Display problem

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi,

I experienced those issues so far :
- DL : at some point, my screen became completly black, except from a small rectangle (my mouse cursor). While I was questionning myself, the game crashed back to Win.

- DA : Yesterday, while playing my first game of DA, at some point, the mini-map became all messy (corrupted display). I tried to open the shipyard screen, diplomatic screen, etc.. but the minimap stayed that way (I even though that some spy was targeting me hahah. Would have been nice). Then, it returned ok. Later on, the same problem appeared, but in the target display box (where you see what you have selected, bottom middle-left of the screen). Same thing there, it returned ok at some point. And then, later, I experienced the same problem described in DL. I manage to save my game and quit before the crash.

My PC is :
- AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (1.98Ghz)
- 1024 meg RAM
- ATI Radeon 9800 All-In-Wounder

I do have the latest drivers of everything.
My debug.err :
WWW Link
3,049 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If it does start happening again, have SmartException running (get it from the free stuff section in SDC if you don't have it, and run it before you play) and let the game crash so SE generates a crash report. Then send said report to gc2bugs@stardock.com.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I will.
Thanks !
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Hmmm...it does sound like some kind of issue with the video card.  Make sure that your monitor cable is not loose and you may also want to open up your case to make sure that the video card is firmly seated and dust free.

You may also want to try using a driver cleaner to remove your video card driver and then re-install the video driver.

Here's a link to a driver cleaner:

http://www.drivercleaner.net/

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I did have some heat problem in the past. Do you guys know a good monitoring application that gives you internal heat and that kind of stuff ?

I might not be a GC2 problem at all. I also found out that in the past few days, my PC seems to reboot for no reason (except maybe just for static electricity) There is something really weird going on !!

Thanks in advance.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I might not be a GC2 problem at all. I also found out that in the past few days, my PC seems to reboot for no reason (except maybe just for static electricity) There is something really weird going on !!


If you are experiencing random reboots, then it's likely that either your computer is trying to bluescreen, or your power supply is failing. You can see if it's trying to BSOD by going to Control Panel->System Properties->Advanced Tab->Startup and Recovery, and make sure that 'automatically restart' is unchecked. Then next time it fails, it may give you a BSOD. Write down the error shown in all caps near the top, as well as the affected filename (if it says one), and the memory addresses at the bottom of the screen (numbers prefixed with 0x). This info can help figure out what the problem is.

If you uncheck the auto-restart option and your computer still reboots without a blue screen, then you may want to have your power supply checked out.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you've had heat related problems in the past it could certainly cause random reboots and, in particular, problems running games which dramatically increase the load on your graphics card.

I had a problem when I installed a new Nvidia 6800GT AGP in an aging Gateway box. The computer actually ran fine until I ran graphics-intensive games. They increased the load on the board, which increased the heat, which randomly crashed my computer.

I'd google for some kind of software based temperature monitoring for your board. I use Rivatuner, gleaned from Guru's of 3D, but that's for Nvidia boards. They do have something called "ATI Tray Tools", and it mentions temperature monitoring. Likely it also features other diagnostic tools you might find useful.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You can see if it's trying to BSOD by going to Control Panel->System Properties->Advanced Tab->Startup and Recovery, and make sure that 'automatically restart' is unchecked. Then next time it fails, it may give you a BSOD.


Good to know ! I have a look. I haven't got the time to play for the past few days (moving, new job), but I'll investigate.

They do have something called "ATI Tray Tools", and it mentions temperature monitoring. Likely it also features other diagnostic tools you might find useful.


Thanks for the informations !