Slight pauses every 10 seconds or so

[OvermindDL1]

For note, the map of the screenshot above was very empty except for what was on screen... And it is not restricted to a specific map/dll type, it appears at random, should I get some testing done I can list off specific ones...

[Bull Dog]

!^%@$#!@%^!@#!@$!@#

Well anyhow I have not seen this same !@#!@$! problem crop up myself.  Ok I was playing multiple session of bz2 last night and I was having this awful occurance.  The timing seemed completely random.  Just to play this morning the Restarted my computer and then played a MPI (same map) and volia no more problem.  Not to say it won't crop up again.  I'll work on pinpointing the cuase as time goes on.  

But that leads me to a Important question.  OM how often do you restart you computer?  The randomness of maps you mentioned may have been related to the last time your computer was restarted.

I'm going to take not of all processes running at the time the next occurance (hopefully if) happens.  Then maybe we could compare notes.  Its would be a read pain to it I happened during a dogfight *shudder*.

Edit:

I almost forgot I last night I was playing with a couple of friends on TS (thanks RIP for the server).  And during the slow-ups which seemed to last about 5 seconds,  I could still talk to and hear them fine.   Which reminds me of something else, sometimes when the slow-up happened my framerate would only dip to maybe 15-25 FPS (off my V-sinc limited 85)

Edit 1 more time:

I looked at OM's pictures again, sheesh how do you get off with only   4  sound channels?

[PhoeniX-FlamE]

its sound like what I get if I dont reboot or accidently leave spyware doc on when I play... its just overload on the comp or w/e, either defrag and see if it does that, or close background problems (after a reboot) and see if that fixes it...

[OvermindDL1]

Actually I have 64 sound channels, but I had just rebuilt my computer and it was running the motherboard sound, I had not yet put in my Audigy.  Do not worry, I have it in now, couldn't stand to be without it.

[Bull Dog]

OM could you tell me

1. Which software firewall you are using
2. What anti-virus program you are running.


Thanks this slow-up bug seems to be not just BZ2 related,  I saw it in Halo last night.  GRRRRR. Got me killed more than once.   Not to mention the fact that Halo is simply not my type of game for Multiplayer.

[Zero Angel]

When playing, hit ctrl-alt-del and bring up the task manager. Then click on the 'processes' tab, and click on the title of the 'processor usage' column and watch it for awhile. Some processes might jump to the top of the list suddenly and then back down to 0% usage. That might be your culprit.

I myself have had similar problems with Winamp.

[OvermindDL1]

Does not happen anywhere else except BZ2, and only on some maps.  Hardware Firewall, not software.  AntiVirus is Norton, but generally disable it before games.  Only time computer is turned off is when I reboot to switch to a different OS on another drive.  Process Usage generally tops out at 2%, generally sits at 0%, and that is when I am listening to music in WMP10.

[CmptrWz]

Just realized I used to see this type of thing, but only when I played music in the background.

Using winamp, I would get the pauses, but only if I neglected to minimize it before launching the game. Winamp was still trying to update its screen in the background, causing a slight pause every so often.

[OvermindDL1]

I close anything that could use CPU before BZ2, not that I'd need to, I get a few hundred fps without VSync on.

[technoid]

What network protocols do you have installed? Those can also be a source of hiccups due to polling conflicts or incorrect protocol drivers, though I don't think that should happen on current OSes.

[OvermindDL1]

It shouldn't matter, especially since no people are usually in the game.

TCP/IP on one nic, TCP/IP and NFS on another.

[Bull Dog]

Well for right now I seem to have found a "fix" for my problem.  Giving bz2 or any other game that exhibits this problem Above normal priority in the processes tab seems to make this problem disappear.

[Bull Dog]

The Guilty verdict......

Outpost Firewall.

Of course I havn't proven it yet, but I just got out of Utk24, I had the TaskMgr open, and I saw it consuming 98% of CPU resources.  

More testing with it closed to see it that will fix the problem.

Then I will pass sentence, delete or not.

[Bull Dog]

The accused:  Agnitum Outpost Firewall.
Proof:  No more slow-ups when this program is off.
The verdict: Guilty of excessive CPU usage at the wrong times.
The sentence: Henceforth this program will be forever banished from my computer.

Ahh peace again.

[PhoeniX-FlamE]

hehe, a great progarm for monitiring stuff and see whats working hidenly in the background: security task manager

damn great program, no more wormz or viruses running hiddenly in the background - you can get a free version off downloads.com