Curse

Horogan Sivoris · May 02, 2005, 03:53 PM // 15:53

Should be an option in control panel to uninstall drivers. Should help?

Any kmixer.sys is it?

Are you getting something like

DRIVER_IRQ_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL
?

I have that problem on my PC. All solutions are - Make sure you have the latest Bios for your mother board. Make sure you have the correct drivers. Or, and this is what I think is wrong with mine, the PCI slot that your sound/graphics/whatever card is in, is dodgey.

That's all the info i can despense.

Nall · May 02, 2005, 04:01 PM // 16:01

What might be possible is that, because of the way the game is programmed or how data is rendered specific to this game, Guild Wars is especially prone to the adverse effects of heat. It does seem as though most people who have reported problems here run their computers pretty hot, but yet don't have any problems with other taxing games, including Guild Wars in its beta stages which was pretty much the same exact game.

Even though I don't have any problems otherwise, I've decided to buy a quality water cooling system for my PC and see how that works. It's not worth it just for Guild Wars, especially since its probably a coding problem on their end, but its a good idea in general to have a PC run cooler...so we'll see what happens. After I install it I'll post here the results.

On a side note, I've been in correspondence with ArenaNet's tech support service for a while concerning the problem, for which they've continually replied within a few hours each time. After going over basic troubleshooting they accused me of overclocking my system to cause the problems, even though everything was always at factory settings. Now that I've told them that wasn't true and that Guild Wars in beta worked just fine, they've gone silent for 36 hours and counting.

-Nall

Rememdium · May 02, 2005, 04:14 PM // 16:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nall

On a side note, I've been in correspondence with ArenaNet's tech support service for a while concerning the problem, for which they've continually replied within a few hours each time. After going over basic troubleshooting they accused me of overclocking my system to cause the problems, even though everything was always at factory settings. Now that I've told them that wasn't true and that Guild Wars in beta worked just fine, they've gone silent for 36 hours and counting.

-Nall

This is exactly where I stand as well. They were very prompt in asking for my DxDiag and Everest results, but as soon as I sent them this thread and said that it worked fine in the beta, they haven't gotten back to me.

Radical · May 02, 2005, 04:36 PM // 16:36

Well, I've run into two distinct problems - different systems.

The first one has been reported here. Game crashes and re-boots intermittently. It can be 5-50 minutes. Over the past few days, I've seen blue screens, re-boots, game has frozen and forced a physical restart. It has also frozen , but allowed a ctrl-alt-dlt, where I was able to see the ArenaNet error display which I forwarded to them a few times.

I also got one msgbox with a memory.cpp error. From what I could see of the error logs, it appears to be a memory related problem.

The times I was able to check the task manager the game was not responding and using 100% of the CPU and approximately 250mb of memory.

I am using the Sygate firewall and NAV. I had a few anit-spyware programs running which I un-installed...no difference.

System specs -
XP Pro SP2 -
Direct X 9c
Abit Kx7-R
AMd 2000
Radeon 9600 Pro 128mb
AGP set to 4x
Creative SBLive Value
1gb DDR
Dual 60 gb 7200 hdd
All hardware has latest drivers from the manufacturer's sites.

I thought I would try it out on my other machine, which I was planning on wiping anyways. After formatting the drive, re-installing XP Pro SP2 and installing the latest drivers, I installed the Sygate firewall, turned off the Microsoft firewall.
I ran a burn in test with Sisoft Sandra lite 2005. Ran another test with 3dMark03. System looks good.
Installed Guild Wars, logged in, appeared in the Abbey.
Game froze when I attempted to exit the Abbey. Status bar hit 100% and that was it....
I even ran nvidia tuning program for the nforce chipset..still no go.

System Specs
XP Pro SP2
Directx 9c
Abit NF7-S v2
AMD 3200
2 512 mb DDR400 dual channel
Radeon 9700Pro 128mb
AGP set to 8x
Sound - nforce2 chipset supports Soundstorm
120gb 7200 hdd

Very frustrating to say the least.

sliceolife · May 02, 2005, 04:45 PM // 16:45

Mine is similar problem. For me the whole systems goes down like you killed the power after playing for 45 minutes. On re-start everything is normal until it does it again in 45 minutes. Very Wierd and no reply from tech support.

Tals · May 02, 2005, 04:53 PM // 16:53

OK I am hoping i've cracked my problem

Arena net have been pretty good I have to say. Last suggestion was to run a memory test (Memtest86). I ran this and one of my modules failed on test 5 - this test appears to be one Athlon memory configs fail a lot on.

I'm reasonably sure most here have Athlons?

I've played all afternoon with my memory modules I do have and found a combination that passes the test (768MB so lost 256MB) but if it solves the issue who cares.

I'll report back if it has indeed resolved the issue or not.

Sliceolife - that sounds like an overheating issue.

Tals

Nall · May 02, 2005, 05:32 PM // 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tals

I'm reasonably sure most here have Athlons?

Numerous people here have the problem with Pentium processors as well. It's not limited to Athlon.

-Nall

Tals · May 02, 2005, 05:49 PM // 17:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nall

Numerous people here have the problem with Pentium processors as well. It's not limited to Athlon.

-Nall

OK - possibly different problems for each. And maybe i'm drawing conclusions before i'm sure my one is cracked. Then again what may be happening is the game is pushing the pcs and so any issues are coming to the fore. Certainly will be interesting if it was a memory issue. That memory test wasn't limited to Athlons - just Athlons are more likely to fail on those specific tests.

Tals

ShadeZeRO · May 02, 2005, 06:08 PM // 18:08

For me, its not a cooling issue, I have 9 fans in my computer, platinum heatspreaders on my Ram sticks, and a vantec tornado right on my CPU Heatsink...

Memory is corsair, and i have yet to have an issue with it. During the game my CPU temp doesnt' go over 42*c (full load).

My x850xtpe is 2 slot design, i can't imagine that badgirl (very beautiful piece of equipment) overheating...

DEFINETLY some kind of game issue...it doesnt like modern hardware or somethng.

swaaye · May 02, 2005, 06:15 PM // 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by explode9339

I played GW during the last beta event for a few days, probably totalling 10 hours. Never had any problems whatsoever.

Yesterday, and today, I have been having a problem where the game will just reboot my computer. This doesnt happen with any other programs, just guildwars and it didnt happen before for the other events, just since pre-retail (27th).

Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes an hour, then it just reboots totally. Very annoying and probably not too good for the comp. Is this a common bug? Can anyone offer a solution or explanation?

Thanks,
Ex

Computer Stats...
WinXP SP 2
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @ 2.3 gigs
Geforce 4 6600 GT (128MB)
1 Gig Dual Channel 3200 DDR Corsair RAM (@ 2,3,3,8)
400 Watt PSU
ABIT NF27-S mobo

PS - Again, no problems with any other programs including HL2, Doom 3, etc...

Your system is unstable and GW is stressing it in a way the other games didn't. Your CPU is probably unstable. Only the mobile Athlon XP's are really good above 2.1 GHz or so, without lots of extra voltage. Your RAM may also be above spec with CAS2. Run Prime95 and Memtest86+, or better yet try it unoverclocked.

Tals · May 02, 2005, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadeZeRO

For me, its not a cooling issue, I have 9 fans in my computer, platinum heatspreaders on my Ram sticks, and a vantec tornado right on my CPU Heatsink...

Memory is corsair, and i have yet to have an issue with it. During the game my CPU temp doesnt' go over 42*c (full load).

My x850xtpe is 2 slot design, i can't imagine that badgirl (very beautiful piece of equipment) overheating...

DEFINETLY some kind of game issue...it doesnt like modern hardware or somethng.

I'd still try the memory test - even if its to get that one marked off. I have never ever had an issue with any other game. However my memory still failed when tested. Maybe when I next crash i'll change my tune - proper session later tonight should determine for sure.

Tals

swaaye · May 02, 2005, 06:55 PM // 18:55

Blue Screens and random reboots are caused by CPU or RAM instability caused by overclocking, defects, or an insufficient power supply. If you are overclocked and see these problems the FIRST thing you should do is return to default speeds and RAM latencies. Don't start by throwing bug complaints.

I have no reboot problems, or any stability problems, with GW at all on both of my systems.

rathstar · May 02, 2005, 06:58 PM // 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by swaaye

I have no reboot problems, or any stability problems, with GW at all on both of my systems.

Oh, so the problem must not exist.....? Blue screens and random reboots are also caused by defective software.

neoflame · May 02, 2005, 07:31 PM // 19:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by swaaye

Your system is unstable and GW is stressing it in a way the other games didn't. Your CPU is probably unstable. Only the mobile Athlon XP's are really good above 2.1 GHz or so, without lots of extra voltage. Your RAM may also be above spec with CAS2. Run Prime95 and Memtest86+, or better yet try it unoverclocked.

Prime95 (Blend torture test) is completely stable overnight at my regular overclocks (around 8 hours). I haven't had the patience to do the same with Memtest86+ yet but it's stable for at least 3 runs straight.

Kyokuji · May 02, 2005, 07:49 PM // 19:49

I don't see how that would work though. There's no way Guild Wars needs more processing power than Doom 3, or WoW when there's a giant clash going on in Hillsbrad.

And even if what you say is true, then it's just bad coding.
If I never crash in any other games, and I haven't had any problems up until now, I severely doubt it's my CPU being moody.

Do you honestly think that out of like the 2000 views this topic and many others have had, that everyone has a faulty CPU/RAM?

I mean some of you people in this topic seem to have the mindframe that, "I'm not getting the problem so you must be doing something wrong". Bugs do exist you know, just because your system isn't affected doesn't mean that other people won't have problems. Everyone in this topic is running on different RAM, different CPUs, and different video/sound cards, (none of which I am overclocking by the way), and yet we're all having the same problem that comes up in this game and this game only.

Yes, CPU overheating does cause reboots, much like a videocard will if the GPU is clocked too high, but the fact that it only occurs when running one specific game, and then added to the fact that hundreds of other people are having the same problem, tells me that it's a problem on their end not mine.

Why is their game causing my CPU to overheat exactly? It's running at a cool 36 degrees celcius, it's fairly new, and it's never had any major errors, there's no reason why it should ever be overheating.

I'm not going out of my way to place blame or anything here, I think arenanet's a great developer, and Guild Wars is a great game, but I just want to get my bloody game working. Most of us have tried everything but the kitchen sink and are now just waiting for some kind of fix. Some people even replaced components in their PC and still get the problem for christ's sake.

txgfruiner · May 02, 2005, 08:03 PM // 20:03

I run more than one monitor, so I had a system diagnosis prog for my mobo running to monitor temps. My CPU temp goes up less than when playing Doom 3 or HL2. I have tried about 40 combinations of video settings, drivers, sound off, sound on, underclocking, etc, etc. I still get random crashes. I have several test systems I'm going to run it on today to see if it continues as I would like to move past a level 4 character.

gwd · May 02, 2005, 08:08 PM // 20:08

I did not have any problems whatsoever running this game until the patch yesterday afternoon- around 330-400cst. Now the game freezes my comp and a hard boot is needed. I have read everyones problem in this thread and a lot of peoples issues may be drivers, OC, or whatever. But a lot of people are only having problems recently. This is obviously a problem with the GW client and not with the end user.

RipperRoo · May 02, 2005, 08:38 PM // 20:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by neoflame

Same/similar issue.

AMD 64 3000+ [Winchester S939] (have tried at stock speeds, underclocked 200MHz, overclocked 400MHz)
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro [have tried Cat 5.4's, Cat 5.3's, Omega 4.11's] (have tried stock speeds and slight overclocking/underclocking)
1GB DDR400 Kingston ValueRAM (have tried 2.5-3-3-10 and 3-3-3-10, looser than default)
Asus A8V Deluxe [VIA K8T800 Pro chipset] (have tried stock and latest BIOS)
Onboard sound

CPU is watercooled and reaches a maximum of about 32C (~90F), so I don't think it's overheating. Other games (notably UT2004, Doom 3, HL2, ET, NWN, and WC3) do not have any problems.

After about 3-4 hours of GW (yes, I'm comparatively lucky

) sound begins to randomly cut out... then I start getting massive graphical glitches, especially sprites (such as the Wards, the Firestorm impact, etc.) becoming colored squares, and this one time:

Shortly after, my screen goes black, then dark blue (like a BSoD but with no text), and I'm forced to restart the PC.

This problem first started occuring for me around the March BWE. I've been cut off from the end of two missions today by these crashes already...

Exactly the same problem as me, but Im running a Athlon XP3200+, Asus A7N8X-E mother board, 1gig of Corsair Value Select RAM with a 9800pro graphics card. Using onboard sound.

ShadeZeRO · May 02, 2005, 08:43 PM // 20:43

Not many people are OCing their CPU so i dont understand why people are making an over exagguration about it.

Next, HL2 pushes my CPU towards the 45*c mark (i run it at 1600x1200 4xAA 16xAF) and no problems, even when I DO OC my comp (for bencharking)...

Running GW stock, i get problems, and i dont want to imagine it running it oced...and the temps for it are at most 42*c for GW.

Definetly a bug, but the company is still denying it.

Kyokuji · May 02, 2005, 09:18 PM // 21:18

Yeah, I don't know where this "Using your CPU in a certain way" stuff is coming from.
I run many much more graphically intensive games than this.
Guild Wars is pretty, but it's certainly not cutting edge.