Freeze/Crash/Reboot

[EoE]

For what it's worth: My newest woes started, when I got my new 19" TFT-monitor. Apart from a new monitor driver, the only other change is that I play in 1280x1024 resolution instead of the 1024x786 setting I used for my old 17" CRT.

Today I tried to disable 'combined write' in the troubleshoot setting of 'display' in the control panel. Once more I could play until I got cavalry and then it crashed again. It also did so in a reload.

I'm 90% sure that my other crash in another game also came, just after I got the cavalry tech. It might just be a coincidence though.

rgds/EoE

 

[Holj102]

This problem has to do specifically with the video card. I have an AMD 64 3400+ with a BFG 6800 GT, an Audigy 2 ZS, and 1 Gb of RAM. From checking various forum threads, this has been a problem SINCE THE RELEASE OF THE GAME! I bought the game just last friday and have had the problem from the get go. I've tried everything I could think of. Without the patch, with the patch, with old drivers, with new drivers, wiped the harddrive and reinstalled everything and I STILL ended up with the same problem. Mine averages around 10 minutes before crashing. There have been a variety of methods tried - some seem to work for some people and others seem to not do anything. One idea that has been noted to work is underclocking the card (something I have no aptitude for) or setting the AGP to work as a 4x in the BIOS. Some have suggested turning the graphics level to medium or low (neither worked for me). I have gone in to dxdiag and manually overrode the refresh rate, but that only helped to add another few minutes before the crash would occur. I have called tech support three times this weekend. The last time I called, I made it clear that it's not just me, that other people in the threads are having this problem and it affects almost exclusively the 6800 cards regardless of manufacturer or whether it's overclocked. I have also seen that it affected a few 6600s and 7800s, but nothing like the 6800s. The gentleman on the phone said he would forward all of the information I dug up to the engineers. It seems to be a problem with the interaction between directx 9.0c and the card (though I can't verify that). A similar problem has been noted in FEAR with the same card. Obviously this is the WORST bug for a released video game that I've ever seen and is more than just an annoyance. Just thought you should all know.

 

[Raider62]

Thamer, any word on a fix yet?

 

[Brashagent]

Yea im still having the same problem also and i have tried everything but to no use.I have sent emails to both BFG and 2k suppoet and all they do is ......... NOT respond!Anyways here is my DxDiag

P.S. this is the most buggiest game i have seen yet i cant belive that i bought a game i have played from the first one way back in the past and i cant even play this ONE!

 

[keoires]

I haven't replied because I'm not going to work on this anymore for now. I'm not used to paying to work.

I'm playing Pirates! and BF2 and I bought Gun and am playing that. I'll try this again when they pull their heads out and I can run this game like the other 99% of the games on the market after 6+ months of debugging and patches.

<3

Good luck!

 

[Raider62]

Ok completely wiped my computer and reinstalled everything!!! Fully updated and completely clean. Civ Still crashed like usual.

Thamer you still out there looking into this problem???

 

[svenpupu]

PFFFFFFFFFF ...the same here guys crash after crash after crash...
Now i putted the graphics on low and i´ve played 6h without one.
But have you seen a battle on low graphics ..what the **** is that all about !
Come on firaxis sort your **** out NOW!!!

 

[Luv_Muffin]

I froze up again tonight. It's been a while since my last hang-up, I expected to see a lot more since the new patch. Quite odd. The hanging up issue was resolved for me in the middle patch, but the new patch (as cool as it is) seems to have brought back this annoying gremlin for me.

I hope it stays an infrequent annoyance, and is not a sign of more hang-ups to come.

I just wanted to let the other players with the same problem that I too still get this problem, even after the fixes.
X800XL, 2Gig RAM, AMD Athlon XP+2500

 

[Lt mor]

I have 2 computers at home.
a small laptop that I use to start a new game.
copy the save file to the main station and play their until its Ctd or freeze/rebot ...

The main computer :
Intel pentiom 4 , 2800 MHZ
1024 RAM
Radeon 9200 PRo sec family
windows XP sp2

The laptop :
Intel celeron m , 1400 MHZ
256 RAM
Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS 910 GML Exprees chipest family.


I did the insatll to the new direx 9.c but it is still no good.

 

[Holj102]

I have found a possible temporary fix for the 6800 cards. I tried the game with two different options. First, I uninstalled the game completely. Then I uninstalled the NEW drivers from nvidia. I then installed the drivers that came with the card when I bought it (v.6.6.9.3) The driver DATE on these is 10/29/04! I then reinstalled the game, with the patch but installed the patch outside of the game (downloaded from the web, then installed, as opposed to doing so in game). SO far, no crash, however (and I stress this big time) I was only able to test for 30 minutes tonight as I have to work tomorrow. But, it may be worth a shot as I know several of you have the newer drivers completely installed and having the same problem. Right now, though, I'm going to bed happy that I've finally gotten to work for a decent length of time and that's it lasted longer than 10 minutes. Good luck guys, hope it helps some of you.

 

[EoE]

For what it's worth: My latest theory: The Zoom CTD Multiplier.

This morning I tried to start a game, that ran pretty good yesterday. Now it was all, crash, crash, crash until I tried to zoom out a bit. Then I could play for a few hours without a single CTD. So ... anyone else experienced a more crash-prone game when you're zoomed in closer?

rgds/EoE

 

[richieelias]

I am having this exact same crash with the BFG 6800GT on Civ4 AND World of Warcraft (crashed after several hours of playing), Black and white 2 (crashed after an hour or so), and the Age of Empires Demo (crashed after 30 minutes to an hour). This crash is certainly not the fault of the game programmers, but rather some fault in the BFG 6800 itself. Opening the case and putting a fan right up next to my computer alleviated World of warcraft from crashing completely, and running a full spyware scan and cleaning up my system + the fan finally alleviated the crashes on Black and white 2, however, I havent been able to stop the crashes in the Age of Empires Demo or Civ 4. My comp never had these sorts of crashes with WoW or B&W2 before switching to the 6800GT from my old X800 (which blew up due to overheating... heat sinks had ripped themselves completely off the card). I'm almost 100% positive that the problem here is definitely an overheating problem with the 6800GT (but at least it shuts off the comp instead of self destructing), otherwise putting a fan on it surely wouldnt have fixed it with WoW and B&W2.

So, going to try the underclocking/agp to 4x/directx fix/etc and see if that stuff works.

 

[Raider62]

I am having this exact same crash with the BFG 6800GT on Civ4 AND World of Warcraft (crashed after several hours of playing), Black and white 2 (crashed after an hour or so), and the Age of Empires Demo (crashed after 30 minutes to an hour). This crash is certainly not the fault of the game programmers, but rather some fault in the BFG 6800 itself. Opening the case and putting a fan right up next to my computer alleviated World of warcraft from crashing completely, and running a full spyware scan and cleaning up my system + the fan finally alleviated the crashes on Black and white 2, however, I havent been able to stop the crashes in the Age of Empires Demo or Civ 4. My comp never had these sorts of crashes with WoW or B&W2 before switching to the 6800GT from my old X800 (which blew up due to overheating... heat sinks had ripped themselves completely off the card). I'm almost 100% positive that the problem here is definitely an overheating problem with the 6800GT (but at least it shuts off the comp instead of self destructing), otherwise putting a fan on it surely wouldnt have fixed it with WoW and B&W2.

So, going to try the underclocking/agp to 4x/directx fix/etc and see if that stuff works.

Sorry but its not the card overheating. I can monitor my temps on mine and they are nowhere near shutoff. And I mean Nowhere near it.

what is so strange about these crashes are that they seem so random. Sometimes can play for an hour or even two then sometimes only 10 minutes. I have done just about all I can think to do including completely wiping my hard drive and starting from scratch. Nothing stopped the crashes. That to me means its something with the card and Civ 4. I suffer no problems on any other game (for what its worth) and it is directly related to Civ 4.

Thamer you still working on this problem for us???

 

[Raider62]

For what it's worth: My latest theory: The Zoom CTD Multiplier.

This morning I tried to start a game, that ran pretty good yesterday. Now it was all, crash, crash, crash until I tried to zoom out a bit. Then I could play for a few hours without a single CTD. So ... anyone else experienced a more crash-prone game when you're zoomed in closer?

rgds/EoE

Not that I can tell. Seems totally random. Has happened when no one was even at the computer. I had walked away for a drink came back and that messed up screen was frozen on the computer.

I hope we are close to a patch or fix for this.

 

[Raider62]

I have found a possible temporary fix for the 6800 cards. I tried the game with two different options. First, I uninstalled the game completely. Then I uninstalled the NEW drivers from nvidia. I then installed the drivers that came with the card when I bought it (v.6.6.9.3) The driver DATE on these is 10/29/04! I then reinstalled the game, with the patch but installed the patch outside of the game (downloaded from the web, then installed, as opposed to doing so in game). SO far, no crash, however (and I stress this big time) I was only able to test for 30 minutes tonight as I have to work tomorrow. But, it may be worth a shot as I know several of you have the newer drivers completely installed and having the same problem. Right now, though, I'm going to bed happy that I've finally gotten to work for a decent length of time and that's it lasted longer than 10 minutes. Good luck guys, hope it helps some of you.

Test for a while and let us know. Some fixes seem to have made things more stable but 30 minutes doesnt really "prove" anything. My crashes occur from 10 minutes to 2 hours so really cant judge on 30 minutes of play. Good luck though hope it works out.

 

[Lt mor]

No none of my other game will work, ofter the mess I made with the Civ 4 install new drivers and so on ...

 

[richieelias]

Sorry but its not the card overheating. I can monitor my temps on mine and they are nowhere near shutoff. And I mean Nowhere near it.

what is so strange about these crashes are that they seem so random. Sometimes can play for an hour or even two then sometimes only 10 minutes. I have done just about all I can think to do including completely wiping my hard drive and starting from scratch. Nothing stopped the crashes. That to me means its something with the card and Civ 4. I suffer no problems on any other game (for what its worth) and it is directly related to Civ 4.

Thamer you still working on this problem for us???

Well my crash has to be temp related. The crash itself has every symptom of being temperature related (screen gets garbled, sound cuts out, entire computer locks up, and only shutting the power off and back on restarts the computer.), and methods that cool down my comp temperature slow down or stop the crashes. It's also the same crash that 'I' get in many other games that I have solved by an extra fan alone. It appears to me that your crash and my crash arent the same thing.

As a side note, underclocking my 6800 and setting the AGP to x4 has pretty much stopped the crashing for me.

 

[Raider62]

What temps are you getting on your card while playing Civ?

 

[richieelias]

After resetting my clock speeds and AGP settings back to default, my GPU core hovers around 75 in game. Seems to crash when it starts spiking up to 80. Whether temperature is the whole story or not, one thing is for certain for me: Having my case open and a house fan blowing directly into my computer gives me about an hour more of civ4 before my comp locks up. No fan and civ4 locks up within 15 minutes in-game every time. Underclocked with fan I played for longer than 3 hours and no crash. I imagine if I leave everything at their defaults and put the case cover back on it would crash in seconds. Also, the world map's (in the lower right, and when you zoom all the way out) graphics go funky when the temp gets higher than 75-ish.

I'm sure theres more to the story than tempurature alone, as i have many other games that run my card hotter than this one without crashing, however, temp does seem to be a factor somewhere. At least for me.

 

[Raider62]

75 or 80 should not cause any kind of heat related problems.