rFactor Forum

After some success with LFS in Crossover I gave rFactor a go with the CrossTie installer and was surprised at how well it worked - even with wheel support :)

I did find the whole of Crossover Games crashed with no error logs until I un-ticked the virtual desktop option in wine.cfg

The trail runs well full screen at 1680 x 1050 on Mac OS X 10.7 and Crossover games 10.1.1 (although no FSAA) but I did have some application crashes with the F1 2011 Mod I tried (one of the main things I wanted the game for). I thought these were due to graphics settings but they seem fairly random ( I could drive several laps at one circuit only to get a crash when loading another or turning out the garage.

The trial period wasn't really enough to say if the game would be stable enough to play long term. If I purchase a code via the rfactor site or buy a boxed copy for a code how does the activation process work in WINE? Are there any issues with install limits/changes detected when changing the version of Wine/CG?

Hi,

Obviously lots of stuff has changed in MacOS 10.7 and I haven't found the
time to check all my apps against it yet -- this may be why the emulated
virtual desktop setting is crashing things ; in 10.6.x such was fine. In
any event, I only have that set in the tie as a default consideration, and
most people will run it fullscreen anyhow. If I discover my Mac is also now
intolerant of such with 10.7, I'll probably rework the tie....

The registration/activation process works exactly the same as it does in
Windows -- I haven't had any problems with it at all...

The 2011 F1 mod I haven't tried, so I can't speak to the crashing you're
experiencing. Certainly, I've only seen rFactor crash once on my linux box,
quite unexpectedly and out of the blue, and as I recall it was leaving the
pits during practice....but it was a completely different mod. That said,
I have played the game for literally hours on end without a problem. I'll
grab the mod you're talking about and install it, to see if I can recreate
any issues with it - I'll post back here once I've had a look.

Cheers!

Thanks so much for your help!

I think Abu Dhabi was one of the tracks on the F1 2011 mod that caused crashes. Monaco, China and Canada worked OK but I soon ran out of time with the trial.

Edit: Forgot to ask if you can order the digital version via Safari using the trymedia link on the rfactor site or if you have to risk IE in the bottle? (I'm assuming that the DVD version has some kind of disc DRM as it says no activation code - so probably best avoided for WINE).

Hi again,

...goodgrief...I've done 720-odd something laps of Bathurst?... =)

..well, the 2011 F1 mod you speak of ... more a track pack at this stage
than not ... is some fine work - Monaco in an AWD WRC car is big driftin'
phun <g>, but Abu Dhabi is more fun in a quicker car - I chose the RB34GT
Skyline for that run (it's a car I'm familiar with in real life ;)...

... I decided to see what it was like on my linux box first ; that machine
has a quadcore AMD64 CPU @ 3.2ghz with 8gb ram & nvidia9800GT/1024mb video.
On most all tracks I never see less than 100fps typically @ 1680x1050 even
in busy situations (lots of other cars around you being rendered) - when out
there hotlapping or practicing mono-et-track, 180fps+ is not unsurprising...

..the 2011 F1 trackset pretty much mimics those results overall, but I did
notice the Abu Dhabi doing a couple of strange things. It's one of those tracks
wherein the creator has gone to (great) lengths to include 'video billboard'
scenery details, and some of these were lagging behind the others in being
rendered to screen...ie; traveling along at speed in a straight line, all the
other scenery & video billboards were displayed correctly, but others were
just black squares .. where a video should be but wasn't... which would then
appear all of a sudden, but the behavior was sporadic and it wouldn't do it
every lap either. I didn't see anything like this in the other track in the
pack, so it may just be something goofy with that particular track. That does
happen quite a bit, but the rFactor modders invariably fix it if the issue is
evident in Windows as well (a lot of the time it is ;)

Regarding purchasing, I can only relate to you my own experience, which was
to buy an unlock code using PayPal. As you may have noticed, part of the
crosstie install process includes components from IE7 which facilitate the
online registration/activation process - it all works seamlessly, just like
in Windows. I couldn't imagine going near a disc based release, especially
on the Mac, if that distribution used disc based DRM -- that, will very likely
not work. I am unsure if TryMedia have bolted on another DRM mechanism, or
what they may use or if it works or not.

Cheers!

The mod I found was at http://formula1racing.freehostia.com/updates2010.htm#F12011 Is that the same one you found?

It's interesting to hear that it worked OK for you. My trial period has now run out :( I tried it again today and got corrupt graphics and/or crashes as soon as I tried leaving the pits (at Turkey and Monaco) - odd as I had Monaco working OK before. I tried dropping graphics settings to High rather than full and anisotropic filtering to 8x but it made no difference.

When I switched to the r-factor built-in Nurburg track and built-in BMW car the game ran fine (I struggle to get the force feedback working (the wheel feels very light). It would be nice to know I could get it running reliably before committing to a purchase.

I'm using a Mac Pro 2009 with Radeon 5870 and a Logitech Wingman Formula Force GP wheel.

Edit: I deleted the bottle and started again. With just the stock cars and tracks I had no crashes even with all the graphic options turned up to full so it must be the F1 mod - which is a shame. Maybe i can find another F1 mod for it that will give me the cars and tracks without any stability issues. If the force feedback worked and I could get FSAA enabled then I would rate the basic game as platinum.

Hi again,

My iMac is last year's 11,2 model with 3.2ghz dualcore i3 and HD5670/512mb video.
The load times are appreciably longer compared to the linux system, but the sim
itself runs really well ingame. In fact, it's not all that far off the fps the linux
box achieves. I did notice the same sort of weirdness I mentioned previously vis Abu
Dhabi, but it never crashed on me. No, I wasn't using exactly the same mod, but I
rechecked against the pack you linked to and it's all pretty much the same..

...sorry to say, you won't get HID forcefeedback working using wine-tech in OSX at
the present moment in time ; the required code simply hasn't been written yet afaik.
It may work in linux and the code is there in that case, but I typically use an
xbox 360 controller myself =)...

...ummm....the graphics corruption...you cite CXG 10.1.1? That issue may have been
addressed in 10.1.2 I think ; you should try that version of CXG...

Cheers!

Hi again Don. I found another F1 mod today by Italian Sim Racers so I tried rFactor again with CG 10.1.2 and a new bottle and install.

I installed the game set all the graphics to full and tested with a built-in car and track - all fine. Then I installed the F1 tracks and cars. I tested Monaco and Abu Dhabi - both seemed fine. I then tried Turkey and got a black screen after the loading screen. I had to command Q to get out of Crossover games. I then tried loading rFactor again (I only had a few minutes of the trial left by now). When I loaded Turkey again I got the same corrupt graphics I had seem before. Could this be because the trial period had ended (copy protection) rather than a specific bug?

Looking at the console there were a few errors:

07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: wineloader(6934,0x41322c00) malloc: mmap(size=2097152) failed (error code=12)
07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: error: can't allocate region
07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug
07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: wine: Unhandled page fault on write access to 0x00000000 at address 0x4777d924 (thread 0033), starting debugger...
07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: wineloader(6934,0x41322c00) malloc: mmap(size=2097152) failed (error code=12)
07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: error: can't allocate region
07/08/2011 16:56:11.039 [0x0-0x1ee1ee].com.codeweavers.CrossOverGamesHelper.rFactor.rFactor: set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug

I would have assumed this was was to do with memory? Is there anything I should be changing in Crossover to avoid this? It is odd that the game runs great for ages then starts to give me problems - the frame rate and graphics seem fine to start with on my 5870. As I mentioned before it is just the Force Feedback and FSAA I miss compared to a native OS X title (maybe one day!)

Well I finally bit the bullet and purchased a licence via Paypal. The game unlocked OK so I tried Turkey in the F1 2011 mod and the game crashed with a Windows "end program" dialogue at the end of the loading bar:(
I used commend Q to get out and tried again with Monaco. It loaded to the pits but I noticed the game continually keeps setting the controls back to AZ keyboard (despite having saved a profile for my wheel settings). I went out to the controls screen to change it then on returning to the cockpit I got the corrupt graphics again. I exited the game normally and reloaded. This time I got the Windows end program crash again on loading Monaco :(

I don't get it really every time I've done a fresh install I've had almost an hours use of the stock game with no issues but as soon as I install the mods they seem to work fine one minute then just stop working at random.

Edit: I think I have figured out the reason for the crashes! It appears to be the number of AI drivers - I think the game defaulted to 9. I must have used this when first trying the mod. I then increased it to 23 - probably before first trying Turkey.

I have changed this back to 9 and I could load Monaco & Turkey :)

Now I need to find out if this happens on a PC or not to see if I should be logging a bug. Maybe there is a way of increasing RAM allocated to the game so I can get the full field.

Edit 2: looks like it probably is a RAM issue as others have found a way to increase RAM to 4GB:
http://isiforums.net/f/archive/index.php/t-184.html

I have 12GB in my machine but I don't know if Crossover/WINE can allow more than 2GB in the bottle.

Okay...that makes sense, I forgot all about the number of AI drivers
thang (it's been around in one form or another for some time) Iirc,
wine allocates 3gb of ram, but I'm reasonably sure it allows win32
apps access to more than this figure. Whether the app is dealing with
that situation correctly or not is another matter. I have been running
with a half-field -- 11 AI + me .. but I haven't investigated this
angle at all.. ie; what's the working limit...

...point is...going by the thread you cite above .. it's rfactor.exe
that's limited to 2gb, and the patched exe will access 4gb ; you should
try it, as I think wine will support the patch 4gb capable exe...

I'll look into it myself later today when I get a chance ;)

Cheers!

I tried the 4GB patcher but couldn't get it to run in Crossover. It sounds like it might need XP 64 bit and I don't think that is an option for Crossover bottles? I played the game without it for a couple of hours and had just one crash on exiting a track (Monaco) when I was using 11 AI cars plus the game suddenly stopped on a quick race at Turkey but at least I could press escape and return to the game menu and restart the race.

It's a shame about the memory issues but at least I can try some of the newer F1 tracks now. It is a good game overall and is at the very least a replacement for the Mac version of F1 CS2000. I was also going to use it to replace Nascar 2003 (now Rosseta has gone in Lion but I can't get my wheel to be recognised on the PC demo version in WINE) and maybe even try Indy car/cart stuff and some of the other mods as well but they feature larger fields so the lack of AI cars would be worse in those.

Maybe the forthcoming rFactor 2 will work in WINE/Crossover and be better with memory as well as adding the missing bits like wet weather and hopefully we may see Mac OS X Forcefeedback and FSAA support in WINE one day.

Artist Formally Known as Dot wrote:

Regarding purchasing, I can only relate to you my own experience,
which was
to buy an unlock code using PayPal. As you may have noticed, part of
the
crosstie install process includes components from IE7 which
facilitate the
online registration/activation process - it all works seamlessly,
just like
in Windows. I couldn't imagine going near a disc based release,
especially
on the Mac, if that distribution used disc based DRM -- that, will
very likely
not work. I am unsure if TryMedia have bolted on another DRM
mechanism, or
what they may use or if it works or not.

Well, I wouldn't have considered buying rFactor for 39 bucks (since it's really becoming old now) and neither of course I would have considered to buy a DVD release, but since there was an rFactor DVD included when I bought my G27 I gave it a go anyway … installed all the additional stuff via crosstie, then the game from the DVD … and am now stuck with this:

Screenshot

Can't even access the 60 minutes of trial, although the DVD is spinning up when I start the game. Seems you were right about your concerns …

I'm on the last CrossOver Games Version, using a 2.4 Ghz Intel DualCore MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard BTW.

Mr. Apex wrote:

Well, I wouldn't have considered buying rFactor for 39 bucks (since
it's really becoming old now) and neither of course I would have
considered to buy a DVD release, but since there was an rFactor DVD
included when I bought my G27 I gave it a go anyway … installed
all the additional stuff via crosstie, then the game from the DVD
… and am now stuck with this:

Screenshot

Can't even access the 60 minutes of trial, although the DVD is
spinning up when I start the game. Seems you were right about your
concerns …

I'm on the last CrossOver Games Version, using a 2.4 Ghz Intel
DualCore MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard BTW.

... actually, age has very little to with the accuracy, performance, and
sheer availability of additional content that's out there for rFactor (and
now rFactor2) - the recreation/accuracy of some of the local tracks I raced
on years ago is uncanny. Getting it for nothing as part of a hardware purchase
bundle, is perhaps better value than you imagine.. ;)...

... however, to enjoy the game fully means getting the thing unlocked - you
may have to email the ImageSpace folks & explain the situation ; perhaps they
can provide you with a manual unlock code via email, which can be used with the
downloadable version (as installed by the crosstie here)...

.

Artist Formally Known as Dot wrote:

... actually, age has very little to with the accuracy, performance,
and
sheer availability of additional content that's out there for
rFactor (and
now rFactor2) - the recreation/accuracy of some of the local tracks
I raced
on years ago is uncanny. Getting it for nothing as part of a
hardware purchase
bundle, is perhaps better value than you imagine.. ;)...

... however, to enjoy the game fully means getting the thing
unlocked - you
may have to email the ImageSpace folks & explain the situation ;
perhaps they
can provide you with a manual unlock code via email, which can be
used with the
downloadable version (as installed by the crosstie here)...

.

Well, of course! Seems so obvious after reading your post. Sorry for not coming to the same conclusion on my own! 😊
Gonne give this a go, thanks for the tip.