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Page updated - 29/09/2002
Welcome
the the News Section...
This Page contains all significant Information concerning this
Site.
( Discuss this Page in the
Forums )
News
: 29/09/2002
Archive has
been extended...
It
now spans over a total of 2320MB total capacity.
Presently, only 52% of this space is used, leaving enough room for
additions...
The
average traffic generated within the Archive is typically running
around 35-40% of available capacity,
and roughly 20000
Visitors per
month are served with Files.
This as well leaves enough room, and the Archive's Performance should be fine for the forseeable future...
News
: 29/09/2002
Finally back
in town ;)
Since
I had some time to play around with the UT2003 Demo and my
Voodoo5 5500 64MB AGP, here's the result :
Not bad at all, I'd say :o)
News
: 15/09/2002
I'll be absent
for about 2 weeks, so there won't be any Site updates....
If support is needed, I recommend relying on the Forums !
News
: 08/09/2002
Finally !
Today, 0025Z Time, my private Cluster achieved a mark I've been
working towards for a really long time :
The 10000 MHz barrier has been broken !
Presently
formed by 12 Networked Systems, here are the overall Specs as of
now :
10800 MHz total CPU Power available
2008 MB total
System RAM available
142.1 GB total
Storage capacity available
So far, this Cluster has accomplished in excess of 87000 hours of cumulative work for
scientific purposes...
So I guess everyone can see from that, I'm not only a "3dfx freak" ;)
For
those that are interested how to use otherwise wasted CPU Power :
www.aspenleaf.com/distributed
News
: 04/09/2002
Oops...
I shouldn't have praised server reliability too much I guess...
There has been a complete outage, lasting a full 7 hours straight
All
3 servers went offline, taking the entire Archive and Forum with
them...
During that time only one ( 1 ) User was provided with Drivers
via Email and the help of the remaining, internal mirrors.
Sorry
for the inconvinience and HTTP 404 errors... 
News : 27/08/2002
100000 Visitors have already used this 3dfx Archive !
The
Statistics speak the following :
More than 336 GigaBytes of Data have been
delivered...
Currently, the
Archive spans over some 341 dedicated Files...
That makes for
a total of 1089
MegaBytes
available for Download...
Uptime of all active Servers is in the vicinity of 99.9%
I'm
glad to say that the involved servers never failed even under the
most heavy Download traffic.
They have proven extremely trustworthy, and will continue to do
so in future.
I
think this Milestone it is a good Opportunity to thank and give
Credit to all those that helped making this Archive what it is
today :
The possibly
largest concentration of archived 3dfx Files existing.
Special Credits & Thanks go to :
Bénédicte
Without doubt
the most passionate and thorough collector and saver of all there
can be about 3dfx.
A tremendous amount of Files found in this Archive could only
make it here due to her unbeaten amount of determination and hard
work.
Average Users just stopping by and downloading what is needed,
have probably no Idea what amount of work and likely, some bit of
luck were needed to make alot of this possible in the first
place.
Procerus
A most
reliable and helpful source of information and advice concerning
all there can be about Voodoo2...
And an active workhouse when it comes to Forum and NewsGroup
support!
AmigaMerlin
...for
creating and maintaining what is among the best Driver work
existing today.
On more than one occasion, even saved this Archive from potential
damage when servers were operating right on the edge...
All
Users and WebMasters supporting 3dfx!
When 3dfx
closed its doors, little hope was remaining, and the future
looked practically non-existing...
Software and Game companies turned away from 3dfx, as the
Hardware and the large community appeared doomed...
Yet, it was this community that quickly re-formed, and began
supporting itself where possible.
Against all odds, Driver modifications, Tweaks and Workarounds
were found to overcome some of the most urgent Problems!
The
3dfx Voodoo series
...simply for
being Hardware that has already served most Users longer than any
other Cards in 3D Graphics history :o)
News
: 08/08/2002
Since the new
server is up and available, I thought I'd make something new :
Since a few
hours, the 3dfx Archive has a YaBB Forum :)
I'm not quite happy with the colors, but what the heck. It's working :p
News
: 06/08/2002
Finally, the
3rd Server is up & running !
Expect a steady stream of new File additions, beginning today.
News
: 01/08/2002
There has been
an unexpected amount of hassles associated with aquisition of the
3rd Server...
Therefor, there were no significant File additions within the
last month :(
By now, it has been ordered via 3 different ways, and (hopefully) this time it gets through :p
Some
finetuning was done to the Webstats Page, as well as some Info
Pages generated.
...expect more as soon as the long overdue, additional space I
need is available.
News
: 01/07/2002
Small news
Updates :
According
to 3dfx Underground, a number of Game Producers has restarted
taking 3dfx compatibility and capabilities into consideration :
Croteam, Novalogic, Infogrames, EA Games, Codemasters, Arkane, LucasArts and Id Software are
presently listed...
Additionally, Mark Rein from Epic has announced that Unreal Tournament 2003 WILL support 3dfx Cards!
It was already successfully tested on Voodoo3 and Voodoo5.
Noteable also, that 16bit (which is now incorporated into the
Engine) reportedly looked very nice on a Voodoo3 :o)
Performance won't
achieve records, but testing revealed it was playable on both
cards.
At least good enough to have a look into the Game, and several
thousand more customers for Epic in turn :)
(if you liked
Unreal Tournament, BUY Unreal Tournament 2003 for sure !)
Server
Updates :
A 3rd primary
server is on order !
This is set out to increase
the (presently critical) available, total space to 1570MB.
Permissable Traffic will record to 180 GigaBytes !
That should allow
to upload a big part of the massive amount of Files that has been
collected by external support.
Already, Bénédicte,
France has
located and made available by far more files than anyone
else supporting this Archive.
It is thanks to her, that many 3dfx related Files thought long
forgotten, or even unheard of to date, can be added to this
Archive !
Last
month' run onto various Files barely used 44% of the present
capacity, which was handled with ease...
In future, the FalconFly Central 3dfx Archive should be ready for
any amount of visitors to come.
News
: 19/06/2002
Not related to
3dfx, but likely affects the performance of this Archive :
KPNqwest,
a major European Internet Router has gone bankrupt.
Parts of its
large Network seem to have been deactivated or bypassed...
Due to that, Latencies accessing this Archive from inside and
outside Europe might have increased to some extend.
If you find navigating and initializing downloads slow, just be patient.
It's
not server Related, until a few days ago, the primary Servers
were running off ~10 GigaBit Uplinks combined.
Unfortunately, most of that backbone was provided by : KPNqwest
:p
Now
Pironet NDH has taken over the full load, with capacities unknown
to me...
But it looks like they're doing fine, just keep it in mind if you
run into trouble using this Archive.
News
: 08/06/2002
Good news from
the 3D Analyzer development :
V1.4beta
has been released for public testing/evaluation, and is available
for download here :
http://www.falconfly.de/tools.htm
News
: 07/06/2002
Not 3dfx Related, but
nevertheless worth mentioning :
The W32.Klez Worm is spreading
like a pest!
Apparently, it has reached a level of distribution
unmatched by any other Worm/Virus to far !
While
this Archive (and all my Systems) are confirmed clean as usual, I
am receiving many infected EMails every day (!)
This means
nothing less, that quite a few Visitors of this Archive are/were
running on infected Systems.
Each EMail was sent from an unsuspecting victim's computer via the Worm's own Mailclient, using random EMail-Addresses harvested from the victim's Browser Cache...
This,
together with the fact that the Worm is intelligent enough to disable common
AntiVirus Software such as Norton Antivirus, make it very dangerous.
I just thought to let everybody know that (if you happened not to
do it yet) it is a very good practise to do a dedicated scan of
all your Systems.
Another nasty side-effect is, that the Worm uses slightly more
intelligent than usual Text displayed in the Topic and Content of
the Mail.
Therefor, it may appear as a valid, and interesting EMail to
read.
The
damaging payload is commonly carried by a Filename with
executable extension (.pif, .bat, .scr etc...)
File Size of the infected File commonly ranges from ~88 to 92
Kilobytes...
Do NOT be
fooled by the forged EMail Header, which might very well be
someone you know and trust!
Also, do not relpy and complain, as the indicated sender actually
never transmitted the infected EMail, and is innocent...
I
found the MS-DOS version of F-Prot extremely useful, as it is completely free, and detects everything ,including Trojans,
Viruses, Worms, and even Joke Programs.
In years of service, it hasn't failed me a single time !
A Windows version is available as well, although being a trial
version, good for one free scan any day...
Download Link (including free AntiVirus
definition updates) :
http://www.frisk.is/f-prot/download/
Very useful
information, details, removal instructions, and special
guidelines for Norton Antivirus Users are available from Symantec
:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.klez.gen@mm.html
I
hope posting this general Virus warning builds awareness against
the W32.Klez Worm.
Just manually
confirm, and don't blindly trust your AntiVirus Software running
in the background. It might be already disabled and
non-functional !
If you haven't installed some form of Antivirus protection yet, you really should do so and perform a full scan right now !
News
: 02/06/2002
3dfx
Underground team has released
the 1.09.00 beta 4 Drivers, which are reported to make nice
progress...
To
all those that followed the development of the 3D Analyzer :
Development is presently on hold, pending the Programmer to gain
insights into the Driver DirectX portions if possible.
An ever increasing amount of Problems had shown up when used on a
Voodoo3, whereas it mostly worked fine on a Voodoo5 and other
test platforms.
The 3dfxU V1.09.00 final, once released, will be used to run new
Tests, as it can provide a uniform Driver basis.
Just recently I
have come to learn that one of the old Drivers archived here has
proven very valuable :
The 3dfx Voodoo3 Win9x V1.03.00 makes the otherwise highly
unstable/troubled GTA3 work on a Voodoo3.
That's one of
the reasons why older Drivers normally left aside by most Users
and other Websites are kept in place in this Archive.
Just following
the old wisdom stating : "Who knows what it might be good
for one day?"
FalconFly
Central expanding
As you may
have noticed, this Archive is presently full.
Sufficient space is kept available for the 1.09.00 Driver
Updates, but no room for more...
But as (once again) hundreds of MegaBytes of Files are waiting to
be uploaded, I decided to give it one more boost in capacity.
Within roughly 1-2 weeks, the total capacity will be increased to
1570MB.
That should do, however, as hosting becomes more and more
expensive, yet no Ad-Banners I want to see here.
And
finally (if I ever find the time), I will be looking into a
re-design of the Site with more capable Software.
This is planned to be a transition from functionality alone to a
presentation a 3dfx Archive of this size probably deserves.
News
: 29/05/2002
3dfx
Underground team has released
the Win9x 1.09.00 beta 2 Driver...
Final versions can come almost every day from now, once last bugs
are exterminated.
News
: 25/05/2002
The 3dfx Underground team was hit by a few problems encountered
'last minute'...
Yet, they assembled two Beta's, already containing some of the
anticipated features.
User reports will help eliminate the last found problems, and should result in an excellent final release soon.
They
have taken their place in this Archive not down with other 3rd
party drivers, as they are expected to serve as the new Reference
Drivers.
If they live up to the high expectations, that is the place they
deserve taking...
News
: 15/05/2002
»» Development around the 3D Analyzer Tool is progressing steadily ««
It is already very capable on a Voodoo5, with a few isolated
issues remaining. Voodoo3 capability testing has recently begun.
Although still
on an Alpha level, is has already achieved and passed several
Milestones during testing.
Programs were already running, that never before have seen the
light on a 3dfx Voodoo card.
»» All primary
servers went offline this night, from 2305Z to 0615Z ««
They have been relocated to a much more capable infrastructure,
and performance should be significantly increased.
»» With the most
recent add-ons of Files, this Archive has, once again, hit its
capacity limits ««
When the total capacity was doubled 4 month ago, little did I
realize just how many files were still to be added.
That basically puts a halt to larger sized additions at present.
»» Sufficient
space has been reserved to offer 4 full-up mirrors for the highly
anticipated V1.09.00 Drivers ««
They have been
announced for Release on 25/05 .
The run onto these Files will be tremendous, but with the recent
boost in Server performance, this Archive should handle it at
ease.
News
: 09/05/2002
Work is in progress to make
the 3D
Analyzer Tool cooperate better
with Voodoo cards.
Test platforms so far are the Voodoo3 and VSA100 based cards
(Voodoo4/5).
I've heard reports
that the original V1.3, that makes Games like SpiderMan - The
Movie work with Kyro-Cards, is not capable of doing the same
magic on Voodoo's.
As said, alot of work is underway to change exactly that.
On that part, I
must say the Author of the Program is a real magician, and is
investing alot of time and work to help the 3dfx Community !
He deserves alot of credit for that alone, as well for the
patience he has with the limitations of our good old Voodoo cards
:)
The actual Homepage
of the Tool :
http://www.tommti-systems.com/
News
: 05/05/2002
I've stumbled over something
VERY promising while browsing the 3dfx Underground Forums :
There's
a Tool existing that allows to run DirectX 8.1 Applications on a
non T&L equipped card !
It achieves this by apparently building an additional layer
between the Driver and DirectX, enabling it to report a fully
DirectX 8.1 capable card if desired.
I've been able to
run 3D Mark 2001SE in Hardware DirectX8.1 T&L with a Voodoo5.
It still crashed on me at the Pixel Shader test, but nonetheless,
it went further than with the Geometry Assist (DX 7 T&L).
All in all, still Beta of course, and hardly tested, but its use
is universal, not restricted to a certain Card.
Also don't forget it cannot equip a Voodoo with any new 3D
Features...
...but anyway, this
Tool might become very powerful, as it can override the Barrier
of a DirectX 8.1 capable Video Card requirement.
(useful only, if you have a real fast CPU, of course)
Local Download : Tools Section
Link to the Page
where "3D
Analyzer" Tool was first
found :
http://kyro-net.paraknowya.com/index_files/news.htm
Other
News :
Outage Alert :
All servers will be offline over 05 to 06 May, estimated 2200Z to
0600Z !
News
: 01/05/2002
As seen on 3dfx Underground :
The 1.09.00 drivers are nearing completion. Barring the chance of some strange issues that could theoretically arise in the final stages of the driver kit compilation, the release shouldn't be too far from now. Thanks for you patience and all of us at 3dfx Underground hope you enjoy the new drivers when they are released.
Sounds like
excellent news!
I expect the run on those Files to be a stampede, since the
global fleet (!) of Voodoo3-5 owners (I reckon) will be looking
to download them.
...but I guess 4 internal Mirrors alone should be able to handle
it.
...unless some
big, not further specified 3dfx Site decides ease and reroute its
traffic through this Archive again :p
Update
Upon User request, welcome the
new DesktopTV and
VoodooTV
Sections.
While all Files were available to me for some time now, I never
had one of those, and was lacking information.
Basically, I left them on low priority while I uploaded other
Files, but now they're here :)
News
: 28/04/2002
- Uploading is
still in progress, and slowly filling this Archive towards the
maximum capacity...
- Older News now got stipped and put into a different Page for
sake of loading speed (see bottom of page)...
- Welcome the new File Request Section, basically seeking
special Files not available in the www public...
Info |
|
The
Info-Pages are in the process of being redone.
The
Info-Button will now either guide you to the respective ReadMe File, or Screenshot if applicable.
This should
greatly increase the value of this nifty little Item, as alot of
Documents can now be viewed online before Download !
News
: 23/04/2002
As you've
noted, some vast additions were made to the Archive, and it's far
from finished.
Looking through all the Files takes alot of time...
Other
interesting things :
I've recently started downloading some Game Demos to see how well
they do on my good old Voodoo5 5500 64MB AGP.
Overall Result so far on my TBird C 1200MHz, using best Visual
settings :
- Aliens vs.
Predator II 1024x768 32bit: Works
perfect, maximum detail
- Medal of
Honour (Allied Assault) 1024x768 22bit : Almost perfect (some
extremely rare glitches not affecting gameplay), maximum
detail
- Star Trek
Voyager (Elite Force) 1024x768 22bit : Perfect and lightning fast,
maximum detail
What
can I say, that Voodoo5 keeps going and going, getting everything
done I throw at it...
I liked the nice running of MOHAA the most, as this seemed to be
a very problematic Game for Voodoo's.
I think I'm going to buy both MOHAA and AvP II, I really liked
the GamePlay :o)
Oh, did I already mention : I love this Voodoo5 card !!! ?
Heck,
if it wasn't for the big prices they still take for Voodoo5's at
ebay, I'd buy another 3 pieces for my other Systems ;)
...can't wait to see the 3dfx Underground 1.09.00 Driver to be
released...
Whenever it
comes, I got 4 servers that will host this precious File if
needed !
News
: 08/04/2002
Downloading
Frenzy complete, a whopping 1100MB (!) of Data has been aquired
and secured.
I estimate a good 30-40% of it is totally new to this archive,
and some of it I've never seen in my life before.
This Archive is therefor continuing to host Files in a
centralized, easy to use manner, that are otherwise almost
impossible to locate.
Uploading Frenzy in Progress... ;)
This
will happen at a slower pace of course, as all Files need to be
validated and given a quick analysis.
Expect random additions within the next days, to all
Sub-Sections.
New
Sections that will need to be formed, as sufficient Files are now
available :
- BIOS Section
- Velocity 100/200 Section
- Desktop TV PCI and VoodooTV 100/200 Section
I
am as well thinking about reformatting the few present (I am
lazy, I know ;) Info-Pages...
My best guess is, that providing the primary ReadMe File for each
Package that carries one would be the best idea.
After all, those Info-Pages were originally meant to provide
useful information about a File, and prevent disappointing
downloads.
Nice
side-effect would be that those Pages could be generated very
quick, mostly following a standard format...
On
the funny side of all this, I see a good chance of running out of
Space...
Just a month after massively upgrading... Oh my :p
If this turns out to be true, I'll fill the 2 primary servers to
the maximum, and use the smaller internal mirrors to offer Files
upon User request.
That should keep everything running smooth.
News
: 05/04/2002
DSL is up and
running :)
As you can imagine, the downloading frenzy just got a nice boost
!
As I write this, I'm downloading hundreds of MegaBytes (!) of
3dfx Material, most of which is not available in this Archive
yet...
On
the downside of this, I've found many Files which exact purpose I
can't fully identify as they lack useable descriptions.
I might therefor open up a dedicated Sub-Section for those, and
let the Users decide if they are useful or not.
Anyway, stay tuned for some vast add-ons to this Archive, getting you even the most remote 3dfx Files existing.
News
: 24/03/2002
I have located
a whole truckload of interesting Files; nothing really
spectacular, but nicely complementing this Archive.
So, Downloading frenzy in progress...
Don't expect them to be uploaded soon though, as I will wait for
ADSL up&running first, effective as of April :)
That
is something I was waiting for a long time.
Finally, 64kBit Up-/Down will turn into more useable 128kBit Up-
and 768kBit Downstream =)
As soon as that is installed, maintaining this Archive should
become an easy task !
After that is accomplished, I'd call the available collection of
Files more or less complete!
3dfx
Underground is still working on their Driver, being the very
first to contain vastly rewritten, optimized code and Features
unseen so far (!).
While only
time will tell if they live up to their promises and
announcements, their Alpha Release scored very well already.
Of course,
made available in this remote Place as usual ;)
News
: 16/03/2002
As promised,
alot of new stuff was uploaded recently, including Linux and Mac
Drivers, 3dfx Tech Demos, some rare Mac ROM's and more current
3dfx Tools.
Other than that, all is running just perfect, with a few new
files waiting to be uploaded...
Feels good to have more than enough Space available again :)
News
: 07/03/2002
Excellent!
New server is ready to go !
The DNS switch was thrown sometime today, and everything is up
and running.
It is now restored to full use, linking most of the files already
being prepared on it.
Expect the remaining Updates tomorrow...
www.planetfalconfly.de will be deactivated very
soon, and www.falconfly.de will run as the
'one-and-only original' thereafter, as it used to be in the past.
Sorry for the hassle, but this is the last time for you to update your Bookmarks; the final Version has
been reached !
New
Specs for this Remote place :
1070MB Space, 120GB Traffic possible, maximized access speed,
reliability and quality of service, now allowing unified
WebStats.
In short : it has gotten better and bigger than ever :o)
News
: 01/03/2002
Uploading in
progress :)
While the brand new server can't be reached by the public yet,
pending the DNS switch, I'm already preparing it for
re-opening...
First,
all files currently spread among the small internal mirrors are
being relocated and that way centralized.
Then, all the new files I found so far are getting online as
well.
As of right now, everything is running nice & smooth. I'm looking forward to having all up and running !
News
: 27/02/2002
Good News
after a long break :
www.falconfly.de is now officially on the
move as advertised...
While this might render it temporary inaccessible for a short
time (making the busy mirror www.planetfalconfly.de the only place to visit in
the meantime),
the associated total space available has received an instant
boost, reaching a new total of 1070MB...
...and pushing the acceptable traffic to beyond 120 GB [yes, that's one hundred
and twenty GigaBytes] per month :)
Since
both big sites will end up running more or less on the same
server farm, the trusty Mirror will eventually be shutdown once
all is up and running.
I consider this the final contribution to this site's server
architecture, because that should really do for quite
some time to come.
My DSL is delaying,
though, so it will take quite some time filling the available
space with the valuable content.
The job is also trying to keep me more busy than ever, but that's
life...
Once all that has settled, I'll try to live up to my promises, and offer not only the best of the best that's out there, but also offer the most detailled Information about every single file listed in the Archive. As of now, this is the best goal I can imagine for this remote site.
In the far, far
future, I would like to add detailled Benchmark comparisons for
all available Drivers...
....as well as an In-Depth coverage of all advanced options
available in modern Driver Releases (Recommended Settings,
Benchmarks and Graphical Results).
But don't count on that too soon, since this will be alot of hard
work to do.
News
: 17/02/2002
Sorry for the
hassle...
www.falconfly.de server has recently
dropped in quality of service to a degree I cannot accept...
Administering
it has become a pain, native Webstats are laggy at best, Size too
small, Traffic insufficient and it is rather low on performance.
(presently Offline once again as I write this)
As advertised a while ago, Phase 1 of moving it to a new, better server has finally
been initiated
It was clear of dedicated Files already for a while, and now
has been basically emptied alltogether.
For
the time being, previous mirror www.planetfalconfly.de will be the place to
visit, now running all on its own as primary.
In the past month, this server has successfully proven it can
hande even heavy loads.
Phase
2 : Expect www.falconfly.de to disappear for a few days, maybe weeks,
soon.
Phase 3 : Once it is online again
on the new server, it will finally carry the primary role in
serving all there is, but this time for good :)
(Projected Total Space available : 1070MB)
Phase 4 : As soon as DSL is
installed, many more Files are to come =)
Throughout the move all Files and Pages will be fully available as usual !
News
: 13/02/2002
Here we go
again !
AmigaMerlin WinXP V2.1 was linked by voodoofiles.com directly to
my servers.... Once again...
But this time, I invalidated the Link within a few hours!
Needless to say, they did not ask for permission... Again...
Needless to say, this File will as well cause Traffic in excess
of 100 GigaBytes within a matter of a few weeks... Again...
The affected small server would certainly break under the
workload anyway... I can't afford that, since it holds several
other files as well.
On the funny side of all this, the following note was found on voodoofiles.com :
Do
to the high costs of hosting the site and the lack
of advertising revenue to keep VoodooFiles fully functional
I have had to (hopefully) temporally end a few features such as:
The Reviews section, The VoodooBoard Forum, and the download
list.
I hope everyone understands. This was a very hard decision
but one that must be made. If things change for the better
I will put these sections back up. I may still have to use
bandwidth throttling to reduce the amount of bandwidth available
to VoodooFiles, this is a last resort and I do not want this to
happen.
A special note, this has nothing to do
with hosting files, these files (3dfx drivers etc.) exsist on
another
server and have no affect on VoodooFiles itself.
I
really liked the last part : "...these files exist on
another server and have no effect on voodoofiles"....
No kidding *g*
Well, one less server today, sorry pal ;)
One
final Note to voodoofiles.com :
WEBMASTERS:
PLEASE LINK TO THIS PAGE AND NOT DIRECTLY TO THE FILE.
IF YOU WANT TO
DO ANYWAY, AT LEAST ASK FOR PERMISSION, AND RETAIN THE FULL LINK
!
I
really want to know what they have in mind next, as
voodoofiles.com is advertised on the soon closing 3dfx.com
Site...
Time will tell, I guess...
News
: 12/02/2002
Hmm... I'm
finally running out of available Space :(
I've already called the internal mirrors into action, stuffing
more Files everywhere I still can...
I was naturally quite hesitant to temporarily deactivate and move
falconfly.de to the new Host, but it's the only way left.
Already now, dozens of Megabytes of pretty cool stuff are
spinning on my HardDrives, waiting to be uploaded, but lacking
room.
That
includes 3dfx Tech Demos, the site is still lacking Linux Drivers
(shame on me), and a Bios Section.
Artwork Section is as well open end, and handy dandy 3dfx
Tools/Utilities are as well in the pipeline...
As
I continue to search the Web, I'm amazed just how much 'new'
stuff and details I find, that I just haven't heard about yet.
I can hardly download all the good stuff, knowing I can't put it
online into this Archive for now :(
DSL is ordered, however, making managing this Site a blast I
hope, as opposed to ISDN right now ;)
News
: 10/02/2002
Just when you
least expect it :)
My humble self
has been elected as 'User of the Day' of the mighty SETI@Home Project...
(to those unfamiliar with this event : there's basically only
a 'once in a lifetime' chance of becoming it)
Many thanks for the nice notes, this a really unique
community on its own; much like the 3dfx community (and that
means something!)
This
is a great honour for me and my venerable Team =/\= Erster Kontakt =/\=
I was aware
enough to preserve this day with a 1024x768 Screenshot =)
And,
by the way, AmigaMerlin released his WinXP V2.1
Driver today :)
It's presently located on one of the internal mirrors due to
space constraints.
...in case you're not satisfied with its downloading speed, I can
relocate it anytime.
News
: 06/02/2002
Just a
sidenote, not affecting people that visit this site... but
affecting those that click on that voodoofiles.com link still
existing...
Basically,
I've seen enough from voodoofiles.com.
With them taking all credit for being the biggest 3dfx site on
the web (which is perfectly okay, none of my business)....
...they don't seem to like hosting their offered files at the
same time.
This major burden or downside of hosting (the natural price of
being big) is simply posed upon other servers that happen to host
the file, just like mine.
This is rather a job for cdrom.com, filezilla or
fileplanet...
Starting today, I'll actively cut all connections linking from voodoofiles.com directly to my servers.
I'm
investing alot of work and money to attain, maintain and expand
the availalble bandwidth.
Therefor, I think it is understandable I have no intention of
continually 'sponsoring' this limited bandwidth for other
Websites, ecspecially when not even asked for permission!
...and definitely not if this is attempted even after a request not
to do so.
It's a simple
rule : if you want to be real big, you'll have to pay the bill
for it as well.
Asking for assistance is 100% fine, just silently taking what you
need is not, however.
btw.:
To nobody's surprise, in the long run my servers can't properly
handle the workload of files being downloaded ten thousand times
per month as of today.
This is still a fairly small Site, and simply wasn't designed for
those dimensions.
Just don't wonder if affected files get assigned funny names at random,on a daily basis, worst case assumed ;)
News
: 02/02/2002
Due to
requests, I have started giving Files some more detailled
information. How does it look like ?
Info |
 |
This
nifty little Link will reveal all information about a File I can
possibly deliver.
It should help normal and advanced Users to find what is best for
them among the sheer volume of available Files.
Note that the
info pages take a long time to generate and validate, and will
therefor enter service at a rather slow pace.
News
: 01/02/2002
Alright,
everything is back to normal operations...
Other than that, nothing spectacular to report.
Future
Outlook :
As soon as there's sufficient space available, expect another
full load of Drivers.
Emphasis
will remain on official Releases, Linux Drivers, as well as 3rd
party Drivers proven successful, but not yet found on this Site.
In particular, that will be the 'GOD' Driver series, Cairey's and
IceMan's.
I will also have a close watch upon 3dfx Underground's GlideXP
Project, that is apparently making progress, and already has
developed into Pre-Release Drivers.
Beefing up the 3dfx Artwork and Tools Section will get priority,
as well as creating a BIOS Section of its own.
Long
term Objectives :
- create a
3dfx FAQ section, covering in depth troubleshooting
- obtain Win32 compilant Driver SourceCode if possible
The
overall Objective :
Further
develop this remote place into a reliable source of 3dfx Bits
& Bytes...
...and offer a complete selection of the best stuff out there ;)
News
: 30/01/2002
Pulling the
Plug on that VoodooFiles.com Link worked as expected...
Server should level-off at uncritical levels by the end of this
month.
Actually
sorry to see that, but one more word on www.voodoofiles.com :
Looks like that Site got more and more 'hollow' over time; at
some time in the past they started to offer nothing but Links to
Files without actually hosting them.
While (strictly seen) there's nothing wrong with that, seeing
this on there Download Pages looks quite wrong :
WEBMASTERS:
PLEASE LINK TO THIS PAGE AND NOT DIRECTLY TO THE FILE.
Sad
to see they don't even follow their own rules.
After all, linking directly to 'their' files would render their
site almost unvisited...
This makes their download pages appear like they are supposedly
hosting all the files, but in many cases they are not.
I
cannot remember ever having linked directly to another File.
Without prior notification and permission, this is in strict
contradiction to common 'netiquette' among webmasters.
Taking into account just how many GigaBytes of Traffic can
quickly be created per day, this should also be common sense...
On
the good site :
My little,
humble server has proven worth its money, and never failed even
under the worst of workloads...
This tiny, remote place has proven it could handle several
thousand visitors per day.
Not bad, even if there will never be that many ;)
News
: 29/01/2002
Server has
exceeded 94% due to the enormous hunger for the AmigaMerlin 2.0a
Driver.
This file is now temporary relocated to an internal mirror.
That will leave several thousand voodoofiles.com users with a
dead link, but I'm sure they'll catch up quick :p
Anyway, that's
the price you pay when linking directly to files even after being
requested not to do so multiple times...
News
: 21/01/2002
Actually now
much new to report... It appears the new design is well
appreciated.
Personally, I like it, although it now centers almost exclusively
around the 3dfx part. But anyway, that's why people come here :)
I've
put some focus on getting some of the latest Brand Manufacturer
Drivers for older cards like Voodoo1,2, Rush and Banshee...
I figure while most companies still offer these ageing Drivers,
it's a good idea to conserve them before they change their
mind...
Oh,
even if hardly anybody ever looks at it :
The SETI
Statistics Section has only been updated slowly. I plan on
catching up as soon as I find the time.
If you have no clue what SETI means, visit their homepage NOW!
(Warning : It's highly addictive to know your computer is
actually doing something useful instead of wasting idle cycles!)
Overall,
this archive is almost busting, and quickly approaching maximum
size.
Who would have thought this unknown, remote little place would
have developed that way ;)
News
: 18/01/2002
Looks like the
run on the AmigaMerlin V2.0a Driver is finally fading.
Workload on the server has fallen 50%, and it is now projected to
continue serve all Files without use of Internal Mirrors.
The
Feedback Section has been replaced by a simple Guestbook.
The old Feedback tools got deactivated for some reason. Now,
leaving Feedback should be easier than ever.
The only section still missing operational is the Links Section. Coming soon ;)
Moving www.falconfly.de to the new server is now possible anytime.
If you find it offline, visit www.planetfalconfly.de ...
News
: 15/01/2002
If you've ever
visited this remote place before, you'll see the major difference
right away!
As promised, the 3dfx Archive was fully restructured for ease of
navigation :)
Now, everything is neatly sorted in place, and 120k+ Page Downloads should be History!
Since
so many things changed at once, I have a request :
If you find
any errors in the new Design, be it bad Links, missing Files or
anything else, please give me a hint.
Otherwise,
everything is still running smooth.
The run on AmigaMerlin's 2.0a WinXP Driver is sustaining though.
I've done some quick Quality-of-Service checks on the internal
Mirrors, and have serious doubts they could handle the load...
The Links Section will be filled with Data later and is currently not operational.
News
: 13/01/2002
This Site it
buckling under the intense traffic, but for now it's holding, no
failures noted...
Within the last days, more traffic was caused than in two usual,
entire month!
To get you an idea what dimensions I'm talking about :
If this
traffic had hit the old server, it would have been able to stand
the load for not longer than a mere 24 hours...
www.3dfxzone.it (serving AmigaMerlin's 2.0a Driver as well), just like they wanted to prove my words below right, actually went offline a few times...
Anyway,
the Driver will be kept fully available, being soon relocated to
internal mirrors.
If they can handle the load? I have no Idea... Never before have
they been exposed to such extraordinary download traffic...
By
the way, all files are now hosted on www.planetfalconfly.de ...
Since the 570MB total available are already almost exhausted, I
might very well extend total Space available to beyond 1000MB.
News
: 11/01/2002
Oops...
"Traffic Explosion"... or : "why it's not smart to
directly link to files..."
Looks like www.voodoofiles.com does not have too many
sites to link (and/or no sufficient own webspace), that can
actually handle prolonged high traffic for many Files.
Naturally, this would be no problem for me. I'm glad to host any
File you see here.
But having this remote place listed as one of only two viable
Download Links by the biggest 3dfx Site remaining on the WWW
suddenly gives you an impression on just how much
transfers are being linked there per day. Oh boy....
Taking into account, that some files can easily generate a
whopping 4 GigaBytes per day alone (!), this can actually kill
off a website in the long run.
On
the good side :
The active
server is a true workhorse and can take quite a beating , (as of
now) nothing to fear...
AmigaMerlin's WinXP V2.0a Driver plain
rulez I guess! Well, that's one way to get feedback ;)
On
the bad side :
Traffic keeps coming out of 'nowhere', without showing any real
visitors.
While I don't 'collect' visitors, this figure, when suddenly
zooming up, is a nice hint that something unusual is occuring,
requiring my attention.
After emailing
a formal, small request NOT to link directly, the server only
received a short break.
Now, traffic has reached and exceeded record levels once again,
forcing me to keep a very close watch on what's being downloaded
:(
Worst case the affected File has to be relocated to an internal
mirror, but sacrificing speed by doing so.
I
just don't want to know what would happen if several high demand
Files were to be directly linked simultaneously...
Ultimately,
this could lead to temporarily closing this place down
within a matter of days.
Only
alternative would be to add heavy Advertising to this Site for
financing... I hate Advertising...
Morale
of this story for Webmasters :
»» Please do
not link directly to Files ««
»» When
planning to link directly to files anyway, just give a 'heads-up'
before doing so ««
»» When linking, retain the full link. It's terribly long, I
know, but I need it to keep stats ««
Anyway,
so far all runs normal, and no further steps are required.
Everything stays fully functional for as long as I can possibly
support it.
I also don't blame voodoofiles for being the mother of all 3dfx
sites, attracting thousands... I'm glad it exists...
I'd just hate to put up those undesired DISABLED signs up again on most of
those Files below...
Note
Older news for 2001 are avilable in the News Archive
