# (Solved) Problem with multiple games.



## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Okay, I'm running an NVIDIA Riva TNT2 model 64. And I have bought two games to date - Freedom Force, which I love, and Age of Mythology, which I haven't really been able to play, yet.

Basically, at seemingly random intervals, the computer suddenly crashes, I get maybe a quarter second of a blue screen with totally random writing on it too fast to make out, then the computer completely reboots. This happens with both Freedom Force, AND Age of Mythology.

My system is an AMD Athlon 1600, with 384 MB RAM, running Windows XP.

As a side note, neither game has an option for "software video acceleration", so I can't go that route.


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## vesselle (Feb 17, 2003)

have you run your DX Diagnostic?

Start -> Run -> Enter dxdiag

go thru the tabs and run all the tests. especially the D3D and DirectDraw on the Video tab.

do you have the SP1 installed? what version of DX? 8.1 (which is part of XP) or 9?

latest drivers on your video card?
are the games patched?



V***V


PS: you can do software acceleration thru windows. is that the version you can't use?


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

> _Originally posted by vesselle:_
> *have you run your DX Diagnostic?
> 
> Start -> Run -> Enter dxdiag
> ...


Just ran it, all tests passed with flying colors.



> *do you have the SP1 installed? what version of DX? 8.1 (which is part of XP) or 9?*


8.1, part of XP. And do you mean SP1 for XP? No, not yet.



> *latest drivers on your video card?
> are the games patched?
> 
> 
> ...


Ah, software acceleration through windows... never tried that. Where might it be found?

And yes, it's the latest drivers, even used NVCleaner before installing them. Freedom Force is patched with the latest patch, v1.2, but it has done this both patched and unpatched. Age of Myth isn't patched yet, mainly 'cuz I bought it yesterday.

I shall dig up Windows Software acceleration, and try that, and respond as to whether or not it worked. Thank you, vesselle!


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Okay, I tried Software Acceleration... and it didn't work. As in, when the game began, I had nothing but a cursor on a black screen. Nothing was visible at all, in either game.

Trying Direct X 9 now...

Edit: Nope, DX9 didn't help, it rebooted again.

Trying SP1.

Edit Two:
Just installed SP1. Now I can't even get into the opening scenes... as soon as the cinematic finishes, it stops cold. End of story. Now I can't even BEGIN to play the games. *sigh* I wanna break something now!!!


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Help?


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## vesselle (Feb 17, 2003)

okay. it's getting worse. i'm sorry. i've been fighting my own battle with getting any 3D game working lately, so i completely understand how you feel. my problems got progressively worse, also.

very similar to your problems.  mine turned out to be a hardware problem. 

lets take baby steps tho, to start.

can you please post all your computer specs? all your hardware and software, too.  include the drivers you are using for your sound and video cards.

a thot that just occurred to me... i remember hearing something about OpenGL problems with your video card and games and XP. AND that the Detonator III's fixed that issue. so, driver versions are pretty important. sometimes one revision is all it takes to mess up an otherwise wonderful setup. 

on that note, you may have to try several versions of drivers, so it will be very important to make sure you rid your system of potential "ghost" drivers (that's when you have bits and peices of different versions still installed that cause conflicts).


V***V


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Okay... I'm a semi-pro 3D Graphics guy (make about $200 a month, freelancing, so only semi-pro), thus I have some high-priced software here (that only recently 'earned back' its cost):

Athlon 1600 proccessor
384 MB of DDR PC2100 RAM
NVIDIA Riva TNT2 model 64
Video Driver Version: 2.9.4.2
VIA AC'97 Audio Controller
Sound Driver Version: 5.1.2535.0
Mat****a DVD-ROM SR-8584A
Samsung CD-ROM SC-148C

Software:

3DS Max 5.0
Poser 4.03
Poser 5.0
Deep Paint 3D
Photoshop 6.0
Microsoft Office '97
Terragen v 0.8.44
Rhino 3D v2.0

Games:
Freedom Force
Age of Myth


I've used NVCleaner to get rid of previous fragments of video drivers, and used the most recent driver update I could find. What is this "Detonator III" ? I'll look it up on the web, but I hope it's something easily found... from the way you speak, it sounds like a display driver.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Found DIII... tried it... didn't work. I did manage to get through two levels of Freedom Force before the game shut down, but at least it didn't reboot the computer. However, Age of Myth now shuts down immediately after the cinematics are over.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Is there anything else that can help me?


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Anyone?


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Hiya

For the hardware Acceleration, try this:

Control Panel | System. Performance tab, then click the Graphics button. 
Here you will see a slider to adjust the hardware acceleration in Windows. What this does is adjust the control Windows has over your video card. The video card's built-in instructions and features may cause a conflict with the game. The lower the setting, the less features the video card will have to use. The higher settings will allow the video card to use more of it's features. Games with high 3D requirements will usually work best with this setting on Full. Some older games may not work correctly until you lower this setting to None or Basic. Each time an adjustment is made to this slider, the computer will need to be restarted before changes can take effect. 
Remeber what the initial setting was, as you may want to slide it back for other stuff.

Also, have you done a bit of clearing up:

Go to Tools | Internet Options. General tab. Under Delete Files, delete offline content

Go to Run and type MSINFO32 
On the left choose Software Enviroment, then Startup Programs. Copy/paste the list here.

Also, go here and download SpyBot:

http://tomcoyote.org/SPYBOT/

Regards

eddie


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Already done all of this, eddie, but thanks anyway...

Somehow, I suspect the end result of all this will be that I have to buy a new video card... am I correct?


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Btw, the list of Startup Items:

((In Win XP Pro))

NvCplDaemon	
rundll32.exe nvqtwk,nvcpldaemon initialize	
All Users	
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

QuickTime Task	
"c:\program files\quicktime\qttask.exe" -atboottime	
All Users	
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

SystemTray	
systray.exe	
All Users	
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

TkBellExe	
"c:\program files\common files\real\update_ob\realsched.exe" -osboot	
All Users	
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

ZoneAlarm	
c:\progra~1\zonela~1\zoneal~1\zoneal~1.exe	
All Users	
Common Startup

nwiz	
nwiz.exe /install	
All Users	
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run


And then 4 diff versions of desktop.ini


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Okay

The startup list looks okay, but you have a lot of graphic programs on there. I take it they're all running okay?

What screen size, and colour are you playing the games at?

Also, are you online or offline?

Lets see what the IRQ's look like:

Go to Run and type MSINFO32 
On the left choose Hardware Rescources, then IRQ
Copy/paste the list here.

eddie


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

1) Every other program is running okay... Max, Rhino, Photoshop, and Poser all work perfectly, although Max gets quite sluggish if I have a work window set to "smooth shading" instead of "wireframe".

2) The IRQ list:

IRQ 0	System timer	OK
IRQ 1	Motherboard resources	OK
IRQ 3	Communications Port (COM2)	OK
IRQ 4	Communications Port (COM1)	OK
IRQ 5	VIA AC'97 Audio Controller (WDM)	OK
IRQ 6	Standard floppy disk controller	OK
IRQ 8	System CMOS/real time clock	OK
IRQ 9	VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller	OK
IRQ 9	VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller	OK
IRQ 11	Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System	OK
IRQ 12	PS/2 Compatible Mouse	OK
IRQ 13	Numeric data processor	OK
IRQ 14	Primary IDE Channel	OK
IRQ 15	Secondary IDE Channel	OK
IRQ 16	NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro	OK
IRQ 17	Lucent Win Modem	OK
IRQ 17	Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC	OK
IRQ 18	OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller	OK

I am normally offline when I play the games (even remove the cable from my Cable Modem just in case, so I can shut down my firewall and save resources).

And I set both games to the minimum screen size - 640x480, with 16 bit color (the lowest color depth for both games)


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Well, the IRQ list looks okay.

Have you tried in SafeMode? The graphics may not be up to scratch, but it may offer some more reasons.

eddie


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

Just for fun whats your voltage setting in the bios for your Ram?


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Currently factory default, I'd have to actually go in and see next time I boot up... I never mess with it, since my computer is very important to my livelihood and therefore not an expendable game machine, I'd rather not overclock it or otherwise tweak it at all.


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

No no, I dont want you to overclock it i just want you to see what your voltage is for your ram it maybe too high evan at default settings. causing crashes if 2.6v LOWER it to 2.5v.


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## HLC (Jun 27, 2001)

winXP bluescreen? hm... anyways theres a function somewhere that you can switch off so it doesn't reboot when the bluescreen appears so that you might post what it says... now only if I could remember what I'm talking about =/


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## PcKiller (Apr 7, 2001)

I think it is your video card. The games that are coming out now need a better video than what you have to run them at high rez., and lots of options as well. Try setting the rez to the lowest it will go, and turn off all options. if it runs fine, then you can work your way up in rez., and options.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

1) Freedom Force IS as low as it can go, and has all the options off. I can't even get to the control screen for Age of Myth to begin to get it to work.

2) I replaced my video card yesterday, and it is still doing it. I got an ATI Radeon 7500 64 MB from a friend... then I tried to run NVCleaner. End result? It said it couldn't remove a darn thing, which hopefully means they're already gone. If not, then I may know what PART of my problem is.

And as a side note, I had 98SE on this system several months ago. Freedom Force ran perfectly on it (I did not have AOM at the time). I have tried running both proggys in 98 Compatability Mode, but both just crap out instead of doing anything.


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Have you got all the latest updates from Microsoft? Also, do you have a screensaver running when you're trying to play the games?

eddie


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

I never have screensavers running, period, they tend to screw up more complex renders. And yes, I have all the most recent Microshaft, err, Microsoft updates.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Alright, I tried a new, different video card... a Radeon 9000. 

Same results. Reboot.

*sigh*...


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## SGUMike (Apr 19, 2003)

I've been having nearly the same problems as you. Games I play either cause me to reboot, or just straight out crash, and I'm looking at my desktop. Only one game actually gives me an error message. Thats Mech Warrior 4: Mercenaries. I've got a GeForce4 MX440.. not as good as your Radeon 9000 tho. As times gone by, the problem has progressed as well. The games crash quicker and quicker. 

I've formatted my hard drive, and the problem persists. Its irritating not to be able to run the game for more than a few minutes. Every so often, I've gotten the 'Windows has recovered from a serious error' message after reboot. (Only after ghost recon crashes).

I get 2 different 'causes' on the error report. One is "An unknown device driver' and the other is pointing fingers at a file which belongs to my 'Record Now' (CD Writer) program. Odd thing is, That program is never running, shouldn't even come into play...

Well, hopefully there'll be a fix. If I the fix, I'll let you know -- and hopefully it'll fix your problem too.

~ Mike

P.S. -- If you want more detail to what my problems are, the topic I created is "Mech Warrior4 - Cannot Read:"


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

Try updating your bios or lowering ram voltage in bios.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

I have updated my bios, and in this crappy PhoenixBios, there's nowhere to reduce RAM voltage.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Is there anyone that can give me advice besides advice that my computer is incapable of taking advantage of?


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

in your bios is there advanced chipset option?


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

If there is, it's hidden deep.


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## SGUMike (Apr 19, 2003)

Valender, I feel your pain! I have the same BIOS. I updated mine. Updated my Mobo drivers, updated everything I can. Spoke with HP Techs, M$ techs, took it back to Best Buy -- NOBODY can figure out wtf is wrng with it. Its kinda disheartening when you call for help and they say "ok, what i want you to do is this..." and your response "I already did that"

To make matters worse - When best buy ran the Mech Warrior 4:Mercs, they couldn't get it to crash. They ran some stupid demo (Brixout?) and ofcourse that wont work it -- really simple game, simple graphics.

Good Luck to you

~ Mike


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## Die Hard (Apr 5, 2003)

Valandar

This might be way out of line,pointing out the obvious , but did you go here: http://www.irrationalgames.com/ff/FF_FAQ.htm 

Die Hard


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Yes, I did.

The problem isn't just with FF, it's with nearly everything on my computer that uses hardware acceleration


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Okay, here's the error log I get when it reboots:

BCCode : d1 BCP1 : 0000000C BCP2 : 00000002 BCP3 : 00000000 
BCP4 : F3D9D52B OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 1_0 Product : 256_1


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

Geeeze you still havin problems, Try this, i don't think you have yet, take all the ram out and use one stick and see if it crashes if it doesn't add another till it does,then you know youve got a bad stick of ram. How mant sticks of ram do yoiu have in there ? different combinations ,like swith them around in differnt slots may help too. I think its you ram.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Only two sticks.. but I did a websearch, and found out that the stick that came in my machine is notorious for going bad quickly. I've removed that stick, gonna try a little Freedom Force and see how long it lasts.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

Well, I removed the OEM RAM stick, and haven't had a reboot yet. HOWEVER, I still can't get Age of Myth to play... it plays the two animations (the company animation, then the introductory one), then crashes back to the desktop... and I've uninstalled and reinstalled twice...


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

Well thats an improvment anyway! Just that one game?


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

what stick do you have in there the 256 or the 128 stick?


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

and what bank is it in?


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

I left in the 256 stick, in the second slot of two.

And, yes, everything seems to work now EXCEPT Age of Empires, which still will not even go to the menu screen.


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

usually you would put the larger modual in the first bank. If everything else is working ok then that 128mg stick has errors on it ,and now any problems you have is software related. Are you using XP if so try compatability mode for 98 and try it.This is pretty much as far as i can help you with this,good luck.


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## Valandar (Mar 6, 2003)

FINALLY solved the problem with AOM... turns out it was ALREADY set to Win98 emulation mode.

I turned off emulation, and it's perfect.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help me, or suggested something that actually did help.

To summarize:

It was the 128 stick of OEM RAM that was the primary culprit.
It was Win98 Emulation Mode that was the secondary culprit.

Cheers!


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## Derrick (May 24, 2001)

no prob dude


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## eddie5659 (Mar 19, 2001)

Good to see that its all solved. Hardware is not my stong point, but learnt some new things 

eddie


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