I'm having dropped sound problems.

[Striker879]

Hence my advice to never overwrite saves (which isn't recommended anyway). If you're really worried install Multiple Oblivion Manager - MOM and create a clone of your current install (which is MOM's default action). Make the clone active and use it to troubleshoot. If it breaks delete the clone and start over.

[Hickory]

Should I go ahead and patch the executable to take 4GB of RAM so as to minimize drag?

 

That will not solve your sound problem. I run Windows 7 64Bit, and I do not use the patch. Oblivion runs just fine for me without it, as does most everything.

 

Your description of missing land mass is *not* a symptom of a corrupt save game, or at least I have never heard of a corrupt save game causing that. It (a corrupt save) is far more likely to CTD or not load at all. I will repeat what I said earlier: missing land mass is a sure sign of a mod incompatibility; something overwriting vanilla assets.

[RepeatRepeater]

That will not solve your sound problem. I run Windows 7 64Bit, and I do not use the patch. Oblivion runs just fine for me without it, as does most everything.

 

I was thinking that with more RAM, I could maybe set iPreloadSizeLimit=104857600 and that would somehow include the sound files? I'm thinking this because I don't remember having sound problems before I turned on "shadows on grass" and "self-shadows". For what it's worth, the modified EXE seems to be a little faster and less "sticky". I was also wondering about upping the interior and exterior cell buffers for that purpose.

 

Your description of missing land mass is *not* a symptom of a corrupt save game, or at least I have never heard of a corrupt save game causing that. It (a corrupt save) is far more likely to CTD or not load at all. I will repeat what I said earlier: missing land mass is a sure sign of a mod incompatibility; something overwriting vanilla assets.

 

Does this mean I should install OBSE so I can install FormID Finder in case this happens again? Or can I just ad-hoc install it if I get problems?

 

Also, will doing any of this corrupt my saves, assuming I don't use autosaves or quicksaves?

 

Thanks, by the way, for talking me through this.

[Hickory]

That will not solve your sound problem. I run Windows 7 64Bit, and I do not use the patch. Oblivion runs just fine for me without it, as does most everything.

 

I was thinking that with more RAM, I could maybe set iPreloadSizeLimit=104857600 and that would somehow include the sound files? I'm thinking this because I don't remember having sound problems before I turned on "shadows on grass" and "self-shadows". For what it's worth, the modified EXE seems to be a little faster and less "sticky". I was also wondering about upping the interior and exterior cell buffers for that purpose.

 

Changing iPreloadSizeLimit will not help your sound issue, and that figure looks too high anyway -- mine (with 16GB RAM) is set at 26214400. Your sound issue is there because of a bottleneck in the processing -- your CPU is having to do most of the work, as opposed to a dedicated card doing ALL of the work (sound-wise). There is only one permanent solution, as I have stated.

 

Your description of missing land mass is *not* a symptom of a corrupt save game, or at least I have never heard of a corrupt save game causing that. It (a corrupt save) is far more likely to CTD or not load at all. I will repeat what I said earlier: missing land mass is a sure sign of a mod incompatibility; something overwriting vanilla assets.

 

Does this mean I should install OBSE so I can install FormID Finder in case this happens again? Or can I just ad-hoc install it if I get problems?

 

Also, will doing any of this corrupt my saves, assuming I don't use autosaves or quicksaves?

 

Thanks, by the way, for talking me through this.

 

Install FormID Finder if you wish, but that is ONLY going to help you to a degree. What you need to do is:

1. Install, update and run BOSS
2. Install Wrye Bash
3. Create a Bashed Patch
4. Load a known good save, and check for the missing land.

Without conflicts, you should find none.

[RepeatRepeater]

Update: I figured out exactly how to reproduce the dropped ambiance issue. It happens in certain rooms in the Kvatch Count's sanctum, and happens when you open a box/container or tab to the menu. Anything that pauses the ambient sounds. They fail to restart.

 

I'm wondering if, given my specs, I couldn't somehow improve this by using software sound?

 

Edit: Same problem with Oblivion gates and the ambient hum they generate.

Edited January 17, 2013 by RepeatRepeater

[RepeatRepeater]

So after a few hours of messing with the ini, I've had no luck.

 

Well, looks like I'm buying a sound card. Any recommendations?

 

Edit: For what it's worth, here's a new dimension to the problem- If I save near one of the kinds of ambient sounds that fail and then reload, interrupting them doesn't work. That is, the fire sound in the room I start out in won't stop if I suspend sounds, but the fire in other rooms will. If I save next to an Oblivion gate and reload, then I can't turn off the whistling sound by tabbing.

Edited January 17, 2013 by RepeatRepeater

[Striker879]

Depends on whether you have a PCI slot available or a PCI-E slot. That card I mentioned is on sale at Canada Computers for $27.99 ($5 discount). The least expensive PCI-E card is an Asus Xonar DGX - 5.1 Channel + Headphone Amp for $44.99. I have no experience with Asus sound cards (that particular one uses a C-Media CMI8786 High-Definition Sound Processor). I tend to stick with Creative Labs myself ... even the Auzentech cards I have for my next machine use a Creative Creative 20K2 PCI Express audio processor for the PCI-E version and an X-Fi for the PCI version (bought two for less than half price because I don't know whether I'll have a PCI or PCI-E slot available after I get the SLI video cards plus chipset cooler installed). The cheapest Creative PCI-E card Canada Computers has is a Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D - PCI-E for $89.99.

[RepeatRepeater]

Thanks. I'm looking into cards now.

 

Just to be clear, it's certain this will fix it? I don't know about my seller's return policy and I don't want to inadvertently waste $80.

[Hickory]

Thanks. I'm looking into cards now.

 

Just to be clear, it's certain this will fix it? I don't know about my seller's return policy and I don't want to inadvertently waste $80.

 

It will fix your *sound* issue *only*. The missing land mass is a separate issue, which it will *not* fix. As to wasting money, a dedicate sound card, as opposed to an on-board chip, can never be called a waste of money.

[Striker879]

As to wasting money, a dedicate sound card, as opposed to an on-board chip, can never be called a waste of money.

Seconded.

 

I never build a machine without a dedicated sound card even though almost every motherboard I've bought in the last 15 years or more has included on-board sound. The reason on-board sound is included is it cost the motherboard manufacturer almost nothing and gives the marketing guys something to crow about. Even a relatively inexpensive sound card outperforms on-board sound (and here I'm not talking about something for $10 that is nothing more than the on-board sound chip on a discrete card ... that junk is out there too). If you're spending $30 or more you'll be fine.