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Thread: AO Video Card Detection.

  1. #1

    AO Video Card Detection.

    I've decided to make a consolidated thread in which to explore and hopefully solve the question of how AO detects that it can actually utilize your graphics card. As I've said in a few other places, the oft-repeated statement that AO uses only the CPU for rendering is at least partially false (yes, I know I'm asking for flames, but hear me out, please).

    In the AO launcher video card selection menu, the average person only sees a few options.

    Primary Display Driver - RGB Emulation
    Primary Display Driver - Direct3D HAL
    Primary Display Driver - Direct3D T&L HAL

    Sometimes even less (many people with Intel onboard graphics don't get T&L as an option)

    I get the following options:

    http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...ao-options.jpg

    Somehow, in some way, AO is seeing that I actually have a graphics adaptor capable of accelerating gameplay - and believe me, it makes a difference. T&L HAL and HAL both give an average of 10-25 FPS. The 9600GT settings get me 70-100. All other settings the same.

    I have tried various other cards and other systems to find a common factor, but I don't really have an adequate test sample to work with. In all cases where the card is detected by name in AO, the performance is vastly superior. Back in the days when I first started AO (early 2003) I remember by old Voodoo card detected by name, and ran better than the system that replaced it. I had thought it was drivers, since when I recently updated them, I lost the selection option and got horrible performance. Rolling back the drivers did nothing, I had to do a system restore.

    Anyway, the purpose of this thread and wall of text is to gather system setups and hopefully garner tips/expertise on what AO uses to see the card, and find a way to make better performance available to everyone, at least in the mean time before the engine upgrade. I hope that some more software-savvy people may be able to make determinations on what specifically may be changed in certain OS/driver combinations that can help.

    I'm quoting myself to offer an example of the posts I'd like to get to get this thing started (and posting screenies of your launcher menu may also help as well).


    Quote Originally Posted by jorricane View Post
    I wish I had been able to figure out how AO was finding the card. I CAN tell you exactly what systems that the cards detect on tho.

    My current desktop: Vista Ultimate 64, ECS Geforce6100M-PM2 mobo, athlon 2400BE dualcore, 4gb of Corsair Value DDR2, Geforce 9600GT PCIE, detects the 9600 fine with my current driver version (7.15.11.7792) and not with any other version i've tried, but will not detect the onboard GF 6150LE under any circumstances.

    Secondary Machine: Soyo (some Socket A dragon board), XP SP2, AthlonXP 2200+, 1.5gb of DDR, does not detect GF 7900GS, 4600Ti, GF3 Ti500, and 5700 (all AGP) but does detect 6600GT (agp) and an ancient Stealth III (Savage4 chipset, PCI), and can detect both cards concurrently with a clean install with default windows drivers. Installing nVidia drivers for the 6600 causes AO to only show the Stealth, no matter what driver version.

    My roomate's PC : Dell mobo, p4 2.4hHz, 1gb RDRAM, XP SP2, does not detect 7600GS, or 4200.

    I do not have any ATI cards at this time to test on save a semi-burnt Radeon 7000, which doesn't run stable enuough to get into windows to test it.

    I really wish I knew what the factor was, but I'm guessing some registry key somewhere that is either non-standard or an obsolete standard that only gets set with some specific driver versions.
    Thanks in advance for helping! I won't thank you in advance for unhelpful flames, but I will consider them a bump to this thread

    Edit to OP:

    Also, posting the GUID setting from your prefs.xml and from DXDiagOutput.txt (not the whole files, just the parts pertaining to the GUID) would add some useful info.
    Last edited by jorricane; Jan 3rd, 2009 at 04:20:46.
    -= Make the new engine look even better. Don't forget to post a screenshot! =-

  2. #2
    With my ATI Radeon HD4850 it displays the ATI Radeon HD4800 series options.

  3. #3
    Would love to know if anyone has a 9600GT on Xp Detected and what drivers they use, would be nice info ^^

    Playing Aion
    Mannyyy 60 Ranger - Tiamat Asmo

    220/22 Opifex Fixer Retired Mannyfixer

    And the rest of the Manny toons.
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    Signature last updated 2012...
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  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by kutaghs View Post
    With my ATI Radeon HD4850 it displays the ATI Radeon HD4800 series options.
    Could I get a driver and windows version from ya?
    -= Make the new engine look even better. Don't forget to post a screenshot! =-

  5. #5
    Ati Catalyst Control Center
    Version 2008.1201.1504.27008

    At Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bits edition.

  6. #6
    I had the wierdest thing happen...

    I was twinking my solja.. then my pc crashed.. it wouldnt turn off so i had to switch it off via the psu.. then i went to go back on ao and i found my usernames had gone and all my settings and when i logged on my solja it was all weird GFX and my settings were lost..

    Now i go on my ao and it says 'Nvidia 9600GT RGB/Hal/T&L & Hal - Weird huh? Never had them before..

    Playing Aion
    Mannyyy 60 Ranger - Tiamat Asmo

    220/22 Opifex Fixer Retired Mannyfixer

    And the rest of the Manny toons.
    ----------------------------------------------
    Shadow Mercs
    ShadowMercs! Tl5's
    Signature last updated 2012...
    ----------------------------------------------

  7. #7
    I think that your graphics card is either overheated or broken or both (broken due to overheating :P )

  8. #8
    AO gets your hardware info by "asking" directx what devices it recognizes as capable of video acceleration, this means u just have to make sure DirectX is properly sending that id once asked.

    To check what is DirectX output, just use old Run->Dxdiag then "Save All informations" option to dump a dxdiag.txt file.

    Inside it u should see something like this:
    ---------------
    Display Devices
    ---------------
    Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
    Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9442)
    DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
    Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9442&SUBSYS_01F81043&REV_00
    Display Memory: 1914 MB
    Dedicated Memory: 507 MB
    Shared Memory: 1407 MB
    Current Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (75Hz)
    Monitor: Hitachi CM751
    Driver Name: atidxx32.dll,atidxx64,atiumdag.dll,atiumdva.cap,at iumd64,atiumd6a,atitmm64
    Driver Version: 7.15.0010.0163 (English)
    DDI Version: 10.1
    Driver Attributes: Final Retail
    Driver Date/Size: 12/1/2008 20:35:27, 2340352 bytes
    WHQL Logo'd: n/a
    WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
    Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-D702-11CF-8571-F221A1C2CA35}
    Vendor ID: 0x1002
    Device ID: 0x9442
    SubSys ID: 0x01F81043
    Revision ID: 0x0000
    Revision ID: 0x0000
    Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C

    So what AO reports is "ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series " (this is my case ofc).

    Simply put, IF your drivers are correctly installed AND directx is up to date and properly installed aswell u should ALLWAYS see your card name in AO list, and allways be able to chose it for best performance.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mannystk View Post
    I had the wierdest thing happen...

    I was twinking my solja.. then my pc crashed.. it wouldnt turn off so i had to switch it off via the psu.. then i went to go back on ao and i found my usernames had gone and all my settings and when i logged on my solja it was all weird GFX and my settings were lost..

    Now i go on my ao and it says 'Nvidia 9600GT RGB/Hal/T&L & Hal - Weird huh? Never had them before..
    That happend because your AnarchyOnline\Prefs\Prefs.xml file was damaged during the system crash and AO made a new one from scratch (asking DX for the info once more), so somewhere in between you probably updated your drivers/directx witch fixed the improper device detection.

    As an example in my prefs.xml file i have the following strings:

    <Value name="DisplayDeviceGUID" value='&quot;f5049e78-4861-11d2-a407-00a0c90629a8&quot;' />
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f&quot;' />

    They represent the Device ID for "ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series".

    P.S. If you want to find out witch is your "DisplayDeviceGUID" you can use DirectX Control panel, witch is installed with DirectX SDK.
    Under the Direct3D Tab you can check the ID by expanding the "DIRECT3D HAL" tree and looking at the Guid field.

    Hope this helps in the clarification process.
    Last edited by Pint0; Dec 31st, 2008 at 13:33:29.
    Pintoadvy 220/21 Vanguard E
    Dongjr2 220/21/70 Engineer E

    Proud Member of Tiger Claw

    We are currently Recruiting!

  9. #9
    So the gap is somewhere between what DX is outputing and what AO is getting. I've done the full gamut of DXDiag tests on every rig if tried to get AO to see the card on, and DX Diag has always shown the correct card and flawlessly runs its little tests. So somewhere, I'm guessing in AO, there is a glitch in translation, thereby causing AO not to show certain cards at certain times. Maybe an invalid character or a string thats too long. Well thats good to know while looking for an answer, lets see if we can debug this more!
    -= Make the new engine look even better. Don't forget to post a screenshot! =-

  10. #10
    Recent returning player in the same boat here. I have a Geforce 9600 GT and I've tried every 9600 "offical" drive out there under XP and yet to get Anarchy to detect my video card. Which is a shame because I know my old ATI card (An X800) when I last played worked just fine. Hell my Laptop's old Geforce 4 TX detects fine. But my 7800 GTX, or a 6600 I had laying around won't detect, and when I tried with my 9600 no go there either.

    It very much seems to be some kind of bug because when I run resource manager I know I'm only using about 14% of my computers resources, two gigs of memory and a AMD dualcore at 2.4Ghtz I am a full magnitude above what is recommended. But because of this dang video card thing, I'm seeing 20-40 FPS. Hell I manage that in Crysis on high. Tell me is there any other trick I can try and pull off?
    "You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty."
    - Sacha Guitry

  11. #11
    Try going to your \AnarchyOnline\Prefs folder and edit the Prefs.xml file in wordpad(make sure tour AO is shutdown):

    At the top of the fille you will find these 2 lines:

    <Value name="DisplayDeviceGUID" value='xxxxx;' />
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='xxxxx;' />

    Remove them (leave the blank spaces there) and restart your AO, go to the settings and C if anything changed.

    Also would be nice if you could paste the content of those 2 lines here.
    Pintoadvy 220/21 Vanguard E
    Dongjr2 220/21/70 Engineer E

    Proud Member of Tiger Claw

    We are currently Recruiting!

  12. #12
    Tried deleting the pref's file and restarting ao?
    Still here

  13. #13
    The prefs were
    <Value name="DisplayDeviceGUID" value='&quot;f5049e78-4861-11d2-a407-00a0c90629a8&quot;' />
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&quot;' />
    On deletion there was no change.

    So I deleted the main preference file, re-deleted the Display file and... no change. Still.
    Somehow it remembers my 3d preferences however, despite clearing the file. Still remembers I'm setting 1280x1024 at all high detail.
    "You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty."
    - Sacha Guitry

  14. #14
    What is failing to be detected is the DirectDraw Device ("DisplayDriverGUID")

    Replace your string : <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&quot;' />

    With: <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f&quot;' />

    Let me know if it detects your device properly after.
    Pintoadvy 220/21 Vanguard E
    Dongjr2 220/21/70 Engineer E

    Proud Member of Tiger Claw

    We are currently Recruiting!

  15. #15
    is there a way to find value for second row?
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&quot;' /> <--- for that

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Pint0 View Post
    What is failing to be detected is the DirectDraw Device ("DisplayDriverGUID")

    Replace your string : <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&quot;' />

    With: <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f&quot;' />

    Let me know if it detects your device properly after.

    Current values
    <Value name="DisplayDeviceGUID" value=""f5049e78-4861-11d2-a407-00a0c90629a8"" />
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value=""67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f"" />
    No change, no FPS improvement or disprovement it still shows up only as "Primary Display Driver"

    For extra fun here's a DirectX dump

    ------------------
    System Information
    ------------------
    Time of this report: 1/2/2009, 18:42:16
    *Edited
    Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
    Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
    System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
    System Model: System Product Name
    BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
    Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
    Memory: 2048MB RAM
    Page File: 415MB used, 5570MB available
    Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
    DX Setup Parameters: Not found
    DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

    ------------
    DxDiag Notes
    ------------
    DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
    Display Tab 1: The file nv4_disp.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
    Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
    Music Tab: No problems found.
    Input Tab: No problems found.
    Network Tab: No problems found.

    --------------------
    DirectX Debug Levels
    --------------------
    Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
    DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
    DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
    DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
    DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
    DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
    DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

    ---------------
    Display Devices
    ---------------
    Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
    Manufacturer: NVIDIA
    Chip type: GeForce 9600 GT
    DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
    Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0622&SUBSYS_C8603842&REV_A1
    Display Memory: 512.0 MB
    Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (75Hz)
    Monitor: NEC MultiSync FE990
    Monitor Max Res: 1792,1344
    Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
    Driver Version: 6.14.0011.8084 (English)
    DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
    Driver Attributes: Final Retail
    Driver Date/Size: 12/2/2008 23:11:00, 6166272 bytes
    WHQL Logo'd: No
    WHQL Date Stamp: None
    VDD: n/a
    Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 12/2/2008 23:11:00, 6209536 bytes
    Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4562-11CF-6644-6BE800C2CB35}
    Vendor ID: 0x10DE
    Device ID: 0x0622
    SubSys ID: 0xC8603842
    Revision ID: 0x00A1
    Revision ID: 0x00A1
    Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
    Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
    {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
    {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
    {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
    {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
    {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
    {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
    {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
    "You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty."
    - Sacha Guitry

  17. #17
    We're getting somewhere it looks like, thanks pint0!

    That being said I'm out of my depth here, altho I'm trying the device ID copy/paste on another rig as we speak.
    -= Make the new engine look even better. Don't forget to post a screenshot! =-

  18. #18
    Just noticed something.....


    <Value name="DisplayDeviceGUID" value=""f5049e78-4861-11d2-a407-00a0c90629a8"" />
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value=""67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f"" />


    mine are set exactly the same as yours pint0.....and exactly the same on my other detecting rig that I have.


    edit: on every detecting rig I have those 2 lines are the same as the ones posted above. On the non-detectors the second line is always all 0s, and changing it so far has been to no avail. Trying another hunch and will repost later.

    downloaded dx SDK for the hell of it, but the GUID listed in there is not the one AO is showing....?

    Guid: 0x84e63de0-46aa-11cf-816f0000c02002x156e

    edit again: Replacing the one in AO with the one from DX control panel results in AO auto selecting the Primary Device option. If I again select my card by name, it changes the prefs line back to the first one I posted. Not sure what this means however. Seriously, WTB some kind of word from FC on the detection system.
    Last edited by jorricane; Jan 3rd, 2009 at 03:55:56.
    -= Make the new engine look even better. Don't forget to post a screenshot! =-

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by mrblackadder View Post
    Current values
    <Value name="DisplayDeviceGUID" value=""f5049e78-4861-11d2-a407-00a0c90629a8"" />
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value=""67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f"" />
    No change, no FPS improvement or disprovement it still shows up only as "Primary Display Driver"
    Notice the format on your values is not the same as mine, did you edited or did you copy/paste directly from the prefs file?

    Im asking simply because if checked touse values on 2 PC's and 3 laptop's so far and the second value is allways exactly the same dispite the VGA card (tried 4800/280gtx/9600mgt/9650mgt/9600mgs).

    Your Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value=""67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f"" />
    is
    <Value name="DisplayDriverGUID" value='&quot;67685559-3106-11d0-b971-00aa00342f9f&quot;' />

    Notice the '&quot; at the start and end of the value.

    Quote Originally Posted by jorricaner View Post

    Downloaded dx SDK for the hell of it, but the GUID listed in there is not the one AO is showing....?

    Guid: 0x84e63de0-46aa-11cf-816f0000c02002x156e
    The vaule is formated difrently but it is still the same, im at home atm and dont have SDK over here but ill post the conversion tomorrow once i hit work.
    Pintoadvy 220/21 Vanguard E
    Dongjr2 220/21/70 Engineer E

    Proud Member of Tiger Claw

    We are currently Recruiting!

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Pint0 View Post
    Notice the format on your values is not the same as mine, did you edited or did you copy/paste directly from the prefs file?

    If you look at those values in an XML program rather than notepad, they show with a " rather than a %quot, exactly the way mrblack posted them.


    So anyway, its looking like we need to find a way to pull the guid out of DX and ram it down AO's throat. A nice gentle alternative would be great, but that would require someone from FC read this thread....
    Last edited by jorricane; Jan 3rd, 2009 at 04:16:53.
    -= Make the new engine look even better. Don't forget to post a screenshot! =-

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