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Help and Support Forums => Technical Support => Topic started by: TexMurphy on April 22, 2005, 07:00:04 AM

Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: TexMurphy on April 22, 2005, 07:00:04 AM
I was pimping AH to a group of online friends (a guild called OEC) and one of them reported a game lock up which I had never seen.

Game suddenly freezed for him and sound went into a loop.

On my next playing session after reading about it from him I got it my self.

I was over by A48 and about to engage a Yak that was heading towards the town, I was in a Spit9, when the game just froze up on me and the sound went into a nasty soundloop. Could only solve situation with a hard reboot.

Anyone know what this lockup depends on?

Ive never ever seen it till last night (april 21st 2005).

Tex
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Clifra Jones on April 22, 2005, 10:01:11 AM
One question? Are you using on-board sound? If it that POS ac97 on board sound I would wager that is your problem.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Ohio43 on April 22, 2005, 10:50:19 AM
If sound is looping, thats apparently causing the lock up.  Like the other guy said..if he's using the AC 97 sound..thats the prob.  If it isnt, make sure hes got both Directx 9.0c and latest sound drivers.
Title: Game freeze and sound loop
Post by: LNWLF on April 22, 2005, 02:51:48 PM
I'm experiencing the same problem. Doesn't matter if I'm in a plane GV or gun. Here's what I'm getting: Game locks up tight, sound loops for 10 seconds or so, then if I'm lucky, it comes back for a few seconds. I've learned to do the ALT/F4 thing real quick then or I have to do a cold reboot.
 Haven't had this problem until this last version. I've done all the idiot checks for my system. Defrag, scan/check disk..you name it. Even wiped the game out and reloaded it. And yes, my AC '97 is disabled and i have DX 9.0c
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Karash on April 22, 2005, 03:11:13 PM
Tex is referring to me.  I get this "bug" like 3 times a night.

I have an Audigy Ex Platinum (the first of the series).  I will look into updating my soundcard drivers tonight when I get back home from work.

Thanks!
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: TexMurphy on April 22, 2005, 03:51:22 PM
Im using a SB live card.

alt+F4 did does not work, else I wouldnt have to hardboot.

Tex
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: LNWLF on April 22, 2005, 04:25:56 PM
Well, like I said, SOMEtimes it'll come back for me..thens when I can exit. If it doesn't come back however, it's the reset button :( Hopefully, those new drivers will help ya Karash. I have an older Audigy as well (Gamer drivers). One caveat....I DL'd a set of drivers for the SC and while I could hear vox and gamesound, I wasn't talking..I rolled back to the old set and fixed it though. Good luck!
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Karash on April 22, 2005, 04:28:54 PM
I actually used to work at Creative, so if I cant fix an audio problem ...then im really lame.

or is the motherboard's pci bus' fault!  yea!! :eek:
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Skuzzy on April 22, 2005, 04:44:20 PM
One of the things to check is for interrupts being shared by the sound card with another high data usage device, such as the network or video card.
Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->System Information, expand the "Hardware" list, pick "IRQ" and see if any of the IRQ numbers match.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: TexMurphy on April 22, 2005, 05:13:49 PM
Skuzzy.

Nothing has changed on my computer for the last what 2-3 months. Not hardware, not software, not drivers.

Tex
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on April 22, 2005, 05:42:18 PM
Which means absolutely nothing when it comes to Windows.  Ever had the computer hang and hit the reset button?  Good chance you corrupted some files.  Installed any new software lately?  Good chance it altered some of your .dlls or drivers on its own without you knowing, possibly corrupted files also.  It happens.  I've also seen instances where hardware gets installed, drivers get installed, everything seems to work fine.  Only it shouldnt be.  A file doesnt get overwritten that should have, points to the wrong driver, everything seems ok.  Then one thing changes or messes up, suddenly the offending file realizes it's pointing to the wrong place, corrects itself, and BAM!  Your system doesnt work anymore.  Especially Direct X, its particularly bad about that.  People trust Microsoft far too much to do all the work for them even after being burned several times.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: KONG1 on April 23, 2005, 01:25:42 AM
I feel better now.  I have same problem, same symptoms, started the same day.   The game has always been rock solid previously.  No changes or new installations.  Let me know if I can do anything to track this down.

Pentium 4 CPU 2.50GHz, 512 meg RAM
VIDEO
Name   NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Adapter RAM   128.00 MB (134,217,728 bytes)
Installed Drivers   nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version   6.14.10.7189
SOUND
Name   C-Media AC97 Audio Device
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/23/2005, 02:51:43
          Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: SYX
       System Model: snc302eeh
               BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.50GHz
             Memory: 512MB RAM
          Page File: 169MB used, 1029MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

IRQ 0   System timer   OK
IRQ 1   Easy Internet Keyboard   OK
IRQ 3   VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller   OK
IRQ 4   Communications Port (COM1)   OK
IRQ 5   NEC OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller   OK
IRQ 5   VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller   OK
IRQ 6   Standard floppy disk controller   OK
IRQ 8   System CMOS/real time clock   OK
IRQ 9   Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System   OK
IRQ 10   VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller   OK
IRQ 10   C-Media AC97 Audio Device   OK
IRQ 11   NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200    OK
IRQ 11   VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller   OK
IRQ 11   VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter   OK
IRQ 12   PS/2 Compatible Mouse   OK
IRQ 13   Numeric data processor   OK
IRQ 14   Primary IDE Channel   OK
IRQ 15   Secondary IDE Channel   OK
Title: KONG
Post by: RSLQK186 on April 23, 2005, 10:21:18 AM
Athlon 3200+ 2.0Gig here but all else the same(assume your vid card is AGP) and had the same problem. Seemed to happen as a wing came off my third kill which doesen't happen often for me:(  I switched to Omega 1.6177 peformance vid drivers 3 mons ago and it hasn't happend since. I also get better depth peception( yes I know my screen is really 2D), trees don't pop up in front of me and I can better tell what a con is doing at 1.5- 3K. I do have some sharing issues that give me pause but the game runs smooth.DISCLAMER: I beleive I could buy 2 identacle systems and have different problems.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Dace on April 24, 2005, 01:40:21 PM
"i feel like i could buy 2 identical systems and have differnt problems.-- RLQ



My thougts excactly:(
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Karash on April 24, 2005, 02:01:23 PM
Well its not an IRQ problem.  I dont even think its a Soundcard problem as well...because it does it more randomly than I thought.  Here are my IRQ listings...(yes I know my FX5600 sucks! lol)

(http://karash.morpheus.net/graphics/Clip1.jpg)

I have done a lot of testing last few days, and it seems to be related to my video resolution setting.  The game seems much more stable at 800x600 than 1024x768.  So unfortunately I have been playing at that resolution.  However, if there are a lot of things going on, all bets are off.  My system specs:

P4 2.0gig
512 Corsair Memory
Abit BD-7 RAID - 2 Drives Raid 0
Abit FX5600 256mb Ram
Creative Live Audigy Plat Ex
450w Enermax PS

Personally I think its a memory allocation issue...but thats just me. :confused:
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: LNWLF on April 24, 2005, 02:12:49 PM
Well, I've once again experimented some. Changed my IRQ settings and while it did help a very little bit, it still ain't good. Game still locks up. Now, however, it might..MIGHT mind you...come back. After 2 or 3 times of it freezing up, my system gives up and reports that Aces High EXE has caused a fault somewhere and shuts it down. Have to reboot system to get back in then.
 I know what it ain't, just wish I knew what it was :confused:
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: KONG1 on April 24, 2005, 03:23:54 PM
LNWLF, Karash, Tex

I switched to Omega Driver 1.6693, and it hasn’t happened since.  It’s a couple of updates behind the NVIDIA Drivers.   Seems to be some problem with the latest NVIDIA Drivers (7189) and AH2.03 on some cards and systems.  Granted I only have anecdotal evidence but what the hey.  If you have an NVIDIA card go to
http://www.omegadrivers.net/

Thanks RSLQK186
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: TexMurphy on April 24, 2005, 03:43:02 PM
I dont have a NVIDIA card Im running a 9600 XT.

Tex.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Karash on April 24, 2005, 05:03:23 PM
I will give it a shot...maybe it is a driver issue, but I doubt it.

I will also try to get some debug info from the crashes.  If I CTD, I cannot reload the game until I reboot.  This generally points to a mismanagement of resources in the program itself.  Was AH2 recently updated?
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: doobs on April 24, 2005, 09:34:16 PM
same problem here have been discoed a dozen time in last 2 days,
never has that problem before, and cant seen to rectify.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: LNWLF on April 25, 2005, 12:50:23 AM
Success!!! I DL'd the Omega drivers before I went in tonight. Game "hitched" a few times at the beginning but smoothed out and ran great the rest of the night. Also, I reset the resolution back to 1024x768 and bumped the textures back to 512 as well.
 Kong, I owe ya a beer (or the appropriate equivalent) :aok
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: LNWLF on April 25, 2005, 12:51:40 AM
Almost forgot! Those Omega drivers come in ATI flavors too!
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Karash on April 25, 2005, 02:45:55 AM
Well as much as I couldn't believe it, I installed the omega drivers today (on performance settings), and I didn't crash once in game.  Dont know if it is a driver issue or a patch/programming issue, but it seems to be solved for me.

the Omega driver used a previous version of forceware too, so I suspect that the newest vid drivers are not very compatible with AH:2.

Thanks guys!  I had a lot of fun tonight, instead of frustration!!! :aok

P.S.  Thanks whoever it was that I killed tonight...finally getting the hang of things! :eek:
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: RSLQK186 on April 25, 2005, 04:21:20 AM
The new Nvidia vid drivers do not support the 5000 series cards well.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Skuzzy on April 25, 2005, 11:01:12 AM
I keep telling you guys, the newer NVidia drivers are problematic, and not with just Aces High.  NVidia is focused on getting the most they can out of the FX6xxx cards to the detriment of all others.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Clifra Jones on April 25, 2005, 03:36:20 PM
Quote
Originally posted by StarOfAfrica2
Which means absolutely nothing when it comes to Windows.  Ever had the computer hang and hit the reset button?  Good chance you corrupted some files.  Installed any new software lately?  Good chance it altered some of your .dlls or drivers on its own without you knowing, possibly corrupted files also.  It happens.  I've also seen instances where hardware gets installed, drivers get installed, everything seems to work fine.  Only it shouldnt be.  A file doesnt get overwritten that should have, points to the wrong driver, everything seems ok.  Then one thing changes or messes up, suddenly the offending file realizes it's pointing to the wrong place, corrects itself, and BAM!  Your system doesnt work anymore.  Especially Direct X, its particularly bad about that.  People trust Microsoft far too much to do all the work for them even after being burned several times.


Star is absolutly correct. If you've had more than a few hard lockups it is always a good ides to re-apply the latest service pack. (2k/XP) This will refresh most of the critical .DLL files. It may also be a good idea to reinstall DirectX.

Win 9x users are kinda SOL, a reload may be in order. 9x is even more suseptable to this.

It doesn't happen as much anymore with 2k/XP but with 9x and NT something as simple as installing software can get your DLL files out of complience and cause system instablility requiring a service pack re-application or a 9x relaod.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Clifra Jones on April 25, 2005, 03:38:22 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Skuzzy
I keep telling you guys, the newer NVidia drivers are problematic, and not with just Aces High.  NVidia is focused on getting the most they can out of the FX6xxx cards to the detriment of all others.


This is gosbel guys, My old MX-440 would not run well at all on the new drivers, once I reverted to 61.77 all was well.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Karash on April 25, 2005, 05:06:33 PM
Yea, I didnt read where AH:2 had issues with drivers.  All my other games work fine, but now that things are working ok I might even put my AA up to 2x!

Thanks again guys.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: doobs on April 25, 2005, 11:38:16 PM
omega drivers saved the day.
live and learn,(newb)
sorry skuzzy.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: SkyWolf on April 26, 2005, 06:23:07 AM
Quote
Originally posted by doobs
omega drivers saved the day.
 


And on that note... dumb question. Actually 2.  My new rig is cranking decent numbers with the sliders up about 4/5th's of the way (45-75 fps).
AMD Athlon 64 939 3500+
1 Gig cas 2.5 Ram
6800 Gt.

Would it be advisable to use the Omega Drivers?
Also..  I have another Gig of Cas 3 Ram. Would it be beneficial to use it... or lose it and try to get some faster memory?
:confused:

Thanks,
Woof
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: OOZ662 on April 26, 2005, 09:16:28 AM
Quote
Originally posted by KONG1

SOUND
Name   C-Media AC97 Audio Device
 


Alarm! Alarm! :D
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on April 26, 2005, 01:35:07 PM
Quote
Originally posted by SkyWolf
And on that note... dumb question. Actually 2.  My new rig is cranking decent numbers with the sliders up about 4/5th's of the way (45-75 fps).
AMD Athlon 64 939 3500+
1 Gig cas 2.5 Ram
6800 Gt.

Would it be advisable to use the Omega Drivers?
Also..  I have another Gig of Cas 3 Ram. Would it be beneficial to use it... or lose it and try to get some faster memory?
:confused:

Thanks,
Woof


You could download the Omega's and try, wouldn't hurt.  Just make sure you have the old drivers you are using now standing by in case you want to switch back.  I've never heard of anyone who was using stock Nvidia or ATI drivers who changed to Omega and had problems if they didnt before.  You may or may not see an increase, but then the drivers may or may not be "tweaked" to run at their best on your rig.  Install them, play with the settings, see what you think.  

As for the memory issue, it depends.  On your memory configuration, and on whether or not your motherboard uses dual channel.  If you have 2 single 1GB sticks, probably no.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, even if your motherboard supports Dual Channel, I dont think you can benefit from it with only 2 sticks of RAM?  If you have 2x512 sticks, and 2x512 on your second GB, and if your motherboard supports dual channel, installing all of it might net you a performance increase.  Although (again, I'm not sure of this), I believe your RAM has to be matched pairs to run dual channel.  Bear in mind though that regardless of configuration, installing the 3.0 latency RAM will slow down your 2.5 latency RAM to match it.  The speed difference is probably only on the order of 1-3%, but it is measurable.  

Hopefully someone who knows more about the memory issue will chime in and either correct my errors or lend some support to my memory :)
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Skuzzy on April 27, 2005, 07:19:08 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Karash
Yea, I didnt read where AH:2 had issues with drivers.  All my other games work fine, but now that things are working ok I might even put my AA up to 2x!

Thanks again guys.

We only have issues with drivers that are broken and violate the DirectX9 specification.  In certain cases, the newer NVidia drivers are just broken for older cards.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Skuzzy on April 27, 2005, 07:23:24 AM
Quote
Originally posted by OOZ662
Alarm! Alarm! :D

Definately a problem there.  C-Media never was stable and the AC97 thing they did was worse.  The products were so lousy they are no longer in business.
Random lockups, crashes, hangs, freezes are the norm for C-Media devices.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: XrightyX on April 28, 2005, 04:26:01 PM
Quote
Originally posted by doobs
omega drivers saved the day.
live and learn,(newb)
sorry skuzzy.


I was suffering low framerates and crashes after downloading NVidias latest drivers.  It coincided with the new patch so I was about to get pissed with HTC.  

However, I loaded the Omega drivers, too.  Running clean and smooth now.  Could even bump up my detail/distance/object size sliders 1/3 of the bar.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: RTO on April 29, 2005, 06:54:01 PM
happened to me today.  flying along in 110 about to hit vbase,  keyed mic to check status from squaddie ahead of me and sound looped with computer locking up, then had to reboot to stop it.  Gotta luv all the quirks that come along with updates and patches.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: SkyTex on April 30, 2005, 12:02:58 AM
well, im having an issue like this except no sound loop issue. Skuzzy, you already have my dxdiag via email. was hopin for a response today so i could play this weekend. anyways, hope you figured out somethin.

i tried the omega drivers but it crashes my computer everytime i run the install program.... *shrug* im havin withdrawals atm. i haven't taken a plane in the sky since the patch!
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: TexMurphy on May 02, 2005, 01:52:45 AM
Been getting these freezes even more since the last patch.

Tex
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Clifra Jones on May 02, 2005, 04:24:02 PM
Quote
Originally posted by TexMurphy
Been getting these freezes even more since the last patch.

Tex


Tex, what sound device are you using? It's hard to help you without that info.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Bushwack on May 08, 2005, 01:20:50 PM
I have same problem here. Game freezes under 5 mins. I have chanced nothing before this problem. Now i have chanced my Ati 9800 driver to Omega, but no help.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: TexMurphy on May 09, 2005, 07:09:21 AM
As per earlier in this thread I still have the SB Live.

Im using 5.4 Catalyst based Omega drivers.

I get these freezes at least once every 1-2 hours atm.

Tex
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on May 09, 2005, 12:30:41 PM
Are you overclocking your video card at all?  Core overclocks can cause freezes and such also.  Possible the power supply isnt keeping up with video card demand also (or is just becoming unstable), resulting in power drop to the GPU and lockup.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: Gamer 101 on May 25, 2005, 02:22:40 PM
I have the same problem and i tried the Omega drivers but it just screwed up my display setting so i had to uninstall it. What else can i do?
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: StarOfAfrica2 on May 25, 2005, 02:58:23 PM
Recently experienced something like this myself, seems to have been caused by corrupt ddraw files in the Direct X install.  Reinstalled Direct X 9c and its working now.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: FOGOLD on May 25, 2005, 04:15:31 PM
Careful its not just heat. Hard lockups requiring a reset are quite often temp of CPU problems. I had a huge problem like this with an XP1800. Took MONTHS to fix. Eventualy took side off and put an office fan against it and bingo.

Those early XP CPU's were tricky. This one would lock up at 50oC guaranteed. Put a side case fan in and problem vanished.
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: lokee on June 11, 2005, 01:16:50 AM
Nothing being changed in ones computer system, why would so many folks report the same problem(s) within the last month or so? My reboot problem started when I went to Scuzzy's hints and tips strings and tried the help fixes.  Got rid of one problem, but another, nastier one appeared. I'll take the previous problem over this new one.  I just don't get these probs very often in other MMORPGS. I never had these issues in AH1.  Will only wait a while more for a fix progression. Playing Brothers in Arms at a higher difficulty level is a real back breaker, but it don't lock up my computer. Off to that until I get frustrated!  :)
Title: Game freeze and soundloop only solvable with hard reboot.
Post by: yb11 on June 11, 2005, 08:40:51 AM
i got that soundloop last nite in SE/sea someone keyed up on vox i went in to a soundloop for 30 sec thin booted to desktop yes i got the ac97 onbord sound. this is the frist time i ever had this happen. this pc is jest about 0ne year old