Random CTD's

[Stassan]

Cheers, this is my first post here on the forum so HI to everybody.
My problem is as following:

[Stassan]

I've got some serious problems with game stability in this game. So far I haven't been able to play for one hour without a crash or CTD. So I'm hoping someone can help me to play this mod.

My system:
Microsoft XP HOME Edition SP2 installed
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual COre Processor 4600+
2046MB RAM
DIrect x9.0C installed
Ati RAdeon X1900 512MB ( 8.3 Catalyst Drivers, option : support DXT textures format disabled )
DUAL monitor configuration
Maxtor HD: 75GB, 20GB used and defragmented

Save Game: http://uploaded.to/?id=b4mbom

In this save game, i'm about to attack the epeiros faction followed by a crash.

Game Version: Freshly installed Rome total War, plus installed patch 1.3 followed by patch 1.5. Then installed EB 1.1 without any problems.
Here's the excerpt that the validation tool gave:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You seem to have a corrupt install. There are changes to files, or some are missing.
However, these may be conscious changes you have made, to remod EB. See below for details.
==========
Changed file: .\data\export_descr_character_traits.txt (expected checksum 69cef580dfdc85ecc97d49f97916d236, got 34aadbb8fa4acb5ae166763ee385746d)
Changed file: .\eb\data\descr_battle_map_lighting_and_fog_control.txt (expected checksum cb93a428e536cfa294ff85bf1d9ceca1, got 23942befd1eebbd7b829f750745c3081)
Changed file: .\eb\data\export_descr_character_traits.txt (expected checksum 5cdc253dd08ab73e3269c6ab1227b623, got 69cef580dfdc85ecc97d49f97916d236)
Changed file: .\eb\data\world\maps\battle\custom\279#bc#-#battle#of#ausculum\description.txt (expected checksum e54e6f6ba0c7cbb4eb7a2016e2f17842, got 0337a879748a757b21957959beb00873)
Changed file: .\eb\mp game edu backup\map.rwm (expected checksum 1c90eb5933e8e610f00bdd692ca60048, got ca3d6899906a707189b700241a6e2797)
Added file: .\eb configuration.lnk
Added file: .\eb multi player.lnk
Added file: .\eb preferences.lnk
Added file: .\eb single player.lnk
Added file: .\extras\ebtrivialscript_setup.exe
Added file: .\extras\eb_documentation.exe
Added file: .\extras\eb_rv_setup.exe
Added file: .\unins000.dat
Added file: .\unins000.exe

I installed all permanent fixes so far and everytime I loaded a game, i activated the background script as suggested. I tried multiple campaigns, each time with the Roman faction but I never got to conquer Italy.

One time i fought the rebel town North of Rome ( the one with the naked fanatici ). When i won and was about to load the campaign map, it CTD'ed.

Multiple crashes when i'm about to enter a battle or just starting a new game. So far i tried to reinstall EB ( 5 times ), and run everytime the validation tools with the same results as above. So until now i've experienced multiple crashes, most of the time i was the one attacking someone.

It happens in Italy, never gotten any further then this. Just in the beginning of the game!

I tried multiple times to reinstall, lower all visual options, tried many things mentioned in this forum, ... but most of the problems were referring to previous versions of the mod so i think i'm a very rare and unfortunate case that experiences a lots of crashes.

Logfile by Procmon:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

2837703 14:16:22,0715995 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite2.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837704 14:16:22,0716242 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite2.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837706 14:16:22,0698029 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite2.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288
2837708 14:16:22,0699939 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite2.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837710 14:16:22,0709181 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite2.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837711 14:16:22,0713043 RomeTW.exe 3228 CreateFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
2837712 14:16:22,0715765 RomeTW.exe 3228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS AllocationSize: 24.576, EndOfFile: 22.000, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
2837713 14:16:22,0717565 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837714 14:16:22,0717817 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837716 14:16:22,0744406 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288
2837718 14:16:22,0746400 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837720 14:16:22,0755534 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite3.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837721 14:16:22,0759906 RomeTW.exe 3228 CreateFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
2837722 14:16:22,0762408 RomeTW.exe 3228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS AllocationSize: 24.576, EndOfFile: 22.000, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
2837723 14:16:22,0764209 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837724 14:16:22,0764491 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837726 14:16:22,0768714 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288
2837728 14:16:22,0770982 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837730 14:16:22,0780152 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\cloud_sprite4.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837731 14:16:22,0783922 RomeTW.exe 3228 CreateFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
2837732 14:16:22,0786361 RomeTW.exe 3228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS AllocationSize: 24.576, EndOfFile: 22.000, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
2837733 14:16:22,0788147 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837734 14:16:22,0788387 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837736 14:16:22,0791958 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288
2837738 14:16:22,0795720 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837740 14:16:22,0804880 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\dirt_explode.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837741 14:16:22,0808879 RomeTW.exe 3228 CreateFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
2837742 14:16:22,0811338 RomeTW.exe 3228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS AllocationSize: 24.576, EndOfFile: 22.000, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
2837743 14:16:22,0813104 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837744 14:16:22,0813341 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837746 14:16:22,0871066 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288
2837748 14:16:22,0872940 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837750 14:16:22,0882145 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_core.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837751 14:16:22,0885890 RomeTW.exe 3228 CreateFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
2837752 14:16:22,0888415 RomeTW.exe 3228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS AllocationSize: 24.576, EndOfFile: 22.000, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
2837753 14:16:22,0890173 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837754 14:16:22,0890441 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837756 14:16:22,0894598 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288
2837758 14:16:22,0896459 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837760 14:16:22,0905510 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\explosion_impact.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837761 14:16:22,0909240 RomeTW.exe 3228 CreateFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
2837762 14:16:22,0911683 RomeTW.exe 3228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS AllocationSize: 24.576, EndOfFile: 22.000, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
2837763 14:16:22,0913468 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096
2837764 14:16:22,0913732 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 4.096, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O
2837766 14:16:22,0917230 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 4.096, Length: 12.288

2837768 14:16:22,0897796 RomeTW.exe 3228 ReadFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS Offset: 16.384, Length: 4.096
2837770 14:16:22,0907560 RomeTW.exe 3228 CloseFile C:\games\Rome - Total War\Data\models_effects\textures\flamesparks.tga.dds SUCCESS
2837771 14:16:22,0949323 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837772 14:16:22,0926882 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837773 14:16:22,0949722 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837774 14:16:22,0927265 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0312500, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837775 14:16:22,0927546 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0156250, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837776 14:16:22,0927803 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 100.9687500, Kernel Time: 72.9062500
2837777 14:16:22,0928085 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0156250
2837778 14:16:22,0951098 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837779 14:16:22,0951429 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2837780 14:16:22,0929463 RomeTW.exe 3228 Thread Exit SUCCESS User Time: 0.0000000, Kernel Time: 0.0000000
2838268 14:16:22,2315117 RomeTW.exe 3228 Process Exit SUCCESS Exit Status: -1073741819, User Time: 101.0625000, Kernel Time: 71.3437500, Private Bytes: 953.880.576, Peak Private Bytes: 1.005.019.136, Working Set: 960.638.976, Peak Working Set: 1.016.467.456

Untill i discovered EB, i primarly played RTW with RTR, MTW II with broken crescent. Never got any crash with any of these games or mods. Played a lot of campaigns without experiencing any problems or crashes. The same thing goes for other games outside the total war universe. So out of my own experience i can say that i have pretty decent and solid system to play games.

I hope this lengthy post will help me to get a worthy EB experience that many of you seem to be enjoying these past days. I'm a history&game fan so i'm looking forward to enjoy this mod to!

Cheers & thank you for any possible help!

[bovi]

Thank you for a very detailed report. Unfortunately, as you've gone through such lengths to try every known option, I don't really know what could be causing it.

However, the DXT textures I cannot remember if were to be enabled or disabled. I suggest you try changing it.

The savegame you uploaded seems corrupted though, it just quits while loading it. I see it reaches the end of file and then it's gone.

[Stassan]

Hi Bovi,

Thank you for replying,

In the meanwhile i've reformatted my system, only installed the video drivers, windows updates, the very basic you need for playing, and i managed to conquer a large part of Italy without a CTD. Only with Segesta, i got a crash ( two times ) in the battle itself, so i was forced to reboot.

Most of my problems are solved, i'll report any other repeatable CTD's in this forum.

Cheers

Also i have only 1 monitor plugged in. Maybe an important detail.

[bovi]

Oh, I don't think I've heard other people say whether they use 1 or more monitors. I'd think it shouldn't make any difference, but then again I didn't think having Nero installed should make any difference either .

[Stassan]

I've encountered another problem in my campaign. I conquered the first town on sicily and i'm at war with Carthage. But when i'm about to load the next battle ( doesn't matter wich faction, even got this fault when loading a custom battle), the loading bar continues to run beyond the ending point of the sword.

Has anyone got this before? Until now i was able to enjoy a relative stable campaign.

[bovi]

You say the loading bar proceeds too far. Does it then crash? Or is it merely a graphical error?

[Stassan]

It stays on the loading screen, and the game itself doesn't respond anymore.
Tried the same with Rome vanilla, and got the same fault. I reinstalled RTW and EB. Now it works properly again. But no clue why it happened.

[Stassan]

A question to fellow Ati card users. Wich drivers do you use and how are your experiences with EB?

[bovi]

I'm currently using 6-10_xp-2k_dd_36790.exe, and have no problems. Depending on your card, it may or may not be the best one, and possibly newer ones are better for me as well.

[Stassan]

Well, yesterday, i tried some custom battles, and more often then not, the screen freezes in the middle of the battle. I think my system requirements are more then enough for this game.

This must be driver or hardware related. So i'm wondering wich drivers are best to use with EB.

What's your hardware config Bovi?

[bovi]

Back when I had a crappy XFX NVidia card I got similar troubles, but never since I went over to an ATI one.

I have a 4600+ Athlon with 3GB RAM and a Radeon X1900 Crossfire, so I'm probably not the best one to compare specs with...

[Stassan]

Hey Bovi,

I installed the same drivers as you, so in fact i downgraded my drivers and everything is fine now, no CTD's and so on.

I think it's worth mentioning in the FAQ!

[bovi]

Great to hear, enjoy!

I think it's worth mentioning in the FAQ!

At least now it's mentioned in the validation thread, among the other solutions that have helped people .