Getting back to the Beta 11i - what did you think of this?

Ok.

We'll be curious as to what fixed it, of course.

I'm not 100% sure it IS fixed, but after 5 hours, I'm gaining a little confidence. After swapping many parts with another computer, I finally replaced the 3 memory chips with a new 1-gig memory chip, and found a combination of power supply, video card (the on-board chip, after many other tries) and memory that seems stable.

Sounds like it was probably memory, as I guessed
Was your original video card also bad?

Yes, but that was just the start of a diagnosis nightmare:

Graphics anomolies and random re-boots. Switched to onboard video chip.
Different anomolies. Replaced power supply.
OK for several hours, then failures start again. Replaced video card.
Won't boot. Tried both video cards in second computer. Both bad.
...Tried and failed to transplant hard drive into second computer...
Back to main computer... What if both video cards actually ARE bad? What are the odds that the on-board chip would also fail at the same time?
Well, there is one main difference - both add-on cards have their own memory chips, but the on-board graphics uses system memory. Replaced memory card. Computer working normally ever since (with one random reboot).

I was fortunate that the only thing I spent money on (a $45 memory card) seemed to do the trick. My next purchase would have been a rather expensive video card, which would have to be PCI. Since no current computers use PCI video cards, this would have been wasted if it didn't work.

Many older PCI video cards had their own memory chips, and also use system memory for "expansion" or other functions. So, it's possible that the video card(s) are good and the anomalies you were seeing all stemmed from system memory problems.

But perhaps you've already explored that combination.

Hence "Tried both video cards in second computer. Both bad."

Hence "didn't try them in the first computer, after replacing that computer's memory".

I don't really care - I was just curious. And I tend to not believe in the coincidence of two video cards going bad at one time. But it's your computer.

By the way, I probably have one or two PCI video cards that I could send you. If you want me to look, just send me a PM.

Computer is working now, so case closed until further trouble.

Off for a few minutes. Worm Factory just arrived.

There's a factory where they make worms?

Who knew?



:loco:

Vermiculture subject moved here: https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...257#post122257

Back on track - I believe I finally found a good way of limiting the frame rate accurately. Through a combination of the High Performance Timer and Sleep(), I seem to be able to maintain within 1 fps of the desired Frame Rate (of course, the upper limit would be the max which the machine can produce). Instead of setting the Sleep() number for a whole frame, I'm calling Sleep(1) multiple times within the same frame, until the desired amount of time is used up.

By the end of the day I hope to post v11j, which will include this code. It will be useful to have you guys with high-performance machines test it, as I'm limited to about 42 fps in full-screen mode. However, when I run it in a small window, I can max out at about 90 fps, and the Limit Frame Rate feature works very well in that case. At a limit of 60, I'm getting a pretty steady frame rate of between 59.5 and 60.02, with a CPU-usage of around 20%.

Looking forward to 11j.

My system "defaults" to 111 fps @ 1680x1050x32.

Don't forget to make it a "beta".

Fish going through the coral.
 

Hi Jim,

Yesterday (6 May) I noticed one of the LionFish swimming through the 3D coral. (The one in the centre above the clock.) Its tail went "through" the coral. My machine is a bit high end. It is a Gigabyte i7 motherboard with 12gb ram and a ATI 5780 graphics card. My resolution is 1920 X 1080 and I'm getting just over 111 fps. Sleep set at 10. With the exception of the starfish, all the fish are displaying. I have not noticed this effect before (11i) but then I don't see the fish swimming through the coral that often.
Great piece of software. Can't wait to see the new fish.

Regards

Ray

Ray, this is a known issue and is tied into the development of the new fish behaviours/models. Once Jim achieves a breakthrough regarding said behaviour/models (into which is tied a more sophisticated collision avoidance technique), the coral passthroughs should become a thing of the past - or at least become extremely rare. We are all awaiting the breakthrough with baited breath, but it may take some time to arrive.

Meanwhile, have fun with the current aquarium secure in the knowledge that improvements are constantly being worked upon. :)

Thanks for the reply Mark. I didn't realise it was a known issue. I don't visit the forum as often as I'd like.

Cheers

Ray

Maybe a good thing, as this build has no expiration date.

Uploaded v11i. This one includes the new internal system for setting the frame rate. Should be a lot more accurate than the old way.

http://www.fish-byte.com/MA3Beta.zip

No other changes.

Jim, - I can't get this latest 11j to unzip. - I've checked other zip files and they unzip ok. - I've re-downloaded 11j, but it still won't unzip.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Zipeg and camzip won't extract the file either. Everytime you upload a bad zip file, God kills a kitten!