AM I THE ONLY ONE STILL GETTIN' TERREN CRASHES w/3.0?

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Author Topic:   AM I THE ONLY ONE STILL GETTIN' TERREN CRASHES w/3.0?

fkloster posted 04-01-99 10:21 AM ET
ALL I WANT TO DO IS PLAY THIS GAME WITHOUT CRASHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CyberSpyder posted 04-01-99 10:53 AM ET
Yes, you are the only person still getting terran crashes in version 3.0.
fkloster posted 04-01-99 11:08 AM ET
boy am I frustrated. My sys can run every any app I throw at it for days on end without hiccup until this one.My specs...
PWR SPLY: 300watt
MOBO: ASUS P2B-S with latest BIOS 1006
CPU: Intel retail 450 ECC enabled (NOT oc'd)
RAM: 256 (2 128MB dimms) 125MHZ stable
VID: AGP TNT w/latest NVIDIA ref. drivers
VID(2): V2 SLI w/latest 3DFX ref. drivers
SOUND: MX300 w/latest A3D ref. drivers
HHD: 1 9.1 UW SCSI & 1 4.55 U2W SCSI
I am using Direct X 6.1 CORE distribution runtime drivers.
I have a clean complete install of SMAC updated to 3.0.
After about 1 to 4 hours of play I ALWAYS get the terren.exe error and am booted back to desktop. When I click details, I am told I had a page fault in some sort of SOUND.DLL?
I love this game but hate crashes. Please help.
MoSe posted 04-01-99 11:13 AM ET
How can you say that, Cyberspidey!
You broke a ground principle of testing & debugging!!
(excuse me if I spoil your high quality sarcasm)
So, fkloster, even if you get only 'NoCrash' reports, you can't be sure that in some untested path or configuration, a crash couldn't eventually strike some other SMAC player (hey, what's that sudden woodknockin' rappin' roar?). Or maybe crash subjects can't reply b/c of their crashed PCs.
OTOH, if you do get positive replies, then what? you'll go on the same, playing w/crashes.
(hey, Firaxis, couldn't you at least make it an option? say, like 'Enable/Disable Crashes'? )
fkloster posted 04-01-99 11:19 AM ET
Actually, far be it from me to assume anything, I'm hoping someone who may still have had crashes after 3.0 might have input on how to fix your sys so this game runs rock stable. i.e. Disabling DS3D? Disabling EAX? Direct X 6.0 vs. DX 6.1? Help me please?
MoSe posted 04-01-99 11:20 AM ET
Sorry, fkloster your 2nd came up while I was posting.
What a piece of glittering machinery you have there!
Unfortunately I can't think of any good advice, except an extreme rule-of-thumb experience that sometimes worked:
try to change one piece at a time, (maybe borrowing from friends)
in particular, try to _down_grade your soundcard
(Hey! HEY!! Stop throwing those fungus chunks at me!)
fkloster posted 04-01-99 11:37 AM ET
Hey MoSe, just curious.... I don't know what system you are running but answer me this; How long do you play SMAC usaully at one sittin' and get no crashes or terren.exe errors? I bet sometimes 6 to 8 hours. To my knowledge I have done everthing possible and I am not stable past a couple of hours. I AM GOING CRAZY. Only because this is the only game I want to play and its the ONLY app I run that is unstable. (C3, Unreal, MOO2, HL, TA, WW2F, NCOAW, DK, Q2 & the list goes on). I am gettin' really pissed. I will REWARD any imformation leading to the change in my sys that forces this game to stability.
MoSe posted 04-01-99 11:54 AM ET
Soyo LX
PII333
128Mb SDRAM
ATI Xpert@work 8Mb AGP
SB AWE64
8,x Quantum Fireball SE
plus other here unrelevant add-ons
(nearly top of the shelf just a bit more than a year ago,
see how youth years pass by!)
Win95b
never a crash, nor page faults
only, after maaaany reloads, problem with game/screen resolution (I usually keep my 19" at 1280):
from time to time (maybe after the, say, 200th reload, unrelated to time elapsed), game fails to exit and I see the starting menu in the upper left corner of the screen, and the palette completely screwed up (remember old Civ?). Fixes itself restarting the game, seldom need to reboot.
The main problem I expirience, is the slowing down, although somewhat relieved by 3.0 (oh, btw, US version here in Italy). That called for reboot once in a while, now I use MemTurbo. Again, it's related to reloads #, not to play time.
Taking you seriously, you've all my empathy, I'd get crazy too.
Helpless
MariOne
Brian Reynolds FIRAXIS posted 04-01-99 11:56 AM ET
If you're having SOUND.DLL problems with version 3.0, contact Jeff Morris ([email protected]) for an update.
BR
fkloster posted 04-01-99 12:06 PM ET
Brian Reynolds, I have contacted Jeff but have not heard back yet. If I wasn't addicted to this game I wouldn't be so pissed but I am and I need answers fast.
Rong posted 04-01-99 12:21 PM ET
In my latest TI game I was playing as Gaians and my faction was leading in tech, population, territory and overall. I had every bit of intention to continue on, then suddenly terrain.exe crashed. I loaded up the autosave and, boom, crashed again. Since I was playing ironman, I can't go back 30 turns to work around the bug. It was really really frustrating.
Savefile sent to Jeff Morris.
fkloster posted 04-01-99 12:24 PM ET
Rong, when you hit details on your terren.exe error, did it say something like "Invalid page fault w/ sound.dll somethinorother"?
fkloster posted 04-01-99 02:00 PM ET
I'm not going away anytime soon. Please help.
Mental posted 04-01-99 03:09 PM ET
Your problem probably stems from your soundcard drivers...
I play SMAC at home and at work. Both comps are identical except for one thing, my home comp has a SB LIVE! card and my work comp uses a cheapy $10 ESS card. my home comp crashes frequently with v3, my work comp has yet to crash even ONCE. Problem is that my ESS card has microsoft cerified DX6 drivers...and the live card only has DX6 compatible drivers.
A friend of mine also has the same problems. For some unknown reason he uses Nuts&Bolts 98, which actually seems to work pretty good a recovering from most of SMAC's crashes. Note it doesn't actually prevent the game from crashing, but it gives you a recover button that allows the game to continue as if nothing happened (which is a HUGE surprise to me since those things usually cause more problems then fix)...
DaRkSiThL0Rd posted 04-05-99 03:36 PM ET
U R LUCKY MAN! U CAN ATLEAST GET IT RUNNING BEFORE IT CRASHES!!! MINE WHEN I START TERRAN IT JUST CRASHES , IT DOESNT START THE GAME THE SCREEN FLASHES THATS ALL SO IF ANY OF U KNOW HOW TO FIX THAT PLZ HELP
eNo posted 04-05-99 06:26 PM ET
I get the crashes too but then I'm use to my computer being very unreliable. I just live with it, even though its really fustrating.
IceCream posted 04-05-99 08:30 PM ET
If you're still having crashes related to sound try the ds3d=0 eax=0 fix. It seems to work with new and old sound cards. It disables EAX and DircetSound 3D.
MoSe posted 04-06-99 04:50 AM ET
Sehr geehrter(sp?) fkloster,
are you a virus? are you epidemic?
I am the paradigm of the one who should have better kept his mouth shut!
I had never one crash before I read your post, and before I started playing Transcend IronMan.
Then, on Easter Day, with utter dismay (ohmypod!), a hail storm of page faults hit my SMAC!!!
- when I hit Details I can't read which module fault is, only the registries dump.
- with me it seems more related with video card/drivers problem
- I didn't bother anyway to reinstall SMAC, or check the directX.
-no matter how I try, I can't help reloading a lot, also in TI (in CivII I could cruise through a virgin game, get to AC without any save at all, I'll reach it here too). Now cousLee taught me I can reSAVE to juggle the randomization: so I use AutoSave1 at first, then save nearly once a turn, before taking risky steps.
- the palette scrambling I experienced I found out to be due to exiting and restarting game too fast: the new instance starts before the old one closes, so they stuck toghether both open.
- anyway, I only have to restart the game after a page fault; seldom I need to reboot to solve the slowing down problem (it's crazy, it seems to be really related to how many formers are shown on screen at the same time!).
- the problem is related to the movement of some particular units: I have a speeder crossing the north pole, once in a while it hits a boil, kills it or captures it. If it is damaged, any susbsequent move will cause a crash: I have to put it on L for few turns, then I can move it again.
I'll reverse check it, but in the end it seem due to something happening only with TI. Could it be so?
Luckily I can go on playng, only somtimes I can't move some units.
The more I learn, the more I learn how SMAC leaks.
MariOne
trippin daily posted 04-10-99 05:01 AM ET
hahahahaha... mine only crashes after the patch.. some great ****ing work firaxis did there... oh wait.. it won't crash long as turn off the videos... if i keep them on.. its either... u get to enjoy starin at a blank screen (fun there) r u get to play the game with no sound.
firesky posted 04-10-99 11:15 PM ET
I believe it is sound card incompadability also..I have had the exact same crashes with my awe64 SB card..finally had to change sound.dll to sound.dl_ ...
I have no sound now ...but have completed several hours long games at thinker level with flawless performance..still trying to solve the sound card probs tho..hope firaxis can help soon.
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Author	Topic: AM I THE ONLY ONE STILL GETTIN' TERREN CRASHES w/3.0?
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 10:21 AM ET ALL I WANT TO DO IS PLAY THIS GAME WITHOUT CRASHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CyberSpyder	posted 04-01-99 10:53 AM ET Yes, you are the only person still getting terran crashes in version 3.0.
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 11:08 AM ET boy am I frustrated. My sys can run every any app I throw at it for days on end without hiccup until this one.My specs... PWR SPLY: 300watt MOBO: ASUS P2B-S with latest BIOS 1006 CPU: Intel retail 450 ECC enabled (NOT oc'd) RAM: 256 (2 128MB dimms) 125MHZ stable VID: AGP TNT w/latest NVIDIA ref. drivers VID(2): V2 SLI w/latest 3DFX ref. drivers SOUND: MX300 w/latest A3D ref. drivers HHD: 1 9.1 UW SCSI & 1 4.55 U2W SCSI I am using Direct X 6.1 CORE distribution runtime drivers. I have a clean complete install of SMAC updated to 3.0. After about 1 to 4 hours of play I ALWAYS get the terren.exe error and am booted back to desktop. When I click details, I am told I had a page fault in some sort of SOUND.DLL? I love this game but hate crashes. Please help.
MoSe	posted 04-01-99 11:13 AM ET How can you say that, Cyberspidey! You broke a ground principle of testing & debugging!! (excuse me if I spoil your high quality sarcasm) So, fkloster, even if you get only 'NoCrash' reports, you can't be sure that in some untested path or configuration, a crash couldn't eventually strike some other SMAC player (hey, what's that sudden woodknockin' rappin' roar?). Or maybe crash subjects can't reply b/c of their crashed PCs. OTOH, if you do get positive replies, then what? you'll go on the same, playing w/crashes. (hey, Firaxis, couldn't you at least make it an option? say, like 'Enable/Disable Crashes'? )
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 11:19 AM ET Actually, far be it from me to assume anything, I'm hoping someone who may still have had crashes after 3.0 might have input on how to fix your sys so this game runs rock stable. i.e. Disabling DS3D? Disabling EAX? Direct X 6.0 vs. DX 6.1? Help me please?
MoSe	posted 04-01-99 11:20 AM ET Sorry, fkloster your 2nd came up while I was posting. What a piece of glittering machinery you have there! Unfortunately I can't think of any good advice, except an extreme rule-of-thumb experience that sometimes worked: try to change one piece at a time, (maybe borrowing from friends) in particular, try to _down_grade your soundcard (Hey! HEY!! Stop throwing those fungus chunks at me!)
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 11:37 AM ET Hey MoSe, just curious.... I don't know what system you are running but answer me this; How long do you play SMAC usaully at one sittin' and get no crashes or terren.exe errors? I bet sometimes 6 to 8 hours. To my knowledge I have done everthing possible and I am not stable past a couple of hours. I AM GOING CRAZY. Only because this is the only game I want to play and its the ONLY app I run that is unstable. (C3, Unreal, MOO2, HL, TA, WW2F, NCOAW, DK, Q2 & the list goes on). I am gettin' really pissed. I will REWARD any imformation leading to the change in my sys that forces this game to stability.
MoSe	posted 04-01-99 11:54 AM ET Soyo LX PII333 128Mb SDRAM ATI Xpert@work 8Mb AGP SB AWE64 8,x Quantum Fireball SE plus other here unrelevant add-ons (nearly top of the shelf just a bit more than a year ago, see how youth years pass by!) Win95b never a crash, nor page faults only, after maaaany reloads, problem with game/screen resolution (I usually keep my 19" at 1280): from time to time (maybe after the, say, 200th reload, unrelated to time elapsed), game fails to exit and I see the starting menu in the upper left corner of the screen, and the palette completely screwed up (remember old Civ?). Fixes itself restarting the game, seldom need to reboot. The main problem I expirience, is the slowing down, although somewhat relieved by 3.0 (oh, btw, US version here in Italy). That called for reboot once in a while, now I use MemTurbo. Again, it's related to reloads #, not to play time. Taking you seriously, you've all my empathy, I'd get crazy too. Helpless MariOne
Brian Reynolds FIRAXIS	posted 04-01-99 11:56 AM ET If you're having SOUND.DLL problems with version 3.0, contact Jeff Morris ([email protected]) for an update. BR
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 12:06 PM ET Brian Reynolds, I have contacted Jeff but have not heard back yet. If I wasn't addicted to this game I wouldn't be so pissed but I am and I need answers fast.
Rong	posted 04-01-99 12:21 PM ET In my latest TI game I was playing as Gaians and my faction was leading in tech, population, territory and overall. I had every bit of intention to continue on, then suddenly terrain.exe crashed. I loaded up the autosave and, boom, crashed again. Since I was playing ironman, I can't go back 30 turns to work around the bug. It was really really frustrating. Savefile sent to Jeff Morris.
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 12:24 PM ET Rong, when you hit details on your terren.exe error, did it say something like "Invalid page fault w/ sound.dll somethinorother"?
fkloster	posted 04-01-99 02:00 PM ET I'm not going away anytime soon. Please help.
Mental	posted 04-01-99 03:09 PM ET Your problem probably stems from your soundcard drivers... I play SMAC at home and at work. Both comps are identical except for one thing, my home comp has a SB LIVE! card and my work comp uses a cheapy $10 ESS card. my home comp crashes frequently with v3, my work comp has yet to crash even ONCE. Problem is that my ESS card has microsoft cerified DX6 drivers...and the live card only has DX6 compatible drivers. A friend of mine also has the same problems. For some unknown reason he uses Nuts&Bolts 98, which actually seems to work pretty good a recovering from most of SMAC's crashes. Note it doesn't actually prevent the game from crashing, but it gives you a recover button that allows the game to continue as if nothing happened (which is a HUGE surprise to me since those things usually cause more problems then fix)...
DaRkSiThL0Rd	posted 04-05-99 03:36 PM ET U R LUCKY MAN! U CAN ATLEAST GET IT RUNNING BEFORE IT CRASHES!!! MINE WHEN I START TERRAN IT JUST CRASHES , IT DOESNT START THE GAME THE SCREEN FLASHES THATS ALL SO IF ANY OF U KNOW HOW TO FIX THAT PLZ HELP
eNo	posted 04-05-99 06:26 PM ET I get the crashes too but then I'm use to my computer being very unreliable. I just live with it, even though its really fustrating.
IceCream	posted 04-05-99 08:30 PM ET If you're still having crashes related to sound try the ds3d=0 eax=0 fix. It seems to work with new and old sound cards. It disables EAX and DircetSound 3D.
MoSe	posted 04-06-99 04:50 AM ET Sehr geehrter(sp?) fkloster, are you a virus? are you epidemic? I am the paradigm of the one who should have better kept his mouth shut! I had never one crash before I read your post, and before I started playing Transcend IronMan. Then, on Easter Day, with utter dismay (ohmypod!), a hail storm of page faults hit my SMAC!!! - when I hit Details I can't read which module fault is, only the registries dump. - with me it seems more related with video card/drivers problem - I didn't bother anyway to reinstall SMAC, or check the directX. -no matter how I try, I can't help reloading a lot, also in TI (in CivII I could cruise through a virgin game, get to AC without any save at all, I'll reach it here too). Now cousLee taught me I can reSAVE to juggle the randomization: so I use AutoSave1 at first, then save nearly once a turn, before taking risky steps. - the palette scrambling I experienced I found out to be due to exiting and restarting game too fast: the new instance starts before the old one closes, so they stuck toghether both open. - anyway, I only have to restart the game after a page fault; seldom I need to reboot to solve the slowing down problem (it's crazy, it seems to be really related to how many formers are shown on screen at the same time!). - the problem is related to the movement of some particular units: I have a speeder crossing the north pole, once in a while it hits a boil, kills it or captures it. If it is damaged, any susbsequent move will cause a crash: I have to put it on L for few turns, then I can move it again. I'll reverse check it, but in the end it seem due to something happening only with TI. Could it be so? Luckily I can go on playng, only somtimes I can't move some units. The more I learn, the more I learn how SMAC leaks. MariOne
trippin daily	posted 04-10-99 05:01 AM ET hahahahaha... mine only crashes after the patch.. some great ****ing work firaxis did there... oh wait.. it won't crash long as turn off the videos... if i keep them on.. its either... u get to enjoy starin at a blank screen (fun there) r u get to play the game with no sound.
firesky	posted 04-10-99 11:15 PM ET I believe it is sound card incompadability also..I have had the exact same crashes with my awe64 SB card..finally had to change sound.dll to sound.dl_ ... I have no sound now ...but have completed several hours long games at thinker level with flawless performance..still trying to solve the sound card probs tho..hope firaxis can help soon.