Hello,

I have noticed at least two people with this same problem, but neither post has brought about a solution of any sort.

The problem is that when I try to load a level (a checkpoint in the treehouse level) the level loads all of the way, waits for a few seconds, and then my computer crashes and I get the blue screen of death.

I am running:
AMD Athlon FX-55 2.6 GHZ
One Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3
1GB of Corsair XMS DDR Ram.
Windows XP Home SP2
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium


I have installed patches 1.1, 1.3, 1.31, 1.32, and 1.33, as well as the newest drivers for my video card (ForceWare 8.1.9.4).

Microsoft alerted me when I rebooted and directed me to the following web sites, so I've included them in case they may be helpful.
Error caused by a device driver
Additional Information

The problem "may" be caused because of your patch install order.

Try uninstalling all the patches in reverse order (by running the patch .exe(s) again.
Then do a "repair" install from the FC cd/dvd.

Then apply ONLY the 1.3 patch. If your going to play online then you'll need to install patches 1.31 and 1.33. Go ahead and throw out the 1.1 and 1.32 patches, you don't need them.

No luck. After that my system still crashes after the level loads.

I also want to say that I'm nearly positive that nothing is overheating. I have 5 case fans on right now.

Checkpoints saved in any patch version other than the one you are currently running are not compatable.

See if you crash on a new game.

The new game seemed to be working fine, but when I got to the top of the Japanese Ship, things got realy laggy. Probably just because I have everything set to 'Very High' though.

Your computer is very high end. There should be no visible lag even at highest settings. Try backing off on the resolution. maybe 1600x1200 is not synced with your monitor.

After a day of smooth sailing, my new saved checkpoints fail to load. The problem is exactly the same as described before.

After a defrag, virus scan, and spyware scan, my system still crashes when loaidng a checkpoint.

Maybe you should check your system for stability. Maybe you have a flakey harddrive, or ram, or ? that's corrupting your files.

Do you have problems with anything else?

F.E.A.R. and Battlefield 2 Run perfectly fine on high settings.

I have a similar problem, but not the same . I am at the last level - set the explotion to get out of the catacombs - walk to the end of the tunel and walk though into a dead end ( i think there should be a vidio skit and carry on with the game ) but no i can walk right around the island to previous levels with nothing to do???????????????? can't finish the game

I have the same problem. And it affects all my Ubisoft games. PoP SoT I can play up to 94%, then the bluescreens comes. PoP-WW & PoP-T2T.
Ravenshield & Farcry.

Problem is the 7800GT/7800GTX cards. If you install drivers, 7,1 something. Games works again, but these drivers don't really support the 7800's and you lose alot of performance.

Never had any problems at all with any other games.
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/29/2006, 23:10:07
Machine name: BRUTE
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp.050928-1517)
Language: English (Regional Setting: Norwegian (Bokmål))
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 361MB used, 3579MB available
Windows Dir: D:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 7800 GTX
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0091&SUBSYS_0A0110B0&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: NOKIA 446Xpro
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.8198 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 12/10/2005 03:06:00, 3955456 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 12/10/2005 03:06:00, 3536768 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-43D1-11CF-0653-0B2A00C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0091
SubSys ID: 0x0A0110B0
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

You're basically saying that I have to wait for the next driver release to hope to play the game with full performance?

quote:

Originally posted by varrakk:

Problem is the 7800GT/7800GTX cards. If you install drivers, 7,1 something. Games works again, but these drivers don't really support the 7800's and you lose alot of performance.

It's not the drivers. I have a 7800GT with 81.98 drivers and it works fine.

Zelvital: Are you overclocking?

I am not over clocking. I did run a over clocking program once (Ntune), but that caused my system to crash, so it never finished. All of my system's settings appear to be as they were originally. Could that be the problem? If so, any idea on how I could correct it?

Far Cry will crash if the system is not 100% stable under stress. If you get memory errors using memtest86 you might want to relax memory timings (higher CAS latency numbers) or boost voltage to the DIMMS.

Just to make sure (since the error you report is driver related) did you uninstall, clean and reinstall video drivers?

Hi Zelvital,

I assume that the MS Additional Information workaround didn't help, but at least it does seem to identify the source of your problem as a graphics card/driver 'loop'.

Unfortunately it also suggests that if fitting different drivers doesn't resolve the issue, then the card itself may need replaced ... this may well turn out to be true, but not until all other options are ruled out.

The 'usual' causes for a graphics card failing, either permenantly or temporarily, are (apart from simply giving up the ghost), either overheating or insufficent power.

I know that you don't think that overheating is an issue, but when you say that you have 5 case fans running, does that include the PSU fan, the CPU fan and the GPU fan ? ... and are the CPU and GPU fans the manufacturer-fitted units ?

Generally, the stock fans fitted by case and component manufacturers are pretty poor to say the least and replacing these with best-quality third-party cooler units for the CPU and GPU and upgrading the case fans is almost essencial in a gaming rig to guarantee sufficent cooling.

Overheating of your graphics card under stress could be the cause of your shut-downs, which could possibly be resolved by the upgrading of the cooling unit ... as long as the card has not been physically damaged by being subjected to excess heat over a long period of time.

There have also been some reports on heat issues with the AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 fitted with the stock cooler unit, with temperatures of 83C being quoted. (see link below)

Which PSU, (make and wattage), do you have, and what is the ampage of the +12V rail ?

I ask this because, in a computer fitted with (say) a 350W PSU with an 18A +12V rail and an Athlon 64 FX-55 processor, it appears that hardware has to be limited to a single powerful graphics card, one hard disk drive and one optical drive to prevent the PSU overloading and causing instabillity, particularly when the CPU and/or GPU is under stress. (see the link below and Coops post.)

If your computer has more than one hard drive and more than one optical drive installed ... and I'd be surprised if it doesn't ... then the minimum you should be looking for is a best-quality 500W PSU unit with a 35A +12V rail, (or dual +12V rails), and fitted with a high-quality fan, which would allow for that second SLI graphics card in the future.

Here's the link which I hope is helpful.
(pages 4 & 5):

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64-fx55_4.html

Best of luck,

Richie.

Good post Richie. I did not think of the PSU since this is a very high end machine, I assumed it had a high end power supply. But if it is <400 watts then that could well be the problem.

Thanks Coop,

The Athlon 64 FX-55 coupled with a 'powerful' hi-end graphics card does appear to severly limit the number of hard discs and optical drives that can be installed/run, if anything less than a 450W PSU, with say a 26A +12V rail, is installed.

On the subject of PSU's, there is something else, apart from insufficent power output, which can adversly effect computer hardware ... and that is poor or ineffective EMF (Electromagnetic Field) Shielding, which can wreak havoc with electrical components and circuitry, and cause any number of apparently 'unexplainable' failures.


There are a lot of cheap 400W - 600W PSU's out there, being offered at ridiciously low prices, and the only way the manufacturers can make this possible is to skimp on, or even omit, elements such as EMF Shielding ... and a lot of well-known Computer Manufacturers are quite happy to use the cheapest PSU's that they can get their hands.

A cheap PSU, no matter how high the output, is a false saving and a total waste of money, whereas a good-quality, robust and high-specification 500 or 600W PSU, even if it does seem expensive at the time, is an essencial and well worth-while investment.

Richie.

Though the fans are stock, there are five CASE fans. Two 80mm's in the back (intake), one 80mm on top (out take), one 80mm in front (intake), and one 120 on the side (out take). If you include my PSU, which has two 80mm fans (one in front, one in back), my GPU fan, and my CPU fan, thats a total of 9 fans running on my system. Further, I have a heat sensor on both my GPU and CPU and neither has yet to exceed 27 C.

Specific information about my case can be found Here: http://aspireusa.net/product.php?pid=65


Specifics about my PSU can be found here:
http://aspireusa.net/product.php?pid=16

Specs aside, I just want to thank everyone who has been giving me input.