UT2003 sometime takes forever to load

[cwchan]

Below is my computer spec.:

P3 800EB
256MB PC133 SDRAM
64MB GF2 GTS
20GB IDE HDD
SB LIVE! Platinum

I follows instruction in this forum to compile and install nVidia driver on my Redhat 8.0 and it works fine. I also installed UT2003 and it runs fine with acceptable frame rate.

However, most of the time the game takes forever to load a level. The HDD's LED keeps flashing for minutes. I tried to lower all my details to 'normal' but it's still happening.

Is it due to the virtual memory problems? How to fix it?

[Ryo-Ohki]

Well, someone correct me if I'm making nonsense, but loading a level should purely be data processing (CPU + HDD to memory transfers), and the GFX should not be concerned in any way.

What are the exact specs of your HDD (the first possible bottleneck coming to mind), in terms of RPMs, transfer rate and the like. Also, how did you setup your swapspace (virtual memory) on Linux ?

[cwchan]

I partitioned my hard disk (Quantum Fireball Plus AS 20GB - 7200RPM) into 5 partitions:

1st (Primary - 5.8GB): Windows XP
2nd (Primary - 2.6GB): Ext3
3rd (Primary - 3.9GB): Windows 98
4th (Logical - 3.9GB): FAT32
5th (Logical - 3.9GB): Ext3 (the place where I installed UT2003)

Regarding the swap space, do you mean the Linux Swap partition which is optional to create? If yes, I didn't create it due to space limitation. Is this the reason why UT2003 takes forever to load a level?

[Ryo-Ohki]

EEEEEWW !

No swap ? No way !!

Of course, now I'm pretty sure this is the cause of your trouble. Swap is optionnal, but you'll lose a lot of performance if you don't use it. It means the OS has no place to stock the data it doesn't immediately need when the RAM is full (so it must find any way to free some)... And I'd say Tournament 2003 must be one helluva RAM hungry game.

You must add AT LEAST a 256 MB partition (same size of your RAM) for Linux swap.