BF2 Crashing

[Scott]

BF2, or any newer game for that matter - HL2, CSS, BF42/V, POE, DC all of them give me random crashes, either freezing screens with looping sounds or no sound, black screens, or very rare a reboot.

I have the system set to not reboot on errors, and I don't get any error codes to indicate a driver problem. Using the latest 5.6 CAT's on a 9700PRO. This card does require power connection from the PSU.

Speaking with UOD some time back, we think it may be a PSU problem. Running XP without any gaming is fine, no errors, reboots or crashes at all.

So...recommend a decent PSU. I'm thinking in the 425-500 W range, but suggestions are welcomed.

[YARDofSTUF]

Antec, PC power and Cooling

[YeOldeStonecat]

Makes me think power supply or RAM at first.

Antec/Enermax are my fave power supply brands, Antec True series, not their entry level Smart Power.

Formatted recently?

[Scott]

Makes me think power supply or RAM at first.

Antec/Enermax are my fave power supply brands, Antec True series, not their entry level Smart Power.

Formatted recently?

This has been an ongoing problem, started with the BF series, DC, then BFV, then POE, then CSS and even DOOM3. Since it started I've replaced the ram, had Corsair XMS 3200LL TwinX, replaced with Corsair XMS 3200 TwinX, and I've formatted numerous times inbetween with the latest drivers for everything and all updates. It seems to be worse with BF2 than the others, seems to be getting more common, yet still random. Sometimes it will go 10 minutes and crash, sometimes 3-4 hours of continous play and not a hiccup.

Running a Thermaltake power supply, forget the wattage at the moment, probably a 410W, just don't remember.

I'm leaning heavy toward the PSU. Need to get one compatible with newer MB's since I plan to upgrade "soon". Thinking either the Antec True 550W, or the PC Power 510E? Price on the PC Power is steep though.

[JawZ]

BF2, or any newer game for that matter - HL2, CSS, BF42/V, POE, DC all of them give me random crashes, either freezing screens with looping sounds or no sound, black screens, or very rare a reboot.

I have the system set to not reboot on errors, and I don't get any error codes to indicate a driver problem. Using the latest 5.6 CAT's on a 9700PRO. This card does require power connection from the PSU.

Speaking with UOD some time back, we think it may be a PSU problem. Running XP without any gaming is fine, no errors, reboots or crashes at all.

So...recommend a decent PSU. I'm thinking in the 425-500 W range, but suggestions are welcomed.

As we've talked before, you really couldn't go wrong with the Antec TruBlue 480.

But there is a way to check to see if it is your PSU....you can use Motherboard monitor along with the absolute sure fire test....a digital multi-meter from Radio Shack. If you are sagging on the 5v or 12v rail....then it's crash time. If you don't sag, then it aint the PSU.

To check the ram, you need to memtest86 it overnight...see if any errors come up...if not, it aint the ram. It aint your CPU......but it could be heat related. BIOS temps at idle after letting it sit for about 20 minutes should give you a baseline reading. Take off the cover and put a big fan up to it....if your vid card or Northbridge is getting warm....crash time.

To be honest with you...after I did all of this, and more....it still didn't fix my problem. You know what fixed my problem? Two things.....first a clean install of XP SP2 followed by a clean install of the ATI drivers. But imho, the next step is what really fixed the problem....I forced all my games to run at 1280x1024, the native resolution of my LCD and forcing them all to run at 75Hz, the native refresh rate of my LCD. Playing at 1024x768 will make me crash every time...as soon as I go to 1280x1024....stable as hell.

Go figure.:(:confused:

[JawZ]

Let me back up a bit here and give you a link so you can configure your card correctly.

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge


"DEVICE DRIVER is STUCK IN INFINITE LOOP" or VPU Recover errors in Windows XP This issue affects the following system configurations:

Windows XP
Any ATI display card
Based on our experience, the error "The drivers for the display adapter got stuck in an INFINITE LOOP" is a result of a system communication mishap. On some systems, the error "Unable to complete a drawing operation", or an ATI VPU recover error may also occur.

This error does not occur on all system configurations.

This issue can occur using any motherboard or graphics chipset along with the Windows XP Operating system. It appears that in most cases this problem is due to a BIOS setting, specifically options affecting the way the RAM, CPU and graphics card communicate with XP and DirectX. Improper timing settings can result in system lock ups or random system reboots.

This issue also affects different makes and models of video cards from various manufacturers.

In attempt to gather more information on why this error occurs, ATI developed a component to catch when the INFINITE LOOP occurs. This component is called VPU Recover. If the display driver detects that the graphics processor has hung, VPU Recover will attempt to reset the graphics processor, eliminating the need for a system reboot.

VPU errors can occur mostly while using 3D applications and games. This error has also been known to occur in 2D applications as well.

This error message may occur in the virtual video adapter driver that is used by Symantec PCAnywhere. If PCAnywhere is installed on a computer where this error message occurs, visit the Symantec Web site to determine if there are any available fixes for your version of PCAnywhere.

At the present time ATI is still gathering information on the Infinite Loop condition.

The following suggestions may help to correct this issue:


Verify that the system has updated software
Adjust basic settings within the system BIOS
Adjust advanced settings with the system BIOS
Test with different hardware configurations
1. Verifying that the system has updated software

a) Update the display drivers.
Ensure that you have installed the latest ATI CATALYST software for your ATI product. Drivers for your video card can be found on the ATI website.

b) Ensure that all three DirectX Features are enabled.
Run the available tests to ensure that each of the three components pass.

c) Update your motherboard chipset driver software.
Updating your AGP chipset drivers can add stability to the PC and may help to prevent the Infinite Loop error from occurring.

d) Use the ATI SMARTGART utility to adjust AGP Reads/Writes.
In newer revisions of the Catalyst Drivers, a feature called SMARTGART was introduced. With the latest ATI CATALYST software installed, you can use the ATI SMARTGART settings to adjust the Fast Writes and AGP BUS speed.

Select the "Start" menu -> click on "RUN" -> type "SMARTGART" -> click OK.

Ensure that both the AGP Read and Write settings are On. If these are set to OFF, then enable them and restart Windows as prompted. As a test you should try disabling the AGP Write setting. NOTE- AGP Writes may not be enabled on all chipsets.

e) Update the motherboard BIOS. Any updates can be found on the motherboard manufacturer's website.

f) Make sure you have an adequate power supply.


2. Basic BIOS options.

NOTE: These options may vary depending on the type/version of your system. You may or may not have all these options present.



Video BIOS Shadow - DISABLED
Init Primary Display - AGP (Toggle this setting if your video card is PCI)
AGP MASTER 1W/S READ/WRITE - ENABLED/DISABLED (Toggle this option)
AGP Aperture size - 128 MB
AGP Driving Control - AUTO
Disable AGP 8x/4x mode in the BIOS.
Disable AGP Fast Writes in the BIOS.
AGP Driving Control - AUTO
AGP Performance Control - ENABLED/DISABLED (Toggle this option)
Assign IRQ for VGA - ENABLED
System Bios Cacheable - DISABLED
Video BIOS Cacheable - DISABLED
VIDEO RAM Cacheable - DISABLED
Read Around Write - ENABLED/DISABLED (toggle this setting)
PnP OS installed - YES

3. BIOS Settings for ADVANCED USERS:

NOTE: These options may vary depending on the type/version of your system. You may or may not have all these options.



Load optimized defaults in your BIOS
Set your memory settings to default values (I.e.. DRAM Timing = SPD)
Lower the memory frequency to 133/166mhz (effectively DDR266/333mhz)
If available increase AGP Voltage to 1.6 - 1.8 in the BIOS
SDRAM Cycle length - 2.5
Bank Interleave - ENABLE/DISABLE (toggle this setting - It will only make a difference if you have more than one memory module.)
DRAM Burst length - 4

4. Recommended Hardware changes:



Test system with a single memory module if multiples are being used
Test with different memory modules.
Test with a different Power supply
Disable/Remove ALL non-essential hardware i.e. sound card, network card, additional HDD etc.
Test the video card in a different PC
Additional Information on the Infinite Loop:

Staying Out Of The Loop - http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64

Microsoft Knowledge Base - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q293078

[JawZ]

Also, drop down your AGP settings to 4X.

That might help as well....do that as a last resort.

One thing you might want to keep in mind is that all Catalyst drivers, according to their tech support folks which I've talked to, tell me that Cat's 4.12 and lower work fine with XP SP1...BUT as soon as you hit Cat 5.1 and above, they strongly urge...STRONGLY urge the use of XP SP2. So with that, make sure that if you are using the Catalyst control center, which I suggest using, that the Microsoft .Net framework is installed and up to date via Windows update....there are 3 updates to the .Net framwork. so you have to keep going back after updating to ensure you get all of them...even after going to SP2.

Hopefuly you'll find something that helps....please keep in mind the BIOS voltage settings fo rthe vid card....1.6v or higher.

[JawZ]

Geez, I feel like a spammer lol....

http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html

Excellent guide to Cat installation and optimization...follow it to a T dude....it works!

[Scott]

Good Lord! You've given me a bit to do. Thanks for the tips, I'll run through that list sometime this week.

[JawZ]

Good Lord! You've given me a bit to do. Thanks for the tips, I'll run through that list sometime this week.

Actually, it isn't very much lol. A couple of BIOS settings, and a few things to check with a multi-meter and you'll be done in about 30 minutes.

If you do have a multi-meter, the black probe, stick it in a molex connector to the black receptacle, the red probe goes in red and in the yellow, I think the red is the 12v and the yellow is the 5v...or maybe I have that backwards...in any case, you'll know what it is by looking at the multi-meter readout. I used electrical tape and taped it to the connector so I could play a game and load the vid card to see if it was sagging....but make sure to do both, without load for a baseline and with a load. I can't remember what mobo you have but mine says in the manual that the 5v rail cannot drop down below 4.75 or else you'll get failures. I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe. Rev 2.0

Damn, I can't stop lol....

also, make sure the card is assigned it's own dedicated IRQ.

[Scott]

Bumped up the AGP voltage from 1.5 to 1.7, no crashes last night. Just a few minor minor stutters here and there.

[JawZ]

Bumped up the AGP voltage from 1.5 to 1.7, no crashes last night. Just a few minor minor stutters here and there.

I'm a ****ing rock star!

[Sava700]

ok intersting about the volt levels.. how do I increase them for PCI slots?

[JawZ]

ok intersting about the volt levels.. how do I increase them for PCI slots?


Uh, this is for ATI cards. You have Nvidia....and I wouldn't mess with it right now anyway. Make sure you are stable.

But if you absolutley must go there...lol....

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=390650

That would be the thread and the forum to do so.....