Used to crash due to corrupt cache, now can't even load mods

[erm4gh]

I'm playing Civ V Gods & Kings using DirectX 11 under Windows 7 x64. About a week ago I started to get crashes after about 2 hours of playing a game that I thought were due to a mod corrupting the cache, causing the crash. I wasted a lot of time trying to isolate it to a specific mod (starting new games with a different set of mods) but I now suspect its something else.

I completely uninstalled the game (including deleting all local content) re-installed and verified the cache was okay. I then unsubscribed all mods and subscribed a single mod. I pressed ESC to get back to the GetMods screen and it lists none. I exit the game and verified the cache - I get "2 files failed to validate and will be re-acquired" again. This is very confusing as I haven't even finished setting up the game.

I then deleted Civ5ModsDatabase.db, ran the game again, and it listed no mods. I used GetMods to unsubscribe and re-subscribe to a mod, pressed ESC and it still claims I have no mods. I pressed next and it lists no mods as loaded.

I've tried all of the steps in http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Civilization_V#Basic_troubleshooting for "Game corruption" and "Steam Workshop" issues. I also verified that the the library still shows me as enabling steam community in game.

Suggestions? Things are just getting worse, before I could at least play using mods for a couple of hours.

 

[erm4gh]

I managed to re-enable mods by deleting the "Sid Meier's Civilization 5" folder again. I started a new game. The game crashed when I got to 500BC when it displayed a wonder splash screen. I verified the cache and got "2 files failed to validate and will be re-acquired" again. Twice I loaded a saved game, tried to do things different, and it crashed at 500BC when it displayed that wonder splash screen.

I forget what wonder it was, but it is one that was built into the game, not from a mod. I didn't have any problems when I created other wonders.

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this? None of the log files seem to mention the names of the files that failed to validate, and I can't spot those files in the cache via time stamps.

 

[erm4gh]

I've attached the output of dxdiag.

 

[The_J]

Nothing unusual to see in there .

Sure that the fan of your graphics card works correctly? That's the only real point, which in my opinion could be problematic .

 

[erm4gh]

I think so. I can hear the cards fan speed up when playing the game. I'll install SpeedFan tomorrow and see what I can discover.

 

[erm4gh]

I installed CPU ID hardware monitor, which lets me monitor the CPU and GPU temperatures. It also let me monitor the PCs fans, except for the graphics card.

I lowered all of the graphics to medium except for texture. That let me load a saved game and play until 200BC where it crashed with the same problem with the cache.

The GPU temperature was 98F when it crashed, with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 125. I'll try lowering/disabling some more graphics features and see what that does.

 

[erm4gh]

I switched to using TechPowerUp CPU-ID to monitor the graphics board, and lowered all of my graphics settings to low. This time when it crashed (same cache problem) the fan was at 40% and the GPU temperature was 104F.

Any suggestions other than the graphics board?

 

[timtofly]

Can you lower the room temperature? Or even a room fan that can move stale air away from the computer?

 

[erm4gh]

I could try lowering the room temperature but the symptoms don't seem to be due to overheating. I was able to play for a several hour stretch before it crashed. Once it crashed if I waited a couple of minutes for things to cool down and then loaded the last saved game it would crash within about 5 minutes. I've been able to use TechPowerUp CPU-ID to monitor how quickly the GPU will cool down.

It also doesn't explain why I didn't have this problem a month ago.

 

[The_J]

RAM defect maybe ?

 

[SarahEspresso]

The 2 files being redownloaded is normal. That happens even if there is nothing wrong.

Glad you got the mod issue fixed. It seems that the cache files and mod folder seem to corrupt easily in this game.

For the crash when building a wonder, I wonder if it might not be a problem with the mod you are using. Even if the wonder wasn't part of the mod, some bad writing on the mod might cause a problem. Can you play a game without mods that doesn't crash?

 

[erm4gh]

"The 2 files being redownloaded is normal. That happens even if there is nothing wrong."

Please explain why you think that is true. I've read of other people getting one file downloaded, but never of anybody getting more than one (normally).

"Can you play a game without mods that doesn't crash?

I spent a lot of time trying to run with a single MOD (trying varying ones) trying to see if it was due to a bad MOD. I suppose at sometime I'll spend the couple of hours to see if a non-modded game doesn't crash, but I've played this game so much its not interesting without mods. I've had plenty of crashes (with the same symptoms) when a wonder wasn't being built or completed.

"RAM defect maybe"

I ran the windows 7 memory test provided by Microsoft. No problems. I ran the small (30 tests) test suite in "Video Memory Stress Test" from http://www.technibble.com/repair-tool-of-the-week-video-memory-stress-test/ to test the graphics memory. No problems.

 

[SarahEspresso]

"The 2 files being redownloaded is normal. That happens even if there is nothing wrong."

Please explain why you think that is true. I've read of other people getting one file downloaded, but never of anybody getting more than one (normally).

Prior to the fall patch, it was a single file being downloaded every time. Since the fall patch and subsequent hotfix, it is now 2 files. I do not know what the second file is.

"Can you play a game without mods that doesn't crash?

I spent a lot of time trying to run with a single MOD (trying varying ones) trying to see if it was due to a bad MOD. I suppose at sometime I'll spend the couple of hours to see if a non-modded game doesn't crash, but I've played this game so much its not interesting without mods. I've had plenty of crashes (with the same symptoms) when a wonder wasn't being built or completed.

That doesn't quite answer my question. My suggestion is to run the game mod-free to rule out mod issues. Just switching mods might not resolve it if you don't know what is causing the problem. Now, you say the crash happens other times, not just when wonders are built, does suggest it might not be a mod issue. I still think you should try a normal game as a troubleshooting step.

 

[erm4gh]

I finally got a reply from take2:

"Normally when the game is crashing on large maps, it has to do with low amounts of RAM. However, you have 16 Gigs, so that shouldn't be the issue. Please disable all of your non essential background applications and try the game again. Also, please do the following.

Navigate to Steam/SteamApps/common/Sid Meier’s Civilization V/DirectX and run Dxsetup.exe. if you are using Dx10/11, try running the game using DirectX 9 also upgrade your DirectX drivers."

I ran DxSetup again and that seems to have fixed the problem. I'm currently at 500AD and haven't crashed again. Since I had re-installed the game, updated my graphics drivers and knew I was playing it using DirectX11 I had never even considered running Dxsetup again.

I'm going to stick with the low graphics settings. I don't really notice a difference and I don't want to risk any more problems.

Thanks everybody for trying to help.