x3tc.exe, x3.exe crashes - possible cause and solution

[Wildride]

Ok been having this for a while and searching the forums there seems to be a few people getting this and no real solution.

Symptom: When playing the game will randomly crash to desktop with an X3.exe (Reunion) or x3tc.exe (Terran Conflict) causing a page fault in module.

Cause: Unkown but my guess would be temporary storage in RAM buffers being cleaned by a RAM cleaning program or performance enhancer. Else a problem with the RAM itself.

Solution: Obviously once finding the cause the solution is to turn off the RAM cleaning software, these programs often will clean the RAM to free up memory when the system isnt overly active, The problem being X3 then looks for this information and it cant fined it so errors. If your not running one of these check your RAM with memtest86 or prime95 leave it to go overnight or while your at work/school. If one of them finds an error its time for new RAM.

Another thing might be page file settings, not the one accessible through control panel but one modifiable in registry.

Execute REGEDIT and navigate to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management -> Double click on PagedPoolSize -> Change the value to hexadecimal = FFFFFFFF (I suggest copy pasting the F's so you get the right number) this is the auto maximum setting.

I was crashing often within 5 jumps anywhere, since doing both of the above Ive almost mapped the entire galaxy without a crash in my m3.

You will experience periodic pauses where the game might freeze for a few seconds, I never had those before and assume this would have been a crash otherwise.

PS: Program with Ram scrubbing was SmartRAM part of SystemCare. All I did was disable all automatic processes.

[CBJ]

The reason there is no "real solution" is that random crashes to desktop can have a wide variety of different causes for different people. Sometimes it's memory, sometimes it's power, sometimes it's drivers, sometimes it's codecs, sometimes it's some other piece of software installed on their PC interfering, sometimes it's a script or mod installed, and hey, sometimes it might even be the game itself. There is no one problem and hence no one solution.

That's not to say that your suggestion might help a few people; just that it almost certain won't help everyone.

[Wildride]

As said its a possible solution that appeared to work at that time, following day crashes came back.

Im still looking at ram being the issue here, when I built my PC the motherboard seemed to conflict with the corsair ram I installed forcing me to underclock the ram (as advised by the motherboard manufacturer) just so the system was stable, would just freeze up at random intervals, even when idle. This has happened with corsair in several other peoples PC's aswell.

Been over a year and Im noticing a few other things occuring (DPC/IRQ Interrupt Storms) so think the rams about dead, either that or the motherboard. So ive ordered some Crucial ram which crucial say will work for the MB hopefully problems will be sorted, if not Ill bug you about it then.

[Wildride]

After 3 days of play Ive not had a single crash, so I can definately say the new ram solved the problem. Didnt stop the DPC's but that is most likely software Im at a loss with that.

If other people are having similar issues it might be worth checking the ram is suitable for the motherboard especially if they built it themselves. My old ram passed every memtest and prime95 I ran without any errors. But after looking deeper into the issue the ram wasnt suitable for the MB, the only difference between my new and old is the size (1gb each now, 512 before) and the manufacturer. Corsair was my old and other people have reported problems directly related to the corsair ram (random shutdowns, freezes etc etc) that were solved by changing brand. This is because the memory timings were off in my case, and it wouldnt run at its factory settings.

If you think there is an issue I recommend going to crucial and using their ram finder, it will tell you what ram they sell that is compatable with your motherboard.