexant softK56 PCI-thingie... Is there perhaps some setting I could adjust to fix this "small" annoying thing?

not vdmsound but the soundcard/driver and possibly the way vdmsound uses it. dunno for sure, but winmodems (what you have) are monumental pieces of shit. they do minimal work in hardware and maximal in software so you are sussceptible to all kinds of joys with them. get highspeed!!!!!

Well the only "joy" I have had with this "piece of shit"-modem is this VDMsound-issue after surfing the internet, which I can't comprehend at all.
I don't do warez so I don't need any highspeed internets either with higher costs.

Is VDMsound trying to play sounds through my modem or what the hell does it have to do with it?? As far as I can see SB64PCI and my winmodem-shit are two completely separate devices and the only connecting factor is the PCI-bus...

Hehe... 😀 I loathe winmodems, sorry. Watch your CPU usage while you surf the net and you'll see why it's such a piece of shit. 😀 No yours in particular, but all winmodems, and nowadays you can get only winmodems because they are so cheap.

Anyway, in th inital reply I said this may be the case if you have a combo, but you tell me they are separate cards so it's possible that the driver of the modem may be causing the trouble. Do other apps (winamp, media player) function differently as well "before" and "after" a modem connection?

Another possibilty: the games you mentioned all lock up like that under Win2k and NT4 because of a limitation in those Windowses. It has been kind of worked around in XP, but it is possible that somehow the modem driver (?) deactivates this workaround. Try another simpler/older game that still has sound (and adventure if possible not shoot-them-ups, those tend to have sound and no need for the workaround.)

V.

Vlad's spot on with Win-modems.... nasty horrid things!

Yea yea winmodems suck, I hope repeating that would fix the problem but it doesn't 🤣

Well I'll try another "driver" for my modem (as someone have told that modems actually don't have driver but "initialization files") if that would fix the problem. Currently I'm using "Generic SoftK56"-driver that comes with the WinXP.

Apparently I have diagnosed this issue wrong, it wasn't the modem that messes up VDMSound but... the DPMS-screen saver I'm using (www.entechtaiwan.com) and none of the saver's settings I've tried to solve this ain't helping.

So to play VDMSound-games I'll have to either boot my PC after every time screen saver has been activated or disable the whole saver that also disables all the power saving features for my monitor. 😠

And the main reason I'm using DPMS-screen saver is because XP + NVidia drivers = buggy, non-functional power saving... 😒

What Nvidia drivers are you using for your Graphics Card?

I just got a hold of the possible release drivers version 61.34 that is the most stable ones that people at www.guru3d.com and a couple of other sites are determing might be the soon to release versions... But we don't know for sure. On my GeForce 4 Ti 4200, using 3Dmark 03 Pro, I got a 1486 on the tests, which I don't think is terrific but it's better than what I had been getting on other driver sets. Also I have the latest DirectX 9.0c ripped from the WinXP SP2 RC2 2149 build. Which seems to work just fine with my Windows XP Pro SP1a system.

BTW: it's recommended that you uninstall your Nvidia Drivers as well as use a driver cleaner utility to make sure you get all files off of your computer to avoid getting problems with it. I used Driver Cleaner 3 from www.drivercleaner.net. This program also supports removal of many other drivers to make sure you get a clean set installed without any mismatchings. 😀 It helped because when I installed the 61.34 drivers, I had a feeling the one game that has problems with mismatch driver sets is System Shock 2. And I was right because the cutscene videos were not playing. So I did the full uninstall/Driver Cleaner 3 removal and reinstalled the 61.34 drivers and System Shock 2 was fully operational again.

I hope this may help you...

NOTE: check the guru3d forums for the Ripped version of DirectX 9.0c 2149 and also for finding the 61.34 Nvidia Driver set.

Currently I'm using 44.03's because they seem to be the best for my GF3 Ti200. Tried 56.72's but wasn't happy about their performance. So a new option: upgrade to the latest drivers, get choppier gameplay but perhaps power saving features back? 😒

And yes, I've always used Driver Cleaner utility before installing drivers.
I somehow hope another kind of solution for this than some crappy 5x.xx/6x.xx-drivers... 😒

I'd say kill the "power savings" for now.

Me too. Lol

Interesting. VDMSound refuses to work even if I disable the DPMS-screensaver and use XP's own "turn off monitor"-feature (altough it only blanks the picture and monitor stays ON, buggy).

I'm the only VDMsound user having NVidia-card and using monitor's power saving features or why this feels like a "it's Your problem"-situtation? 😒

I've got a GF4 4200 and I have power saving enabled on my monitor (5 minutes). Never had an issue with VDMSound or any game I play with it...

Okay, fine then. It seems to be My Mystic Problem Alone and no other solutions available than completely disable all monitor power savings and use the power button (that perhaps wears monitor a bit more than DPMS).

Nonono, the monitor shutoff should be OK; it's the computer suspend, if you have it enabled, that you should disable since some (PCI) cards have trouble resuming from suspend.

V.

I've never used suspend for computer, because it's rarely fully idle anyway 🤣 Apparently something's screwed with my gfx card (GF3 Ti200, v56.72)...

Sounds something really weird. You should really look into it more and check is it exactly this what causes it. Well windows display power off only blanking the picture sounds pretty weird.. Like it's having some problems understanding the signals. I've never ran into such a case with the power saving things. Putting the whole computer to sleep is nasty though. Wonder what model you screen is? Have you tried googling it around if anyone shares your problems or so.. Guess you just have to keep pressing the button then. Try to play with the drivers too.

Well I've heard others have had the similar buggy thing too with the "turn off monitor"-option only blanking screen in Windows. Seems like on some hardware configurations power saving feature is broken in Nvidia drivers later than 30.82. But those are too out-dated drivers and some games need later drivers to work correctly.

Also seems like people at NVidia aren't too interested in fixing this bug, because I just installed 56.72's and "turn off monitor" still ain't working. It can't be caused by my mainboard either, because I have recently upgraded it and fully re-installed WinXP.

Strange though, that all power saving states are working fully with Entech Taiwan's DPMS-screen saver. Apparently it sends the commands straight to the monitor without using (buggy) drivers in between or so.
Monitor I'm using is Nokia 447Zi.

And I have managed well using the screensaver 'till now, after VDMSound turns out unfunctional after any kind of power saver has been activated. First seemed like it had something to do with the SVGA-mode/NOLFB.COM because Brutal Sports Football that uses 320x200 worked fine, but other games I have set up working with VDMSound using 640x480 (Blood, Shadow Warrior, Settlers 2) and up lock-up immediately after initializations etc. when first gfx should appear to screen.

BUT then again, Terminator Skynet also refuses to work and it is set to use 320x200... Bugger.