Freezes at startup

[schwanger]

I just installed BTS a few days ago, and I'm having intermittent problems with it freezing on startup. It gets to the 'check xml' part, and doesn't do anything from there. I typically have to ctrl-alt-delete and wind up with a 'not responding' message. It always seems to work the second time I load it, though.

I'm pretty sure I'm running 3.17 -- 'about this build' says civ version 317; save version 301; and build version 3.1.3.1 (104717). And when I check for updates, it says there are none available.

My system is a 32 bit vista, and I don't have any problems once the game does load, and I never had any problems on vanilla, either. And if it matters, my vanilla version was the CD version, and BTS was the digital download.

 

[ori]

when the game freezes is there any error message in the windows event manager?

 

[schwanger]

If you're referring to task manager, no I don't get an error message. It just says 'not responding' in the status area. And when it tells me to wait to see if windows can find a solution to the problem, it doesn't give me anything either.

 

[ori]

actually I am talking about Event Manager

 

[schwanger]

Ahh, good call. Ok, this is what I've come up with:

Event Manager says:
The program Civ4BeyondSword.exe version 3.1.3.1 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Problem Reports and Solutions control panel. Process ID: 1470 Start Time: 01c954975d69baa1 Termination Time: 7

I went to the Problem Reports and Solutions thing and it tells me this:

This problem was caused by Civilization IV, which was created by Firaxis Games, Inc.. There is no solution for this problem at this time.

Recommendation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A newer version of Civilization IV is available for download that might address this problem. Firaxis Games, Inc. recommends updating to the latest version of Civilization IV to take advantage of security and stability improvements.

I think it's lying to me though, since the game says I'm running version 317, and when I try to update it from Civ 4's menu, it says there are no updates available. The version listed in the event manager log is listed as the build version from Civ 4's menu. I haven't the foggiest idea what the difference might be between the 2, though.

 

[ori]

is there a problem report - or event id in there somewhere?
this is the newest version of the game.

 

[schwanger]

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Hang
Event ID: 1002
Level: Error
User: N/A
Task Category: (101)
Keywords: Classic

This information is consistent with all of the freezes. The only problem report I could find was the information in my previous post where it told me to download the newest version of the game. I don't know if it will help at all, but here's the xml information included in the event manager:

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
- <System>
<Provider Name="Application Hang" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1002</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>101</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2008-12-01T22:38:11.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>21560</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>xxx</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
- <EventData>
<Data>Civ4BeyondSword.exe</Data>
<Data>3.1.3.1</Data>
<Data>1d8</Data>
<Data>01c95405615eb01b</Data>
<Data>8</Data>
<Binary>55006E006B006E006F0077006E0000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

Thanks for your help, by the way.

 

[ori]

I do not immediately recognize any cause for this - I'll try to post later after some thinking....

 

[cperleberg]

Was there ever any reply on this? I'm having the same problem, also on 32-bit vista. I don't think I had the problem before I installed the lastest patch (not sure, but I think I would have noticed).

It sometimes takes me a half hour to start the game. I'll start it and the screen hangs on "Check XML." Most of the time if I reboot it starts, but not always. Like this morning, I tried for 20 minutes to start the game and failed even after multiple reboots.

When the game starts, it plays fine, but what the heck is wit' dat?

Chris P.

 

[ori]

welcome to CFC

I actually lost this one from sight

the only things I could find where instances were other programs interferred - mostly antivir programs - maybe trying to turn everything else off might help?