Troubleshooting - random reboots!

[Ex-RoNiN]

I have experienced a problem of random reboots during the game. I have already tried the following:

- upgrading to Update 4
- installing XP compatibility patch
- changing ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0 to ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
-reinstalling DirectX 9
- reinstalling graphics and sound drivers
- renaming sound.dll to sound.dl_

All of this has not helped My system specs are as follows:

- AMD64 3200+
- ATi Radeon 9800 Pro
- 1 GB Ram

Help pls!

 

[Petek]

You've covered all of the possible software solutions, so the problem probably involves hardware (especially overheating). Here are some things to consider:

* Are you overclocking your CPU?

* Open your case and check for dust build-up.

* Are all of your fans working (including any on the video card)?

* Does your video card have a utility to check its temperature? If so, take a look.

* If none of the above helps, then your power supply may be faulty.

HTH

Petek

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I am not overclocking, and all fans are fine.

In any case, I don't think it can possibly be any of these physical issues, since the rig runs fine with more contemporary (and thus cpu and memory intensive) games quite fine, I ran games like Doom 3, Armed Assault, Football Manager, Fifa 2007, Sid Meier's Railroads and the like on it and it coped just fine.

This kind of random reboot I only had with SMAC and Civ 2; perversely, Civ 4 ran fine, apart from the memory problems that hit me in more advanced stages of the game.

Is there anything else you could think of?

 

[Petek]

Have you tried a complete uninstall (including manual deletion of any files left behind), followed by a reinstall, then applying patch 4 and XP update? If not, that would be something to try.

If this doesn't help, perhaps you have a defective installation disc. Are there any visible scratches? If so, try cleaning the disc.

If you still get reboots, are they reproducible? That is, if you open the last autosave before the reboot and make the same moves, does it still reboot at the same point?

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

Hi,

I tried the complete re-install, without luck. The CD is fine, as far as I can see.

The reboots are not reproducible. They happen at completely random times, I have seen anything from 3 mins into a game to 45 minutes. Also, my actions are not important to trigger them, once I got a reboot whilst I was away, with the game sitting in the normal screen, another time I was moving units, another time I was selecting a building to be built.

It is very frustrating

 

[Petek]

Frustrating indeed.

Since a reinstall didn't help, and since the problem isn't reproducible, I guess that you have a process/service on your system that's incompatible with SMAC. You could try running msconfig (Start, Run, msconfig) and select the Diagnostic Startup option. If that helps, then you'll have to figure out, by trial-and-error, which process is responsible. Or you could just boot into diagnostic mode to play SMAC.

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

Hi,

right I tried booting into Diagnostic Mode, and in Diagnostic mode as I was playing, the Windows DEP (Data Execution Prevention?) came on and reported that SMAC had been shut down to protect the computer. I added SMAC to the DEP Exclusion list, and booted back into Normal mode.

Then I played SMAC again, and this time I got a windows error in the "Services & Controller App", which is part of Services.exe. As I looked through the details, another message came up, saying that NTAuthority/System had initiated a shutdown due to status code -1073741819 in services.exe. The system then re-booted.

I am very confused - does this mean that SMAC is trying to use something in Windows, that Windows can't offer? Or is Windows itself trying to do something that causes it to shutdown?

 

[Ex-RoNiN]

I just had the same happening to me with the Galactic Civilisations 2 Demo...something is seriously amiss in my machine

 

[Petek]

Ouch!

I don't have too many more ideas. Have you scanned your system for malware? You might Google on that numerical error code. It gets lots of hits, one of which might suggest a solution for you. Finally, you might consider posting in the Computer Talk forum. Someone there might have an idea.

Good Luck.

 

[Ev3nt H0riz0n]

I had a similar problem but it was also causing other memory intensive games to either blue screen or crash to the desktop(CIV4). The reboot you describe is actually the BSOD but there is a setting that automatically reboots your PC when that happens. I fixed it with a better power supply since it started happening after my 400W PSU died and I replaced it with an old 300W. Also when replacing 300W PSU with my new 500W I noticed that one of the IDE cable connections was messed up so I fixed that too. My hardware issue was an underpowered system but the IDE connection could have also been a cause.