(CTD/freeze/BSOD/crashes) Poss Solutions UPDATED 19/04/05

[CBJ]

Please see your other post.

[IAmMarauder]

I thought I'd share my experience here as well. I was having issues with complete reboots, sometimes with BSOD. (more infor in this thread.

To cut a long story short, it turns out my power supply was the cause. It is only 350W, and trying to run a lot of peripherals (I bought it as a complete system, sick of building my PCs these days). Unplugged one of the DVD drives (it has 2), and bingo! No more crashes! YAY!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all suggestions in this thread... I was getting CTDs every so often when I saved - I've removed the Audigy HQ program that was running in windows XP, turned off EAX when I start and have had no problems for days! I also took the suggestion to disable all the AVG anti-virus programs running (there are 3) before starting x2... somethings done the trick!! Another Happy Bunny...

[veelad]

I always use the "stop all internet activity" on zone alarm first then close AVG down in the background and that way i know nothing like a virus can get to my computer, plus the added benifit of better FPS

glad your sorted

[Deleted User]

Ta! Actually have had a whole two days without problems... then I reactivated the autosave in stations feature for a taxi mission... problems started again! Turn it off - no problems... still it's a great game and the odd corrupt save adds to the excitement and frustration!!

What's with the save99 file?? Doesn't get created if autosave is off, does if it is on (whenever you save not just autosave in stations) and it's always created on my pc in about 68 fragments...? After a few saves it's in loads more pieces!

[Lemunde]

OK this is ridiculous. Yes I have a CTD problem but at this time I could care less. I have gone through the forums and found similar situations that for the most part have gone unresolved.

I just wanted to express my dissatisfaction at the piss-poor programming that went into this game and the lack of support for fixing the problems. Telling your customers to shut down every program on their computer, reformat their harddrive and examine their hardware with a fine-toothed comb is not a solution. Fixing your code is.

Due to the lack of support displayed here I have chosen not to buy any more products from Egosoft or Enlight.

[The_Abyss]

Sorry to hear that, but as the huge majority run the game without this, the problem is either in your machine or faulty CDs - did you try to change them?

[Graphil]

Veelad, since 17 & 19 are the most common causes do you think it is better to reorganize the list and put these near the top?

[veelad]

Good idea, I will do this at the weekend when i can spend some time doing it properly

[Wgoblin]

Hi
I dont have time to read all posts so if this is mentioned somewhere sorry.

I have recently found that x2 in combination with norton antivirus 2005 is causing ctds
Solution i found was to disable msn mesrenger scanning and putting egosoft folder where x2 is installed in exclude list in autoprotection.

My guess is its either a sound issue or scripts run by the game somehow trigger the script blocking in nav05.

This is just a guess from experience because before doing what i did i couldnt even get past the intro movie without a bsod or ctd.

Now after i disabled those things in nav05 everything is fine.

[mad_axeman]

Sorry to hear that, but as the huge majority run the game without this, the problem is either in your machine or faulty CDs - did you try to change them?

This statement is so erronous as to be totally and utterly wrong. I deal every day with software that works for the vast majority of people, and we still get valid bugs reported against it. It does not mean that the software is not bugged, and it certainly does not mean that it is the users machine or their CD's.

Testing is not and cannot be thorough on a product as complex as X2. There will *always* be bugs that othe people do not find.

And it doesn't help when people see bugs, and report bugs and then they get no indication about what is happening with those bugs. It would be better to let registered users see the bugs that are logged.

Lemund is right when he says "Telling your customers to shut down every program on their computer, reformat their harddrive and examine their hardware with a fine-toothed comb is not a solution". And neither is having to re-install windows in order to get the game to work (I've ranted on this topic before for those of you with long memories).

Oh, and by the way, the search function needs to be revised. It is very un-user friendly if you are trying to find something not on the main forum.

[CBJ]

Let's take this point by point shall we?

Sorry to hear that, but as the huge majority run the game without this, the problem is either in your machine or faulty CDs - did you try to change them?

This statement is so erronous as to be totally and utterly wrong. I deal every day with software that works for the vast majority of people, and we still get valid bugs reported against it. It does not mean that the software is not bugged, and it certainly does not mean that it is the users machine or their CD's.

Testing is not and cannot be thorough on a product as complex as X2. There will *always* be bugs that othe people do not find.

The_Abyss' statement is not "utterly wrong". He did not state that there were no bugs in the game; he made the perfectly accurate statement that the game works fine for the vast majority of people. It is also true to say that the vast majority of people who report problems now (since the release of 1.4) are able to solve them by correcting configuration problems with their PC or by obtaining replacement media in the rare cases where the CD is actually faulty.

And it doesn't help when people see bugs, and report bugs and then they get no indication about what is happening with those bugs. It would be better to let registered users see the bugs that are logged.

When updates to the game were still being issued, there was an extensive report in a sticky thread at the top of the forum indicating the problems that had been identified and confirmed, and those that were being worked on. This thread is not there now because the showstopping problems were ironed out with 1.4 and the team have moved on to other work.

Lemund is right when he says "Telling your customers to shut down every program on their computer, reformat their harddrive and examine their hardware with a fine-toothed comb is not a solution". And neither is having to re-install windows in order to get the game to work (I've ranted on this topic before for those of you with long memories).

If you work in Tech Support then you will know that PCs are complex beasts, and that many of the problems people encounter fall outside the control of the particular piece of software in which the user experienced them. This is particularly true of games, where so many elements are involved, from hardware and drivers through to other bits of software interfering.

Advising people to shut down other programs and examine their hardware is not at all unusual. The first eliminates interference from other software as a possible cause, the second tries to identify possible hardware faults. This is standard practice in narrowing down the source of a problem and identifying whether it really is a "bug" in the software concerned, as I am sure you are aware. Since a very high percentage of the problems reported here fall into one of these two categories, it would be extremely inefficient, not to say foolish, not to thoroughly investigate these two possibilities first.

Note that we do not advise people to reformat their hard-drives; this is an approach that can be taken as a last resort by people who cannot resolve their PC configuration issues. It is a sad fact that Windows sometimes gets itself into a state from which this is the easiest way out, but it is not something that should be undertaken lightly by the average user.

Oh, and by the way, the search function needs to be revised. It is very un-user friendly if you are trying to find something not on the main forum.

The search function is a standard feature of PHPBB; a piece of software produced by someone else. It has had to be limited in certain ways to enable the performance of the server not to be adversely affected, but it has not been altered to change the way it searches specific forums or groups of forums. Perhaps you could suggest your proposals for improvement to the PHPBB team.

[veelad]

CBJ wrote

Note that we do not advise people to reformat their hard-drives; this is an approach that can be taken as a last resort by people who cannot resolve their PC configuration issues

correct.

The above sticky on CTD's is not written by egosoft, it is, a compilation of postings by various members of the community who have found a particular solution that has worked for them, and have provided the solution in a thread for all to read.

as you know, all threads eventualy sink into virtual oblivian and can be extremely hard to find when a user wants to find some technical information, at the time, I thought it would be a good idea to have all these individual user solutions in one posting/place so that people who experience difficulties may be able to use them as a reference point to see if anything helps.

I purposely put a credits line at the bottom of the post, so that, anyone reading would know its compiled from the community. (infact, you are also mentioned in those very same credits)

anyone experiencing CTD/freeze problems who have posted a thread has always been pointed to the sticky so they can have a look and see if anything helps. They now even have more help, with the advent of the Technical FAQ which I also believe was born out of user experiences and solutions.

No one denies there are no bugs, but for minority who do experiece bugs, at least there is some form of help/assistance to hopefully help them solve it.

[mad_axeman]

He did not state that there were no bugs in the game; he made the perfectly accurate statement that the game works fine for the vast majority of people.

No, he did not say that. However, the implication was that his problem was not a bug and that the "problem is either in your machine or faulty CDs" (which are usually the first things that someone in technical support usually suggests (for the person that mentioned Tech Support)). This is what annoyed me.

It is also true to say that the vast majority of people who report problems now (since the release of 1.4) are able to solve them by correcting configuration problems with their PC or by obtaining replacement media in the rare cases where the CD is actually faulty.

And if they can't solve them by correcting the configuration or getting replacement CDs? Is it a bug then, or is there something else that isn't a fault with the game.

(infact, you are also mentioned in those very same credits)

I only repeated in an easy to follow fashion, what other people had mentioned doing.

anyone experiencing CTD/freeze problems who have posted a thread has always been pointed to the sticky so they can have a look and see if anything helps. They now even have more help, with the advent of the Technical FAQ which I also believe was born out of user experiences and solutions.

And where do I find the technical FAQ....? If it's the one here, then it looks to be even more sparse than the sticky

No one denies there are no bugs, but for minority who do experiece bugs, at least there is some form of help/assistance to hopefully help them solve it.

And what about the ones that do experience bugs, but can't get their problem sorted out?

This thread is not there now because the showstopping problems were ironed out with 1.4 and the team have moved on to other work.

Over the past year, I have had many CTDs. I have followed that sticky many times, have gone to the expense of replacing all my equipment, tried different configuration and have even reinstalled windows once to see if that works. None of these actions have stopped the CTDs I get. Is this show stopping enough for you??

Plus there's also the other niggly little bugs, some of which aren't show stoppers, but are highly annoying.

The search function is a standard feature of PHPBB; a piece of software produced by someone else. It has had to be limited in certain ways to enable the performance of the server not to be adversely affected, but it has not been altered to change the way it searches specific forums or groups of forums. Perhaps you could suggest your proposals for improvement to the PHPBB team.

.

It's actually the implemetnation of the 2 different searches that isn't user friendly (especially when you are viewing the technical support forum). When I tried to use the search, I didn't know that the "Search" link wasn't the bog-standard PHPBB search, but that I should go to "Extra Search" in order to be able to find any results in the Tecnical Support Forum.

Perhaps I got out of bed on the wrong side the other day...

[ru4real]

After trying almost every suggestion, including reinstalling Windows etc. I took the side off my stack and saw 3 years of dust on my fans. I removed dust with cotton buds and a hairdryer and since then it has not crashed once in 5 days. Try it, you may be surprised.

[warzer]

strange ctd. i recently fresh installed the game was using some older vid drivers with my 6600gt like 66. series or something and experanced not ctds until i updated to the new final 70 series.

not sure if thats just happenstance but figure i would report it. i am goign to try to revert back to the older and see if i still have my ctd's

Warzer

EDIT: since changing my drivers back to 66.93 i have not seen the ctd during my 2hrs of play since installing them.

[Pazuzu2]

I never have seen a crash in X2.. course I only run 17 background processes and have a 3.6 with 2GB RAM.. so there could be a solution right there.. stop running startup processes! n clean your system of spyware/empty registry entries.. and DeFrag once in a while.. a crash usually happens to people with not enough resources.. like people who think XP will be okay with 128MB RAM.

[Shlenklar]

I have just constructed my new computer, I have the newest drivers, some of the newest peices of hardware and I have updated the game to the newest version (correctly).

When I attempt to run the game, it will go through the nvidia and other intros with no problem, however, right after the quote disappears, the game crashes.

I am 100% sure it is not my system - I have had no problems with my other games

[CBJ]

The key things to check if it gets that far are your sound drivers and codecs, and possibly try switching off your anti-virus. I'd also try just uninstalling the game and starting again with installing it from scratch as this works surprisingly often.

[fegnoid]

well this solved my betty problem.... she just wouldnt speak to me... thanks man