GWX3 Gold - my first CTD

[Paul Riley]

About 30mins ago I had my first CTD with GWX3 Gold.In fact this is the first time SH3 has ever CTD on me before.I was just exiting the Kiel harbour when the CTD came,no warning,nothing.
Below is a list of the mods I had enabled-
- 16k Atm.
-Capt.Am.Off.Icons
-Enh.Dam.Effects
-L.Harb.Tr.
-Alt.Load.Scr.
* I also had Hitman's Optics for GWX3 v.1

I disabled Hitman's optics as it doesnt have the GWX signature at the beginning of the mod name (in the JSGME listing),believing this could be the culprit.I am now going to try OLCs optics this time.I know I have been told to be wary of mods that dont exclusively display the GWX approval,but I really do need to get rid of that rim around the scopes,ideally.After that I will be installing absolutely NO mods that dont carry the official GWX approval.

There are no extra running processes in Task Manager,all graphics card and Direct X updates are installed,and the GWX installation was carried out in the correct manner and order,to the letter.

Thanks for any help here :up:

[tomfon]

CTD's when near land is common, i think.
Were you using the TC before the CTD?

[Paul Riley]

tomfon,

I had used 64TC for a SHORT period while going through the Kiel harbour,then slowed down to normal TC as a ship was sighted approaching the harbour,an Argentinian merchant I think it was judging by the flag it displayed.Minutes later the crash came.

:cry:

I feel somewhat relieved that this may be a problem near land,but for the life of me cant imagine why,maybe a memory problem somewhere.

[Packerton]

It may simply be a random crash, that can happen in any game engine no matter what, did you try again?

[Pepe le Moko]

Take it easy, a crash once in a while is annoying yes, but it is not such a big deal as long as it doesn't happen too often.

[tomfon]

It may simply be a random crash, that can happen in any game engine no matter what...

Yeah. Unfortunately.

[Jimbuna]

What are your pooter specs Paul?

It is possible the proximity of the cargo vessel had a catastrophic event on the fps.......although if that were the case you'd have big trouble when encountering a convoy.

You didn't hit a mine per chance?

[Paul Riley]

Jim,

My system is as follows-

Intel D875PBZ MB with latest Bios update
P4 processor @ 3.0Ghz (the older one with HT not the latest dual core)
2GB RAM
Sapphire ATI X800 Pro (256MB VRAM) with latest driver
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 sound card with latest driver
Direct X 9.0c (with latest monthly update)
Virtual Memory set at 1000MB min/max (I may need to crank this up a bit,and later test)

I believe it may have been a random crash,but I will not be able to fully tell as I havent been back on my patrol yet,i've been in the academy honing my techniques.And my fps seem fine considering the sizeable fps hit when in port.
The convoy training ran at good fps,so I should be able to handle them later on,I hope.
I will keep you posted if I experience this again.

Thanks for the support.

[Jimbuna]

Your specs are fine mate....keep us posted http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Paul Riley]

Will do jim,will do :salute:

[Pisces]

If you can't think of any other reason for the crash, you could check if the graphicscard fan is dusty. And the CPU fan ofcourse aswel. High temperatures in the case have been the sole cause of crashes on my PC.

[nikbear]

If you can't think of any other reason for the crash, you could check if the graphicscard fan is dusty. And the CPU fan ofcourse aswel. High temperatures in the case have been the sole cause of crashes on my PC.

Thats what happened to me recently,kept getting CTD's and all sorts,took the side off my PC and what did I find.........Enough hair and dust and all sorts of crap inside the case,since hoovering with a gentle hand held I've had no such problems:03:Might be and idea:hmmm:

[Paul Riley]

I stripped my PC out the other day,front intake fans have been cleaned,2 exhaust fans also.Gave a quick blast with compressed air over the CPU and GPU.Then something dawned on me,I thought "its been a long time since I applied some cooling paste to my CPU" , I looked under the chip and the paste has practically gone,relying solely on the heat sink instead (themal paste reduces temps by about 10%) .Having said that,my CPU temperature at peak load (especially with this version of SHIII) is between 60 and 65 degrees,inside the critical threshold for P4 CPUs.Critical range for p4 CPUs is 70-75+ degrees :o
As I am working online right now my internal temps are peaking at 40 degrees,this is my working load,idle is 28-30 deg.System boot is a cool 25 deg.

No I think it was one of those moments,yet...I am keeping an eye on this.

Thanks.

[nikbear]

Do you know,I've never checked the seal to my CPU:oYou've got the same CPU as me PR,Infact your running a very similar system:hmmm:Well I'll be:shucks:

[Paul Riley]

:salute:

[Pisces]

Temps in the 60s, Yikes! Do keep in mind it is only the month of May right now. Summer has yet to come in earnest. I put as thin a layer of cooling paste as I could between the cpu and heat sink. It is really to bridge the gaps and scratches rather than to conduct the heat all by itself. Use as little as possible. Any excess layer of paste does make a temperature barrier keeping degrees into the CPU instead of the sink. Mine is an intel P4 2.6 Ghz HT with standard heatsink, and it doesn't go beyond 55 degrees C. Considering my case can hardly suck cool air and expel warm air.

[Paul Riley]

I experienced a second CTD about 12:30 tonight.It pains me to have to write negative comments about a brilliant expansion,but I find it important to notify you of any crashes so that someone can analyse my description and check that its a recognized problem or not.This new CTD seems linked to the map screen.I had zoomed the map out in order to get a good view of Europe and all the new ports,I then tracked west to have a look at the USA ports,and thats when the game froze and CTD.I think I may have tracked too fast,as the map jumps a bit when loading up all the ports in the immediate area on the map,used to do this in stock too.This possibly causes the game to lock up as it struggles to load too many ports at once,an overload.In future I will track the map slower and smoother,see if that helps.

Anyone know about this one?

Thanks.

[Madox58]

There are reports of CTD when tracking the map in the Black Sea area,
Or the Baltic sea.
Something like that.

But this is the first I remember concerning the USA area.

[Paul Riley]

Actually,I think the CTD did in fact freeze in that area,what I meant to say was I was beginning to track the map to the USA.

Good to know these are recognized,and actually quite minor.Two CTDs in 24hrs isnt that bad.

One thing I would have liked in SHIII,like you get in some games,is an autosave option,and the ability to set how many autosaves the game makes and how frequent.Other games I have like Oblivion feature this,and its a good solid emergency backup in case of unexpected CTD.

Right,guess thats that then :yep:

[Paul Riley]

One EXCELLENT feature I noticed with GWX3G I forgot to mention is the removal of the Enter button launching torpedoes,times I caught the Enter button in stock version when pressing CTRL Ins/Del to control the scope raise and lower function.Truly an indispensible aid! :yeah:

[Pisces]

Actually,I think the CTD did in fact freeze in that area,what I meant to say was I was beginning to track the map to the USA.

Good to know these are recognized,and actually quite minor.Two CTDs in 24hrs isnt that bad.

One thing I would have liked in SHIII,like you get in some games,is an autosave option,and the ability to set how many autosaves the game makes and how frequent.Other games I have like Oblivion feature this,and its a good solid emergency backup in case of unexpected CTD.

Right,guess thats that then :yep:I did have freezes of the map screen when I had my grammophone folder stuffed with (Jimbuna's) tracks and playing them. I don't think it really was the large amount of files, but also a temperature problem with my harddrives. The sounds kept looping as the drivemotor couldn't keep the disk at speed or the magnetic head in place. They were placed back-to-back in the bracket without ofcourse any airflow. Seperating them and adding a circulation fan cured their 'fever'. Other than that I've never had crashes on the map.

[Paul Riley]

Right about the hard drives being so close together as you say Pisces.
In my particular case (which is a silver Lian Li P60)my hard drive cage can hold 4 HDs.I only have one HD at the moment,but its on the bottom bracket nearer to the bottom of the case,away from the warmest parts like the processor and AGP card.
If you arent aware (I am sure you are) apply some silver compound to the underside of your CPU and watch the temperatures go down,by about 10% depending on the quality of the compound.
Dust and overheating is probably the main sole culprit for many crashes,unless of course there is bad code in the game itself,which I cant imagine is the case with GWX3,its certain mods that seem to do the worst damage :nope:

Cheers.

[El Mariachi]

Hi Guys,

Just completed my first patrol with GWX3 (first time on any version of GWX) and I have to say, it's superb. I can't believe I stuck with the stock game for so long.

However, I have to report that unlike with the stock game, in the past 24 hours I've had 3 CTDs.

Perhaps this is a wider issue? (Two of them were near land, as reported, the other wasn't but I don't remember exactly what I was doing at the time).

Seeing as this is happening to other people, I'll keep a log as to where and when it happens.

Cheers,

El

[Paul Riley]

Greetings El,

So you had a few CTDs eh?,good that we are not alone on this one.Let me just say that the game hasnt crashed since I entered open water.The 2 CTDs I have experienced so far seemed to be based around Kiel and a bit further north.As soon as I broke into the North Sea the game has ran like a charm.

Keep us posted,me in particular :hmmm:

[Paul Riley]

You know like patches come out for most games,is it possible to patch an expansion pack like GWX3? .The patch would be based on all the information we can provide here.CTD cures would obviously be high on the list of fixes.
Let me just say I am still loving GWX3! :woot:

[Murr44]

Here is a link: http://silent-hunter-addict.com/CTDs_Crash_To_Desktop.html that deals with ctd problems. Hope this helps you out...

[Paul Riley]

Thanks for that Murr.

Just let me say that those 2 CTDs before were the last time so far it has happened.Since breaking out into open sea there have been no problems.Must be linked to close proximity to land,yet I hope not as I am penetrating Southend at the moment.

I will look at the link in a bit :up:

[RoaldLarsen]

...I am penetrating Southend at the moment.
Nobody wants to hear about your sexual proclivities, Paul :O:

[Paul Riley]

I knew it wouldnt be long before someone said that :88) hehe