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Crashing based on graphics settings

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I played the trial of STO about six months ago with the same machine except with a different video card and had no problems. I didn't buy it then, but I did buy it a few days ago. However, when I first bought it I had all the game's settings at max because my system should easily handle the task. Instead, the game would crash within 10-15 minutes of loading in, though it was usually under one minute.

I attempted to verify the game's files with the patcher quite a few times after crashes with no improvement and then uninstalled the Steam version of the game and got the client downloader from the official site, also with no improvement. I read a bit and saw that dynamic lighting and anti-aliasing could cause crashing, but turning those off didn't help. Finally, I tried turning all of my graphics settings to minimum.

The game is playable, but it does still crash after playing for many hours, and then it will usually crash once or twice in the next hour after that. I have a Radeon HD 6870 with the latest Catalyst drivers (11.5) currently. My previous card, which ran the game fine, was a Radeon HD 4870X2.

Is there anything I may be able to do to play the game fine? Using the old card is not an option, since it's barely functional now. Also please note that these crashes are crashes to the desktop with a Cryptic Error box.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Post up a dxdiag report for your system and we'll take a look. Have you already verified that you are not having power consumption or overheating problems with the GPU / CPU?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Power should not be an issue. I have a 1KW supply with my single HD 6870. In addition, STO is the only game with which I have any issues.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9650 @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs), ~4.0GHz


    Seems to be the culprit, I am guessing your overclocking it. May be due to overheating.


    You also want to perhaps update your Sound Card driver to a recent one.

    http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster&subCatID=231&subCatName=MIDI+Keyboards&prodID=19749&prodName=Sound+Blaster+X-Fi+Titanium+HD&bTopTwenty=1&VARSET=prodfaq:PRODFAQ_19749,VARSET=CategoryID:1
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    The processor temperatures are within normal ranges: the first core was 60C and the rest were 50C, all under load. I updated the sound driver to the latest and tested at maximum graphics. The strange part is that I traveled for a solid ten minutes across space to get back to Earth and didn't crash. No more than a minute after landing and wandering around, the game crashed.

    I have tried this out before and I did crash in space once while trying to get the game to work several days ago. The odd part is that it can't just be Dynamic Lighting or Antialiasing, since the game still crashes when I turn them off. Even when I have my graphics set to minimum for everything, the game will still crash after 5-6 hours of play.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    This may sound strange but i had simmilar issues 6 months ago and it was due to a failing memory stick only sto showed up the problem.
    But when i run a detailed memory scan one of my sticks was on its way out so i swoped it out and all was good
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    It does help to turn off post processing...it is very noticeable in the final room of the STF' Infected'.....try it anywhere where there is alot of background light and straight away your system will go quieter:eek:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    This may sound strange but i had simmilar issues 6 months ago and it was due to a failing memory stick only sto showed up the problem.
    But when i run a detailed memory scan one of my sticks was on its way out so i swoped it out and all was good

    Which memory test software did you use?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I just realized that when I crash and let the launcher verify, it always seems to redownload these same files:
    Phyx_Loader.dll, xinput1_3.dll, Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
    Does this help diagnose the problem?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Cheeseboat wrote:
    I just realized that when I crash and let the launcher verify, it always seems to redownload these same files:
    Phyx_Loader.dll, xinput1_3.dll, Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
    Does this help diagnose the problem?

    There are a couple of options I see after performing a quick forums search.

    Are you by chance outside the US, if so, try setting the Launcher to use the nearest proxy server.

    Check to make sure that gameclient.exe is set to run as Administrator.

    Check C:\Users\Public\Games\Cryptic Studios for a text file called errors. Do you see entries such as:

    100724 22:42:02 32 [1] ESC : The patchclientlib is internally recording error code : 36\nA file was locked that could not be open for writing. - Unable to read back file C:/Users/Public/Games/Cryptic Studios/Star Trek Online/Live/Microsoft.VC80.CRT/Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest!

    If so, try disabling your A/V autoprotect, or possibly try deleting those files. If you are using Panda Anti-Virus, it is known to cause game file corruption.

    If that doesn't work, you can try: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=58675&highlight=hogg+file
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    devast8tor wrote: »
    There are a couple of options I see after performing a quick forums search.

    Are you by chance outside the US, if so, try setting the Launcher to use the nearest proxy server.

    Check to make sure that gameclient.exe is set to run as Administrator.

    Check C:\Users\Public\Games\Cryptic Studios for a text file called errors. Do you see entries such as:

    100724 22:42:02 32 [1] ESC : The patchclientlib is internally recording error code : 36\nA file was locked that could not be open for writing. - Unable to read back file C:/Users/Public/Games/Cryptic Studios/Star Trek Online/Live/Microsoft.VC80.CRT/Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest!

    If so, try disabling your A/V autoprotect, or possibly try deleting those files. If you are using Panda Anti-Virus, it is known to cause game file corruption.

    If that doesn't work, you can try: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=58675&highlight=hogg+file

    I'm in the US, but I have tried using the US proxy before just in case it helped - no luck.
    GameClient.exe was already set to administrator privileges.

    I did a search in all folders and subfolders of the game directory and didn't find any files with the word "error" in the title.

    I also just finished deleting and redownloading all of the files listed in the pcl.log (there was no force_verify.log). Crashed within five minutes with graphics settings at "Quality".
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Are you running any games that install nVidia PhysX TRIBBLE? These craptacular nVidia infestations comes with any game with the nVidia, the way it's meant to be played TRIBBLE on it. These install when you install the game but can cause issues with ATI hardware in some games, STO included. If you have any nVidia PhysX TRIBBLE on your system, remove it and try running the game again. Rolling back to the 11.3's also is a good idea as these are the best available drivers for STO on ATI based hardware.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Cheeseboat, I sent you a PM a few days ago with some questions. I've been looking into this crash over the last few days.

    Though I forgot to ask something in the message. What anti-virus software are you running?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Cheeseboat, I sent you a PM a few days ago with some questions. I've been looking into this crash over the last few days.

    Though I forgot to ask something in the message. What anti-virus software are you running?

    I've replied to the PM. I'm using MS Security Essentials.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I experienced some crashes with my HD 6850 with the latest Catalyst (11.5 and 11.5b) when changing my AA-Settings to 4x or 8x (although i ran without any problems until i tried to change them).

    I stepped back to 11.4 and experienced no problem since then.

    Another reason i stepped back that with 11.5. my performance dropped with identical settings from around 50-60 to 35-40 fps in space and also about 10fps on ground.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I just rolled back to 11.3 (which was a painful experience I'd prefer not to repeat) and didn't have any improvement.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    The problem has gotten worse since I messed with my drivers. The game was crashing even at the lowest graphics settings relatively often when I rolled back to 11.3, so I re-updated to 11.5 and had no improvement from the 11.3 drivers.

    It's still somewhat playable, but I will often crash once or twice in a ground mission now. I still have not had a space crash since the one time I mentioned earlier in this thread.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I've spent the last hour running Memtest 86. Completed two passes with no errors found.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I've tried manually cleaning out ATI/AMD files and registry settings according to this guide: http://www.overclock.net/ati-drivers-overclocking-software/988215-how-properly-uninstall-ati-amd-software.html
    Reinstalled 11.5 drivers, set game to low settings and still crashes.
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