Games hanging/freezing problem

[add48]

My games often hang when they have to load their files or in-game objects. The more the game "has to do" the bigger chance it will freeze.
What I tried to do and didn't solve the problem:
- installing different graphics card drivers (My card is GeForce 9600 GT)
- different Wine versions (1.3 - 1.6)
- replacing .dll files to those taken from real Windows.
Maybe it's just me but I think that running games with "WINEDEBUG=-all" seems to partly reduce the problem. What could I do more to reduce the chance of my games freezing ?

[dimesio]

Have you tried lower graphics quality settings in the games?

Running with WINEDEBUG=-all can definitely improve performance. http://wiki.winehq.org/Performance has other tips.

[add48]

Well, performance isn't the thing I want to improve. In fact, I could play games with 15 FPS and still enjoy them if only they didn''t have the freezing problem.
But... if running those games with "WINEDEBUG=-all" fixes the problem partly AND improves performance is it true that the more efficiently the games run, the lower chance od them freezing ? Well... I don't think this is always true. The game runs at 60 FPS when it loads its files and can hang even then.
In my previous post I forgot to write that turning off enhancements such as 16x Anisotropic Filtering doesn't help. Yes, I use it with all the games settings set to as low as possible except resolution - I'm playing in 800x600x32; the lowest is 640x480x16 but I tried playing in 640x480x16 and... it didn't fix the problem .
Any ideas, what could I do more ?

[dimesio]

You said that the more the game "has to 'do' the bigger chance it will freeze." That suggests that your system is being overwhelmed in some way (processor/memory/video memory), and the fact that turning off Wine's messages helps somewhat fits with that, as it reduces the load.

I should have asked this earlier: you are using the Nvidia proprietary driver, aren't you? You need to.

Have you checked for other things that might be chewing up system resources in the background, e.g., indexers, desktop effects?

How much memory does your graphics card have? Try setting VideoMemorySize in the registry (you will have to create the key) to the correct size. http://wiki.winehq.org/UsefulRegistryKeys

If none of those things help, leave debugging on, run the game from a terminal until it freezes, and post the output.

[add48]

you are using the Nvidia proprietary driver, aren't you?

http://i.imgur.com/rFwNDrg.png
It's reported that 'driver is activated but not currently in use' - this is the driver manager's bug.

Have you checked for other things that might be chewing up system resources in the background, e.g., indexers, desktop effects?

Without running the game - "358 MB of 2016 MB used". When playing - "599 MB of 2016 MB used". Both when Firefox was running (uses about 200 MB)

How much memory does your graphics card have? Try setting VideoMemorySize in the registry (you will have to create the key) to the correct size.

512 MB. Created, set, didn't help.

If none of those things help, leave debugging on, run the game from a terminal until it freezes, and post the output.

http://pastebin.com/KK8BHmVd
Played with Wine 1.4 (seems to work the best). Only default classes (fixme, err) were enabled. Terminated by clicking "x" button on the virtual desktop window border.

[dimesio]

It's reported that 'driver is activated but not currently in use' - this is the driver manager's bug.

What does

Code: Select all

glxinfo | grep version

return?

You could try a newer driver.

Without running the game - "358 MB of 2016 MB used". When playing - "599 MB of 2016 MB used". Both when Firefox was running (uses about 200 MB)

What about processor usage?

Nothing in the terminal output looked unusual. How long do you wait for it to unfreeze before terminating?

[add48]

server glx version string: 1.4
client glx version string: 1.4
GLX version: 1.4
OpenGL version string: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 313.30
OpenGL shading language version string: 3.30 NVIDIA via Cg compiler

---

My task manager was reporting about 50-55 % total CPU usage whith the game running. The game uses about 50% CPU. When the game froze, task manager was reporting that the game was using 7% CPU.
Normally I wait about 5 seconds; now I waited about 30 seconds.

[dimesio]

Try letting it sit longer, 10-15 minutes, just to see if it ever comes back.

Is there a game with a free download that demonstrates the problem?

[add48]

Froze at 19:17. Still waiting; nothing happens

The only free download of these problematic games is via torrents... ; there weren't any demo versions of these games.