Multiple CTD Issues

[EBnut]

Hi all,

Been a fan of EB for over a year and have usually found answers to my questions by simply combing through the posts. But this one has me completely stumped so...voila! my first post!

Problem: game CTD's multiple times in any given turn (usually on the strategic map) sometimes within minutes of a new reboot.

This is what I have:
EB 081av2
Windows XP (service pack2)
AMD 3500+
4 gig ram
Nvidia 6800

This is what I've done (in order)
Clean copy of RTW
Clean copy of BI
Patch RTW to 1.5
Install EB
Remove Map.rwm
Begin campaign (with RTW disc in system).

I've also tried some of the temp solutions but no go.

Have I missed a step or is there something incredibly obvious to others that I'm missing? All the same, I'd appreciate any advice you may have. Thanks all, this is truly an incredible mod.

[bovi]

The most obvious thing you missed is the post about how to ask for help, it's linked in my sig. Specifically, post your savegame. I also see that you have not included the permanent fix to your list, that might help you out if you've missed it.

[EBnut]

God Kveld, Bovi

I uploaded the saved game to the file below (hope I did this right?) file name is:Ptolemoi1

http://uploaded.de/?id=posalr

Yes, I have also tried the permanent fixes...

Takk!

[Foot]

But you still haven't done what we asked. We need full details of what is happening when you ctd, as in the post that bovi linked you to. We cannot help you otherwise.

Foot

[bovi]

Runs fine on my installation. I've got the broader rebellion CTD fix installed from an earlier experimentation, the rest is straight 0.81aV2 with traits typo fix.

[EBnut]

Bovi, Foot,

Thanks guys for your reply. I realize that we all have lives/work/etc. and greatly appreciate the time your taking to help me out.

Foot, the crash happens while on the strategic map and under different conditions For instance when I move a fleet, a diplomat, spy, or army, the unit in question manages to get about midway through and then CTD. Sometimes I'm simply looking around the map with my arrow keys and then CTD. Others, I assign construction or build army, and then CTD when back to strategic map. I've not yet received a CTD when conducting diplomacy, in battle mode, or when the AI moves. For the record, I'm playing Egypt (Ptolemaioi sorry ) and all the CTDs happen when I'm poking around the Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia.

The events described above do not cause a CTD 100% of the time, but these are the activities I'm doing whenever a CTD happens. For the most part, I am able to move that diplomat to the desired location, and build that road and infantry unit. So it appears to be random, which makes it difficult to identify a single cause. But, if I'm playing for half an hour, a CTD happens at least 7x. (As such, I'm saving the game literally after every move.)

When I do get a CTD, the screen blacks out for a split-second and the desktop comes back up. No error message, nothing. I can go back and restart the game. Or remove the map.rwm file and then start the game (I've tried both).

Having regularly played EB in previous incarnations, I've always started the background script. In this version, I've yet to reach the sixth year of the campaign before uninstalling and reloading all over again to try to get rid of the CTDs.

Rebellious cities- yes, especially with Seleukia in their outer provinces (I spot them with my diplomat and also tried playing the faction earlier). Lots of blue and red faces out there.

I have no other mods. EB official is the only one I have and all my drivers are up to date.

Bovi,

I'm glad it works on your system, which means the prob is on my end. Soooo... at the risk of public humiliation, this is how I applied the perm/temp fixes:

traits file typo fix:
downloaded as "edct_typofix.rar" renamed it to:
export_descr_character_traits.txt and placed it in the EB/data folder. (I backed up and relocated the original)

Broader Rebellion fix:
downloaded CTD Fix for EB v0.81 and renamed it as "export_descr_buildings.txt" then placed it in the EB/data folder (also backed up the original)

I've used the same procedures for the Oasis and trait file.

If I did this wrong, please tell me-I can take the embarrassment

Thanks!

[bovi]

traits file typo fix:
downloaded as "edct_typofix.rar" renamed it to:
export_descr_character_traits.txt and placed it in the EB/data folder. (I backed up and relocated the original)

That's your mistake. The file is compressed for quicker transfer, so you need to unpack it, not rename it. You can use 7-zip, Winrar or another RAR extractor. I'm amazed the game can even run at all when you put a compressed file as EDCT .

Broader Rebellion fix:
downloaded CTD Fix for EB v0.81 and renamed it as "export_descr_buildings.txt" then placed it in the EB/data folder (also backed up the original)

I've used the same procedures for the Oasis and trait file.

Ditto.

[EBnut]

Hi guys,

Thanks again for the reply. Based on the suggestions (and pointing out my error with the rar file ) I uninstalled reinstalled RTW, patched it to 1.5 as before, installed EB, removed map.rwm from EB/data/world/maps/base and installed via Winrar:

1)Traits file typo fix
2)Broader rebellion CTD fix
3)Oasis CTD
4)Trait File Nerf

...and left them all there.

For good measure, I hit cntrl-alt-delete and removed everything except for:
• csrss.exe
• hidserv.exe
• MSTask.exe
• System Idle Process
• System
• winlogon.exe
• services.exe
• svchost.exe
• spoolsv.exe
• WinMgmt.exe
• taskmgr.exe
• IEXPLORE.EXE
• Explorer.EXE

Then, with great anticipation...ran the game.

It ran surprisingly well (I still saved after every move just in case) until I reached 269 BC when things started to arbitrarily CTD again even after less than five minutes running.

This time, I was besieging a city (as well as being besieged) so I was able to get more info:
If the game CTD's in strategic map mode, I can reload the game straight from the desktop.
If the game CTD's in battle map mode, when I try to reload from the desktop, the entire computer freezes (black screen-nothing more), thus requiring a reboot before I can run the game again.

Here is my saved game (Ptolemy1)
http://uploaded.to/?id=8rr9my

The only other thing is that I "cheated" by early on pressing tilde and typing "add_money 50000" . I figured if this game was experimental, I might as well push it all the way and see if there was a co-relation between buildings/ infantry in queque and the CTD.

Anyway, that's were things stand right now. Previous versions of EB have run fairly well on my system so perhaps this latest version is a fluke? I also downloaded EB a couple times in case the original download was corrupt.

Despite the issues I'm experiencing, EB is the best damn game of its kind that I've played (or at this time, attempted to play). The depth, attention to historical detail, and coverage of what you guys are doing is amazing. I've run out to buy every TW game as early as possible except for M2TW simply because of EB. I still haven't bought M2TW and probably won't until they either come up with a "Gold" version of their own, or you guys come up with a version for that game.

Keep doing what you're doing. If my problem can be solved, great! If not, I eagerly await the next version in hopes that it will run on my system.

Many thanks!

[bovi]

I had some trouble back when I had an XFX NVidia 6600 card, as RTW and any other DirectX 9.0c game would crash after 1-40 minutes. I was not the only one by far, there were tons of threads on the subject around the net. NVidia's drivers are in my experience not very stable, I had to use a year-old driver at the time to even have it work, and then at a snail's pace. Enter ATI, and everything works like a charm... I won't ever buy another NVidia card.

Anyway, maybe the 6800 is unstable too? Have you tried to experiment with different driver versions (particularly the latest one )? Have you seen what temperature your card is getting? Crashing on the battlemap is definitely a sign of an unstable system. Please run memtest too overnight, to see if there is anything fishy there. I had to reduce the access frequency in my BIOS when I bought two gigs recently, as they occasionally gave errors every couple of minutes.

[EBnut]

Thanks Bovi for the reply,

Interesting about Nvidia. Perhaps ATI's stability is why they were bought by AMD?

I was planning to replace my video card at the end of the year with a GeForce 8800, as I've always gone Nvidia. But this time I'll definitely take more than a second look at ATI. Who knows? Perhaps by then the next version of EB will be out?

Thanks again for all your help. My drivers are up to date and hopefully they'll come out with another updates. The system runs at about 33c and I'll also run a memtest as well.

All my best,