UT2K3 & Preemtible/low-latency kernel

[bammbamm808]

One more possible cause for instability with this marvelous new game:

I read about the preemtible and low-latency patches, and being curious compiled a 2.4.19 kernel with them to see if any apps showed improvement. Well, no improvement, but no problems, until I started running UT2K3. I've seen some very very bad lockups when using this combo. I've gone back to an unpatched 2.4.19, and the situation seems to have been resolved. I'll know for sure after more testing ;-)

[bwkaz]

Which patch (where'd you download it from)? I'm using the same patch (well... the preempt patch, not the low-latency patches -- are you using both? I'd be a little wary of that...) with 2.4.19.

I'm also using agpgart (as opposed to the nVidia AGP), with an Athlon XP (KT333 chipset), and without the AMD kernel patch (that I know of -- if it was integrated into 2.4.19, then I guess I do have it...), and without mem=nopentium.

No problems whatsoever with UT2k3.

Am I just lucky? I fear this may be the case... but I don't know for sure.

[bammbamm808]

Not sure about the preempt/latency patch thing now. I have been able to recreate the crashes in the standard 2.4.19 kernel by with my usual 150MHz FSB in BIOS. Apparrently, among all the apps I use, UT2K3 needs a lower frontside bus frequency than any of them. I lower it to 145, tweak the I/O, RAM, Vcore voltages, and it's very stable. I'll try the settings that are currently stable with the patched kernel tomorrow and see what happens.

It's weird, because I can play Q3, RTCW, HL/winex for hours on end with no hiccups. At 150MHz FSB, UT2K3 locks my machine within 5 minutes everytime. At 145, it's fine. And that is with a higher multiplier, so my CPU is actually running faster on 145 than at 150 FSB.

I'm using the nvidia agp driver. I'll prolly load the agpgart module and compare, though. So, I don't need mem=nopentium with 2.4.19?

[bwkaz]

I don't boot with it. I'm not sure if no one needs to, or what the deal is (I'd still think about it if this wasn't an Athlon XP), but it works here if I don't.