Curse

Yukito Kunisaki · Jun 06, 2005, 05:50 AM // 05:50

Ok, now my game is crashing at an unprecedented pace. I've posted in an earlier thread but I'm making this one to add to the growing list of people whose Guild Wars games are crashing.

Facts: I start up the game and it crashes after a few seconds now [THAT'S RIGHT SECONDS]

Stats -
Computer: 2.0 GHz Athlon
Graphics: eVGA GeForce FX 5500 (256 Megs onboard RAM) [drivers latest]
RAM: 1024Megs DDR RAM
HD: 120 G Hard Drive
Soundcard: Soundblaster Platinum Live

I've got CD/DVD-ROM etc. but I'm sure these are the relevant specifications.

Things I'm not going to do:
Driver Rollback (not only does it make GW look bad *flicker flicker*, it makes my other games unplayable)
Replace Graphics Card: works perfectly fine on other games for hours of gameplay, therefore GW is to blame for its own fault.
Replace anything*: I'm not going to format for this game. Just not worth it. I don't have the media to backup anything and my comp works fine without GW, though I do WANT to play

Things I've tried:
Reinstalled latest drivers
Software Troubleshooting (virus/adware scans using multiple scanning tools)
Hardware Troubleshooting (entire system hardware works fine with every other game I have and various editing software + word processors/music/everything else imaginable. Again, not going to replace anything)

Things to try:
the graphics driver cleaning tool at that guru3d website I read earlier.

Btw, I have A COLD system running 3 cooling systems [4 fans total]
2 for in/outtake in the back
1 for processor
1 for harddrive so HEAT IS NOT AN ISSUE.

And yes I air blast it every few weeks with canned air. So dust/clogging isn't an issue either.

Anyone got any extra advice? [tried contacting them through phone#, no go.]

I guess this is my $50 worth? I sure hope not...

Dirkiess · Jun 06, 2005, 09:12 AM // 09:12

What can i say. This is my advice.

If you don't intend to do a driver roll back, then no point in asking us for help because more often than not, people will ask you to roll your drivers back to see if this fixes your current problem.

Ok, so your other games run fine, that is also the case for other people, and we know GW is causing some problems for various people.

From what I've found so far, a driver roll back has resolved there issues. And doing one, doesn't make other games look that bad unless you go too far back. More often than not, you only have to go to a certain level of driver, as the latest ones don't actually do too much to older cards. They are more beneficial to the latest cards.

Principa Discordia has been recommending a roll back to i believe 61.78 or 61.98, can't remember which is true or available, but he did mention those on one post here.

However, if you refuse to do this, that is fine, you'll just have to wait for a patch.

Other than that, what other advice are you hoping to get from people.

A driver roll back is not difficult, and don't forget to use the Driver Cleaner.

Yukito Kunisaki · Jun 06, 2005, 07:12 PM // 19:12

Oh what the heck?

[tests through older drivers]

Damnit, still crashes, what now?

[reinstalls latest drivers]

I see no reason to stick to the older drivers if the game still crashes.

I've done what you've said and as I was expecting, it went crash. [yet oddly enough, my other games, though more pixeled, ran fine...]

Damnit...

Dirkiess · Jun 06, 2005, 08:13 PM // 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yukito Kunisaki

Oh what the heck?

[tests through older drivers]

Damnit, still crashes, what now?

[reinstalls latest drivers]

I see no reason to stick to the older drivers if the game still crashes.

I've done what you've said and as I was expecting, it went crash. [yet oddly enough, my other games, though more pixeled, ran fine...]

Damnit...

You remind me so much of all those CLients I used to support when working in the city.

The ones with really nice attitudes got a much better support, help and advice. The ones with bad tempers and obnoxious, were forgotten about or didn't get helped as much or as often until they learned a little manners.

We are not Game Techies here, we are all gamers. The ones who are willing to help you and know something about Technology and the possible things that can go wrong, may like to help those who are less in the know.

And as most of the IT Support Techies here will vouch for, bad manners get you less of a service.

tuskenraid · Jun 06, 2005, 09:47 PM // 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirkiess

You remind me so much of all those CLients I used to support when working in the city.

The ones with really nice attitudes got a much better support, help and advice. The ones with bad tempers and obnoxious, were forgotten about or didn't get helped as much or as often until they learned a little manners.

We are not Game Techies here, we are all gamers. The ones who are willing to help you and know something about Technology and the possible things that can go wrong, may like to help those who are less in the know.

And as most of the IT Support Techies here will vouch for, bad manners get you less of a service.

Have to agree with Dirkiess here about the spout off issues (see my original post blasting NCSoft, and my eternal pissing off of Principa... I'm sure) to get help.

I do sincerely understand your frustration. Let's try taking a more systematic approach, which, as a rule of thumb should always be done when troubleshooting PC errors.

First of all, you tried the driver rollback, but to which one. Depending on what the testing machine configurations at ArenaNet were when the latest patch was released, some driver versions may just simply be broken until they can patch the patch. My rollback of ATI drivers has rendered the game playable, although it causes some other minor annoyances with my system, but nothing I can't live with for the time being.

Also, try lowering your resolution. I was originally playing at 1280x1024, and after the driver rollback still experienced one or two crashes. Lowering the resolution has eliminated that problem. Sucks, I know, but it makes it playable, and that really is the end goal isn't it.

I agree that some of the suggestions border on the ludicrous (take your cover off and spray the guts of your machine liquid nitrogen to keep it cool...j/k) but a little patience and some logical thinking will often times yield a positive result. Honestly, walk away for a while and clear your mind. Come back and it might hit you.

zemelett · Jun 06, 2005, 09:56 PM // 21:56

I have to wonder what happens when you say 'crash'. Do you get an error message and get returned to windows or do you get a complete system reboot. I think a little more info is needed to do proper diagnostics...

kaheiyeh · Jun 06, 2005, 10:06 PM // 22:06

It might not be your graphics problem. My GeForce FX 5500 with the latest drivers can run for an entire day of GW no probs with the settings at almost max.

Yukito Kunisaki · Jun 06, 2005, 10:32 PM // 22:32

huff puff*

Ok...

Well, here's the info.

When it crashes, I get a BSoD stating IRQL Page Fault and then some machine language which goes beyond my comprehension of computer programming.

I always played the game at 800x600x32bit graphics. [lowest res but max details] + 2x anti-aliasing.

I tried graphics in-game tweaking such as turning off the aliasing but I'm certain upscaling the graphics isn't working.

Now recently, I have to do a hard restart vs. just a GW.exe shutdown. Hmm, I wonder what's happening?

And hey, I'm certain that if you suffered severe problems like this, and you loved the game and wanted to play this badly, you'd snap like a twig yourselves. Then again, if you didn't care much about this game/computer problems, you probably won't get angry to begin with.

Dirkiess · Jun 07, 2005, 02:33 AM // 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yukito Kunisaki

huff puff*

Ok...

Well, here's the info.

When it crashes, I get a BSoD stating IRQL Page Fault and then some machine language which goes beyond my comprehension of computer programming.

I always played the game at 800x600x32bit graphics. [lowest res but max details] + 2x anti-aliasing.

I tried graphics in-game tweaking such as turning off the aliasing but I'm certain upscaling the graphics isn't working.

Now recently, I have to do a hard restart vs. just a GW.exe shutdown. Hmm, I wonder what's happening?

And hey, I'm certain that if you suffered severe problems like this, and you loved the game and wanted to play this badly, you'd snap like a twig yourselves. Then again, if you didn't care much about this game/computer problems, you probably won't get angry to begin with.

Bear with me on this, as it's late, like 3am in the morning so it may seem like i'm wandering. ANyway.

I totally understand your frustration and i do lose my cool sometimes as well, but i've been in the IT field now a long time and have seen many things that go wrong. I've also been in the IT support side a long time as well, and had a lot of shit to deal with, so believe me, the stuff i see here is mild compared to what I've dealt with in the business world.
As for here, it's mostly gamers who want to play games and don't know a lot of how things work in there PC.

So like most Techies, we feel like we have to help those out, even though it's all done for free.

Ok, still don't understand the BSoD, but not sure many people apart from the Machine Coders would really understand them. Even MS websites don't know what they mean half the time(Or is it all the time)

With regards to what is happening, unless you are willing to try anything to see if this game will work, especially if you love it that much, which is what it can come down to some times, then it's going to be a challenge to get you working.

WHat I am suggesting, is that any other hardware that you may have connected to your PC, such as network cards, other PCI cards, anything that may require a driver to run, may have to be removed in order to see if something has gone wrong or is being affected by the game somehow and then causing the BSoD.
It's possible the Network devices may be being affected somehow and causing the machine to fall over. It does happen.
I know that most if not all of your other games etc are probably running and that only GW is being affected, but sometimes this is how Problem solving is done, whether other games etc are running ok.

However, before any of this is even thought about, lets try these two things first.

1. Go into your Bios and turn off the AGP Fast Write option, from whatever it is, and set it to disabled.

Test the game and see how you get on. It's just an idea I am taking from the 6000 series Nvidia that is having a few problems too.

2. Try running your game at the same Res and Screen depth as your desktop. So, if you run 1024x768 at 32bit, run the game at the same Settings.

Only do one at a time and then test the game out. If you do both at once, it defeats the object of problem solving.

LEt us know how you get on.

termite · Jun 07, 2005, 02:43 PM // 14:43

Next time you get that BSoD error, get a screen shot of it, or the exact text that is written there, and then try posting it here.

alucard_x · Jun 07, 2005, 03:11 PM // 15:11

you definitely need to get drivercleaner (use google) and use that program before every driver install.
1. uninstall video card drivers from add/remove programs and/or uninstall card from device manager
2. reboot into safe mode and run driver cleaner
3. reboot into normal mode, don't let windows install a driver for you by canceling any request to search for a driver and by ending the rundll32.dll process that will start up (you'll know its running when you see the little hardware pcb card with a screwdriver icon in your systray)
4. install newest official drivers from ati/nvidia.

also i'm not sure if you're overclocking.. but try reducing your CPU FSB. On my system i can run most things fine at 200mhz but when i run ut2k4 it crashes constantly.. it was the first game to cripple the overclock. so while you don't see problems in all games, an overclock can stress only a few things.

another thing to try, make a new user account in windows and use that to login.. this way it eliminates (some) of the junk that will auto-start up when you login.

if all else fails, maybe its time to do a reformat and reinstall windows.

Lunarbunny · Jun 07, 2005, 03:11 PM // 15:11

What version of Windows are you using?