Random Crashes

Only two things stand out to me from the debug.

Your audio drivers are a bit old, you might try updating them.

Sometimes it works better to set the game resolution to match the desktop resolution (in your case, 1280x1024).

Cool, many thanks for the swift reply... I will try those suggestions..

Cheers

Do you have a saved game where it happens? If it's something reproduceable I'd be happy to check it out.

Another thing you might want to try is to run Smart Exception which is in Stardock Central under "free stuff". It will actually tell us what line of code it crashed on.

@ Frogboy - Sorry theres nothing reproducible about the error... The game has stayed relatively stable since implementing the suggestions from Moosetek but in the last few minutes the game has crashed out again....

This time after the crash it refuses to restart back in to the game and dumps out immediately on loading my last save (which worked fine 20 mins ago and I didn't get a chance to re-save or auto save before the crash)

below is the windows error when it bombs and as far as I can tell it looks like Direct X is having the issue...



I am in the process of updating my graphics driver to the latest version so I'll see if that helps at all... and then I'll try the game again after a reboot. If the issue still continues I'll post up a latest Debug.Err and see if someone can fathom whats going on...

BTW if it makes any difference at all the only thing I did before the game bombed was create a fleet for the first time from 2 cruisers and a sniper.

Ok I thought I'd leave it a day or so to test out but things have not got better... I now have up to date drivers (which I suppose is one positive to come out of this) but now instead of just bombing out in the method shown in my last post it now bombs out to a blue screen with no icons and locks the HD... I hear it physically park!

I understand that it could of course be hardware as well as the game or any software but I have to confess I find it very coincidental that before this game, the PC was doing perhaps a BSOD once per month at worst (standard Microsoft tolerance I guess )... now in the last 3 days I have bombed out to a desktop blue screen with no icons or BSOD on average 5 times a day and only when playing this game... I checked out a thread about just such an issue here on this forum but as that appeared to be just a suspected hardware issue... I can assure you that this is not the case in my situation.

The worst thing with the BSOD is that when it happens the graphics glitch to the point the text is unreadable so I can't even check the error code to see what is going on myself....

Heres the Debug.err report from the last bomb out which happened about an couple of hours ago and took my PC out so badly it forgot the last user to log in and reverted to the previous successful login name on the Winlogon screen... Heres hoping that you can make sense of this....

Debug Message: Version v1.4x last updated on: Mon Oct 23 17:43:56 2006
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 1/5/2007, 22:44:34
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: CENTURION
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: GBT___
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 249MB used, 4717MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: RADEON X800 PRO/GTO
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: RADEON X800 PRO AGP (0x4A49)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4A49&SUBSYS_00341043&REV_00
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (70Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6652
Driver Date: 11/22/2006 03:25:23
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Realtek AC97 Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24D5&SUBSYS_A0021458&REV_02
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ALCXWDM.SYS
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.6200
Driver Date: 11/23/2006 17:11:40
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONMASKABLE
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1280 x 1024
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): RADEON X800 PRO/GTO
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 70
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 b3ae3ae0
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Logos\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Metaverse\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Portraits\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\temp\*.sav
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clearing Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Loading Custom Map
Debug Message: Loading Data Defs
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Loading TechDefs
Debug Message: Max num techs: 248
Debug Message: Loading ImprovementDB
Debug Message: Loading Component Defs
Debug Message: Loading ShipTypes
Debug Message: Loading ShipConfigs
Debug Message: Loading AnomalyTypes
Debug Message: Loading RandomEvents
Debug Message: Loading UPIssues
Debug Message: Loading ResourceTypes
Debug Message: Loading InvasionTactics
Debug Message: Loading SBmodules
Debug Message: Loading PoliticalParties
Debug Message: Loading Planet Types
Debug Message: Loading Star Types
Debug Message: Loading Game
Debug Message: Loading: Game mode is normal.
Debug Message: Loading Galaxy
Debug Message: Sectors across: 5 x 5
Debug Message: Loading FOW Map
Debug Message: Loading ZOC Map
Debug Message: Loading Planets
Debug Message: Loading Stars
Debug Message: Loading Anomalies
Debug Message: Loading Resources
Debug Message: Loading Civs
Debug Message: Loading Colonies
Debug Message: Loading RallyPoints
Debug Message: Loading Ships
Debug Message: Loading Fleets
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Can't find ship type Fleet in definitions
Debug Message: Loading Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Loading ENDGALAXYDATA
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: UIBeginGame called with g_ulLocalPlayerID = 0
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: New Game Started
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: Mods are Disabled
Debug Message: BuildShip: Cannot build ship type 12-Freighter M13-2 at Carinoids I - No open slots
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: StarportWnd: Cannot find OBJID StarPort_Planet_Logo_Image
Debug Message: Destroying ship Iconian Fleet 108. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: BuildShip: Cannot build ship type 12-Frigate M13-2 at Carinoids I - No open slots
Debug Message: ForeignRelationsWnd: Cannot find OBJID Foreign_Relations_Destabilize_Slider
Debug Message: ForeignRelationsWnd: Cannot find OBJID Foreign_Relations_Destabilize_Scale
Debug Message: ForeignRelationsWnd: Cannot find OBJID Foreign_Relations_Destabilize_Title
Debug Message: ForeignRelationsWnd: Cannot find OBJID Foreign_Relations_Destabilize_Value
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Carinoids (12): Researching: Photon Torpedo II
Debug Message: BuildShip: Cannot build ship type 12-Freighter M13-2 at Carinoids I - No open slots
Debug Message: Destroying ship Constructor Point 5 2288. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: BuildShip: Cannot build ship type 12-Frigate M13-2 at Carinoids I - No open slots
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Constructor M12-4 2606. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Year: 2238. Altarian Republic traded Xeno Cultural Trends to the Carinoids in exchange for Singularity Driver III
Debug Message: BuildShip: Cannot build ship type 12-Freighter M13-2 at Carinoids I - No open slots


One last thing.... in a bid to work out what was going on myself I did a little "googling" and the name Star Force kept cropping up again and again is this something that could be a problem?

Once again thanks for your time...

I understand that it could of course be hardware as well as the game or any software but I have to confess I find it very coincidental that before this game, the PC was doing perhaps a BSOD once per month at worst (standard Microsoft tolerance I guess )... now in the last 3 days I have bombed out to a desktop blue screen with no icons or BSOD on average 5 times a day and only when playing this game... I checked out a thread about just such an issue here on this forum but as that appeared to be just a suspected hardware issue... I can assure you that this is not the case in my situation.

Actually, it is very unlikely that any normal software would directly cause a BSOD under Windows XP--those are reserved for hardware and driver issues almost (if not completely) excusively. Software can, however, cause sufficient stress on the system or use an uncommon function and expose a pre-existing issue (resulting in BSOD) that would otherwise go unnoticed. And you might be surprised just how demanding GC2 is on GPU, CPU and RAM, any of which can cause a BSOD if something goes wrong in the hardware or (in the case of GPU) drivers.

If the BSOD was unreadable, Windows should also have recorded the error in the event log (Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer, check the system events for errors coinciding with the time of the crash).

and took my PC out so badly it forgot the last user to log in and reverted to the previous successful login name on the Winlogon screen

That's completely normal for any full-system crash, as Windows writes the registry to disk during shutdown (it is only held and modfied in memory during operation). If you crash instead of shutting down normally, any registry changes (like recording the last user to log in) are lost.

One last thing.... in a bid to work out what was going on myself I did a little "googling" and the name Star Force kept cropping up again and again is this something that could be a problem?

GC2 does not use Starforce (it is a copy protection system).

Thanks for the swift reply and thanks for putting my mind at rest with Star Force... I was reading some *ahem* interesting things about it...

Anyway moving on... I checked the last system fail error in the Error Report and I have this:

Category: 102
Event: 1003
Error code 1000007e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2 bfb39bf3, parameter3 afd4db58, parameter4 afd4d854.

I looked under the application error log too and at the same time I saw this:

Faulting application galciv2.exe, version 1.0.0.1, faulting module d3d9.dll, version 5.3.2600.2180, fault address 0x000a2f5f.

I dont know if they're related or not... one BSOD website says a 1000007e error is linked to CD ROM drivers another says dodgy memory... *confused*

I did a search for 1000007e at Microsoft.com and it only returned one result:
Here is the page:

WWW Link

This one has to do with a faulty Creative Labs joystick driver, by the way.

Anyway moving on... I checked the last system fail error in the Error Report and I have this:

To try and get some more context, try and find the errors for the past several crashes and post them--system and application errors both--to see if they are all at the same location, same file (d3d9.dll), etc.

@Moosetek - Thanks for that but to confuse things more I don't have any Creative products in my PC... the only thing I have done thats close to this error report is update the Realtek audio driver, seeing as the error refers to creative sound cards too.

@Kryo - Ok heres the application error log reports and dates... moving on from the ones that I posted earlier.

4/1/07 - 13:04 - Faulting application galciv2.exe, version 1.0.0.1, faulting module d3d9.dll, version 5.3.2600.2180, fault address 0x000a2f5f.

4/1/07 - 11:57 - Faulting application galciv2.exe, version 1.0.0.1, faulting module d3d9.dll, version 5.3.2600.2180, fault address 0x000a2f5f.

4/1/07 - 11:30 - Faulting application galciv2.exe, version 1.0.0.1, faulting module d3d9.dll, version 5.3.2600.2180, fault address 0x000a2f5f.

Now looking at the system log heres what gets posted up around those times, the times are based around when I switched the system back on after the crash.

4/1/07 - 14:00 - The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x1000000a (0x00040002, 0x0000001c, 0x00000000, 0x804e2b79). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini010407-01.dmp.

Theres no other system error logs around those times app crash out times for the 4th unlike the one posted for the 5th.

Clearly d3d9.dll is the main suspect here... nothing else seems to relate to the crash...

Since it's crashing at the same location in Direct3D's dll every time, the file could be damaged or there could be a very specific error with your video card causing whatever function is at that address to fail.

You may want to try turning all the settings down to their lowest in both the game and ATI CCC for troubleshooting purposes, and see if it still crashes.

I've had a similar problem. Try disabling AGP Fast Writes in the BIOS. It seems to have solved my problems in 3D games. DO NOT use Catalyst drivers to disable AGP Fast Writes, it didn't work for me. My system would crash to a black screen (no signal on monitor).