Problem with Cossacks 3 on a370m

[Tomasz3]

Hi. I recently bought a laptop. I have a problem with the game Cossacks 3. I really regret it because it's the only game I play.  I have an arc a370m graphics card and an integrated iris xe. I installed the latest drivers 31.0.101.4953 and the cossacks 3 game does not start. Black squares pop up. I tried to run the game on the arc a370m and iris xe cards. I removed the DDU drivers and installed the original Lenovo ver 31.0.101.3889. The game starts, but the fps drops to as low as 5. You can't play, the game freezes. Strangely enough, with a higher load, the a370m has less fps than the iris xe. Cossacks 3 requires DirectX 9c. Please help

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Tomasz3,

Thank you for posting on the Intel communities. Please respond to the following questions for a better understanding of why you are experiencing FPS drops and crashes when running Cossacks 3 on your Intel® Arc™ A370M Graphics.  

• Did the game work properly at any moment?
• Take screenshots of the game settings, in case we need to replicate the issue, to do it as accurately as possible
• To know your system environment, run, save and attach the report for the following tool Intel® System Support Utility for Windows (SSU), you can find the steps on the link How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows. 

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Tomasz3]

1. Unfortunately no. The game only runs on old drivers (31.0.101.3889) on the Arc a370m card, but the FPs are 10-15, so you can't play. I installed the latest drivers 31.0.101.4972 yesterday. The game won't run on the Arc m379m card. The error "context deactivation filed" and black squares are displayed.

2. Screenshots in attachment

3. Done

[Andres_Intel]

Hello Tomasz3,

Thank you for all the information provided, that is very helpful.

I noticed in the Intel® SSU report you shared there are some pending updates:

• Clean install graphics drivers to version 31.0.101.3959 with Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), this is one is the driver recommended by Lenovo. For guidance, How to Use the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to Uninstall an Intel® Graphics Driver.
• If the issue persists, repeat the previous step, but this time by downloading the driver version 31.0.101.4972. If you have already installed this version after a clean installation with DDU do not complete this step.
• We recommend having the whole system updated for a better performance on the graphics card. Update the BIOS to version KMCN19WW. For installation steps, you can contact Lenovo.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Tomasz3]

Zrobiłem wszystko tak jak mi kazałeś:
1. Zaktualizowałem Windows 11 i BIOS do wersji KMCN19WW.
2. Odinstalowałem sterownik graficzny za pomocą (DDU) i zainstalowałem sterownik ze strony Lenowo - 31.0.101.3959. Gra uruchamia się na karcie A370m z ustawieniami gry (załącznik nr 1), w laptopie zaczynają głośno pracować wentylatory. FPS wynosi 4 (załącznik nr 2), przy jednostce liczącej na mapie 200 żołnierzy (to w tej grze bardzo mało. Można tworzyć jednostki składające się z kilku tysięcy jednostek). Nie mogę grać. Następnie uruchomiłem grę na karcie xe iris (wentylatory są cichsze), gra jest trochę płynniejsza (10 FPS - załącznik nr 3), ale też nie mogę w nią zagrać.
3. Pobrałem i zainstalowałem najnowszy sterownik 31.0.101.4972. Gra na karcie A370m nie chce się uruchomić i wyskakuje błąd "zgłoszono dezaktywację kontekstu" i pojawiają się czarne kwadraty (załącznik nr 4). Następnie uruchamiam grę na xe iris. Gra uruchamia się na tych samych ustawieniach, lecz niestety prędkość gry nie ulega poprawie - 11 FPS (załącznik nr 5). Co jest nie tak? Proszę pomóż.

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[Andres_Intel]

Hello Tomasz3,

Thank you for testing the drivers and providing me with the results it helps a lot.

I will start with an investigation to provide you with the next steps as soon as possible.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Tomasz3]

Hi. Is there any progress?

[Tomasz3]

Hi. I downloaded the latest drivers 31.0.101.5081/31.0.101.5122. Unfortunately, on the Iris xe card, the Cossacks 3 game jams very badly, making it impossible to play. However, when I switch to the Arc a370m card, the error "access violation at address 5bebe2ad module igxehpgicd32.dll" appears while loading the game. The game works using OpenGL. I downloaded Mesa 3d version 23.3.0 (Latest). I installed it according to the instructions. I turned on the game and the graphics were much nicer, the shadows were clearer. FPS at several thousand units did not stutter. Everything worked smoothly. Cool!!! I thought everything would be fine, but when I start building buildings, the game suddenly turns off. It seems that the Intel drivers for the OpenGL engine are not well optimized. Please help.

[RonaldM_Intel]

Hi @Tomasz3 ,

Thanks for letting us know the results with the latest drivers. 

I can confirm that we have reproduced the issue as you reported it and it is currently assigned to our driver debug team. Now I wish I could tell you an estimate time for an update but development times are tricky.

Rest assured that we are currently looking into this issue.

Bets Regards,

Ronald M.

[Tomasz3]

OK. Thank you 

[Tomasz3]

Is there anything known about the problem yet? Do you know the approximate waiting time for the problem to be resolved?

[Felipe_Intel]

Hello @Tomasz3 

Sorry for the late response. The opening issue was addressed in one of our latest drivers. Please install driver 31.0.101.5382. 

We don't have a fix for the performance issue yet. That is still under investigation, debugging and development. 

As soon as I have news I'll be in contact. 

[NormanS_Intel]

Hello Tomasz3,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. Our priority is to target the most popular games and apps to focus our efforts on providing a high-quality, stable experience for the broadest set of users. We will continue to improve our software performance and compatibility throughout 2024 and beyond. While we can’t accommodate your request at this time, please watch Cossacks 3* Has Low Performance on Intel® Arc™ A-Series Systems on our website for any possible changes to this situation.

I will now close this inquiry. Should you need further assistance, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Norman S.

Intel Customer Support Engineer