Read this if you are crashing all the time!

[Jellobiafra]

Originally posted by Jequan
Btw: it's not 128mb in my machine! It's 1024 = 1gigabyte.
It's not faulty.

If you stop trying to make me sound like an idiot, I'll leave the thread. My quote about the 128mb was from another poster who said they couldn't use XP because they had only 128mb of ram.

I really don't understand why you're being so harsh with me just because I don't agree that it's AO.

[______________Jequan]

Originally posted by Jellobiafra


If you stop trying to make me sound like an idiot, I'll leave the thread. My quote about the 128mb was from another poster who said they couldn't use XP because they had only 128mb of ram.

I really don't understand why you're being so harsh with me just because I don't agree that it's AO.

Oh sorry. Didn't read close enough i fear.
I'm sorry if i'm being a bit harsh but i am so upset with this crashing by now. I played AO for a year and it was so totally flooded with bugs so noone can tell me that the AO client is stable. It never was and most likely never will be.

I didn't want to attack you personally.
I'll just stop playing this game since it causes only trouble and there's a lot other MMORPGs out there.

[Jellobiafra]

I hate that anyone is having problems. I read a post like this, and I start going back and reading posts from the last year about crashes and just see so many things that fixed it for people.

Some things I found:

1) Bad stick of RAM
2) Motherboard needed flashed
3) Turn sound off (sound card issues)
4) OS won't run AO with 1GB ram. Remove 1 stick works fine
5) Driver upgrade/roll backs
6) OS reinstall
7) Change T&L config to whatever that other one is
8) Disable Firewall
9) Disable Virus Protection
10) IRQ sharing issues

I know it's frustrating, because I dealt with it at one point too. I'm not saying it's definitely not an AO issue. What I'm saying, is that it's probably an issue with each machine handling the patch badly in different ways.

I personally think the patching process could be improved. Many people do not use the auto patcher, and download the patch instead, saying that they have never had a problem since.

It's confusing, because there always seems to be issues directly after a patch. Now, if everyone you talk to in game is having a problem after a patch, then you know it's a coding issue. But if it's less than 1% of the community, then it has to be something else.

I think machines just get screwed up when the patching happens, and things don't mesh correctly. Unfortunately for me, and others, this has meant starting from the beginning and doing a fresh install of the OS and working up from there, installing drivers one by one making sure everything is working ok. It's a pain in the arse, but in 99% of the cases I've helped people with, it has worked.

I hope you can find a fix for your problem, and I wish I could be more helpful.

[______________Jequan]

I managed to run it for one hour then i had to log off. I think i solved my problem!

I allready told you about my checksum problems with autopatcher.
I had them with the downloadable files from the site too so i had to download them all multiple times.

So after a long time of DLing i had them all down and they applied.

Well i thought: What the heck: Downloaded em all over again!
Reinstalled and applied them and it seems to work now.

Can it be that the patcher aplied a bad patch or something like this?

Somehow my client must've been affected but i had no clue how.

[Jellobiafra]

Could be, although I would wait until you can play for a few hours to see if everything really is ok.

Yeah, I think that the auto patcher could use some revising. There really isn't any other way to explain so many wierd problems directly after a patch.

Looks like you might have solved your problem. Glad to hear it!

[______________Kelive]

Hi had all the same problems after switching to XP from ME. Took me a while but eventually after installing all the latest drivers for my hardware, one by one, managed to get it running smoothly again. It seems my cranky ole creative 5.1 sound card just need some new driver love and attention.

Hope it helps.

[Jstrom]

I have three seperate machines that I play AO on and all of them were locking up or worse they would do a hard reboot.

I tried all of the fixes I found on the forums and none of them seem to work for me. However I did find one thing that seemed to fix it on all of my machines and that was to switch back to the old control panel.

This fix may not work for everyone but its something easy to try hope it helps.

Later

[Sixsquid]

2 and a half years of playing AO and I have never had lock-ups, bsod, reboots or any problems.... until now

Thankfully I only get a hard reboot about once a or wtice day... but it is usually in missions, team or solo, no message or lockup just insta-reboot.

My pc's spec hasnt changed in the last 12 months, so its not a hardware issue, and I tweek and maintain my XP install all the time to remove unwanted software/OS clutter.

I can only put it down to 2 things....


1) Something patched in recently.
2) Wireless network issues (tho I doubt this as its stable with every other application/game)

....as these are the only things that have changed on my system in the past year.

AMD 2600 / 512mb(2x256) / VIA / KT400A / GF3 Ti500 / Origo Wireless ADSL router/modem + Dlink USB Adapters.(only new kit added in ages)

On a side note: I always play windowed mode(1280x1024), and hardly ever have any sound playing (all sounds/fx turned off - not just my speakers).

I can't quite remember when this started happening, but it was definatly around the time of the 15.X patches and SL, which makes me suspect that it is a bug/incompatibility written in, as FC made quite a few changed to the core code at that time.

Although my problem isn't that bad, I can go 12hours with no reboot, and alot longer if I stay out of missions/dungeons, it seems to effect quite a large proportion of the AO community to various degrees of seriousness, and really should be looked into by FC.

[LeSourdre]

well... it seems that i solved my "ao crashing" probs. all i did was :
- uninstall ao
- upgrade zone alarm pro (firewall)
- uninstall all video/audio codecs used for divx etc
- uninstall the last nvidia drivers (i never install sb own drivers but let os installing them)
- reboot and let win xp pro choose my video drivers.
- reinstall ao/sl

No crash since 2 weeks, updated to the last nvidia drivers... and still no probs ^^

*crossing my fingers*

Config :
Asus a7m266d
2 AMP MP2000+
1go ram ecc 266mhz
Geforce2 pro 64mo
Promise ATA100 / IBM é*120go
Modem cable
SBAudigy Player
DVD Pioneer / CD-RW LG 40x
Iomega zip
Windows xp pro (always fully patched)

[______________Reiydu]

Here we go again...

Allow me to tranlate some of this technical talk...

"You need to reinstall your O/S and then completely re-install the game" (Even though EVERYTHING else and EVERY other game, online or offline work just FINE)

Translates to:

I have no clue what the problem is and I'm not near technical enough to help you.

"You may have a bad stick of RAM" (Even though EVERYTHING else and EVERY other game, online or offline works just FINE)

Translates to:

I have no clue what the problem is and I'm not near technical enough to help you.

Let's cover a few of the technical issues that could make AO Crash.

1) Bad stick of RAM

ROFL. I say if EVERYTHING else runs fine then the problem isn't the RAM =) I had bad RAM once... If the RAM is bad enough that it will crash a game that is coded well then XP or your Motherboard are very likely going to report the RAM errors.

2) Motherboard needed flashed

Could happen, but its more likely an excuse or the person telling you this doesn't know the answer to your issue. Unless your Motherboard MNFG releases a new flash that addresses something pretty major then I'd say... excuse or clueless tech support.

3) Turn sound off (sound card issues)

Actually on older cards that are SB compatible, this is very true and will crash games. Fire up Everquest, EVE, SWG ect... does it work there... does the game crash? Please note: It's can't be the AO code =) lol.

4) OS won't run AO with 1GB ram. Remove 1 stick works fine

Ya, it's the O/S fault and certainly nothing to do with the design of AO or the code... lol 640k aught to be enough for anyone. Dam you for having so much RAM. Take out the RAM because 1 online game cant F* run with it.

5) Driver upgrade/roll backs

Yes, don't you dare install the latest certified drivers by your video mnfg. Again... not an AO or coding issue.

6) OS reinstall

Yes please reinstall your OS, that should keep you busy enough reinstalling crap for the day or longer so you don't bug us.

7) Change T&L config to whatever that other one is

lol, ya do that.

8) Disable Firewall

Yes firewalls are bad... sooo much harder to hack you with them enabled...

9) Disable Virus Protection

Ya viruses are a Hoax... you don't need protection... Mcafee, Trend and Symantec have really screwed up their code on millions of systems... it's not AOs fault their game may not be compatible... nor is it their responsibility to write code that is compatible with firewalls or virus scanners... besides the $99 to buy the software to test with wasn't in their budget. Again... fire up Everquest, EVE, SWG... crash? I thought not.

10) IRQ sharing issues

Sharing IRQ's are bad... certainly could be an issue... Video or Sound sharing IRQ could crash the game... but only after a patch lol.

I have 4 Computers runing AO. AO crashes on all of them. The "Its your computer not the code" is pretty old. I think most people just learn to live with the crashing and problems. Look how long missions were broken for and not fixed, seriously... think about it.

Don't quote percentage of complaints... nobody knows but Funcom and I SERIOUSLY doubt they will release those embarrasing numbers. All I know is most people I talk to in the game crash regularly, maybe only once or twice a day but they still crash.

All that being said... I do TOTALLY agree that the reason AO crashes is because of everyones comptuers having problems. Dam users keep installing software like firewalls and virus scanners, word processors, games and utilities... and dam them from browsing the net and getting spyware installed... Who could write game code to deal with that? Hell dam the millions of users who do this crap and screw up there PCs, they just won't learn =)

The REAL issues?

AO is very sensitive to other software. I believe there is a memory leak or at least some overlap of memory used into areas that it shouldn't be using. It certainly does have problems with other software running in the background. Symantec products don't seem to get along with AO. I noticed a lot less crashing in my testing with I removed Symantec Firewall and Anti-Virus. (Not just disabled... that appeared to do nothing). Completely removing both did help. It's not reasonable to have to remove both of these applications to play AO. (Everquest, DAOC, EVE and SWG work fine with these apps... with some hard work AO code can too...)

Office 2003 and ESPECIALLY Ad-Aware (Pro) had problems with AO. Removing them reduced the crashing per day. Actually installing Ad-Aware increased the crashing on 2 of my PCs to 2-3 times HOURLY. (Everquest, DAOC, EVE and SWG work fine with these apps... with some hard work AO code can too...)

Today, I don't crash much in SL, once or twice a day. I do crash constantly in the Subway and in the Temple and a little less in other areas on Rubi.

Rei

[_____________dribble]

We'll all I have to say if your running a new system like I was and crashing all the time. I checked my ram irq conflicts all those things you check. Changed them and everything nothing helped. I built the system myself which its pretty damn good system. I looked everywhere to fix my problem till finally found something on the manufactors website to tweak my system bus speed. Dropped the bus speed about 100mhz and system is puring like a kitten with these games. I use to crash on all 3d games after 20m-4hours. I guess the system was pushing to much information to fast and causeing crashes along the way. Don't know really why it did it. I installed all systems Win98 Win2k WinXP.

ATM running Win2k service pack4 System use (Hypertransport Tech)
The drivers that they said to use forgot which one's 30.82 useing Geforce Ti 200
1GB ram
I run my virus protection and share IRQ's doesn't cause crashes anymore.
Also have a firewall
Run my sound card SB live.
My system is supposed to run at 2200mhz but with bus speed lower runs at 1800 mhz. Guess I had to underclock my system.

[Nixtrax]

I searched thru some other threads, and one suggested teting your memory. I tried that and I did find one of my 4 sticks had gone bad.

I used both Memtest86 and Microsoft's memtest app. Both confirmed I had errors. I tested each stick one by one, and found the culprit.

Since then, 2 of my other memory sticks have gone bad.

Bought new memory..no problems so far.

[Bedstuy]

Is anyone at Funcom even looking at this anymore?

Crashing every 5 minutes takes the fun out of funcom.

I'm running win98. and the crashing is really unbearable.

[Radula]

Okay it has started happening to me. Began about 4-5 days ago so didn't cooincide with any patch.

I get booted out to the "You have been disconnected" screen - quite often - makes the game unplayable. No rhyme or reason as to what I am doing at the time. I could be wandering OA, Elysium, doing missions in BS, Hecks in sheol, this morning it is happening while token farming in small missions in Clon****.

IS there a way i can further diagnose this? I want to determine if its my network/isp connections, computer, software or on the FC side somehow.

I have two accounts and two computers - it happens on both which makes me suspect that it could be an ISP issue - but Verizon DSL says it can see no problem on their end and I have no problems connecting to other games / sites etc.

Generally when trying to diagnose a problem, my first step is to try to figure out what has changed on my system when it began. I havent changed any settings or installed any software or hardware.

I have been playing AO for quite a while (I remember the TIR water being poisonous) and never experienced this much LDing. I have been playing with my current setup (PC and ISP) for 6 mos with no issues.

I've scoured the forums for suggestions and tried changing settings, defragging, reinstalling etc.

No real need to post all my system specs but suffice it to say that they exceed min requirements and like i said Its been working for over 6 mos with no problems.

Enough Background -
I am posting both in forum here and sending an email to FC support for suggestions and guidance. As of now the game is unplayable.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[______________armymp]

I am one of the people constantly crashing. In the past, I did NOT have a problem, and nothing on my machine has changed. I also did a full reboot of my Win ME machine (Yes, I know, a crappy OS, but that's what it came with!) and I crash CONSTANTLY about 5 minutes in a team mission. Probably like a LOT of other people, I never really read these forums or cared, so a LOT of people never complained in the past because they just want to play and not be bothered. I was gone for a year and killed my account. When I was playing, crashes were VERY rare, on this SAME machine. Now, I have been back for a month. I had NO problems crashing up until today, when I did 2 team missions. BOTH TIMES I CRAPPED OUT IN 5 MINUTES! I am seeing from other posts, that I am not unique in this. Is it SO wrong to think that MAYBE there is some sort of problem on AO's side of the house, other than our OS? SOme poster said that it is just a few complaints, but again, it is only the people who COME to these forums that talk. Now, I just joined those ranks. Common sense tells us that if a lot of people are having this issue, there must be a problem on the software side at AO.

[Toughy]

I used to crash loop in certain spots of AO eg: Avalon, outside of Tir city south west corner etc. when SL came out, before that never. After the latest patch I cant even exit the shop I log my toons with out crashing them. Petition is not working because I think there are alot of them atm, is any one else experiencing this problem?

[Diemax]

Jellobiafra,

You are naive to say that there is no Code problem becuase there is not 10,000 users complaining here.

The majority of players do not post or even know of the existance of these forums.


I am also having the CRASH in MISSIONS bug. Hard to complete a mission without at least 1 hard reboot.


When the system reboots.... It detects it crashed and asks to send an error report to microsoft. I say yes.... and it responds with : "We are unable to determine what caused the crash in NVIDIA DRIVER"


I've read other posts on here that state they have had Nvidia driver troubles after one of the updates.

I have tried a driver rollback but it did not help. Something that funcom did on one of their patches recently... has an issue with Nvidia drivers. And from what I've seen here... not isolated to Nvidia specifically. Probably a video problem in general. Memory leak ? Invalid directX instruction ? Something somewhere is wrong.... and its intermittent enough to not show up as a huge issue.

Still waiting patiently for a fix.... but my patience does have limits... there are other RPGS coming out on the market..... and AO so far is the ONLY thing crashing on my computer.

[Devil]

why is it everytime FC 'fixes' a so-called problem i end up having problems keeping AO stable afterwards. as far as spending cash on upgrading my comp simply to play AO. been there done that and spent to much just to have same problems reoccur as soon as FC implements some new patch. all i do is crash now on AO, can only go into certain playfields, which limits my gameplay, due to constant crashing. i already have graphics almost all the way off and can only see a few feet infront of my char when logged which lasts only a few min's before AO just crashes. been playing over 2 yrs and all i can say is with each new patch/expansion my gameplay gets worst. thx for nothing FC. looks like you will be losing yet another player due to your 'fixes'. I pay to play, then when we get some new patch, i pay even more to play upgrading my comp. started with SL release and hasnt gotten anything but worst since. how much does FC expect its players to spend to play ao. not saying monthly fee, i'm saying with every new patch i am at compusa buying something new to play. it sux kthxbye

[____________Nadrazmi]

I have been playing the game for a year now, and my machine has hardly crashed before. now after the new patch, when i start AO, it will crash before im completely logged on, and windows will run horribly slow until i reboot

I have an asus MB, with 512 MB ddrram, amd athlon xp 2400+, and a gainward GeForce Fx5200. I run windows2000.

If anybody has similar problems, or know how to solve them, then plz let me know

[________________Grrr]

have started having the same problem where my entire computer just locks up 10-30 minutes into the game *currently running ME and its worked fine for almost as long as i have been playing, so i seriously dont think its my comp, as it just happens that i started crashing when i download the new patches.

BUT!! FC did add a lot of new content and a lot of new features *be they good or bad* so be patient and give them some time to go over it a few times *since we know they tend to leave bugs in that were there since test*. Until then, download gunbound and play that till things get better

*or if your that pissed off you can cancel your account till you see that things have gotten better on this forums or something, although i dont recommend doing something that drastic*