I spent most of this morning trying every fix Gemini, reddit and YouTube could suggest, including but not limited to reseating the ram, swapping it around, reseating the GPU, changing cables, changing monitors and removing and replacing the CMOS battery. Nothing had the slightest effect.
So here I am, blogging from my old PC, which works fine (Fingers crossed, touch wood...) It's still on Windows 10 but I'm good for security updates until October, when all support ends, so it'll do me until I either get the other repaired or replaced. It's still under warranty but it's back-to-base of course, which is pain. I've submitted a request so we'll see how that goes.
The only real drawback of (Temporarily.) reverting to the old PC is that it won't run Neverness To Everness. I'm a bit surprised because it ran Wuthering Waves flawlessly and I wouldn't have thought there was that much difference. I think it's one of those annoying hard-coded blocks, where the launcher checks the exact specs of the machine and refuses to go on if they don't meet the minimum. I'd much rather they just let me try it and find out. I've run plenty of games perfectly well on machines that didn't meet minimum spec before.
Actually, I just googled (Yay! Live blogging!) and it isn't that at all. Apparently NTE does run on sub-standard hardware, so I need to look into why it's not doing it on mine.
It'll be a shame if I have to stop playing for a while, not only because I was really enjoying it but because I was up-to-date, for once. I've finished all the main story quests that were in the game at launch and I was ready to start on whatever comes with the new update, Dreamwalk Corridor, which lands on June 3.
And the live blogging continues... I looked into it and NTE runs on Google Play Games for PC, which I have installed on this old machine already although I don't think I've ever used it. And i'm not using it now, either.
I tried it and it told me I wasn't entitled to play games with Google because I don't have hardware virtualization enabled. Also, while it was pointing out my deficiencies, it told me my graphics drivers were out of date.
I just updated those the other day on the new machine and when I swapped to this one I also moved the good graphics card across so I knew where to go and which ones to get. I did that and then looked up how to enable hardware virtualization, which requires going into BIOS and flicking a switch.
I powered down and restarted and... nothing. Well, something. I got as far as the Windows logo, then a spinning circle and then nothing. I tried doing that a few times until the fun wore off, then I tried booting into Safe Mode and that didn't work either because there didn't seem to be any such option.
I followed the instructions on how to get to Safe Mode, which are ludicrously complicated these days. The walkthrough is literally a 12-step program, which is what you're going to need if you try and fix your own computer problems. At the 11th step, whoever wrote the list whispered an aside ("Isn't this so much easier than pressing F8 on start-up?") Litotes and irony! Gosh-wow! They really must have been pissed.
Anyway, at least it worked. I was able to get in and roll the video drivers
back to the last ones. You know, the ones that worked.
And now I'm wondering if that could have been the problem with the new PC. When did Forza Horizon 6 come out? 19 May. I have a feeling I updated my GeForce drivers the same day, although not for that reason. Which would have been about the time I started having problems...
Tempted though I am to open the cases and swap everything around again just to find out for certain that it wasn't the reason, I have a better idea. I'll stick an old Radeon card in there instead and see if that works. It's not going to use the GeForce drivers so it should, if the drivers were the problem. Hang on...
Nah. Wasn't that. Never thought it was, really. The PC also has integrated graphics that don't use Nvidia drivers as far as I know and they weren't working either. Still, nice to be sure.
Getting back to the main plot, once I was able to get in again, I went back to Google Play Games to get NTE and bloody Google told me it still wouldn't let me play because my CPU wasn't up to the job. Well screw you, Google! Just because it's, like, a decade old...
As it happens, I did keep the box. It was a nice, big, solid one and I thought it might come in useful for something but luckily it hasn't so it's just sitting there, waiting to be used. Believe it or not, though, I don't also have a second, slightly smaller box to go inside it or indeed a second, slightly larger one tp put it in. I'll have to get one or the other before I give a date and time for the courier to collect it.
And that was how I spent my day. Aren't computers fun?
Luckily, it was only the second-hottest of the year, after yesterday's record-breaking hottest Spring day ever. (33C in the shade in our back garden. I took a theromemeter out and measured it. Don't tell me I don't know how to have a good time!) Nothing I like better than doing several hours of fiddly tech stuff with sweat dripping off my nose into the electrics...
For the time being, I imagine there'll be a pause in posts about Neverness To Everness, which will probably come as a relief to some readers. On the other hand, they might be replaced by posts about Wuthering Waves, if I decide to get my anime fix there instead for a while, so don't get too comfortable.
Or I might just play EQII for a bit. I was doing some things there before NTE knocked me off course. At least my old PC can run that one. Suck on that, Google Play Games!
Notes on AI used in this post:
Three images from the AI-generated suggested prompts I use every day to get my daily done at NightCafe. I never even look at the details beyond checking if there's some kind of animal involved and if there's neon or cyberpunk or noir in the description. I also never change the model so I guess it's whatever I used the last time I cared. Since I'm burning up the planet making these things, I figure I might as well get some use out of them.
And they are quite pretty. Particularly the fox. I really like that fox, with his waistcoat and his weak left eye. It's not his fault he's artificial...
Posts
Sorry about all the hardware problems. I think Wuthering Waves was build on Unreal Engine 4 and NTE is Unreal Engine 5 and I wonder if that's why one runs and the other doesn't? Not that it really matters.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'm caught up on NTE or if I'm just level-gated. The puppet quest was the end of chapter 4, I was told. Tho I hadn't any recollection of ending chapters 1, 2 or 3. I spent some time trying to figure out the tesselation thingie.. the console? I kind of have no clue how to build characters yet. I finally figured out the Esper cycle, at least.
I chuckled a little at your hot weather complaint. Where I grew up, I'd be right there with you talking about those temps. Where I live now, people don't really complain about the heat until we get up to 37C or so. Of course EVERYTHING is air-conditioned too, and I bet that isn't the case where you are. I've been living in the heat for like 13 or 14 years and I'm FINALLY adapting to it.
Yeah, the problem with heat here isn't just that it's unusual but that very few buildings, private or public, are designed or equipped todeal with it. Air conditioning is moderately common in offices and retail premises these days although it's usually fairly weak but very few homes would have it. (Or need it.) Our house is actually better in hot weather than cold - it's pretty airy and with the outside at 30C+ for several days, the inside was still comfortably mid-20s. It's Beryl who really suffers - dogs can't take the heat like cats even though they both lose heat the same way. We have cool mats for her though and she's fine, albeit very lethargic.
DeleteAs far as I know, Chapter 4 is as far as it goes in the launch build. There are a ton of other quests but the main story stops there for now. I tried a whole load of tricks to get NTE running yesterday but nothing worked so I'm just going to leave it until I get the other machine fixed. I see Epic are demoing Unreal 6 now. I'm not sure why we need to keep "improving" these things but I guess that's how they make money.
Yeah Lola struggled with the heat, too. We had this "neckerchief" kind of thing that you'd soak with water and tie it around her neck to help her stay cool, though since she couldn't talk I'm unsure how much it helped. One of those little kid wading pools out in the garden might help, though! One of these things: https://dragonchasers.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/lola_kid_pool.jpg
DeleteThat one was actually at the dog park and she would bee-line to it on hot days.
Of course then you have a wet dog to contend with! :)
Anyway, I hope it cools down for you!
Sorry about your hardware problems, that really sucks.
ReplyDeleteIt's been getting crazy hot here as well. We do all have air conditioning, but in the summer it will get up to 37/ high 90s pretty much every day during the really hot months now, going up to 38ish on about half the days and 40 for one random really bad week. Once the ambient crosses the human body temperature threshold, you can tell a huge difference.
Two years ago it got up to 45/ 114 a couple days in the middle of the summer. I had no idea I could get that hot at sea level anywhere in the continental US, save maybe out west in the deep desert. It was awful, but also kind of amazing. The only other times I have experienced ambient temperatures like that was in Death Valley. Just to get out of your car and sauy "Holy crap it's hot!" (and then maybe die of a heat stroke if your car breaks down) Is pretty much the whole point of tourism to the area. Never expected it in my backyard.
Meanwhile, I have read stories about asphalt getting gummy in some parts of India, which happens at around 49 according to Google. Almost there, maybe one day!
Ima guess you really wish that fox could be a pet, at least -- if not a playable character. heh
ReplyDelete-- 7rlsy