Constant Crashing Causes Consternation

09-06-05, 11:55 AM

My problem has only cropped up recently. It doesn't crash on loading the game. It doesn't crash on loading a career. It only crashes in the middle of a convoy battle. it doesn't matter if I have extra smoke effects loaded or not; it doesn't matter if I'm looking at the ship I just sunk or I'm at 50 meters reloading torpedoes. I can play for hours just sailing around, or I can load a game I saved just before going into action. It doesn't matter. Somewhere in the middle of the battle it crashes, and I get the Windows Error Report.

I'm assuming it has something to do with my RAM. I supposedly have the required 512, but I don't have the recommended 1GIG. When I install the game (and I've reinstalled several times) the screen tells me that all my requirements are met except for memory. I didn't have this happen previously; it's only started in the past few weeks.

Any ideas?

FesterShinetop · 09-06-05, 12:11 PM

Perhaps try loading the game with a program like FSAutostart activated which frees up as much RAM as possible by switching off programs and processes you don't need (you can choose yourself what to switch off BTW and the programs runs them again after exiting SHIII e.g.).
Try here:
http://www.kensalter.com/fsautostart

09-06-05, 01:37 PM

I've used EndItAll to shut things down for quite some time now, and it's not helping. As soon as my own computer is back on line and I can download things I'll try that one.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Of course when I have enough money again I'll get more memory as well.

Iceberg · 09-06-05, 02:16 PM

It can be a bad memory chip. Things like that can happen. The best way of knowing if that's your problem is to replace your RAM. Well I know it's easier said then done but if you can find some RAM (from another computer maybe) just to try it out.
If you have one dimm of 512MB and were planning to buy another 512MB then you can try with only your new 512MB first and see if it fixes your problem.

Good luck,

Iceberg

joea · 09-06-05, 03:27 PM

Talk about coincidence. Same problem here. Two crashes on my current patrol. The first was my fault as I was playing the grammophone at 64 TC while trying to move the map around too quickly. Oops. Second had just got some clean shots at a very large convoy and had hit a C2, C3 and sunk a T3 (fired all tubes) and was nseaking between the convoy. I heard a report from my SO about a warship closing on bearing 351 so was trying to look through my scope (it was just after dusk in sept. 42) to find it and whammo!

Yes I kicked my chair across the room. I don't have that uch time to play and had set up a nice semi-manual shots and all only to have it ruined. Not sure what the problem is. Sound like the gramophone it crashed just as the SO was updating me while I was looking thorugh the scope...yet I thiink as I has been on the net before playing and although I use fsautostart am not sure everything was shut down. Reason? After the CTD I rebooted and got a message firefox.exe will not shut down?WTF?

Well will look into this.. I suppose my mission (last save was on patrol before convoy contact) is fubar now.

CB.. · 09-06-05, 06:41 PM

i don't suppose that old trick of turning down the sound card excelleration would apply here at all?

when i first installed the game i couldn't get thru a patrol without it crashing untill i turned down the sound hardware excell to low..(basic?)

since then i've had no crashes that couldnt be directly traced to a non stock file or alteration etc

middle of a battle-lots of sound files getting played same with gramophone...

oRGy · 09-07-05, 02:58 AM

Go through all your sound files - I believe you have custom ones - and make sure they're all 44khz, 16bit, mono, PCM.

KptnLt Eric Karle · 09-07-05, 05:16 AM

Sailor Steve, you might want to give this a try. Its a free program that runs off a floppy and checks your RAM quite thoroughly, it will tell you if you have a problem, but you should run it overnight so that it can check everything. Hope it helps

http://www.memtest86.com/

oRGy · 09-07-05, 07:11 AM

I'll bet my monocle that its a soundfile related crash, though.

KptnLt Eric Karle · 09-07-05, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oRGy

I'll bet my monocle that its a soundfile related crash, though.

It's weird how this sim works for different systems. I have experimented extensively with frequencies and bit rates and never had a crash at all. Bizarre huh.

09-07-05, 12:15 PM

CB: Will check the acceleration on the sound card when I get home. Thanks for the tip.

oRGy: You bet I have a lot of custom sound files...I made 'em myself! I discovered the 'stereo' problem in the .ogg speech files a long time ago. Doesn't mean I caught them all though. I'll have to have a look at each and every one of them when I get the chance.

KptnLt Eric Karle: As I can only get online at the local library I can't download anything right now. I'll try to look into that, though.

The thing really concerning me is this: I'm running three separate careers, and have been in firefights with all of them. As I said, the problem only started recently. Maybe some others are right, and it just won't work with more than one, or at most two careers. Too bad if that's true, because I did it that way with AOD and SHII, and I like it.

Oh well, tonight I'll try those suggestions, and hopefully soon I'll have an answer.

joea · 09-07-05, 12:46 PM

Just a question, how do I check .ogg files to see if they are in the correct format??

09-07-05, 01:07 PM

You need a sound program like Goldwave: www.goldwave.com
This can convert sound files back and forth between different formats, and also you can convert from mono to stereo and change bit rates etc.

09-13-05, 01:55 PM

Well, I've tried everything. I've checked every sound file, and they're the way they should be. I've adjusted the sound acceleration, to no affect. The memory is fine with every other program I run.

I'm still thinking I don't have enough of that memory stuff for the game's requirements, and it will be some time before I can afford that. I'll report back in when I do.

Gizzmoe · 09-13-05, 01:58 PM

Steve, set the swap file to 1-1.5GB fixed size, that could help.

09-06-05, 11:55 AM	#1
Sailor Steve Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Constant Crashing Causes Consternation My problem has only cropped up recently. It doesn't crash on loading the game. It doesn't crash on loading a career. It only crashes in the middle of a convoy battle. it doesn't matter if I have extra smoke effects loaded or not; it doesn't matter if I'm looking at the ship I just sunk or I'm at 50 meters reloading torpedoes. I can play for hours just sailing around, or I can load a game I saved just before going into action. It doesn't matter. Somewhere in the middle of the battle it crashes, and I get the Windows Error Report. I'm assuming it has something to do with my RAM. I supposedly have the required 512, but I don't have the recommended 1GIG. When I install the game (and I've reinstalled several times) the screen tells me that all my requirements are met except for memory. I didn't have this happen previously; it's only started in the past few weeks. Any ideas?

09-06-05, 06:41 PM	#6
CB.. Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,278 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	i don't suppose that old trick of turning down the sound card excelleration would apply here at all? when i first installed the game i couldn't get thru a patrol without it crashing untill i turned down the sound hardware excell to low..(basic?) since then i've had no crashes that couldnt be directly traced to a non stock file or alteration etc middle of a battle-lots of sound files getting played same with gramophone... __________________ the world's tinyiest sh3 supermod- and other SH3/SH2 stuff http://www.ebort2.co.uk/ The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. W.B.Yeats

09-07-05, 05:16 AM	#8
KptnLt Eric Karle Ensign Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ireland Posts: 229 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Sailor Steve, you might want to give this a try. Its a free program that runs off a floppy and checks your RAM quite thoroughly, it will tell you if you have a problem, but you should run it overnight so that it can check everything. Hope it helps http://www.memtest86.com/ __________________ My Mod's: Karle's Silent Hunter III Mods My Music: http://www.reverbnation.com/thisturbulentpriest

09-06-05, 12:11 PM	#2
FesterShinetop Gunner Join Date: May 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 96 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Perhaps try loading the game with a program like FSAutostart activated which frees up as much RAM as possible by switching off programs and processes you don't need (you can choose yourself what to switch off BTW and the programs runs them again after exiting SHIII e.g.). Try here: http://www.kensalter.com/fsautostart

09-06-05, 01:37 PM	#3
Sailor Steve Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	I've used EndItAll to shut things down for quite some time now, and it's not helping. As soon as my own computer is back on line and I can download things I'll try that one. Thanks for the suggestion. Of course when I have enough money again I'll get more memory as well.

09-06-05, 02:16 PM	#4
Iceberg Bosun Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 68 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	It can be a bad memory chip. Things like that can happen. The best way of knowing if that's your problem is to replace your RAM. Well I know it's easier said then done but if you can find some RAM (from another computer maybe) just to try it out. If you have one dimm of 512MB and were planning to buy another 512MB then you can try with only your new 512MB first and see if it fixes your problem. Good luck, Iceberg

09-06-05, 03:27 PM	#5
joea Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: At periscope depth in Lake Geneva Posts: 3,512 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	Talk about coincidence. Same problem here. Two crashes on my current patrol. The first was my fault as I was playing the grammophone at 64 TC while trying to move the map around too quickly. Oops. Second had just got some clean shots at a very large convoy and had hit a C2, C3 and sunk a T3 (fired all tubes) and was nseaking between the convoy. I heard a report from my SO about a warship closing on bearing 351 so was trying to look through my scope (it was just after dusk in sept. 42) to find it and whammo! Yes I kicked my chair across the room. I don't have that uch time to play and had set up a nice semi-manual shots and all only to have it ruined. Not sure what the problem is. Sound like the gramophone it crashed just as the SO was updating me while I was looking thorugh the scope...yet I thiink as I has been on the net before playing and although I use fsautostart am not sure everything was shut down. Reason? After the CTD I rebooted and got a message firefox.exe will not shut down?WTF? Well will look into this.. I suppose my mission (last save was on patrol before convoy contact) is fubar now.

09-07-05, 02:58 AM	#7
oRGy Crusty Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 648 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Go through all your sound files - I believe you have custom ones - and make sure they're all 44khz, 16bit, mono, PCM.

09-07-05, 07:11 AM	#9
oRGy Crusty Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 648 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	I'll bet my monocle that its a soundfile related crash, though.

09-07-05, 12:15 PM	#11
Sailor Steve Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	CB: Will check the acceleration on the sound card when I get home. Thanks for the tip. oRGy: You bet I have a lot of custom sound files...I made 'em myself! I discovered the 'stereo' problem in the .ogg speech files a long time ago. Doesn't mean I caught them all though. I'll have to have a look at each and every one of them when I get the chance. KptnLt Eric Karle: As I can only get online at the local library I can't download anything right now. I'll try to look into that, though. The thing really concerning me is this: I'm running three separate careers, and have been in firefights with all of them. As I said, the problem only started recently. Maybe some others are right, and it just won't work with more than one, or at most two careers. Too bad if that's true, because I did it that way with AOD and SHII, and I like it. Oh well, tonight I'll try those suggestions, and hopefully soon I'll have an answer.

09-07-05, 12:46 PM	#12
joea Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: At periscope depth in Lake Geneva Posts: 3,512 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	Just a question, how do I check .ogg files to see if they are in the correct format??

09-07-05, 01:07 PM	#13
Sailor Steve Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	You need a sound program like Goldwave: www.goldwave.com This can convert sound files back and forth between different formats, and also you can convert from mono to stereo and change bit rates etc.

09-13-05, 01:55 PM	#14
Sailor Steve Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Well, I've tried everything. I've checked every sound file, and they're the way they should be. I've adjusted the sound acceleration, to no affect. The memory is fine with every other program I run. I'm still thinking I don't have enough of that memory stuff for the game's requirements, and it will be some time before I can afford that. I'll report back in when I do.

09-13-05, 01:58 PM	#15
Gizzmoe Silent Hunter Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 3,668 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Steve, set the swap file to 1-1.5GB fixed size, that could help.