**READ ME FIRST** Simple general Tech Support FAQ

[jigglybean]

This page has been designed to offer help with the most common issues that makes a game not work. Please read through carefully as 95% of the time, out of date graphic card drivers prevents games from playing.

** LAST UPDATE - 18/06/2008 **

ATI Release new drivers Xseries of cards
New driver updates for both XP and Vista Users
http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

Nvidia Release new drivers
New driver updates for both XP and Vista Users
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Driver update information
This page is designed to help troubleshoot video and/or sound problems associated with old or faulty drivers.

Running Vista on Nvidia Graphics card *ONLY*
There is a known issue when running the Nvidia DX10 cards with Vista. A small hot fix has been released and works well. It reduces stuttering in game and makes the game/system more stable.

*** This hotfix is now included in Service Pack 1 for Vista users ***

Getting a dxdiag

Click on the Start button and select Run.
Type in dxdiag and click OK.
After the DirectX Diagnostic Tool loads click on the Display tab.

You can post your dxdiag on the forum, but it will take a few posts as there is a character limit. A dxdiag can also indentify your video card Name and Manufacturer will be listed in the Device section.
The version of the driver you have installed should be listed under the Driver box next to the word Version.
Visit our Manufacturer Links page to visit the manufacturer page and obtain updated drivers for your specific video card.

*Note: Please make sure you follow all the instructions on the manufacturer's website concerning the removal of current drivers and installation of updated software. For example, Nvidia recommends using the Windows Add and Remove programs utility to remove their drivers, while ATI has a driver removal utility which you can download.

Steps to identify your sound card and driver version:
Click on the Start button and select Run.
Type in dxdiag and click OK.
After the DirectX Diagnostic Tool loads, click on the Sound tab.
The version of the driver you have installed should be listed under the Driver box next to the word Version.

Steps to identify your network card and driver version:
Click Start.
Click Control Panel. If there is an option in the upper left to 'Switch to classic view', then do so.
Click System.
Click the Hardware tab, then click the Device Manager button near the middle.
Expand the Network Adapters category. Make note of the network card name and model listed.
Double click on the network card listed.
Click the Driver tab and make note of the driver Date and Version.
Visit the network card manufacturer's website using the above information to find updated network card drivers.

GRAPHIC CARD LINKS
ATI (http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html)
Nvidia (http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us)
SIS (http://www.sis.com/)
Intel (http://www.intel.com/)

Latest DX versions
The game should come with the latest version of DX9 (XP). Please note, if you have Vista installed and NOT a DX10 card, do NOT download DX10 drivers.

If you are planning on updating DirectX as well as the drivers for your sound and video hardware, we suggest installing the update for DirectX first, then the updates for your sound and video hardware.

Steps to identify your DirectX version:
Click on the Start button and select Run.
In the Open: field type in dxdiag and click the OK button.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool loads up you will see information about your computer. Near the bottom of the information should be the following field: DirectX Version: which will list what version you are currently running.
Check http://www.microsoft.com/directx/ho...ads/default.asp for the latest version of DirectX and update if necessary*.

*Note: Make sure you have drivers for your sound and video hardware that support the version of DirectX you are going to install. If you are not sure the drivers support the version of DirectX you are going to install consult with the company that built the sound and video hardware for more information. If the hardware came with a computer you bought then contact the computer manufacturer. Check our list of hardware manufactures for contact information Hardware Vendor List.


***** VIRTUAL DRIVES *******
If you have installed any virtual driver software, like Daemon tools, this will need to be turned off before starting the game.

**** ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE ****
When installing any demo/game, please disable your anti virus software during this process.

**** Next Step ****
If you still have no luck getting your game to work, please post in the forum. If possible attach screenshots but the key to getting help FAST is to provide as much information as possible.

[jigglybean]

AMD Driver support

You can do that by visiting the Official AMD download site (http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871,00.html).

[jigglybean]

Direct x9c updater

DX9 updates (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en) from Microsoft

[jigglybean]

Firewalls and routers

If you are using any type of firewall, router, or you are sharing your internet connection between multiple computers, you may need to set your system up to allow access to the game servers. The firewall or router will need to allow unrestricted communication on


TCP and UDP Port number 3074. GRID game client utilized TCP.

Please note that Codemasters is unable to assist directly with the configuration of firewalls, routers, or network configurations. If possible, try uninstalling any firewall applications on your computer, and physically removing the router from your internet connection (by having your computer connect directly to your modem).

This will allow you to identify whether the firewall or router is responsible for the connection problem. If this turns out to be the case, please consult the documentation that came with that networking product, or contact the manufacturer for further assistance setting it up properly.

[jigglybean]

Logitech Information
Official Website (http://www.logitech.com/). Please visit to update all drivers for Logitech products

Creative
For the x-fi series or general Creative products, please visit their Website (http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/welcome.asp?category=209)

Realtek Sound devices
Currently, the official Realtek website (http://www.realtek.com.tw) isn't working but you can download the latest drivers from Softpedia.com (http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/REALTEK/)

[jigglybean]

Vista Update - Solves Performance/Stuttering/Glitch Issues

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goodday,

Sticky request regarding an update where some claim it solved the freezing issue.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940105/en-us/


Quote:
This article discusses virtual address space usage in Windows game development. The article describes potential problems that may occur when you run applications in a modern operating system such as Windows Vista. The article contains information about an update that may resolve some of these problems. For more information about these problems, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devic...ay/WDDM_VA.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devic...ay/WDDM_VA.mspx)
On a modern operating system such as Windows Vista, applications run within their own private virtual address space. Typically, the size of the virtual address space is fixed at 2 gigabytes (GB) for 32-bit applications. How much virtual address space is available is not related to how much physical memory there is on the computer.

Every memory allocation, file mapping, or library that is loaded by an application consumes space in this virtual address space. When the application consumes all its virtual address space, any additional such operations fail. Although all applications should be coded to handle memory allocation failures, many applications do not recover correctly from such failures. Therefore, the programs may become unstable or stop responding after they recover from such failures.

Existing games and other graphics applications frequently allocate virtual memory for a copy of the video memory resources that the application uses. The application uses this copy to restore the display quickly if the contents of video memory are lost. For example, the application uses this copy if the user presses ALT+TAB or if the user puts the computer in standby. Typically, the DirectX run time manages the copy on behalf of the application when the application creates a managed resource. However, an application can also manage the copy itself. The virtual memory that the copy uses is directly proportional to the video memory resources that the application allocates.

A modern graphics processing unit (GPU) can have 512 MB or more of video memory. Applications that try to take advantage of such large amounts of video memory can use a large proportion of their virtual address space for an in-memory copy of their video resources. On 32-bit systems, such applications may consume all the available virtual address space.

With the introduction of DirectX 10 and Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) in Windows Vista, it is no longer necessary for an application to maintain a copy of its resources in system memory. Instead, the video memory manager makes sure that the content of every video memory allocation is maintained across display transitions. For compatibility reasons, Windows Vista emulates "device lost" for DirectX versions that are earlier than DirectX 10 to make sure that no application-visible API behavior changes.

To virtualize video memory, the video memory manager in Windows Vista assigns a virtual address range to every video memory resource. This range is conceptually similar to the copy that an application might create. However, the video memory manager manages the process more efficiently than the application might. The video memory manager uses the virtual address range to handle transitions or over-commitment of video memory. However, the virtual address range is typically unused on a system that has lots of video memory. As long as this virtual address range remains unused, no physical memory is allocated for it. In contrast, the system memory copy that is maintained in the older driver model is guaranteed to be fully populated with physical memory.

If an application creates its own in-memory copy of its video resources, or the application uses DirectX 9 or an earlier version, the virtual address space contains the WDDM video memory manager's virtualized range and the application's copy. Applications that use graphics APIs that are earlier than DirectX 10 and that target GPUs that have large amounts of video memory can easily exhaust their virtual address space.

To address this problem, Microsoft is changing the way that the video memory manager maintains the content of video memory resources. This change is being made so that a permanent virtual address range does not have to be used for each virtualized allocation. With the new approach, only allocations that are created as "lockable" consume space in the virtual address space of the application. Allocations that are not created as "lockable" do not consume space. This approach significantly reduces the virtual address space that is used. Therefore, the application can run on large video memory configurations without reaching the limits.

Although this approach reduces virtual address consumption, it does not eliminate the 2 GB virtual address space limit that many applications are quickly approaching on their own. Eventually, applications will reach the limit for other reasons.