Strange crash (kernel.dll).

[Damo]

Hi all, I've got a problem that has me flummoxed. I recently reinstalled my whole SH3 install and added my mods one by one. Everything was working fine after I spent a long time merging certain config files to incorporate any changes into my game files. I tested with both the Academy and the Brake single mission using the IXC in 1942 every time and they all loaded fine.

I use SH3 Commander and always start my game with it.

Anyway, I loaded up my first mission and it was fine, starting me in the sub pen at St. Nazaire so I embarked on the patrol. Everything was fine, I sunk a few merchants and then carried on until I was SW of Spain. I needed to sleep so saved the game. I was on the surface, 100's of kilometres from land or any wrecks and in the F2 view of the control room, as I always do.

Next day, I came back and loaded the save but just before it should go to 'Once upon a time...' I get an error report citing kernel.dll as the culprit. I thought, damn, my save is corrupt which we all know is an occupational hazard so I tried to load a previous save and I got the same error. Another previous save (North of Spain, previous to my first sunk merchant...do'h) and again, same error. I then started the patrol again in port and it loaded, back in St Nazaire.

I know kernel.dll deals with memory so I did a bit of experimenting and found my memory (2gig 800mhz) was almost being used completely during loading and it's as if there's a memory leak or something. My PC has had no previous issues running the game and I'm confused as to why, when there is less to load into memory in the middle of the sea, the game will crash, but loading in port pre patrol works fine, with all the added buildings, ships, aircraft flying their circuit adding to the memory burden.

First, let me show you my mods:

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy34/Damo4576/Misc/sh3mods.png

The mods work because I can start a patrol and have had no issues until I try and come back to it via a save.

And now, here's a display of my memory usage during the last part of loading, up until the crash:

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy34/Damo4576/Misc/memory.png

Seems exessive use of memory to me so why does it load fine in port?

I'm running a AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200+ with 2 gigs of memory on XP 32bit.

I'm thinking it may have something to do with the Freecam as maybe the game is trying to load the default camera position but when I saved it was in a different position? I'll disable and see if that fixes it.

Any ideas would be appreciated, I can't do a whole patrol in one sitting.....

[comet61]

I do not believe that this is a hardware/memory issue, more like a SHIII stock flaw. There is a recent post concerning saving near sunken ships (within 25-50km). I, myself ran into this and now take care where on the map I save. If I sink a ship, I use the compass tool and center on the "sunken ship" icon on the map and extend to 25-50km. When I save, I make sure I am not within that radius. Normally, I will save regardless after a sinking when I am well enough away from the last kill site. I have found that if I get the "black screen" after the save...that save will remain intact. So far....for me anyway.

Apparently this has to do with the rendering of the models upon save. I guess (from what I have understood to be the trouble) if you save within an area of a sinking, the game tries to render the "ship" that is gone...or something to that effect. Which in turn....casuses havoc with the system versus the game files....hence the..."death screen"...career over.

I would do a search and use the key words "render" or "rendering"..

[Damo]

I was not anywhere near any wrecks when I saved, or land. I've read too many horror stories on these forums to know better now. I always make sure I'm clear of any thing like that before every save so I know that's not the issue, besides, at least one of my three 'at sea' saves should have worked.

I tried disabling the Free Cam mod but to no avail, I've just decided to dump the career (retired with honors...lol), and have just started a new one in the 1st Flotilla in 1939 with a type IIA which I haven't done since I started playing the stock game. I just did a save 100km west of Heligoland after doing my first jaunt through the Kiel Canal and it loaded fine, so I'll keep an eye on it. Maybe it's to do with the IXC files, maybe I screwed something up during tweaking, I dunno, lets hope I survive long enough to test that theory when I got renown to splash around.

I've promised myself that I'm done adding mods as I love my game as it is now and will concentrate on my current career instead.

[flag4]

hi Damo

i have read your post and i am hearing mod conflict alarm bells. i know you have spent along time splicing them together, but something like this happend to me "not so long ago..." if you pardon the pun!!

it was Racerboys SH4 Special Effects and Thomsens Sound Pack. it started first with loading and finding the crew without wet gear in the conning tower when i had saved surfaced in bad weather with the crew all dolled up in Oilskins..

then your problem started and it would not load even when i went back to previous good save. in the end i scraped the patrol and pulled out one of the mods. since then no problems: i hope someone else has a better solution, good luck:salute:

by the way, your rig is plenty. i have amd athlon 3800+, 2gigs ram and 7800 nvid card and it runs very smooth

[Gerald]

Hi all, I've got a problem that has me flummoxed. I recently reinstalled my whole SH3 install and added my mods one by one. Everything was working fine after I spent a long time merging certain config files to incorporate any changes into my game files. I tested with both the Academy and the Brake single mission using the IXC in 1942 every time and they all loaded fine.

I use SH3 Commander and always start my game with it.

Anyway, I loaded up my first mission and it was fine, starting me in the sub pen at St. Nazaire so I embarked on the patrol. Everything was fine, I sunk a few merchants and then carried on until I was SW of Spain. I needed to sleep so saved the game. I was on the surface, 100's of kilometres from land or any wrecks and in the F2 view of the control room, as I always do.

Next day, I came back and loaded the save but just before it should go to 'Once upon a time...' I get an error report citing kernel.dll as the culprit. I thought, damn, my save is corrupt which we all know is an occupational hazard so I tried to load a previous save and I got the same error. Another previous save (North of Spain, previous to my first sunk merchant...do'h) and again, same error. I then started the patrol again in port and it loaded, back in St Nazaire.

I know kernel.dll deals with memory so I did a bit of experimenting and found my memory (2gig 800mhz) was almost being used completely during loading and it's as if there's a memory leak or something. My PC has had no previous issues running the game and I'm confused as to why, when there is less to load into memory in the middle of the sea, the game will crash, but loading in port pre patrol works fine, with all the added buildings, ships, aircraft flying their circuit adding to the memory burden.

First, let me show you my mods:

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy34/Damo4576/Misc/sh3mods.png

The mods work because I can start a patrol and have had no issues until I try and come back to it via a save.

And now, here's a display of my memory usage during the last part of loading, up until the crash:

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy34/Damo4576/Misc/memory.png

Seems exessive use of memory to me so why does it load fine in port?

I'm running a AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200+ with 2 gigs of memory on XP 32bit.

I'm thinking it may have something to do with the Freecam as maybe the game is trying to load the default camera position but when I saved it was in a different position? I'll disable and see if that fixes it.

Any ideas would be appreciated, I can't do a whole patrol in one sitting.....

I have prob. about kernell.dll and I think the files are corrupt and damage,so i go back in time to solve the issue 2-3 patrol and then try again

[Damo]

hi Damo

i have read your post and i am hearing mod conflict alarm bells. i know you have spent along time splicing them together, but something like this happend to me "not so long ago..." if you pardon the pun!!

it was Racerboys SH4 Special Effects and Thomsens Sound Pack. it started first with loading and finding the crew without wet gear in the conning tower when i had saved surfaced in bad weather with the crew all dolled up in Oilskins..

then your problem started and it would not load even when i went back to previous good save. in the end i scraped the patrol and pulled out one of the mods. since then no problems: i hope someone else has a better solution, good luck:salute:

by the way, your rig is plenty. i have amd athlon 3800+, 2gigs ram and 7800 nvid card and it runs very smooth

It would have to be the two mods I can't live without!! LOL.

Saying that, I had no problems with this new career when I saved outbound so I'll go with it until I hit the issue again but hopefully it was just that one career that got screwed. I'm on my way home from the east coat of England after sinking 18000GRT so I'll try saving mid North Sea and see how that works out now I've sunk some ships.