Looking for any help???

[johnstumbo]

Hey all I have been having freezing/crashes since the beginning have tried everything. Bought new power supply, reistalled windows xp (fresh install), updated all drivers, reupdated all drivers after reistalled xp, tried running in widows 2000 comp, turned off all warnings, turned graphics down to min,what else can you guys think of???

[imhotep3147]

Have you tried running the game with your case open and a fan or two blowing directly in it? That's usually the easiest way to eliminate overheating as a cause. :D

[Keith]

Is there any pattern as to when you crash, weather, autosave, message popups, etc.?

[johnstumbo]

It crashes about 3 minutes into game. I have tried with everything unchecked and I mean everything. Didnt have nortan going even tried it once with sound card disabled. I thought it might be a background program messing it up but it still didnt work. I have a dell 4600, upgraded memory while back to over 2 gbs, and I have a 256 mb nvidia graphics card it makes no sense I am sure it is something really dumb but cant figure it out. Only thing I noticed when comparing my dx file to others is that it looks like some of the direct x files are different on mine. I upgrade from the game and have done so again and every time it upgrades but doesnt seem to take because I can restart and the files look the same nothing changed and if I go into the game directory and run direct x it will upgrade again maybe its not taking could that be the problem??? I am attaching my dx file have it up here somewhere else but have since done a reistall of xp. Any help greatly appriecated. Thanks John

[mouse]

Can't see anything in your DX report that would signal any problem. Heat could be a problem but I think it's more likely something running in the background. Do you have any disk monitoring software such as some Norton programs, another thought when you turn off Norton do you turn off all the services or just the taskbar icon. For example when I turn off my virus scanner there are 3 other related services running in the processes including the auto update (those have to be turned off too).

[PCDania]

Are there any warnings in the program and/or system logs?

[johnstumbo]

When I turn it off I went into msconfig and unchecked everything to do with norton ( and everything else) and rebooted and then tried with same results. I dont get any messages when I start to play I can place the first 4 buildings and then the well and then it freezes sound will making a wierd noise like a record sticking and thats it have to reboot turn off computer and restart. By looking at others dx files it seems most that are having problems have one of three things a dell, or are using phoniex bios or sound blaster of some kind. Not all but most. I only have one hard drive but dell has a set partition on it could this be the problem. I have two dvd rom drives. But I tried disabling one but didnt do anything different. Whats wierd is that I tried it on my laptop and it will play very very very slow since I dont have real graphics card in it and only 512 mgs of ram but it will play doesnt freeze up. Its a dell also just doesnt make sense. Like I said before it will probably be something really dumb and easy once its figured out. Just not computer expert enough to figure it out myself. Thanks for the help guys it is appriecated.
John

[mouse]

Well I think disabling drives is not necessary. Not speaking for Jeff Fiske but I know for a fact the game was tested with multiple drives/partitions and 2 optical drives. This did not cause problems. Now what might cause a problem is more than two optical drives as is the case with a number of systems we've seen here that were running scusi drives or Sata drives. The game was also tested with Sound Blaster sound cards.
But you might be on to something with newer Dell computers (since Keith Dell has no problems):rolleyes: It could be some of the Dell software that comes pre-installed maybe even for troubleshooting the system.

[PCDania]

With warning messages in system or program logs I meant in the Event Viewer in System Management which you find by rightclicking My Computer and then Manage.

The people with a bunch of SCSI drives are most likely running some sort of Virtual Drives like Daemon Tools.

[Justinian X]

I have tried just about everything to stop the random game freezing & am frustrated & out of ideas & do really need some help please. I haven't been able to get beyond the training missions (on the 4th one currently) & it doesn't matter what action I am doing the game will be running fine for about 20 minutes before either freezing up completely requiring me to hit the power button off & on again, or it will just spontaneously restart my computer. Another strange thing is that I will even just have the game sitting on pause not even doing anything & at about that time threshold, it craps out.

I've updated my graphics drivers, updated Windows XP to SP2, have about 38% free space, did an error check & defrag yesterday after uninstalling the game first before reinstalling it. I've tried other ideas such as shutting off autosave option & the auto-pause options. I've tried setting everything to the lowest settings & still nothing works. One such crash sent me to the Microsoft error log site to list possible fixes for the error which specifically said to uncheck the "enable write combining" box which I tried but also did not work. I haven't even gotten as far as to be able to try opening trade routes to see if they will crash the game. I even went so far as to in Task Manager, tried setting the game to a higher priority to see if that would work but no deal.

Would adjusting some of the following in the nVidia control panel help?
-- lower the Refresh rate down from the current 75 Hertz setting? I saw one suggestion in the forums for someone to adjust a setting down to 60 Hertz (forgot the specific issue for that though)
-- lower the Color Quality rate down from 32 bits to 16 bits? (Another suggestion I also saw in the forums)
-- Adjust the display resolution here as opposed to adjusting it in the game setup options?

Attached is my dxdiag - Any ideas anyone has that can help???

A good idea that would also help those of us in the dark about the status of planned fixes/future patches for these crash bugs is for TM to post some message somewhere centrally exactly what they are doing as far as plans to release a patch are, even if it's as vague as "we are aware of the issues & are working on them - check back later for possible patches."

thx...

[johnstumbo]

I have nothing in the logs. I checked.

[sophia0021]

I can place the first 4 buildings and then the well and then it freezes sound will making a wierd noise like a record sticking John[/QUOTE]THIS is what has been happening to me!!!

[PCDania]

@ johnstumbo

A shame, a message there could have given a hint.

@Justinian X

-- lower the Refresh rate down from the current 75 Hertz setting? I saw one suggestion in the forums for someone to adjust a setting down to 60 Hertz (forgot the specific issue for that though)
I've seen this suggested all around but I still haven't figured out what that is about or should solve. Regardless of the refresh rate the graphics card will churn out frames as fast as possible as long as VSync has not been enabled. If you enable VSync you hinder the graphics card in rendering more then 60 frames a second.

-- lower the Color Quality rate down from 32 bits to 16 bits? (Another suggestion I also saw in the forums)
Lowering the color quality from 32bit to 16 bit makes it easier for your graphics card as it does not have to calculate as many colors. The down side is it also means less numbers of colors in the game so it will not be quite as beautifull to look at.
-- Adjust the display resolution here as opposed to adjusting it in the game setup options? You can try, it might work or might not work. It's about finding out what works for getting the game run the best possible on your computer. It might work for some but not for others.

[Kuplo]

I know this is a long shot, but what the heck give it a shot anyway.


Even though you've already disabled your sound card to try playing the game. Give this a shot turn your sound acceleration down to off and then try to load the game and see if it's still giving you a problem at that point.

When I try to play SimCity 4 I had to turn my sound acceleration all the way off, otherwise, it crashes as well. And when it crashes it also has the sound of a broken record.

[Elamite]

I am really starting to suspect that the problem is memory based. There are many different kinds of RAM out there now and I suspect that some of them are just not stable enough in relation to how this game uses RAM

[PCDania]

I am really starting to suspect that the problem is memory based. There are many different kinds of RAM out there now and I suspect that some of them are just not stable enough in relation to how this game uses RAM
I have the same thought but have no way of proving or testing it.

[existenz]

Maybe one of the devs could confirm if they used different types and/or configurations of RAM - also different brands. I use 2 generic 512mb ram sticks in dual configuration and have no problems with game - just crashing in the editor when texturing.

[Kuplo]

I am really starting to suspect that the problem is memory based. There are many different kinds of RAM out there now and I suspect that some of them are just not stable enough in relation to how this game uses RAM

It could also be not so much that the game is having problems with the RAM that you've got but rather that the RAM is bad itself. You can search Google for like something like Microsoft memory test and find a program that this under 1 MB in size and let it run all night, and it'll test your memory and see if there's anything wrong with it.

I have run it on my computer in the past when I had a problem at someone elses suggestion and it turned out that one of my 1GB sticks of RAM was bad. I didn't find it at first because I only let the memory tester run for about 1 hour, but after letting it run for over 9 hours, the memory stick finally failed.

It's a free program by the way.

[PCDania]

Well, they test the game themself as all developers do on-the-run while programming and there were also a bunch of external beta-testers each with their own private computer. I think the list is in the back of the manual.

[Rnett]

A quicker way to test the ram would be to pull out one stick and see if the game freezes, if not switch them and try again. One drawback might be the game lagging in the process.

[Justinian X]

Thanks for the input PCDania. At this point I'm thinking it's more the game though & not my system/specs. Think I'll post my dxdiag in one of the other forum strings as well to see if it can get some further analysis... isalud!

[mouse]

Game related errors are also caused by background programs that eat CPU cycles. If you asked most game testers and developers will tell you they run lean mean computers with the bare minimum of background programs.
What most people call bugs are not bugs unless every single game owner has the same thing happen. If a small percentage of the game buyers experience a problem then it's hardware or software driven by what they have installed on their computer.

[dlibecap]

I am having the same problem with my game freezing. Usually I can only get 4 house and the well built before it freezes; today I was able to get to the granary before it froze.

I called tech support and they said my system is OK and that the game should be installed on my C drive instead of my F drive. Has anyone else heard of this? I am attaching my dxdiag just in case someone call see what could be wrong with my setup.

Thanks,
Dawn

[johnstumbo]

I have got to ask again if this could be a problem with the nvidia 6600 series card. All three of us in this post have that series of card. All of us the same problem. Any body have that card that is able to play the game???

[ElBastard]

I have got to ask again if this could be a problem with the nvidia 6600 series card. All three of us in this post have that series of card. All of us the same problem. Any body have that card that is able to play the game???


John, I too have have a 6600 GT and get the same problem. Can play the tutorial missions with no problems...start into campaign mode and it doesn't matter what I am doing, 3 minutes in and boom hard lock of the PC.

I must use the 4 second shutdown feature of the power button.

I did a complete clean install on XP and applied all available updates for both the OS and all components after this problem started.

I have attached my dxdiag.txt and yes my CPU is on the low end, but with the PC1066 RDRAM that I use, it has absolutely no problem handling advanced games such as Company of Heros which I was able to play for an unlimited period of time with no problems whatsoever.

I am in agreement with john that there is something with the 6600 series that the game does not like. But if it handles all of the same generation nVidia cards, this one should be no exception.

[Rnett]

I haven't had any problems with my 6600.:confused:

[mouse]

Dibecap you don not enough free space on C drive for your page file let alone windows to be able to move files around. You need to clean off some space on your C drive by running disk cleanup.
Do not install the game on C drive is doesn't need to be installed there. Tech support at computer companies don't have a clue.

[johnstumbo]

Rnett could you post your dx file so I can compare to mine.
Thanks john

[Rnett]

Sure thing:) , I'm on another computer so I'll swing back later with the dx file. The only difference I can see between yours & mine is I'm still using 81.94 drivers but other than that...:confused:

[Rnett]

Alrighty then..

13368

[dlibecap]

Ok I have cleaned up my C drive and now have 5.5 GB available. Is this enough for my c: drive now?

[johnstumbo]

Phil
I bought new power supply last week still no luck. Wish I could figure this out have had the game since it came out and just want to play. Have tried everything just doesnt make sense.

[dlibecap]

My power supply is a 350 watt.

[PCDania]

Ok I have cleaned up my C drive and now have 5.5 GB available. Is this enough for my c: drive now?
If that is the free space after installing Caesar IV then it should be enough but take care you don't get less again.

Your power supply should be ok with the system you currently have.

[PCDania]

I have got to ask again if this could be a problem with the nvidia 6600 series card. All three of us in this post have that series of card. All of us the same problem. Any body have that card that is able to play the game???
What manufacturer has made your cards?

[dlibecap]

Ok I have more space and it is still crashing. Once I started the game and did not do anything a it was locked up when I returned 3 minutes later. This is getting frustrating.

[johnstumbo]

My card is pny geoforce 6600.

[johnstumbo]

Phil
As I said early in post I disabled everything and tried again and it did the same thing. I had nothing running in startup of msconfig and only microsoft devices running in services. It did the same thing.

[PCDania]

Dania: The 6600 cards are all nVidia.
None of those CARDS are nVidia, nVidia only makes the GPU and sells them including the layout for the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) to manufacturers like MSI, Asus, Gainward, XFX, Winfast/Leadtek etc. who then sells them under their own brand name which is MSI, Asus, Gainward, XFX, Winfast/Leadtek etc.

For cutting expences sometimes the cheapest models are made using too cheap parts (not counting the GPU).

[johnstumbo]

the box my card came in sames graphics by nvidia right on the box. I get my drivers updated on nvidia web site how is it not made by nvidia???

[existenz]

I think what PCDania is saying is that Nvidia give the other companies such as Asus the rights to use their design but Asus etc actually make the cards, using Nvidia design but using whatever components ie: cheap or more expensive matarials they choose to. Hope that is clear?:)
And by asking for the company that made the card it may change how well it runs. If made with cheap components or underclocked it may cause problems that another card with the same name but by a different company who uses quality parts may not have.

[johnstumbo]

Still if card was listed as being able to work with the game then I dont think it is the card. I have got to think at this point with every thing I have tried it has to be something with the game there is only so much that can be my computer when I see at least three others with the same problem as mine.

[PCDania]

I think what PCDania is saying is that Nvidia give the other companies such as Asus the rights to use their design but Asus etc actually make the cards, using Nvidia design but using whatever components ie: cheap or more expensive matarials they choose to. Hope that is clear?:)
And by asking for the company that made the card it may change how well it runs. If made with cheap components or underclocked it may cause problems that another card with the same name but by a different company who uses quality parts may not have.
Thanks existenz for clarifying what I meant, you are right. The only component on a nVidia graphics card that nVidia has made is the GPU which is the main chip on the card. Sorry for posting a bit foot-in-mouth.

If just there were one with a GF6600 or GF6600GT who had the time and nerves for testing all GF6600 compartible WHQL drivers from nVidia. Sometimes an old driver is better than the newest as we have seen with the Ati cards.