Sudden, inexplicable crashing. Please help.

[Foodship9]

I am running Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10). I am a newb at linux, so please don't expect me to understand how to do everything.
Problem: When I run Defcon, I can get ingame at decent speeds (provided smooth lines is turned off). However, after perhaps a minute or two of perfect play - whether demo, network, or tutorial - the game crashes horribly. Mouse is stuck, no keystrokes will save me; all I can do is restart my computer.
Any ideas?

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.33Ghz
S3 Graphics Prosavage DDR
1 gig RAM


If you need more details or info, i'll try and provide it.

[NeoThermic]

S3 Graphics Prosavage DDR

Run for the hills!

*ahem*

can you find a blackbox file for debugging? I'm honestly not fully sure where it's placed for linux users, so a `locate` might be in order to find it (updatedb first!)

NeoThermic

[Pox]

I'm assuming the blackbox.txt file would be in the defcon root directory as in windows... not sure though, I don't have one coming up in locatedb as defcon's never crashed on linux for me

Also, try running the game like this next time and seeing if there's anything in the file after the crash/reboot:

Code: Select all

./defcon 1>>errs.txt 2>>errs.txt

[Foodship9]

Run for the hills!

Flee to the mountains, indeed. That graphics chip has given me more crap than an incontinent monkey.

Anyways, I could not find a blackbox.txt file. I may have missed it, or whatever.

Errs.txt gave me this in one instance:
wait event returned -16

Which doesn't look too promising. On the next attempt, it gave me nothing at all.

I tried turning off and disabling every option in Defcon. This seemed to help, as I played for a whole ten minutes before the game inevitably crashed, leaving me with an frozen screen and an earful of stuttering sounds.

So, any other ideas, or should I just play Defcon on a different computer?

[shinygerbil]

From what I remember (being too lazy to reboot and run defcon just to find out), defcon writes to /var/log/defcon-debug.txt so it may be worth looking in there for a blackbox.txt as well! Indeed, defcon-debug.txt may have useful information, too.

[NeoThermic]

Run for the hills!

Flee to the mountains, indeed. That graphics chip has given me more crap than an incontinent monkey.

Aye. I had a S3 chip myself, infact, a Prosavage Twister (think your chip without DDR). Technically anything is better. Even a nForce 2.

Anyways, I could not find a blackbox.txt file. I may have missed it, or whatever.

I had a quick dig, the debug log is going to be in /tmp and called blackbox.txt, it'll hopefully have some answers.

NeoThermic

[shinygerbil]

Well then, I stand corrected Good thing I added that disclaimer.

[Foodship9]

Hello again. I looked in the folders mentioned. I found a "debug.txt" which contained a log from Defcon.

The bad news is, this file seems to only be produced when Defcon closes. When Defcon crashes for me, it hangs and invites my computer to hang with it, forcing me to turn the computer off and on (no soft resets here).

But, if I open Defcon, go ingame (rolling demo), and quit out before it crashes, I can get a log. Here is one:
Note- I don't know whether the log reveals anything vital. To appease my paranoia, I removed IP adresses.

SDL Version: Compiled against 1.2.11, running with 1.2.11
Defcon 1.42 linux built May 14 2007
Parsing archive main.dat...DONE
Client listening on port 5011
Parsing Coastline data (1776 islands) : 23ms
Parsing International data (2753 islands) : 10ms
Parsing City data (2745 cities) : 25ms
SDL_SetVideoMode failed with 'Couldn't find matching GLX visual'. Switching to 16-bit Z-Buffer.
Parsing archive sounds.dat...DONE
Initialising SDL Audio
Frequency: 22050
Format: 32784
Channels: 2
Samples: 512
Size of Stereo Sample: 4
Authentication key set : 'DEMOLU-TBOHKZ-MLFNTQ-ZDERJA-KGC'
Connection established to MetaServer, listening on Port 5009
Requesting data from MetaServer : LatestVersion
Requesting data from MetaServer : MOTD
Requesting data from MetaServer : DemoLimits
Received data from MetaServer : DemoLimits
Received data from MetaServer : LatestVersion
Received data from MetaServer : MOTD
Received Authentication : DEMOLU-TBOHKZ-MLFNTQ-ZDERJA-KGC : (keyID -1) : Accepted
Auth Key accepted as DEMOKEY : DEMOLU-TBOHKZ-MLFNTQ-ZDERJA-KGC
Requesting data from MetaServer : UpdateURL
Received data from MetaServer : UpdateURL
CLIENT : Disconnected
Local IP address is:
Server started on port 5010
CLIENT : Attempting connection to Server at ...
Int Data not found : dr
SERVER: New Client connected from (version 1.42 linux)
SERVER: Client at requested ID. Sent ID 0.
Largest server letter sent : 82 bytes
Started requesting public IP:port for socket 9
MetaServer enabling UDP broadcast for LAN discovery...SUCCESS
CLIENT : Received ClientID of 0
CLIENT : Server version is 1.42 linux
MetaServer : WAN registration enabled
MetaServer : LAN registration enabled
Server has set the MOD path: ''
CLIENT : Received HelloClient from Server
Socket 9 identified as public IP
SERVER: New team request from
Largest server letter sent : 83 bytes
Largest server letter sent : 86 bytes
Team 0 removed
Largest server letter sent : 94 bytes
App RandSeed = 1203699250
Parsing City data (2745 cities) : 44ms
Population of Team #0 : 100.0 Million spread over 25 cities
Population of Team #1 : 100.0 Million spread over 25 cities
Population of Team #2 : 100.0 Million spread over 25 cities
Stopped requesting public IP:port for socket 9
MetaServer : LAN registration disabled
MetaServer : WAN registration disabled
EclRemoveWindow failed on window Side Panel
EclRemoveWindow failed on window Placement
CLIENT : Sending disconnect...
CLIENT : Disconnected
SERVER : Shutting down...
SERVER : Sent Disconnect to client 0
SERVER : Shut down complete
CLIENT : Disconnected
Disconnected from MetaServer


This one is interesting:
SDL_SetVideoMode failed with 'Couldn't find matching GLX visual'. Switching to 16-bit Z-Buffer.

If I set the options in defcon to use 16-bit whatever to begin with, the log no longer gives me this error, but I still crash.

[NeoThermic]

Ok, how about the output of glxinfo? Call it like this:

Code: Select all

LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose glxinfo

as that'll give more output that we can use to work out what the problem is. However, at this point I'm wagering it's the incontinent card. I might be daring to suggest to dual-boot with XP for games, as I know XP has a *good* S3 driver.

NeoThermic

[frenchfrog]

XP has a *good* S3 driver.

Not that sure


Simialr problem on Uplink: Linux problem : Black screen but sound

[Pox]

Ok, how about the output of glxinfo? Call it like this:

Code: Select all

LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose glxinfo

as that'll give more output that we can use to work out what the problem is. However, at this point I'm wagering it's the incontinent card. I might be daring to suggest to dual-boot with XP for games, as I know XP has a *good* S3 driver.

NeoThermic

Incontinent card? Did you intend to use that word, and if so, how do you mean that?

Also, I remember back when our family machine had an S3 in it... it could play HL1 _almost_ smoothly at 800x600, so I suppose the drivers must have been OK.... the mx400 was a big upgrade though

[Foodship9]

Incontinent card? Did you intend to use that word, and if so, how do you mean that?

My card is 'incontinent' in the sense that it gives me lots of crap. Not only in linux - it gives me crap in XP, too. Even if the drivers are better, the chip still sucks.

Neo - I am dual booting XP, but Defcon won't work in there due to a completely unrelated issue (Defcon does not work if an internet filtering program is installed, for some reason - there's a topic somewhere in the forums about it). It is a small loss if Defcon can't be made to work on this computer - I have another that will play it with very few issues. It's just that I can't use that computer as often as this one.

I ran that code, got this:
name of display: :0.0
libGL: XF86DRIGetClientDriverName: 2.1.2 savage (screen 0)
libGL: OpenDriver: trying /usr/lib/dri/savage_dri.so
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 4, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: Searching for BusID pci:0000:01:00.0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 4, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: drmOpenMinor returns 4
drmOpenByBusid: drmGetBusid reports pci:0000:01:00.0
libGL warning: 3D driver claims to not support visual 0x42
libGL error:
Can't open configuration file /etc/drirc: No such file or directory.
libGL error:
Can't open configuration file /home/*****/.drirc: No such file or directory.
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group
client glx vendor string: SGI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer, GLX_MESA_swap_control,
GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_OML_sync_control,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_SGI_video_sync,
GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_pbuffer,
GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group
OpenGL vendor string: S3 Graphics Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI ProSavageDDR 20061110 AGP 1x x86/MMX+/3DNow!+/SSE
OpenGL version string: 1.2 Mesa 7.0.1
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_imaging, GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_multitexture,
GL_ARB_texture_compression, GL_ARB_texture_env_add,
GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_ARB_transpose_matrix,
GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object, GL_ARB_window_pos, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra,
GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint, GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array, GL_EXT_convolution,
GL_EXT_copy_texture, GL_EXT_draw_range_elements, GL_EXT_histogram,
GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_polygon_offset, GL_EXT_rescale_normal,
GL_EXT_secondary_color, GL_EXT_separate_specular_color,
GL_EXT_stencil_wrap, GL_EXT_subtexture, GL_EXT_texture, GL_EXT_texture3D,
GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_env_add,
GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias, GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_vertex_array,
GL_APPLE_packed_pixels, GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip,
GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_MESA_window_pos,
GL_NV_light_max_exponent, GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_OES_read_format,
GL_SGI_color_matrix, GL_SGI_color_table, GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp,
GL_SGIS_texture_lod

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x22 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x23 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x24 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slow
0x25 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slow
0x26 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x27 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x28 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x29 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x42 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon

[prophile]

What exactly does DEFCON need a depth buffer for?

[Pox]

What exactly does DEFCON need a depth buffer for?

Well I'm not an expert on graphics programming (far from it in fact), so someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe even a 2D game like DEFCON would use a depth buffer to cull areas behind sprites, as there still is a Z-order to be taken care of.

[NeoThermic]

Incontinent card? Did you intend to use that word, and if so, how do you mean that?

Throw a game at his card, and it pisses all over the place.

libGL: XF86DRIGetClientDriverName: 2.1.2 savage (screen 0)
libGL: OpenDriver: trying /usr/lib/dri/savage_dri.so

Hmm. Nab a copy of hardy on a bootable CD, and see if Defcon works under that (it has a later savage driver).

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x22 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x23 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x24 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slow
0x25 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slow
0x26 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x27 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 0 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x28 16 tc 0 16 0 r y . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x29 16 tc 0 16 0 r . . 5 6 5 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 Slow
0x42 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon

That seems to tell me that your card can't do a 32-bit buffer in games. Which is strange, it should. At this point I'd throw the laptop out of the window

Anyway, see if Hardy works. If it doesn't then I guess you're resigned to not being able to play Defcon on the laptop.

What exactly does DEFCON need a depth buffer for?

OpenGL uses it, even in "2D" mode. There's actually no real 2D mode, using gl{command}2{datatype} just maps to gl{command}3{datatype} with the third param set to 0.

NeoThermic