Oblivion - Crashes/Lockups/Freezes

[maYuYang]

It really looks like a video codec(which one was the name again... Damn I forgot.. Maybe Matroshka, but not sure). It only appears on oblivion, but since my gaming performance is even better than most others, I do not mind. I also have that codec quite some time and it never caused problems(I only hate it's settings, when watching a movie on my media player, the settings are driving me mad. But it's the only codec for that kind of video format which is freeware).

 

My Windows Version is XP SP3.

[MrCooper2006]

Yeah FFDshow is linked to that Matroska thing i think. Still dont see why it would affect a game tho, very strange.

 

Could be causing the crashes, try look in task manager and see if theres anything out of the ordinary there.

[arnoldvsthegooch]

I recently did a complete reinstall of Oblivion. I had many, many MODS and didn't have any big crash problems until I loaded the Unique Landscapes and Compatibiblity Patches for UL. Once I deactivated the MODS for UL that interfered with The Lost Spires and related Compatablility Patches, everything worked fine again. Also I get a CTD on exit with Kvatch Aftermath for some reason. Here's a list of the MODS I used with very little CTD problems along with the load order:

 

http://jlspain1.googlepages.com/thegooch%27soblivionmods

 

This was an extremely stable MOD list and setup. Like I said once I added UL, I started having problems. Good luck with your CTD's!

[MrCooper2006]

Again UL seems to keep popping up, probably because of the vast scale the mods cover, and the long list of esps and patches involved.

 

Although just deactivating the esps doesnt cure it, you need to fully deactivate the OMODs for each one and crashes should go.

[Shadowcran]

Glad I never got that any of the UL's. Natural Environments does just fine. Course, I keep hearing that I should have the Atmospheric weather instead of NE's weather, but keep the rest of NE.

[MrCooper2006]

Yeah Shadow personally I use Enhanced Weather (updated version of AWS) and then Natural VEGETATION and HABITAT.

 

Thats my personal favourite set up for visuals... cool thing about EW is you can fully customize it, theres also a "Seasonal Weather" feature where it adds ambience with the use of the ScreenEffects mod, i.e. it looks colder in winter, and a warm glow in summer, also its obivously more sunny in summer and snows in winter. (Instead of just in Bruma)

 

Although playing at 10x Timescale i wont be seeing winter for lonnng time.

 

AWS I used to use also before EW. Heard there's lots of add-ons for it now aswell like Lightning Strikes etc, personally I dont think these look that good tho. But that's down to personal preference. Also Im sure theres a fix for the "yellowish hue" that comes with NE. Unless you like it tho.

 

Getting off topic here tho.

[maYuYang]

@arnoldvsthegooch:

 

I also have Unique Landscapes(the OMOD Full version), but I never witnessed a CTD because of it. However, I know that it is one of those mods which is very sensitive to load order, I used this guide here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pb7...gmsEA&gid=0

Also, UL needs several patches for all kind of things, if I remember right, someone uploaded all UL compatibility patches. You maybe want to check on this:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13834

 

I also use Atmospheric Oblivion and the AWS(Atmospheric Wheather System) and of course optimised Distand Land UL.

 

btw, MrCooper2006, what exactly does natural vegetation and HABITAT do? Never heard of those 2...

[Varus Torvyn]

It really looks like a video codec(which one was the name again... Damn I forgot.. Maybe Matroshka, but not sure). It only appears on oblivion, but since my gaming performance is even better than most others, I do not mind. I also have that codec quite some time and it never caused problems(I only hate it's settings, when watching a movie on my media player, the settings are driving me mad. But it's the only codec for that kind of video format which is freeware).

 

My Windows Version is XP SP3.

I have XP SP3; however, I've never experienced what you describe. I have a question for you, however, and this might or might not apply to why you see that happening.

 

Did you start installing SP3 while Microsoft was releasing Beta Versions for it, or did you stick with XP SP2 until the final approved Version was posted on Microsoft Update?

 

I'm not saying you used those Betas, but the reason I ask is because I'm thinking that there had to be some "buggy" coding within those Betas, and installing over those could have left you with unwanted files and/or Registry entries.

 

I wanted XP SP3 in the worst way, but I refrained from downloading those Beta Versions, as I wanted the cleanest possible install for the approved final version.

 

I was glad I waited, as I noticed nearly every file was rewritten while I was installing. I was impressed with the overall security of the download also. I never before saw an installation with so many failsafes coded in.

[Shadowcran]

@arnoldvsthegooch:

 

I also have Unique Landscapes(the OMOD Full version), but I never witnessed a CTD because of it. However, I know that it is one of those mods which is very sensitive to load order, I used this guide here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pb7...gmsEA&gid=0

Also, UL needs several patches for all kind of things, if I remember right, someone uploaded all UL compatibility patches. You maybe want to check on this:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13834

 

I also use Atmospheric Oblivion and the AWS(Atmospheric Wheather System) and of course optimised Distand Land UL.

 

btw, MrCooper2006, what exactly does natural vegetation and HABITAT do? Never heard of those 2...

 

Natural Vegetation makes fuller bushes and prettier flowers. Natural Water makes it look beautiful and more clear. Natural Habitat makes for butterflies and small creatures like that to show up.

They're all part of the Natural Environments package.

 

There's now a service pack 1 for Windows Vista. Got it yesterday.

[Elys]

OH MY GOSH!!!

 

I could become religious, Thank you Varus Torvyn!!! Very Good!! The 1st CTD cause she listed is exactly that one which causes my problem!!

 

I'll try it at home this evening(yay, already expecting^^ :biggrin: )

 

Did it work for you ? If it works, you should hear a firesiren once. (and also a log in Oblivion\Data\OBSE\Plugins\OBSE_Elys_Crashield.log which give details about which crash was fixed on the fly)

 

One more thing, I'm not sure if only I noticed that: When I play and exit Oblivion after a specific time, there those Weird double Fs on the active Aplication bar(right side of the task bar of windows). White Icons with light blue FF on it(and something written below the FF, but too small to read). Now normally, when exiting the game without any crash there about 3 to 5 of those Icons, but when the game crashes there're about 10 or even more. Any Idea what those are?

 

As people suggested here, it is prolly FFDSHOW.

It is a BAD thing to let Oblivion use FFDSHOW to render it's video or sound. A great chance to lead to unsuspected crash.

I won't go in the details about how to fix it, which can be done in the FFSHOW options. Else if you don't want to deal with it manually, when you install the K-Lite codec, you have the option to specify "Block blacklisted application from using FFDSHOW" and "Only allow whitelisted application to use FFDSHOW" or something like these. It's a good idea to validate these options which will exclude Oblivion and some other application that don't live friendly with FFDSHOW.