Newbie Question relating to Maps

[heavy_rat]

Excuse me for sounding like a noddy but when I connect to a server it takes about 5 minutes for the map to load. Is this right?

Also when a round finishes and the map changes, it then takes about 5 mins to load the new map. And when I finally get playing again, everyone else has already got a load of kills. Is there anything I can do to speed the map loading pocess up?

[plaid_retina]

Re: Newbie Question relating to Maps

Get more memory, and a better computer. Problem solved.

[ptegan]

Re: Newbie Question relating to Maps

Which bit is slow, the map loading or the 'verifying client data' part?

[Lord_Azael]

Re: Newbie Question relating to Maps

yeah, verifiying takes longer than loading the map. it takes ages to load servers on most PCs, i wouldn't worry about it. you could spend trhat time getting angry then release your rage on your enemies...lots of nice anger-feuled kills.

[ptegan]

Re: Newbie Question relating to Maps

The following is from another forum

It used to take me 3-4 minutes but my problem was not memory, it was the speed of the HD the game was installed to. Even though it was a newer HD, Windows was running it in PIO Access mode so I was getting 4.3 Meg / sec transfer speed. Once I got it switched to Ultra DMA Mode 4, I got 44 Megs / sec transfer and now verify in about 35 seconds. Download a program called HDTach and let it benchmark your hard drive speeds.

HDTach download

If you get a low speed (I had about 3.5mb on my BF2 drive, then do the following)

1) How to check...

If you are running XP, go to device manager and expand 'IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers' Right click on 'Primary channel' and choose properties. (Primary is usually the channel you HD's are connected to)

Click on the 'Advanced Settings' tab, this will show the devices connected to that channel, and their current speeds. Virtually all modern hard drives should be running in Ultra DMA mode 5. Maxtor's on the right chipsets run Mode 6, and most CDrom drives run Mode 2. Any HD's running in PIO mode will seriously affect loading times, as this is the slowest speed possible.

2) How to fix...
XP will slow down the speed of devices if it receives errors while using the device, until it gets to PIO mode. This could be due to faulty cables, device or drivers.

First thing to try is simply change the the transfer mode to 'DMA if available' and reboot. If that does not fix it, uninstall the controller and reboot. XP should reinstall it and reset the fastest transfer speeds. You could also try both the MS drivers and the chipset manufacturers. (I had to install the NVidia drivers on my NF4 chipset, to fix IDE problems. I have also had them cause problems on my NF2 chipset system, so try both)

If it deteriorates or this doesn't fix it, check to make sure you are using 80pin cables, and that any transfer/DMA settings are correct in the BIOS.

Hope this helps.