Curse

I3eyond · Jun 07, 2005, 08:43 PM // 20:43

just bought the game today. @ 1024x768, aa/af off, everything lowest settings, i have problems with the game freezing up in the middle of gameplay. music will still play, but everything graphically freezes up. when it becomes unfrozen after about 10 seconds, sometimes my character has moved to a different location, maybe where i had clicked. i've had this issue with doom3, brothers in arms, etc... even @ 640x480 the games will do it. specs are as follows: AMD Athlon XP 2200+ @ 1.8ghz, 512mb ram, Nvidia Ti4600 (128mb), Audigy 2 ZS. any help would be appreciated, as i think i will like the game if i could get it to run freeze free

Edit: Another thing... I don't think it's my connection. Doom 3 and Brothers in Arms were both offline, and my connection is usually at 2.5-3.5mb download and in the 200kb range for upload............

Dirkiess · Jun 07, 2005, 09:04 PM // 21:04

This is one of the Stickies posted in this Techinician area. Have you read it yet?

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=10429

I3eyond · Jun 07, 2005, 09:12 PM // 21:12

yes, and unless i missed something, i don't see anything that applies to me...........

Dirkiess · Jun 07, 2005, 09:20 PM // 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by I3eyond

yes, and unless i missed something, i don't see anything that applies to me...........

Ok, I don't have any issues myself, so I haven't read it, but thought i would point it out to you just in case.

From your original post it sounds like it's more than just GW that is at fault here. If I'm not mistaken, I would think you may have a hardware fault with the Graphics card quite possibly, Heat problems with either CPU or Graphics, not enough power with the PSU or a driver issue somewhere on the system.

The other cause could be Spyware, Adware or even an ineffective running Virus Software or Firewall. Have you check for Spyware, Adware and switched off both Virus and Firewall software?

Only reason I say ineffective Virus Software, as it's been known to actually grind systems to a hault with a major conflict. I exchanged Nortons for Zone Alarm, as I find ZA is less resource hungry and overall a better written program.
Nortons, after running a virus scan, I always had to reboot. For some strange reason, it would always grind to a hault as if the Virus Scan had not completely freed up the resources.

Anyway, let us know what you've tried so far. Might help us determine a possible cause.

I3eyond · Jun 07, 2005, 09:30 PM // 21:30

i've only read to the part where you talk about heat problems .. and that makes me feel the need to mention this ..... sometimes my computer will also crash in a way where the monitor goes black, but say if i have winamp running a song, the song continues to play. the light on the monitor will flash, the same way it will when it's sleeping. everytime i have to turn the computer off from the power supply switch on the back, and then SOMETIMES it will immediatley start back up, other times i'll have to wait several minutes, sometimes hours. i recently formatted my pc, probably 2 days ago. my computer is @ 103.7 F right now, but i don't know exactly how accurate the thermometer on the pc is. i have to go work now, i'll be home around 10... any help would be greatly appreciated!

Dirkiess · Jun 07, 2005, 09:36 PM // 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by I3eyond

i've only read to the part where you talk about heat problems .. and that makes me feel the need to mention this ..... sometimes my computer will also crash in a way where the monitor goes black, but say if i have winamp running a song, the song continues to play. the light on the monitor will flash, the same way it will when it's sleeping. everytime i have to turn the computer off from the power supply switch on the back, and then SOMETIMES it will immediatley start back up, other times i'll have to wait several minutes, sometimes hours. i recently formatted my pc, probably 2 days ago. my computer is @ 103.7 F right now, but i don't know exactly how accurate the thermometer on the pc is. i have to go work now, i'll be home around 10... any help would be greatly appreciated!

What OS are you running? If XP do you have SP2? Are you up to date with all your motherboard and Graphics Card and other hardware drivers you may have?

If you haven't done any of the above, I would suggest giving those a go first. Does sound like an issue with your Graphics Card and maybe driver issues. Personally, I would completely uninstall these and reinstall some new ones.

Go here.

www.guru3d.com

Obtain the Driver Cleaner program here while doing the driver updates.

Uninstall the Drivers, reboot, run driver cleaner as per there instructions, then install another set of graphics drivers.

From the card you have mentioned I would suggest one of the older NVidia Nforce packages. Something along the line of 61.78 or 61.98, i forget which it is.

See how you go with that. Anymore problems, then post again with your progress.

I3eyond · Jun 08, 2005, 12:18 AM // 00:18

i'm running xp home edition w/ SP2 installed. graphics card driver is up to date, although motherboard i'm unsure. i've been trying to contact the guy from which i bought it but i can't get ahold of him to ask him something.... i'll be trying out some of the things you said, figured i'd tell you i had the above in case that would help solve anything.........

I3eyond · Jun 08, 2005, 12:22 AM // 00:22

also, where is this driver cleaner program?

I3eyond · Jun 08, 2005, 12:41 AM // 00:41

i could find neither of the two older drivers you listed either. another thing that might be worth noting is that when it freezes, i can still move the mouse around.

Dirkiess · Jun 08, 2005, 01:16 AM // 01:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by I3eyond

i could find neither of the two older drivers you listed either. another thing that might be worth noting is that when it freezes, i can still move the mouse around.

Driver Cleaner

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

Nvidia 71.98

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1038

I can't seem to find the other driver. There are a couple of threads here with Principa Discordia recommends these drivers for stability. If you can find those threads, which are some of the recent ones, you may find a link to them

With regards to the Motherboard, did you get it brand new and what did you want to know about it? If you don't know the model number, just open the case and look at the board.

I3eyond · Jun 08, 2005, 01:48 AM // 01:48

uninstalled previous drivers, ran driver cleaner, installed 71.98. rebooted, launched game. still froze up, and one time right after it had become unfrozen i attempted to x out, and probably 15 seconds later i turn back around to see that my computer had rebooted......

I3eyond · Jun 08, 2005, 02:12 AM // 02:12

also tried v61.72

Chenzo · Jun 09, 2005, 02:47 AM // 02:47

I would like to say I have the EXACT same problem with the game.

I have the exact same video card, in fact.

The game doesn't crash - The video freezes (along with some other resources - i.e. teamspeak). But, like I3eyond said, the game is basically still running. I'll come out of a freeze to find I've walked into a huge mob and I'm almost dead.

I've tried several different sets of video drivers, including some fan ones from 3dguru. I've currently reset my drivers (using Driver Cleaner) to the latest official nVidia ones (71.89).

It seems to have gotten MUCH worse lately. I"ve had the game for three weeks or so. It never happened the first week. Then, only very infrequently during the second week. And now it's bad enough that playing is impossible.

I also don't think it's an overheating problem like everyone is having with the game going black.

ANy help would be appreciated. I'm dying to get my GW fix.

I3eyond · Jun 09, 2005, 04:09 AM // 04:09

^ same.

I3eyond · Jun 09, 2005, 04:10 AM // 04:10

chenzo, what motherboard do you have? is it only GW that does it for you? other games do it for me......... i'm starting to wonder if 1) my video bios is too old or 2) if my motherboard or chipset and graphics card don't get along ...

last night i opened the case and made sure the GC was fully in slot ... also left the side of case open while i slept to ensure it wasnt heating issues

when i played the game the next day, i played for about 30 mins w/o any freeze ups, which is the most i've had in a while. probably played for 2 hours after that without any at all. took a break after that, then started playing at about 11. at around 12 started getting the freeze ups to the point where it was unplayable..........

Chenzo · Jun 09, 2005, 01:07 PM // 13:07

I'm at work, so I can't check what motherboard I've got - but I will tonight. I know that with in the last 2 or 3 months I rebuilt my PCs OS for the Doom3 expansion and put the newset MB drivers on then.

But I've NEVER had any problems like this before. ANd I play em all... DOom3, HL2, Rome:Total War, Dawn Of War, etc... all run fine. GW runs fine when it works too.

I was planning to open my case and make sure everything is groovy tonight when I got home. I defragged my HD lastnight too - ya know, just in case.

I still don't think it's a heat issue. I check my temp gauges and nothing seems outta place. I swear it's gotten worse reciently with the new patches coming out.

I'll keep ya posted.

SoTzuMe · Jun 09, 2005, 01:27 PM // 13:27

GW has known issues with both athlon and nvidia. I have had to switch to my crappy backup machine since my brand new one cannot run GW for even 3 minutes without freeze and err=7, but my old machine, which barely meets the system requirements, runs the game fine for hours at a time. Sad but true.

Chenzo · Jun 09, 2005, 01:39 PM // 13:39

I'm running a Pentium

Dirkiess · Jun 09, 2005, 03:16 PM // 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoTzuMe

GW has known issues with both athlon and nvidia. I have had to switch to my crappy backup machine since my brand new one cannot run GW for even 3 minutes without freeze and err=7, but my old machine, which barely meets the system requirements, runs the game fine for hours at a time. Sad but true.

Would you like to elaborate on these known issues and where you get this info from?

I3eyond · Jun 11, 2005, 05:19 AM // 05:19

Update: I went to a friend's house today to find out if my card was going dead. I found out two things while there: 1) my card is dying & 2) his 9800xt really runs the game well on my computer, I'm def. going to get one =)