Oblivion started to crash

[selvi]

Well, FOA sorry for my english:

 

I have installed Oblivion like a year ago and played it frequently for a couple of months in my windowsXP 32. I finished all the quests with 2 different characters which sum up more than 250 hours of gameplay (vanilla).

Anyway after 6 months i recently decided to give the game another go and installed the 1.2 patch and the unnoficial patch.

 

Everithing worked fine but some minutes after playing the game went black, the monitor says "no signal" and the sounds also stops. I have to power off the PC and reboot again. I've noticed that the crash occurs between 5 - 30 minutes of gameplay, usually when i wander outdoors (in places with lots of trees or in 'high places'), very rarely it occurs indoors.

 

So i decided to uninstall both patches, but the problem persisted. Then I uninstalled the game, delete all the folders, erase all registries (using revosetup) and installed it again but without luck.

So I tried to run the game without sound to see if there is an audio problem, and although at first it appeared to have worked (beacause in a place i used to "test" didn't crash) the same problem ocurred after some minutes. I also tried lowering the setting to the minimum but it made no difference.

The next step was to check my GPU temperatures. 62 was the maximum value. I have been playing others game to see if the same problem appears (Bioshock, Batman AA, COD4). None of them crashed and all reached the same temperature.

 

After googling for the problem i read that sometimes FFshow fileter caused some problems in Oblivion. Althoug FFshow doesn't run when i play the game y disabled it just in case. Using "installedcodec" i disabled also the only new codec i have installed in these 6 months (flv splitter) but it didn't work.

 

The only major update i have done is installing a new version of directx9c. So I installed an even newer version (since you can't downgrade), it didn't work.

 

I have another windows XP 32 in another HD just in case, that i don't use. So i installed the same nvidia driver in this XP and installed the game (without upgrading directx). To my suprise the same thing happens.

 

I don't know what else to try. I tried also installing a newer version of nvidia drivers.

 

 

The only others programs i've installed since the game "worked" was a new version of Java and mozilla/ie upgrades.

 

My specs are Core2Duo(E7200), 2GB, 9600GT, Windows XP. I haven't changed any hardware in these 6 months.

 

I'm at loss, so i would appreciate any help. May be is a hardware problems but the others games i mentioned work fine. I also tested some minutes of Company of Heroes and Splinter Cell:CHT. Perhaps the newer versions of directx9 don't like Oblivion, but is strange it didn't worked in the other Windows XP.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

PD: I've noticed that when the game didn't crashed 6 months ago, when i exit the aplicattion to windows an error message would appear. But now when i exit the error have dissapeared.

[Fonger]

last time I had a problem like this . . .

 

a cable inside my monitor was dead - requireing me to replace it.

 

This could be a video hardware failure - not just the vid card, but the actual display.

 

If you have an optional display available, try it out to see the problem changes.

[Qwaxalot]

Try renaming or deleting the oblivion.ini file (...\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini)

 

Oblivion will then redetect hardware. It will also, probably, not recognize your video card and set everything to medium. Just change the settings according to what you think your card will support (You can always change them later)

[XJDHDR]

You could try the website in my signature.

[bben46]

No signal means there is nothing coming out of the video card to the monitor - If it works for a while - as you said 5 to 30 minutes - it may be a sign that your video card is overheating or failing. If it doesn't happen on anything else, it is because the game puts much more stress on the video card.

 

It could also be in the monitor. Check your monitor settings especially the resolution and frequency to be sure you are not overdriving it. Such as trying to force 70 hz on a monitor that is only rated at 50hz. or using a wide screen setting on a non wide monitor. if possible try another monitor.

 

Before rushing out to find another video card or monitor, first check the cable - if you can, try another one. look at the connectors - both on the cable and the connections on the card and monitor to be sure there are no broken or bent pins. Then check that the fan works on the card and it is not clogged with dust.

 

Just because the GPU temp is low it doesn't mean that some other part on the card is not having a problem. Also, some temp programs may not give an accurate reading all of the time. they must be setup for your particular device. So if your monitoring program specifies it is for an XYZ brand card and you are using ABC it could be wrong.

 

If you do try another video card, be sure to wipe out the existing Oblivion.ini and allow the game to make a new one to match the new hardware. if you borrow a card, instead of wiping the Oblivion,ini, rename it to something like old.ini so you will still have any custom changes you have made.

[selvi]

last time I had a problem like this . . .

 

a cable inside my monitor was dead - requireing me to replace it.

I can't test with other monitor right now, but i will try with another cable.

Still it's strange that other games didn't give me problems.

 

 

Try renaming or deleting the oblivion.ini file (...\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini)

 

Oblivion will then redetect hardware. It will also, probably, not recognize your video card and set everything to medium. Just change the settings according to what you think your card will support (You can always change them later)

I already did that. Uninstalled the game, deleted all folders in My Documents and reinstalled. Then I copied only the saved games I have in an external HD in the new folder.

 

You could try the website in my signature.

I'll check.

 

No signal means there is nothing coming out of the video card to the monitor - If it works for a while - as you said 5 to 30 minutes - it may be a sign that your video card is overheating or failing. If it doesn't happen on anything else, it is because the game puts much more stress on the video card.

 

It could also be in the monitor. Check your monitor settings especially the resolution and frequency to be sure you are not overdriving it. Such as trying to force 70 hz on a monitor that is only rated at 50hz. or using a wide screen setting on a non wide monitor. if possible try another monitor.

 

Before rushing out to find another video card or monitor, first check the cable - if you can, try another one. look at the connectors - both on the cable and the connections on the card and monitor to be sure there are no broken or bent pins. Then check that the fan works on the card and it is not clogged with dust.

 

Just because the GPU temp is low it doesn't mean that some other part on the card is not having a problem. Also, some temp programs may not give an accurate reading all of the time. they must be setup for your particular device. So if your monitoring program specifies it is for an XYZ brand card and you are using ABC it could be wrong.

Thanks for the advice. I read the temperatures with "rivatuner".

The frequency and resolution are ok. I tried also enabling v-sync but it's the same.

In a way it also seems to me to be a hardware problem, but it's strange that other games work and that with low settings it still crashes. I will try setting everything to the minimum and keep testing other games.

 

Could it be a CPU overheating ?

 

 

Cheers.

 

 

PD: I will see if there is some dust also when i have the time.

[selvi]

Well, it seems I resolved the problem at last.

 

 

First, what not worked: I uninstalled the game again and defragmented the disc before installing, but the results were the same, even lowering the settings.

Also, tested all the other games and worked fine.

 

So, I opened the PC case, removed the graphic card, cleaned it (it had some dust), inserted it in the mobo and plugged the cable of the monitor to the other DVI output. And that's it, it worked !!

 

 

The weird parts:

All other games worked fine, so Oblivion puts more stress in the card than games like Bioshock, Company of Heroes, COD4, Batman AA ? even with low settings ?

I don't really know what worked: if removing the dust or the act of unplugging/plugging the card.

 

 

 

Anyway, thanks to all.

I hope the info helps other people as well.

[XJDHDR]

You're welcome. Inevitably though, there are those people who will post a new thread without searching the current threads for a solution.

[bben46]

Sometimes the contacts on a card will get just a little crud down in them that builds up resistance and causes wacky problems. Usually just doing as you did fixes that. reinstalling the card wipes the crud off and restores conductivity.

 

You also said you used the 'other' connector on the card. Is it possible there is a problem with the original?

[selvi]

You also said you used the 'other' connector on the card. Is it possible there is a problem with the original?

I will check that later, since it's easy to test.

I would bet it was because of what you said about the crud, though. I used the other one just in case.