BSOD in v2 Beta

from GalCiv2 Forums
Deleted because, well, it should be in the Beta report post.
14,912 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I remember reading somewhere that XP prevents applications from BSODing, and if you get a BSOD it will most likely be due to hardware or drivers. I don't remember about it very well, so don't blame me if this is wrong
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah, it's considered a hardware issue from XP's perspective. The v2 Beta is sending my video card into an infinite loop, so XP is killing it to prevent my system from completely dying.

It just happened a 3rd time since I downloaded the second Beta, so I'm going to have to say it's the cause. Nothing else is locking me up, and I was find in v1 Beta.

Trying to get some data I can actually send in to Stardock, but not easy on a BSOD.
Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
if you know how to do cheats, then do the same but instead of cheat use debug. This is supposed to make the debug.err generate more info. Also, I think the debug.err is filled out as it goes, and not just at a crash. Next time it happens, send/post the debug.err in the game's directory before loading galciv2.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
well, it just happened again. Nothing I can see in the debug.err file, but here's what we have:

Debug Message: Version v1.1 BETA-2A last updated on: Thu Mar 30 21:37:53 2006
Debug Message: Could not find a TGN Serial No.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 4/1/2006, 21:31:07
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: ****
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
System Model: 648
BIOS: Version 1.00
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.53GHz
Physical Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 228MB used, 2233MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: RADEON 9700 PRO
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: RADEON 9700 PRO AGP (0x4E44)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E44&SUBSYS_00021002&REV_00
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6599
Driver Date: 1/24/2006 21:52:48
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

And here's from my last auto-save to the end of the file. Just can't see anything that looks like it's sending my video card into an infinite loop. Maybe it's messing up trying to update the zone of control?

Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Finished auto save.
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colonizer 133. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Snathi (18): Researching: Basic Logistics
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colonizer 129. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colonizer 145. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Destroying ship Gen 2 Con Alt 139. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Destroying ship Constructor M0-1 141. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Yor Collective (5): Researching: Diplomatic Relations
Debug Message: Destroying ship Gen 2 Con Alt 164. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colony Ship M0-11 114. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Destroying ship Constructor M0-1 116. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drath Legion (7): Researching: Laser II
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colonizer 169. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colonizer 142. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You have essentially the same thing as I've got so I'm not sure what the deal would be.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'm going to install the game and install Beta 2 on my wife's system. Her's is identical to mine in every way, except for the software installed. If I can't duplicate it on her system, I'm going to assume it's an interaction with another application or, worse, my video card is giving out and it's just a coincidence that it started happening around the same time that I switched to 2A.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
well, it just happened again. Nothing I can see in the debug.err file, but here's what we have:


When Windows BSDODs everything is halted immediatly, no log will ever be made that will give any clues as to why the BSOD happened.

If you can give the first 3 to 4 lines of the BSOD we can look for the problem.

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I couldn't get the game to BSOD on my wife's system, so I switched back to my box to try ti figure out what the heck was going on.

Well, last night I had something weird happen. The game locked up and froze my video card, making my max resolution 800 x 600 and my max colors set to 4 bit. Took me some fanagling, but managed to get a true shut down (I hate pulling the plug on a system crash). When I tried to restart, I got nothing. Black screen, no Windows, no BIOS initialization... nothing.

The last time I had this happen was when I built my last computer. The problem there was that the system refused to recognize the video card, so after I got the card set up, the next time I'd boot up it would just black screen.

Working on a hunch, I blew my CMOS and rebooted. This set all my BIOS settings back to the factory defaults. I went into my BIOS to set the time up, but left everything else alone.

Anyway, long story short, after doing this I was able to play for 4 straight hours without a blue screen. I had some screen flashing that I had to restart the game for, but that was it. It was the first time since switching to Beta v2 that I was able to play for more than an hour or so without a BSOD.

Was the problem my BIOS settings? My AGP settings may have been funky to the point that it was causing the BSOD. I was an early adopter of the Radeon 9700 Pro, which had some issues back before they got the drivers working well. The issues required me to do some funky AGP settings to get it to work properly (the settings were spelled out by ATI as a work-around back in the day, so this wasn't something unique to my system).

This may not have fixed the problem, but last night was encouraging. I'll spend a couple of hours tonight in game (oh no!) and see what happens.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
Was the problem my BIOS settings?


Could be. Check the battery on the motherboard to be sure it's not damaged (had some weird things happening on a few PC's with a bad battery, ranging from unable to boot to just shutting down no BSOD, it just switched off to BSODing all over the place...
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Whoopsie..
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Good advice. I just ran a diagnostic on my bootup and it told me "CMOS Battery is low". Never would have thought to check that... I think I'll run out and grab a new one during lunch tomorrow.

Would be crazy if that turns out to be the cause. But I've seen weirder things on a PC.