no matter what i still crash

[cleansafe]

hello all
no matter what i try i still get ctds
my specs are
p4 2.8ghz
1gb of ram
ati x850 radeon with 5.12

i have done the following
formatted hard drive, installed a new copy of windows, registered and activated.
installed game updated patch

things i have tried

harkkonens memory patch
the ini settings from the drchasor thread
and just about everything else in this forum

my error reports which i do send to microsoft contain three differnt things
1. cvgamecore.dll
2. d3d9.dll
3. civilization 4 .exe
the crashes are random but take no longer then 10 minutes into game to happen.

when game is playable graphics and game play are excellent

if anyone has any ideas i would really appreciate it
thank you

 

[Neon Deon]

hello all
no matter what i try i still get ctds
my specs are
p4 2.8ghz
1gb of ram
ati x850 radeon with 5.12

i have done the following
formatted hard drive, installed a new copy of windows, registered and activated.
installed game updated patch

things i have tried

harkkonens memory patch
the ini settings from the drchasor thread
and just about everything else in this forum

my error reports which i do send to microsoft contain three differnt things
1. cvgamecore.dll
2. d3d9.dll
3. civilization 4 .exe
the crashes are random but take no longer then 10 minutes into game to happen.

when game is playable graphics and game play are excellent

if anyone has any ideas i would really appreciate it
thank you

please post a dxdiag.

Store bought computer or home made?

If store bought list Make and Model #

List your video and audio drivers version too.

 

[s3d]

Hve you tried turning DEP on for all programs ?

 

[cleansafe]

neon deon
it is a home built
video driver 5.12 audio driver creative 5.12.1.314

i have attached my dxdiag below


s3d
what is dep for all programs
sorry i dont know what that is

thanks again for the help

 

[Neon Deon]

Try turning off fastwrites,write combining and vsync. Also shut off screenshots in the ini. Run the in game graphic adjustments at medium with no AA. Single unit graphics too.

See it that combo works for you.

OOPS!

IS that card agp?

If so, your agp port is turned off.

Happens alot with via chipsets. You will have to load via 4 n 1s graphic chipset driver. it is also possible that you have done this and it did not take.
Reason usually is via wont pay for MS driver cert on alot of their chipsets so when you try and load them XP could say no way bay bay. If that is the case, you have to open dxdiag and uncheck the whql setting so it will except uncertified drivers. sometimes the default is already set to something like hay do you really want to install these non cert drivers? In which case the answer would be hell yes.


Nuke the graphic driver using ati clean driver then restart and load the funky vga standard mode. Make sure check for whql cert is off and install via chipset drivers. turn it off again. turn it on again load graphic driver and restart. run dx diag and verify that the agp port is now on.

PS. Still use the settings I gave you too.

Good Luck.

 

[s3d]

neon deon


s3d
what is dep for all programs
sorry i dont know what that is

thanks again for the help

Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System -> Advanced -> Performance -> Settings -> Data Execution Prevention , Turn DEP on for all programms.
Reboot.

It will slow down your computer, but for me it prevented crashes on low resolution.

 

[cleansafe]

thank you for your responses
im in the process of doing neons idea right now
i will post my results
thank you again
also thank you s3d

 

[Zydor]

If you still have hassles, give the Omega Radeon drivers a whirl, they have worked out for quite a few people, may work for you.

Regards
Zy

 

[cleansafe]

thank you
i have tried all tips and now when i get the crash
the error report stated unknown and the second time it was the civilization.exe error
i have uninstalled the game and will reinstall start from scratch once again

i have tried the omega drivers that did not help
any other ideas will be greatly appreciated
i have attached an updated dx log

 

[cleansafe]

ok
reinstalled the game put patches on
still get crashes
this time ive gotten two different types.
one involved the cvgamecore.dll
the other was the pyhton.dll
could my dll files be screwed somehow

please help
had this game for a month and havent been able to play it yet
never even gotten to the ad years
thank you

 

[Zydor]

" one involved the cvgamecore.dll
the other was the pyhton.dll "

The game uses python throughout including its Core - not C++ or suchlike. The memory management side of the Python implementation is at the core of the acknowledged memory management issue. I had no reason to suspect that in your case before, however, the above might be a clue.

Its clutching at straws, but have a look at

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=146309

The patch is benign, easily installed / deinstalled. You tried all else by the look of it, so you will loose nothing trying this - particularly in light of the error message(s) you posted above

Regards
Zy

 

[cleansafe]

i have tried that
matter of fact the patch is installed now
my latest attempt was i reinstalled the omega drivers most recent update
it crashed to a reboot
which i normally dont get
any other ideas
please feel free to post them

 

[Zydor]

A+ for persistence - nice to see

Ok another straw for you to clutch - not a clue whether it will be relevant to you or not

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=145238

Its a series of ini (etc) changes that a CFC member drachasor came up with a while back, it did seem to help quite a few. The thread has dropped out of sight, and not visible as such unless you know its there ...

Might be worth a go - got the prayer wheels out for you

Regards
Zy

 

[Neon Deon]

i have tried that
matter of fact the patch is installed now
my latest attempt was i reinstalled the omega drivers most recent update
it crashed to a reboot
which i normally dont get
any other ideas
please feel free to post them

I am just about out of ideas software wise.

Reboots. You normally dont get those. So you have gotten random reboots before?

Need more info.

run <start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced tab -> the Settings button in the Startup/Recovery section -> uncheck Automatically Restart option. This will stop your system from rebooting and should give you a blue screen with info to why it did what it did.

your video card, indicated by a driver called nv4_disp.dll. Another potential suspect is your sound card, alcxwdm.sys.

If you dont get a blues screen but a reboot thru the software stop again, then you more than likely have a bad, faltering or, small power supply.

 

[cleansafe]

thank you neon
u mentioned the sound card being an issue
should i reinstall the driver for that or just delete that file.i thought about uninstalling the soundblaster and just using the onboard audio. just to see if that does anything.
also what about the video file u mentioned what steps should i take to correct thatone.

here is a side note
i installed the game on my wifes laptop which has 64 mb of ram
the game states that the laptop is below specs but i can play it on there with no crashes. it does freeze in laterstages of gameplay due to specs i assume.

thank you for your responses.

 

[cleansafe]

ok here is an update for the ones helping me out
uninstalled game defragmented both drives
reinstalled game on e drive this time set page file to 2gb
ran game as soon as i clicked on single player i get ctd but i get no error messages to send to microsoft. installed patch ran game again this tim i got 3 turns in before i got ctd. i did get error this time something with the cvgamecoredll.dll
does anyone have any more reccomndations
thank you

cleansafe

p.s. tried running the game 2 more times and i got the civilization.exe error and also got the d3d9.dll error
sorry to say i think im about to give up on this game
thank you for all your help

 

[Neon Deon]

ok here is an update for the ones helping me out
uninstalled game defragmented both drives
reinstalled game on e drive this time set page file to 2gb
ran game as soon as i clicked on single player i get ctd but i get no error messages to send to microsoft. installed patch ran game again this tim i got 3 turns in before i got ctd. i did get error this time something with the cvgamecoredll.dll
does anyone have any more reccomndations
thank you

cleansafe

p.s. tried running the game 2 more times and i got the civilization.exe error and also got the d3d9.dll error
sorry to say i think im about to give up on this game
thank you for all your help

Well I guess you could try and by pass the soundcard by running it with VDSound.

Keep in mind that what was done earlier still applies.
Patch 1.09
no fast writes, no write combining, no vsync, and nothing running in the back ground.

Download VDMsound 2.0.4 (not the alphas)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vdmsound

install it.

Right click on CIV IV shortcut and select run with VDMsound from the window that appears.

 

[cleansafe]

thank you neon deon
i installed the proggy and try to start the game via the right click
no the game gives me an xml error pertaining to the civ4playeroptions and i cant load the game
thank you again

 

[Ninepepper]

If your handy,

Open up the puter and re-seat your RAM. I'm willing to bet you either have a poorly seated SIMM or a faulty one at that. Check your soundcard too.

Are you memory timings standard or did you adjust them in the BIOS?

This game stresses out the CPU and Memory more than any other game I have ever had including the latest FPSs' on the market. Even if you can run other games without problems, you may be encountering faults in your RAM that have never been exposed before.