Archive for Computer Gaming
Macbook Pro XP/Vista audio stuttering fix
February 5th, 2009 • 12 comments
Tags: audio, audio problems, drivers, Macbook Pro, stuttering, unibody, Windows Vista, Windows XP, wireless, WLAN
My PC has seen less and less of my gaming activity in recent years. It makes me a little sad, but the current generation of consoles is delivering a more cohesive and simple gaming experience than the PC ever could. The PC still has it’s strong suits: games like RTSs and FPSs that demand the fast and accurate control only a mouse can deliver or the modding communities that have sprouted around hit PC games for quite some time now. These things are still unmatched by consoles. Development is much more accessible to basement programmers as well creating a diverse indie game ecosystem.
As such, you can imagine my frustration when I found that my XP-booting Macbook Pro’s audio was stuttering every 15-30 seconds while booted into Windows. When the stuttering occurs, the action in your game slows for a couple of seconds. It may not sound like much, but four times a minute is a little excessive. Rhythm games like Audiosurf become unplayable; all games become frustrating. I set out to find the root of the problem and squelch it for good.
Some extensive Google searching revealed I was not alone in my issue. Tons of others are having the same problems. I went through pages and pages of potential fixes and nothing worked until I ran across a link to an updated WLAN driver for the Broadcom N Wireless adapter (which I have mirrored for you on my server). I installed that, and I now have no stuttering! I can game in peace and harmony once again.
As a service to all of you, I will mirror the driver that I used in this fix. Here are the steps for the fix that worked on my late 2008 unibody Macbook Pro running Windows XP SP3:
- Download and decompress driver
- Right-click “My Computer” and click “Properties”
- Click the “Hardware” tab
- Click on “Device Manager”
- Expand the “Network Adapters” category in the pane on the right
- Right click the Broadcom and click “Update driver”
- Click “Install from a list or specified location” and click “Next”
- Select “Don’t search” and click “Next”
- Click “Have disk”
- Browse to the location of the files you extracted earlier
- Open the folder for your OS
- Click the “Open” button
Once you have completed the process, you should be gaming in bliss. Keep in mind that this will not work for Macbooks with a Wireless NIC other than a Broadcom N NIC and a specific one of those at that. I’m unsure of the model of the NIC, but I would guess all the current unibody Macbook Pros produced after October 2008 have the same wireless adapter. The driver will also work for Vista according to the user who provided the link. (I would credit him, but I can’t even remember where I found it!) I think the procedure is similar for Vista, but, if anyone would like to send me the steps, I will be glad to post it. Good luck!
Weekend PC gaming deals 1/31/09
January 31st, 2009 •
Tags: deals, FPS, Max Payne, pc gaming, Rockstar, shooters, Unreal Tournament 3
Photo by TW Collins of flickr
This weekend has brought with it a couple of cool deals on PC games. The first is GoGamer.com‘s 48-hour Madness Sale that brings a buttload of first-person shooter deals. My pick is Unreal Tournament 3 for $9.90, but there are a number of other great titles like F.E.A.R., S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and P.A.I.N.K.I.L.L.E.R. Hmm. Maybe that last one isn’t an acronym after all…
The next deal comes to us via Steam. This weekend, the Rockstar library is 30%. If you haven’t tried GTA IV, this is your chance to get it for $35. It’s also a great opportunity to go back a few years and get both of the Max Payne games (which are fantastic) for $10.50.
PC Demo of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (non-Flash demo)
January 23rd, 2009 •
Tags: demo, games, puzzle, Puzzle Quest
Just days after the Flash demo of the game hit the tubes, a real demo of the game is now available for Windows. I’m confused. Why even release the Flash demo if the true demo was to follow in a matter of days? I haven’t gotten a chance to play yet, but this demo appears predictably more robust than it’s Flash-based counterpart. Pick it up at Big Download.