Crash to Desktop: Support and Debug

[BleckLord]

Everyone,

This thread is for people who are having Civ 4 crash to the desktop.

What I'd like to see:

Brief description of your problem/experience
System Specs
Brief sections of error logs that show errors
Attach a copy of any long logs


I've seen a correlation between crashes and errors logged in WinXP application logs. If you can access these logs, check to see if you see the same thing.


Thanks,

Bleck

[BleckLord]

System:

Athlon64 3000+ (Socket 754)
1GB RAM
ATI 9600XT - VIO w/ 256MB RAM
SB Audigy 2 ZS
WinXP Pro SP2

DX9.0c as per the Civ4 install
ATI Catalyst 5.10
SB Audigy driver ver. 5.12.2.444

Description:

Civ 4 apears to randomly crash to the desktop with increasing frequency. Desktop graphics are corupted with horizontal bars, but problem clears on redraw. I've never had Civ 4 crash hard enough to lock the computer or blue-screen.

Error Log:

Windows event viewer error log is attached. Apears in the application section every crash.

[BleckLord]

Here is a picture of the event log.

[Mike4879]

Similar problem here.

Intel P4 3.06ghz
Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB 8x AGP
1GB RAM

I have almost precisely similar things in the event viewer. Do yours say this, or something very similar?

"The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: 7."

Looks almost exactly the same.

[Civfreak1970]

So sad I want to cry!

This makes me want to cry that they let this piece of crap ship!

[Neil81]

I get the same error here, with frequent crashes to desktops. Originally I was getting system reboots, but now it has "improved" to mostly CTDs. I have the same error in the application event log. It is always event code 6 or 7.

When I get a system reboot it is always stop code 0x1000007f.

3 GHz P4
Asus P4T800-E MB
1 GB RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro
XP Pro w/ SP2

[woodyx]

Try the latest Omega Drivers... that cleared up all my CTD's...

[Johncraven]

Hey guys, I've noticed that CTD bug a lot too. I believe there is a direct relation between the frequency of CTDs and the size of your map. Avoid maps larger than standard at ALL COSTS, you will only get crashes.

I noticed that and am now playing a game in small (one small than standard), and have received no crash, nor slowdown in 5 hours of gaming. Crash would occur every 20mins in a huge map.

You won't be able to play a large map, but at least you'll be able to play something!!! (until they release a patch of course)

BTW my graphic card is a radeon x600, so there's no relation between ATI and CTD's

[Mange]

CTD seems to be happening after quite a few turns and gets worse advancing into modern times. At least what is happening to me. And yes, that is on large/huge map.

Specs:

Nvidia 6800GT w/ latest drivers
1gb pc3200 ddr ram
onboard audio
Athlon 2800+

[BleckLord]

Is your video corupted after the crash?

Mine is. Here is what I see. It fixes as parts are redrawn.

[BleckLord]

I'm going to test the Omega Drivers. I don't fancy the idea of using non-ATI drivers. I'm sure they work, but it just doesn't feel right (perhaps I'm too well trained by ATI).

Also interesting, here is an excerpt from the audio log file.

[BleckLord]

And here is part of the LSystem.log file

Its really anoying that the returns seem to be pulled out of text files when uploaded. I'm trying to format my logs so that you can read them.

edit:

Can't seem to get the attachment mechanism to stop stripping out the new lines. I'm attaching a zip with all the logs I've posted.

edit2:

Can't seem to get any file attach to work in any meaningful way using IE. It works in Opera though.

[Neil81]

Now about 2 or 3 times I've gotten what I can only describe as "black shards" emanating from one of my cities. Suddenly while playing, one of my cities will develop one of these shard things and it will cover the entire screen. If I move away from the city everything looks normal but when I scroll back over to the city my screen is again enveloped by it. If I hover over the city and zoom in and out this will crash the game to desktop.

It's pretty hard to describe... I can only describe it as a bunch of black or gray "shards" that seem to jut out from the city. Has anyone seen anything like this yet?

[Runmymouth]

i get a crash where it green bubbles on screen all over.. so thats my problem about 5 min into game.

[noptov52]

I managed to fix my CTD problem!

I had tried reinstalling and had the same CTD problem. So on a lark I installed Civ IV to a different hardrive than Windows. What do you know, it actually worked.

For those still suffering, I have felt your pain but the end result is worth it, trust me. The game is absolute gold once you can actually play it.