Graphics/Sound Problems? - Please post your DX Logs.

[Golf3r]

Game crashes and freezes whenever leaderheades or in-game movies pop up. For as long as they dont I can play fine. Help.

radeon 9800 pro (w/omega drivers)
2.8 p4 HT
1GB RAM
104 GB free space
ac97 audio

 

[makerofshoes]

I downloaded the update and it worked fine, but recently I have encountered a new problem. The game runs slower than usual, the videos are (still) choppy, and certain leader's eyes show up as white, like they are rolling their eyes back in their head. Not every leader, just some (Asoka, Tokugawa, FDR and a few others, but not Washington, Louis XIV and more). Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Harkonnen]

makerofshoes
I have. Mongolia (AFAIR) leader looks even more funny - one eye is normal, and the other is white. With all 1.00, 1.09, 1.52 and with any graphics settings.

 

[PhoenixHallow]

Okay, I'll try to be as clear and concise as possible. I've included by DxDiag log with this, but in any case I'll give some of the states of my machine real quick. It's a 3 gig, hyper threaded, pentium 4, with 1 gig of ram, and a 128mb video card (Came with the machine, it's by Intel, see the log for details)

Anyways, when I first got the game it ran GREAT. Didn't lag much, was quite smooth overall, only the occasional random shutdown, but that's not the reason I'm posting this.

The reason I'm posting, is because both times I've updated, something weird happened. The first time I updated, I forget to what version, a pop up message apeared whenever I loaded the game. It said my video card was under the minimum requirements, when it isn't, and then it would run the game with the lowest graphical options and such. After this, I reinstalled the game (the old version), because I didn't feel like bothering with it.

So time goes by, and a week or so ago, I decide to try my luck again. I update it, load the game, so far so good, no pop up messages. But after it was done loading a game( A previously saved one), it gives me these error messages (one after the other). So I procrastinated for a while, till I decided I might as well just get it over with, and here we are.





Update: While I was making this post, and getting the screencaps for it, I tried starting a new game, one that hadn't been loaded from a previous save, and I got this message.



Anyways, I'd apreciate any help anyone can give, this is really annoying me. I just updated so I could use some of these great mods people have made, and instead I get a bunch of error messages thrown at me . Thank you in advance for your help ^_^

 

[Porcupine]

I shall post my dxdiag log here in the next couple of days, but has anyone looked at this thread and made comments?

I know Harkonnen has been busy working on a mem fix for 1.52 but I was wondering if any tech heads have had a look at the dxdiag logs and seen any commonality?

Personally the game runs fine except for movies and leader faces (sometimes eyes and teeth appear a full second before faces). Firaxis' support doesn't seem to mention anything and yet we have 24 pages of postings about the same sort of issues.

Some of them are obviously due to below spec machines, but some are not. Anyone got a lead on this?

 

[toa87]

I have a notorious ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 on my laptop, which has given me nothing but grief with games. In fact, this problem I'm having with lines, I also had to an extent with World of Warcraft, but I could play through it there, not so here. The videos like the world spinning at the start, the civ leaders, its like you can see the meshwork making up the character models, through these annoying black lines. During game play, the world is covered in these black lines. They seem to resemble the skeleton of the objects on the screen. No problems with anything except these newer games.

First off, I couldn't play the game at all due to the Mobility Radeon drivers. I read a bunch of solutions, and tried Omega Drivers and was able to play. These lines that I see though, I had a similar (but much more mild) situation with World of warcraft with my old (out-of-date) ATI provided drivers.

I've tried to lower the graphics settings, but it doesn't do a thing. Aside from that, I'm at a loss for what else to do, as I'm very inexperienced with anything hardware-related.

I'm providing a pic of the LINES, and my DXDIAG. Please help! Thank you.

View attachment DxDiag.txt

 

[Firemoon]

I love this game. It usually starts out well and I can see the intro and most of the movies. As soon as the game starts, though, the sound gets choppy. Some 'wonders', especially the Hanging Garden, have a movie which takes forever to load and sometimes even causes a crash to the desktop. As the game proceeds, it invariably gets slower and slower, which can be very frustrating, especially in the later stages.

I've downloaded the latest upgrade and it lets the game play just a bit smoother at the beginning. Otherwise it didn't change anything.

Welcome any suggestions.

 

[Zanmato]

Welcome any suggestions.

Try upgrading the graphic card drivers first. You might be struggling all day with the GFX card because it doesn't have alot of onboard RAM hence the slowdowns and choppy movies towards late game. You can find the latest driver here, http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_81.98.html

Try turning off the AA in the 'advanced' bit of the Display control panel and perhaps turn down the 'Image quality' to 'Performance'. You could also try increasing the AGP aperture size in the BIOS if your card uses the AGP port, it can speed things up slightly.

 

[Marshall Thomas]

I'm playing on a huge, terra map and a couple of weeks ago I had my campaign running fine. I was told on this forum that I had to install a driver- I did and it solved my problem. But now my game keeps crashing or freezes up. I know I have the memory/video requirements because as I said- it was working fine two weeks ago. Unfortunately I know very little about computers. Would someone please have a look at my DXdiag and send me a reply? Thanks

 

[Grant_Hitchcock]

I get no in game music. The intro screen has sound and the sound files are there, also combat sounds etc work but not music

 

[Riker88]

I have a ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 256

At random Intervals during game play , the Screen freezes, The Mouse cursor turns into a box and I'm only able to move it right and left, not up/down/or diagagonally.

Shortly after my monitor goes dark , and it says No Input Signal
As if the monitor was not plugged into the computer.
Buttons are un-responsive , I'm forced to manually reboot.

DxDiag and Msinfo = http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=159730

 

[dprmcfc]

The game starts to visibly slow down and video / audio problems begin to appear until the whole thing locks up. This usually happens when a wonder such as Hollywood or The Pentagon is produced. The audio sticks and a blue square appears (but without the usual picture of the Wonder in question).

Please help. I love this game but it's become unplayable.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/18/2006, 17:45:10
Machine name: DAN
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 4600
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHz
Memory: 768MB RAM
Page File: 381MB used, 1108MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: The file nv4_disp.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 1: The file smwdm.sys is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (Dell)
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce FX 5200
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_01B910DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4502 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 11/3/2003 13:46:00, 3335916 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: No
WHQL Date Stamp: None
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 11/3/2003 13:46:00, 1330940 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4062-11CF-F862-B32100C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0322
SubSys ID: 0x01B910DE
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
Deinterlace Caps: {212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24D5&SUBSYS_01551028&REV_02
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: smwdm.sys
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3600 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: No
Date and Size: 5/6/2003 09:14:34, 580992 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Analog Devices
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xB5B
Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 96000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run

Description: Modem #1 Line Playback (emulated)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID:
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 81
Type: Emulated
Driver Name:
Driver Version:
Driver Attributes:
WHQL Logo'd:
Date and Size:
Other Files:
Driver Provider:
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0x0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: smwdm.sys
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3600 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 5/6/2003 09:14:34, 580992 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x41
Format Flags: 0xCCC

Description: Modem #1 Line Record (emulated)
Default Sound Capture: No
Default Voice Capture: No
Driver Name:
Driver Version:
Driver Attributes:
Date and Size:
Cap Flags: 0x20
Format Flags: 0x0

-----------
DirectMusic
-----------
DLS Path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\drivers\GM.DLS
DLS Version: 1.00.0016.0002
Acceleration: n/a
Ports: Microsoft Synthesizer, Software (Not Kernel Mode), Output, DLS, Internal, Default Port
SoundMAX Digital Audio, Software (Kernel Mode), Output, DLS, Internal
Microsoft MIDI Mapper [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Output, No DLS, Internal
Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth [Emulated], Hardware (Not Kernel Mode), Output, No DLS, Internal
Registry: OK
Test Result: Not run

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

 

[Valaraukar]

I am running:
Windows XP Pro
AMD XP 1600 (1.4Ghz)
512MB RAM
XFX GeForce 6600GT 128 AGP

The game starts smoothly and the opening video displays without problems. The in game wonder video also appears to be working (although I have only seen stonehenge). The menus and in game popup windows also appear fine.

The problem I am having is that the in game display is so messed up it is near unplayable. Basically anything rendered in 3d is missing half of its textures. Sometimes things get blurred out with colored streaksinstead of black areas. This includes the world map, terrain, world leaders, and anything critters on the wold map. I have attached two screen caps and my DXDiag.

I installed the latest nVidia Drivers (81.98). I also tried installing several other version with the same results. I also tried the latest Civ 4 Patch (1.52).

If anyone here has any ideas please let me know. Thanks.

 

[J.Rose]

I have been playing since I got the game in November. Always play marathon large map. I installed first two patches and never had any serious problems. I play on prince and other than choppy start up movie and wonder movies, that i can live without, no problems. Then last Friday i started a new game and how about that? Avatars with white eyes! I have played many games all the way to the end for a time victory and never had a problem before. My wife said i put in to much time on the game and wore it out. That can't happen. Can it?

 

[Codeman]

i spoke to one of the guys in IT at work. idescribed the problems and errors people have received. he informed me it is probably the video card for most. he said with the high graphics even with a video card that meets or exceeds the requirements of the game one could have problems such as total shut down, game freezes, etc. if you do not have good enough cooling for the video card. he said most pc's do not have a fan for the video card from the factory, and about 50% of video cards purchased have one.
he said the video card over heats and instead of frying the board it shuts down or freezes up. i have since ordered on from newegg.com. it has a built in fan and cost $80. i thought if this game pushed my pc to the limit it was probably ony the beginning, so i replaced it.

 

[Reana]

I'm new here, so not sure if developers read this. But in case this helps someone or helps a patch, my problem and solution (red graphics on Geforce 6800) is here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=3729260

I couldn't find any official place to submit bugs. Is there one?
Thanks,
RtR

 

[Valaraukar]

I am running:
Windows XP Pro
AMD XP 1600 (1.4Ghz)
512MB RAM
XFX GeForce 6600GT 128 AGP

The game starts smoothly and the opening video displays without problems. The in game wonder video also appears to be working (although I have only seen stonehenge). The menus and in game popup windows also appear fine.

The problem I am having is that the in game display is so messed up it is near unplayable. Basically anything rendered in 3d is missing half of its textures. Sometimes things get blurred out with colored streaksinstead of black areas. This includes the world map, terrain, world leaders, and anything critters on the wold map. I have attached two screen caps and my DXDiag.

I installed the latest nVidia Drivers (81.98). I also tried installing several other version with the same results. I also tried the latest Civ 4 Patch (1.52).

If anyone here has any ideas please let me know. Thanks.

I was able to correct my glitched graphics. The problem was for some reason my Bios was set to AGP 2x, probably I did this for my old graphics card and never switched it over a year ago when I got my current card. I changed it to 4x and it is now running smooth and looking good. I hope this helps someone else with a similar problem.

 

[rockinroger]

ive been having game crashes, which locks up my computer. i have a amd 1.8, 1 gb memory, a nvidia 6600 video card. ive installed all the latest patches for the graphics card. not sure what else to try.

 

[FClef]

Ok, just bought civ 4 today, and the game performance is very sluggish. There is a marked delay between entering any game command and that command being executed. I've run full regclean, defrag and bios updates, no luck. If anyone can see something im doing wrong in dxdiag, id really appreciate hearing about it. Kind of a novice when it comes to tweaking graphics and what-not. Thanks much.

 

[aaron68]

Guess what? Like everybody else on this thread, I have the same issue. The screen is very dark, when I first meet other civilizations, all I see is their eyes, the information below each one of my cities is a bunch of white squares, and the beginning movie is very slow and jumpy. I lowered the graphics to the lowest level. Additionally, I downloaded the newest plug (1.52).
I have attached the DxDiag file.

Thank you.