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Allways crashing to Reboot on MacBook Pro

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Allways crashing to Reboot on MacBook Pro

from GalCiv2 Forums
I experience crashes to reboot every time I am playing GalCiv 2 with or without Dark Avatar on my MacBook Pro running Windows XP SP2 natively.

Crashes to reboot occur inevitable but I can play longer if the laptop is cooler and the video settings are set lower. Crashes (Windows freezes, the reboots) occur between ca. 3 to 30 minutes of running GalCiv 2.

Every time I update GalCiv 2 (1.8a now), I hope the crash bug will be fixed but no luck so far.
Off course, it could be a video card (ATI X1600, 256MB VRAM) and/or driver (Catalyst 7.7) problem and yes - I have updated my drivers to the latest available version.

No other game (Sins of a Solar Empire Beta 3; Oblivion; Civ 4; Far Cry; Quake Wars demo; Supreme Commander; Medieval 2 - TW) crashes on the laptop even with very high video settings. Well ... ok - Civ 4 crashes on huge maps in late games because of memory allocation errors - stupid 32 bit system


Following is my debug.err of my latest crash with a freshly installed GalCiv 2:

Debug Message: Version v1.80a Dark Avatar last updated on: Fri Oct 19 12:12:47 2007
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 10/21/2007, 17:13:55
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name:
20,477 views 31 replies
Reply #26 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
smcFanControl didn't work for me, even though I had my fans at the max setting. The game crashed just as soon as I started it; my system was "only" 56C when I loaded up the game. :(
Reply #27 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

dter, yours could be a different problem if you're not actually overheating.  If you send in your debug.err to support@stardock.com we'll take a look at it.

 

CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #29 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Well - it looks like there is a real incompatibility of the GalCiv II graphical engine and the mobile version of the ATI X1600 video card. Several posters could reproduce the reboot/overheating problem. Non of the games I play (now including Fallout 3) show that behavior but it could be a design or driver flaw of the video card. 

Now, I really hope that the Elemental: War of Magic graphical engine will be compatible with ATI X1600 video cards.

That, or I have to convince my wife that I need a new laptop. |-)

Reply #30 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Heh, someone else :P

 

I have the Ultimate edition, and my issues are a bit more complex. The game seldom crashes in an actual game (although it happened once, and didn't force me to reboot) however the menu screens are a different story. I've only been playing Dread Lords for now, and it seems to be working well enough. I haven't used Dark Avatar yet, but ToA crashes for me constantly - the CPU hitches up, the audio loops, and it just stays that way for minutes until rebooting. 

 

I think I actually have noticed that it happens when my computer has been on for longer. I have a up-to-date MacBook Pro, which far exceeds the requirements.

 

So, basically, if I rush past the menus in Dread Lords (still don't know if its 100% safe), its a great game :P.

Reply #31 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Well, I think I found what the problem is. This topic has been the subject of discussions on heat - I think that's the very issue. Somewhere in the expansions, there must be an issue with overheating. Seeing as MacbookPro's reach extreme levels of heat - without damage - under boot camp, it must be messing up the game.

 

I just tried out Twilight of the Arnor, and the game crashed the instant my fans came on. This means that either it crashed as a failsafe because it deemed my computer too hot, or the fans somehow crashed the game. It seems to be the most logical explanation, as every mac user here has noticed the extreme heat, but our crashes happen in different places.