I run 1.5GB RAM. This never happened before and I usually keep a firefox window running while I play, though the blank screen happens regardless. How would I check?
HOF Questions and Answers Thread
- Thread starter Methos
- Start date
I run 1.5GB RAM. This never happened before and I usually keep a firefox window running while I play, though the blank screen happens regardless. How would I check?
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Firefox can use up a huge amount RAM when enough tabs are open. I would shutdown Firefox while playing BtS using the exit option that saves all tabs in all current windows.
I used to leave Firefox running while playing BtS or running BtS with MapFinder on, but I don't do it anymore, because it seemed to crash BtS when MapFinder was running inside it. I also have a tendency to have dozens of tabs open in Firefox, so it can use a great deal memory as a result.
Given that you have 1.5GB, I wouldn't try running anything more say notepad or acroread, etc. at the same time. Especially when playing Large or Huge maps.
I wouldn't trust BtS or any Microsoft OS, especially Vista, to do the right thing in a memory low situation.
In the above, one can of course substitute either Civ4 or C4W for BtS.
Sun Tzu Wu
It would make sense that I'm out of memory, though it didn't start doing this for a week after I bought BtS. I'm worried that my HD is corrupt.
And I have to mention that the freeze ups are happening even with firefox not running. Nothing else running.
And I have to mention that the freeze ups are happening even with firefox not running. Nothing else running.
Odd. I tend to have a lot of FF tabs open as well, BTS running in the background (with multiple IM chats running), SmartFTP, and often several other programs going and I don't see any freezes. I'm using vista (read RAM hog) with 2 gig. I've even had times I minimized the game and forgot about it and didn't notice it was still running until several hours later.
My first thoght was the video card overheating. Of course the agrument about about it just starting to happen applies to that too. There are some utilities that can check out disk faults, temps, etc, Check C/Net.
http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/game_info.php?dsply=&entryID=15317
My most recent entry was excluded. I can only assume because the game froze up and I had to load an auto save and ended up replaying a turn.. This really sucks.
Anyway I updated my video card drivers and installed .net 2.0 framework so maybe that'll fix it.
My most recent entry was excluded. I can only assume because the game froze up and I had to load an auto save and ended up replaying a turn.. This really sucks.
Anyway I updated my video card drivers and installed .net 2.0 framework so maybe that'll fix it.
We have procedures to be followed in the event of a crash. You can find them at the HOF site. Unfortunately my employer blocks the HOF site so I can't give you a direct link, but just click on the 'Rules' link located in my sig and then click on the 'Disallowed' tab. You will see the procedures for a crash exception there.
Thank you for the tip but if what my PC is doing continues it won't matter because surely my games will crash more than once from start to finish.
Denniz said:
Thank you. Could you give me some more detail about these utilities? Is there any way to check if my graphics card is overheating? That seems plausible. It is 5 years old now and was very dusty until two nights ago when I cleaned out my PC. And, for about a month up until two weeks ago, my PC was making a strained noise for a few minutes when I started it each time, but that has stopped and I didn't get any crashes when it was doing that. I assumed that it was my HD since I've changed it twice since I bought it but maybe it is the graphics card. Could the fan be malfunctioning? It is a Radeon 9800 pro.
Did you change your HD both times because of malfunction issues? If so, how many watts does your power supply put out? The specs require 300 or more. I would hope you have more then that.
Look for Everest from Lavalys. The have 30-day trial versions and there is a free home edition out there.
Yes, malfunctions. The second time was a broken pin; I don't remember what happened the first time around. My power supply is 380W.
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Replace your power supply, before it blows like mine did ...
When I upgraded my old machine with a ATI 9800 Pro, I was sure my Antec 400W PS (a high quality brand - not some cheap Tawianese No-Name PS) would have plenty of margin for the 115W graphics card. It did not. My PS blew due to the extra load of the graphics card. Replacing the dead, 5 year old, 400W PS with a 650W PS solved that problem with sufficient margin.
The max. load of your system including all internal cards, hard drives, CD drives/burners, fans, etc. should not exceed 70% of the Power rating of your power supply.
Sun Tzu Wu
It has worked fine for 5 years, I can't imagine the power supply blowing any time soon, but to be honest, I need to upgrade everything but the case...
In any case, I just played a whole game through without a crash. I did three things:
1) Upgraded my ATI drivers and installed .net 2.0
2) Reduced the Civ IV graphics to medium
3) Blew the dust out of the GPU's heat sink and fan housing (missed it the first time around since its on the bottom of the card - lots of dust in there)
So anyway, seems to be fine now, and thank you to everyone who offered advice.
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My 400W Antec PS worked fine for five years too, until I added an additional 115W load in the form of an ATI 9800 Pro graphics card. I was positive that it could handle the load, just like you are now. It lasted only a few days. Maybe your PS will last a few weeks. My PS died when my PC was doing full screen animation (drawing maximum current).
The Power Supply is the most often ignored component in a PC, but it is actually the most critical component. When a PC is not working correctly, PC technicians will often check every component except the PS. They should be checking the PS first, since it is often the source of intermittent issues like the one you seem to be experiencing.
I suggest upgrading your Power Supply next. Just to accommodate the extra 115W load, I'd add about 175W of capacity - 380W + 175W = 555W. So, a 555W PS should be sufficient, assuming the 380W PS had no spare capacity.
Sun Tzu Wu
Xerol
Emperor
I've been getting fed up with windows lately and using ubuntu more and more for work anyway. I know Civ4 itself works decently under WINE (with a few tweaks) but does the HoF mod work with it? Looking for firsthand experiences if any before formatting my XP drive.
BLubmuz
HoF Quattromaster
I'm here again for the Global Warming thing.
If you're not planning a new HoF mod to take care of this (and maybe other problems), just tell us.
By reading some post by Denniz i thought the new mod was ready before the end of 2008.
Not to be a pain in the a.. but at least some hint?
Can we hope it will be ready before the new SGotM is out?
Needless to say, time is one my favourite VCs.
But also SC can suffer of this.
If you care only the early warmongers...
If you're not planning a new HoF mod to take care of this (and maybe other problems), just tell us.
By reading some post by Denniz i thought the new mod was ready before the end of 2008.
Not to be a pain in the a.. but at least some hint?
Can we hope it will be ready before the new SGotM is out?
Needless to say, time is one my favourite VCs.
But also SC can suffer of this.
If you care only the early warmongers...
BLubmuz
HoF Quattromaster
Xerol
Emperor
Could the "Status" tab for QM/EQM redirect you to the login page if you're not cookied? I thought for a second all of my progress was gone, and the page is pretty useless if you're not logged in.
I guess it does make much sense if it does know who's status to show.
I have been think about adding a user drop down so people can see each others status. I have also been wanting to figure out a way to show percentages. i.e. Breakdown by condition, speed, mapsize, leader etc. of the EQM games shown.
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