Attn Firaxis - RE: BSOD + Reboot

[Scorpius_Ogre]

Hello All,

This applies to NVIDIA based BSOD + Reboot:

I have analyzed a memory dump after a BSOD and hard reboot, caused while playing Civ 4.

Attached you will find the stack trace and debug log.

It appears the Blue screen and reboot is caused by a call to DestroyD3DBuffer which is attempting to free invalid DD_DESTROYSURFACEDATA data. Which causes an attempt to free an invalid address in page memory. And when you attempt to free an invalid address in the page file, a BSOD will occur.

Here is the stack trace + debug log:

 

[Scorpius_Ogre]

Here are instructions for those who want to assist with finding the cause of Blue screens and computer reboots.

Warning you may need a little technical skill to perform the following:

1.) First you need to go to http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx and download the Windows Debugging tools. You need to install 32-bit version.

2.) Install it.

3.) Play Civ 4 and wait for it to BSOD and crash your computer.

4.) Get pissed because Civ crashed for the 200th time.

5.) Go back into Windows and go into C:\WINDOWS\MINIDUMP and look for a file with a .dmp extension. This is a dump of what was going on in RAM when your computer rebooted.

6.) rename it to: mem.dmp and copy that file into the same folder you installed Windows Debugging tools. Default is at: C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\

7.) Drop into Command Prompt and change directory into C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\

8.) Now type the following :
kd -z mem.dmp
.logopen c:\debuglog.txt
.sympath srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
.reload;!analyze -v;r;kv;lmnt;.logclose;q

9.) Your done. You can now view C:\debuglog.txt and it will contain the stack trace of what was occuring when Civ 4 caused the Blue screen and subsequent reboot. This information is very valuable to Firaxis and will assist them with fixing the bugs.

10.) E-mail it to Firaxis and tell them what you done.

Thats pretty much it.

 

[stevie]

Well found scorpius!

That's the exact error I get when it BSODs. NV4-disp. Nice to know what is causing the problem. I'll take your word for it because I can't be bothered to troubleshoot it myself.

I think this release is ABSOLUTELY pathetic. The amount of time customers have spent fixing this software is rediculous and I think firaxis should be charged for it - they seem lame and unable to respond to the problem. I can still only play (and have fun!) using Harkonnen's patch - works a treat so far.

Sorry to have a rant on your thread, but really...........

Thanks all for the hardwork.

Steve