The Unofficial TOR and Boot Camp Discussion Thread

[daemian]

I had to reinstall the driver, everything is at maxed setting and running great a few hiccups here and their, that's probably because my RAM is 3GB, I plan on upgrading that soon though but this game is totally worth having Windows 7 installed with bootcamp. I can't wait until they put out an OSX version.

 

Glad to hear you got it working.

[cgipe]

are you only selecting low medium or high and then not making any adjustments? You can go to higher quality if you turn off BLOOM - it's just horrible and sucks up WAY too much power for what it gives you. Also turn off Shadows all together. That's what I do and its very playable for me. So try High but turn off bloom and shadows.

 

Thanks for the tip. I am now running on High with Bloom and shadows off and avg about 25 fps which is much butter the before, but with my system i feel like i should be avg more like 60 minimum. Any other suggestions? My fps monitor using ctrl+****+f is green if that helps.

[frubio]

Have you also tried playing in low settings?

 

Yes and I realized it's not the FPS. It is the lag.

[Loryk]

Sent some info to add to the First post.

[daemian]

Thanks Loryk. It's a good point.

 

Several people have posted or PM'd me after making their Windows partition too small, and have had to go through the painful procedure required to correct it - most of us probably know someone who's done it.

 

Please... check the storage requirements before partitioning your hard drive.

To use a carpenter's analogy: measure twice, cut once.

 

Back up your files. Check the requirements for your specific version of Windows including all updates and service packs. Keep in mind you need to leave some room to store files temporarily while they are being installed. TOR currently uses ~20GB, but you also want to leave some room for future expansions and any other games or apps that catch your attention in the future.

 

Personally, although you can get away with less, 100GB is the absolute minimum I would recommend for a Windows partition. More is better.

 

I'm not going to post a tutorial here on how to restore your hard drive in the event your partition is too small, as that's beyond the scope of this topic, but if anyone wants to add a link here feel free to do so.

Edited January 30, 2012 by daemian

[razzvan]

What's your average FPS? If you're using the latest Nvidia driver then I'm not sure what else will help. Some people claim running Windows Media player or FRAPS in the background while playing helps. I haven't seen any difference but perhaps my hardware is already at its capacity.

 

Keep an eye on the dev tracker, we've been promised an update on the low FPS issue some people are having, and tips on improving performance from the dev team.

 

Yes I am using the latest NVIDIA DRIVERS. I'd like to try some beta drivers but I can't find them on the website! maybe there are no beta drivers and that's sad!

[daemian]

OK, the dev team has posted some useful info in this thread:

 

A Note on General Performance Issues

 

I hope this helps some people here out!

[Sylin]

Personally, although you can get away with less, 100GB is the absolute minimum I would recommend for a Windows partition. More is better.

 

Amen. And that's just for SWTOR. With all the large files as a result of voice acting, who knows how big the game will get with expansions and patches?

 

Personally, I had my original pre-SWTOR Windows partition at 120GB. But once I installed WoW, a few Steam games, and applied all the Windows Updates, I was topping 97GB--too cramped.

 

That's why I ended up going with 300GB for the BootCamp partition (on a 1TB drive). Eased the pain of having to do another Windows install by imaging my Win7 install disk to a MicroSD card via Disk Utility--made the install MUCH faster. But I'd rather not have to do it again.

[daemian]

Yes I am using the latest NVIDIA DRIVERS. I'd like to try some beta drivers but I can't find them on the website! maybe there are no beta drivers and that's sad!

 

Here's the page with beta drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

Edited January 31, 2012 by daemian

[VanHelsingDagger]

Can anyone give me some advice? My Windows 7 is crashing non stop, and isn't repairing itself when I try to download or run SWTOR.

 

I'm running:

Late 2007, imac 2.4 ghz core 2 duo (7,1)

4 gigs of ram

ATI hd2600 vid card with 256mb

 

I'm running bootcamp 3.3 with Windows 7 at 32 bit setting. It shows the ram as running at 2.98 in Bootcamp on the Windows side.

 

I'm frustrated and discouraged after waiting 2 years for this game. Here's the scoop: I used the snow leopard disc to install Bootcamp and the drivers after making a 100gig partition. I also fully updated Windows 7. Everything runs very smoothly, until I tried to download SWTOR for the pre-release. The first time I did, it crashed 4 times while installing, but I was able to get the game running. After an hour I had a horrible crash-- the screen had squiggly colorful lines on it and everything stopped. Windows was unable to repair from safe mode or the install disc, and unable to restore to an earlier point! After hours of re-installing everything, I had the same issue again-- after downloading and running the game, same crash. I WAS able to do a system restore and try playing again, but the game crashed several more times as I tried to play.

 

I decided to do a complete wipe of the partition with Bootcamp. I erased the partition with 0's, restored the partition on the mac side, and then REMADE the partition a second time. I again installed windows 7 and the snow leopard drivers. I updated everything. This time, I was unable to even get the game to fully download. It won't finish installation, it halts at 78% and crashes. At times while installing, I get a screen freeze and an alert that says my windows essentials security has turned off, and my system crashes and takes a long time to repair/restore. The Geek Squad guys at Best Buy suggested turning off security for the install, thinking perhaps that there was a conflict. This didn't help get the game installed. I can't get the download to finish insalling. To make matters WORSE, I actually received my hard copy of the game in the mail today from Amazon.com, but I can't get the discs to load past the second disc. It crashes every time an hour into the install.

 

Guys, I really want this game to work. Does anyone have any advice for me? I've never experienced so many crashes. I just bought a backup hard drive to make a system image so I don't have to restart this again. I don't understand how I don't have enough power to run this game on low graphics, or even to finish a complete install of the game. I've ordered two ramjet sticks (a 4 gig and 2 gig) specifically designed for my computer, which at the (7,1) version can evidently run 6 gigs of ram. My reason for purchasing new ram is that I fear my kingston ram from 4 years ago may be a problem. Can anyone please help me figure out why the online download AND the disc won't finish a complete install?

 

Thank you.

 

Hey Devils its me VanHelsing!

 

Running Windows 7 or any version of Windows on a Mac system works fine for running simple apps or office type programs but gaming software of the SWTOR type is very intense, buddy I would say give up on trying to get the mac to work and buy yourself a second computer, a cheap PC and get yourself into the game its amazing.. I'm on the server named: "The Bastion"

 

Good luck with the system issues Bro and get yourself online!

[Szejk]

Hi,

 

I'm playing on a late 2011 MacBook Pro and while playing yesterday I had ~50fps, even higher. Today, after the patch, when I log in I get 7 fps... Anybody else having this issue?

 

The strange thing is that while i was playing earlier, before the patch, when the game was running the fans on the macbook were on their top speed and the computer was pretty warm. Now, after the patch, fans are on lowest and the computer isn't even slightly warm while running the game.

 

Seems like the game is not using the resources properly or something? Enyone else having this issue?

Edited January 31, 2012 by Szejk

[daemian]

Hi,

 

I'm playing on a late 2011 MacBook Pro and while playing yesterday I had ~50fps, even higher. Today, after the patch, when I log in I get 7 fps... Anybody else having this issue?

 

I just did a couple of laps around Vaiken Spacedock, and it looks like I've had a small drop in FPS, i.e. it dipped down almost to 30 in a couple of spots, where previously it wasn't going below 45. But it's generally between 45-60 with vsync + triple buffering on, 8xMSAA forced in Catalyst. I don't know, it's anything but consistent.

 

I'm wondering if there's an issue with your video card. How hot has it been running?

 

If it's somehow defaulting to the integrated GPU that would explain the drop in FPS and the temperature/fan speed as well.

 

Try installing MSI afterburner. If it doesn't automatically detect your video card, there's an issue there. You could also use something like GPU-z, but Afterburner will allow you to control your fan speed to keep the card as cool as possible. Both applications are free.

 

As far as I'm aware, Windows should automatically use the discrete GPU and ignore the Intel HD 3000.

 

Check to make sure your in-game preferences haven't somehow been changed due to the patch. Booting into OS X and back into Windows might reset anything that may have stopped working (that's a wild guess, by the way).

 

I know they're working on some issues with AMD cards. It's not in the patch notes, but anything's possible.

Edited February 1, 2012 by daemian

[Keepson]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post, but I am going to try anyway. I just purchased SWTOR and try installing Windows 7 via bootcamp, but it keep freezing my system on a black screen after it's first start up. Called geek squad and the "mac expert" suggested using an app called VMware in order to install and run windows. I installed both the app and windows, and installed SWTOR. Durning installation of the game it gave me a message stating I don't have the required cores to run the game? My system profile shows I have two cores. Not sure how many I need. Game installed anyway, and first patch installed successfully as well. Went to play the game and I got audio, but no visual. All I had was a black screen with my tool bar visible at the bottom. Ran some updates, and tried the game again, and this time got kinda like white noise, but without the noise and the visual was half the game starting up and half my desktop. Is there a fix? My specs for my Imac are as follows:

 

Intel core i3

4gb ram

chipset model : ATI Radeon HD 4670

VRAM 256 MB

L2 Cache per core is 256KB

 

 

Any help wold be great full Thanks

[Sylin]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post, but I am going to try anyway. I just purchased SWTOR and try installing Windows 7 via bootcamp, but it keep freezing my system on a black screen after it's first start up. Called geek squad and the "mac expert" suggested using an app called VMware in order to install and run windows. I installed both the app and windows, and installed SWTOR. Durning installation of the game it gave me a message stating I don't have the required cores to run the game? My system profile shows I have two cores.

 

First of all, running SWTOR via a virtual machine is a bad idea. While it's true you can allocate many resources from the native OS to the VM, the VM will always be gimped compared to a BootCamp install.

 

Think of it like this: running (demanding) games in a VM is the computer equivalent of trying to play piano with mittens on. Sure, you can do it, but you are missing out on a range of motion and features.

 

Secondly, if this is your ONLY option, then check the VMware Fusion settings (you will need to "power down" the VM to do this). There are options for how many cores to enable, how much memory to allocate from the host OS to the VM, 3D acceleration, etc. Again, if this is your ONLY option, you want to make sure the VM gets as many resources as possible while it's running. But I seriously doubt you'll get reliable performance at all in a VM.

 

I use VMware Fusion daily because my work requires 1 measly Windows app (for everything else I use OS X apps). So I have a lot of experience fine-tuning VM's. But I'd never try to play a game in one... except maybe Minesweeper or Solitaire.

 

That said, go back to your BootCamp install and make sure all your drivers are up to date. Checking drivers is, I know, a foreign concept for most Mac users. But run Windows Update, and then pay attention to audio and display drivers.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Sylin

[daemian]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post, but I am going to try anyway. I just purchased SWTOR and try installing Windows 7 via bootcamp, but it keep freezing my system on a black screen after it's first start up. Called geek squad and the "mac expert" suggested using an app called VMware in order to install and run windows. I installed both the app and windows, and installed SWTOR. Durning installation of the game it gave me a message stating I don't have the required cores to run the game? My system profile shows I have two cores. Not sure how many I need. Game installed anyway, and first patch installed successfully as well. Went to play the game and I got audio, but no visual. All I had was a black screen with my tool bar visible at the bottom. Ran some updates, and tried the game again, and this time got kinda like white noise, but without the noise and the visual was half the game starting up and half my desktop. Is there a fix? My specs for my Imac are as follows:

 

Intel core i3

4gb ram

chipset model : ATI Radeon HD 4670

VRAM 256 MB

L2 Cache per core is 256KB

 

 

Any help wold be great full Thanks

 

I agree with Sylin. Running a game like TOR on VMWare is a very bad idea. You're really going to limit the quality and performance you're going to get out of the game compared to a native install of Windows using Boot Camp, especially on a lower-specced machine.

 

The black screen on startup is a known issue with 2010 iMacs. It has to do with the video driver. There's a link in the first post that describes how to work around it to get Windows installed.

Edited February 1, 2012 by daemian

[Bungholiyo]

This particular message is directed at marctraider. I have exactly the same mac as you same specs everything. Except my system is running bootcamp and windows 7 32bit. I have downgraded the drivers like you said in your previous post but still get lag. What Fps do u get in warzones?? Edited February 2, 2012 by Bungholiyo

[Keepson]

I agree with Sylin. Running a game like TOR on VMWare is a very bad idea. You're really going to limit the quality and performance you're going to get out of the game compared to a native install of Windows using Boot Camp, especially on a lower-specced machine.

 

The black screen on startup is a known issue with 2010 iMacs. It has to do with the video driver. There's a link in the first post that describes how to work around it to get Windows installed.

 

Okay so I used boot camp and got it t work, thanks for the help. Now I am trying to figure out the sound issue. My Manager states my audio drivers are up to date, but I have no sound in game or in windows. Ideas?

[frubio]

Have you also tried playing in low settings?

 

Yes and I realized it's not the FPS. It is the lag.

[daemian]

Okay so I used boot camp and got it t work, thanks for the help. Now I am trying to figure out the sound issue. My Manager states my audio drivers are up to date, but I have no sound in game or in windows. Ideas?

 

I've seen a few people with that same issue. Have you tried reinstalling all of the Boot Camp drivers? You'll need to make a disk or put them on a USB drive if you haven't already done that.

Edited February 2, 2012 by daemian

[razzvan]

I mainly resolved the issues with low fps by taking into consideration the tips from above (or a few pages ago. there was a link posted as a response to one of my complains) however, i still experience low fps in the republic flee. let's say this is acceptable. but i also experience low fps in warzones! any resolve to this pls? i run bootcamp on a mid 2010 macboock pro 15", i7 2.64 ghz, 8 gb ram, ssd hard and geforce 330m.

[ATAMIANM]

I'm not sure if this adds much, but here is my $0.02. I have a MacPro desktop, one of the earlier ones (MacPro 1,1), 6 GB RAM. dual xenon core. I am running SWOTR in Bootcamp, Windows XP SP3.

 

When I first rant the game, the graphics were just awful and "stretched" across the screen. Changing the options in the game did little to resolve this. Then I read a post from some genius on this thread and installed the Catalyst drivers (I have an ATI/AMD 4870 card). Once I did that and followed the thread for tweaks the game runs MUCH smoother and with far better graphics. It seems that the drivers supplied by Bootcamp just don't ever update.

 

One question: Windows XP only seems to recognize 2GB of my RAM. I thought the limit was 3, am I incorrect here?

[daemian]

I'm not sure if this adds much, but here is my $0.02. I have a MacPro desktop, one of the earlier ones (MacPro 1,1), 6 GB RAM. dual xenon core. I am running SWOTR in Bootcamp, Windows XP SP3.

 

When I first rant the game, the graphics were just awful and "stretched" across the screen. Changing the options in the game did little to resolve this. Then I read a post from some genius on this thread and installed the Catalyst drivers (I have an ATI/AMD 4870 card). Once I did that and followed the thread for tweaks the game runs MUCH smoother and with far better graphics. It seems that the drivers supplied by Bootcamp just don't ever update.

 

One question: Windows XP only seems to recognize 2GB of my RAM. I thought the limit was 3, am I incorrect here?

 

Glad you got it working.

 

Apple doesn't update their Windows drivers very often. When you download a new version of Boot Camp, I think you have to create a disk and install the drivers manually for them to update.

 

According to this thread, Windows XP will only recognize a maximum of 2 GB of RAM on computers using older EFI firmware.

Edited February 6, 2012 by daemian

[mrbarrel]

I just installed Windows 7 64-bit and SWTOR on my girlfriends Macbook Pro (Mid-2009).

It's 15", 4gb RAM, Geforce 9400M, 2.53 Intel Core 2 Duo. Nvidia drivers up to date, boot camp is up to date.

 

On the lowest settings possible, even setting the resolution down to 1024, we still just barely reach 30fps when standing still.

 

Is this Macbook just not powerful enough to handle, or should we be able to get a better performance out of it?

Edited February 6, 2012 by mrbarrel

[Sylin]

Is this Macbook just not powerful enough to handle, or should we be able to get a better performance out of it?

 

Not sure if this will help, but I had a friend with a similar experience and the following worked for him:

 

• Increase the graphics settings to the maximum possible.
  
• Log out/Exit game.
  
• Re-start SWTOR, and bring all settings down to Low.
  
• Disable Bloom, and Disable Shadows (Off, not Low).
  
• Exit, and then Re-Start.
  

 

Also, be sure Aero is disabled in Windows 7. It's an unnecessary resource hog.

[mSum]

I just installed Windows 7 64-bit and SWTOR on my girlfriends Macbook Pro (Mid-2009).

It's 15", 4gb RAM, Geforce 9400M, 2.53 Intel Core 2 Duo. Nvidia drivers up to date, boot camp is up to date.

 

On the lowest settings possible, even setting the resolution down to 1024, we still just barely reach 30fps when standing still.

 

Is this Macbook just not powerful enough to handle, or should we be able to get a better performance out of it?

 

You are having the same problem non mac non bootcamp people are having. You need to install directX 9. It seems this game uses DirectX 9 and that DX10 and 11 try to emulate 9 and it sucks at it.

 

Check this out: