Curse

WhiteAsIce · May 07, 2010, 08:16 PM // 20:16

I have an Acer laptop with Windows 7, Nvidia graphics card. Here are the exact specs.

When playing GW on it, about 3-4 minutes into the game, the entire system just freezes. Nothing moves on the screen, not even the mouse. The sound stops playing. Also, a few seconds after the freeze, I hear the hard disk stop whirring.
I'm completely lost with no direction to solve this. Any help?

makafri · May 07, 2010, 11:02 PM // 23:02

the laptops are an horrible plataform for gaming... you should check your temperatures... maybe that is the problem... try to get one of those fans devices for laptops... if is not a temperature issue... then try to download updated drivers for your video card...

WhiteAsIce · May 08, 2010, 12:14 AM // 00:14

I have downloaded the latest drivers from the Nvidia website, so it can't be that.
This can happen regardless of temperature. It'll freeze evern after I've left the laptop off for a long time.
The freezing ONLY happens during Guild Wars, and only if it's been on for about 3-4 minutes. For movies and other games, this does not happen. Also, nothing happens when GW is minimized - it is only when I leave the window up for about that 3-4 minutes that the laptop completely freezes. Being on the log-in screen does not cause this either - I must be logged in to one of my characters for it to freeze.

Elder III · May 08, 2010, 12:23 AM // 00:23

any error messages whatsoever? Try to monitor the temps you hit in GW (before the freeze if you can), GW is more heat sensitive than most games, so while many games would keep going on their merry way when the heat rises, GW is pretty touchy about that.

WhiteAsIce · May 08, 2010, 12:32 AM // 00:32

No error messages. I simply just left it logged on, and it froze. It's not the temperature, because it can happen when the laptop is cold. Also, Guild Wars is the ONLY thing that will freeze the entire system (mouse included). HD movies or other games have no effect.

Bulletproof Maniac · May 08, 2010, 01:41 AM // 01:41

Have you tried emailing support?

WhiteAsIce · May 08, 2010, 05:35 AM // 05:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulletproof Maniac

Have you tried emailing support?

I just e-mailed support, with everything I've said in this thread. Now to wait for the reply...

New:
This problem is no longer isolated to just Guild Wars. The freezing will occur with any graphic-intense game. The time to freezing is different depending on the game though, but the same thing happens - it works, then all of a sudden, the screen just locks up, the mouse/cursor won't move, and the sound stops. The fan stops roughly 10 seconds later.

On a side note, I thought the graphics card was GT 130M, and it even says on the box and laptop (sticker). However, the Device Manager says that it is GT 240M under Display Adapters. Does this make a difference?

UNOXani · May 08, 2010, 12:07 PM // 12:07

If its happening on any graphic intense game and put it down to overheating (Seeing how youve replaced the drivers), doesent matter if the laptops been off for months, it only takes a few minutes to reach critical mass and crash if it wants to

Try running the game on lower setting (lowest it will go), sure it might look fugly, but it may prolong the time before the crash, or solve it altogether. Also check the graphcs settings on the machine/OS, maybe possible to adjust things to help out (Im not familar with that chipset/card).

As said above laptops dont make the ideal gaming platform (Unless you get a specific gaming one), but in saying that, at low res, and moderate quality, my trusty old Dell D430 runs GW well enough to play on move for hours

Elder III · May 08, 2010, 01:19 PM // 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteAsIce

I just e-mailed support, with everything I've said in this thread. Now to wait for the reply...

New:
This problem is no longer isolated to just Guild Wars. The freezing will occur with any graphic-intense game. The time to freezing is different depending on the game though, but the same thing happens - it works, then all of a sudden, the screen just locks up, the mouse/cursor won't move, and the sound stops. The fan stops roughly 10 seconds later.

On a side note, I thought the graphics card was GT 130M, and it even says on the box and laptop (sticker). However, the Device Manager says that it is GT 240M under Display Adapters. Does this make a difference?

Actually the 240m is a better graphics chip than the 130m, so it's a good thing if that's what you have; either one can handle GW just fine though.

If there is a problem with overheating, which is exactly what this sounds like, it makes no difference if the laptop doesn't "feel" hot to the touch, the internal components can overheat in 2-3 minutes, esp. if there is a faulty component or other issue. Download Everest Ultimate (Free version) from www.lavalys.com - install that and let it run when you start GW, after a couple minutes alt + tab out of GW and check the temperatures from Everest Ultimate - do this for another game or two, something more graphics intensive/newer would be great. - post those temperatures here and then we'll have a little more to work with.

It sounds like, overheating, bad VGA drivers, or just a bad video card - it might be something else, but the symptoms point to one of those as the culprit.

Quaker · May 08, 2010, 03:26 PM // 15:26

In GW, go to Menu, then Options, then Graphics, and then click on the Auto Detect button. If that lowers any of you graphics settings, then try running with those settings to see if it still freezes.
If the settings don't change, or go even higher, then you may have a hardware problem with the laptop, or you could have a driver conflict. Go to the laptop maker's website and download and install any and all updated drivers. (And make sure Win7 is updated too.)

Oh, and, set the graphics resolution in-game to the same rez as your laptop's screen rez.

tijo · May 09, 2010, 04:14 AM // 04:14

From your description, it looks like overheating.

Depending on where you've been using your laptop, there might be a bit of dust inside. You could try using a compressed gas can for cleaning out electronics (do not use compressed air and be sure to follow the instructions) and blow it through the air intake and see if any dust comes out from the exhaust. It would already give an indication of the amount of dust inside.

A guildmate had the kind of problem you describe. I told him to check if it was full of dust, so his dad took it to the tech at his job and turned out it was full of dust. He had it cleaned and now it works just fine.

1 more thought, make sure the laptop is on a hard surface so it can easily draw air from underneath in order to keep cool, from personal experience some people tend to forget that.

WhiteAsIce · May 09, 2010, 05:48 AM // 05:48

The laptop is on an elevated platform. The front is on the table, the back is boosted up about an inch by two side hinges.
It might be overheating, but I can't tell anymore. As a matter of fact, the problem has gotten worse. The laptop will now freeze either the moment I start Guild Wars or other similar games, or less than a minute later - no more waiting 2-3 minutes for it to happen.

ranger rothers · May 09, 2010, 07:56 AM // 07:56

You should have a 130m fitted, the Acer 5739G-6959 isn't available with a 240m. So you've either somehow got the wrong graphics drivers installed or the wrong graphics fitted.

Quaker · May 09, 2010, 07:00 PM // 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteAsIce

On a side note, I thought the graphics card was GT 130M, and it even says on the box and laptop (sticker). However, the Device Manager says that it is GT 240M under Display Adapters. Does this make a difference?

If it actually is a 240M, then that could be a problem. The 240M would probably create more heat than a 130M, but the cooling system would be designed for a 130M and perhaps not be able to cool a 240M enough.
That's all just speculation though.

moriz · May 09, 2010, 10:07 PM // 22:07

you can download the utility called GPU-Z to find out exactly which graphics chip you have. just do a quick google search and you'll find it.

if all else fails, just return it to where you bought it from. if it's newegg, they usually are very good regarding replacements and such.

WhiteAsIce · May 09, 2010, 11:58 PM // 23:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

you can download the utility called GPU-Z to find out exactly which graphics chip you have. just do a quick google search and you'll find it.

if all else fails, just return it to where you bought it from. if it's newegg, they usually are very good regarding replacements and such.

GPU-Z shows that it is the GT 240M.
I bought it from Newegg as an open box product, so I don't know if I can get my full refund for it.

---

After some research on Google... I have actually solved the freezing, only to trade that problem for another problem.

I went to RegEdit, and to the registry keys under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDriv ers. I found two keys there that I deleted.
* TdrDelay was set to 16
* TdrLevel was set to 0
Having deleted them both, my laptop will no longer freeze up when playing Guild Wars. However, roughly every 30 seconds, the screen will black out for about 2 seconds, then return, showing this popup notification:

Now how do I solve this problem? I don't want to keep getting interrupted by this all the time.

Quaker · May 10, 2010, 02:20 PM // 14:20

I'd say your best bet is to return it to Newegg if possible. It obviously seems to have some sort problem with the graphics chip.