Another battle crash thread

[wimlore]

HI. I've read every forum thread and all their replies on this whole forum involving this specific problem. It took me hours, I know how many factors could cause a computer problem but I've finally decided... I need help!

So, every time I play a battle, my computer has a risk of instantly locking up completely. I've only heard of 1 or 2 similar cases from peoples on this forum, but none of their replies lead me to solve this disaster.

I run on a Asus A8N Sli, a model discontinued (im not sure why.) I have 2 7800 GTs running SLI and a AMD 64x 2ghz proc. 2 gb of Kingston Ram. Good, fairly clean harddive, with an also fairly clean registry. It was reformatted only a few months ago.

I used to play this game on full/high graphics (anti aliasing down to 2x) for hours and hours on end, with no problem. But only recently did this freezing problem begin. My mobo did die and I had to replace it with a very similar model type (the discontinued one), which was when i reformatted my HDD to be completely stable with the new mobo a few months ago. Also, this problem began right around when I discovered the 1.5 patch, which was only about a month and a half ago. Another notable thing that has changed since the time I could play and ME and now is that i've updated my video card drivers.

So I read that it could have been my CPU overheating. This was a very possible thing for me, so I got an intake fan pushing cool air on it, as well as replacing the thermal goop(arctic silver stuff) and cleaning the CPU itself. The temp of the CPU is now at about 80-90f mid-gaming. Sometimes it will freeze after 6 battles, mid-battle. Or sometimes after only one game.

Also, I double checked my versions. I played on a burned installation and a retail DVD installation. Both fresh installs, and 1.0 crashed just the same as 1.2, 1.3, kingdoms (all do the same crash) and 1.5.... Maybe its my graphics cards somehow? I got an intake fan pointed directly at them. They can get up to 90+ degrees f. Any help, or if you have the same kind of problem and have any insights, would be super appreciated. Thanks you're awesome.

Oh and one more interesting thing is that ME 2 is the Only game that makes my computer crash like that. Im able to play Age of Conan and other strenuis games but nothing just instantly freezes at random points during a specific phase like battlescreens.

[.i.Am.runner]

I have exactly the same problem. Exept I can't even finish one single battle. Aparently the problem only occurs in battlemap. I've read somewhere else about someone who has had the same problem, which he fixed by intalling international drivers on his graphic card (because aparently his drivers where english and his graphic card norwegian). Well anyways that didn't work for me, maybe for you thou. I don't think it's specifically about m2tw or any patches because recently Call of Duty 4 freezed in the same way, and never did before.

[irishron]

If you have had a burned copy on your computer and Securom can find a hint of it or even thinks your burner is for illegal stuff, it will shut you down randomly. It hates Nero or any other burning software and emulation software like Alcohol120. If you have a reader, not the r/w drive, put the original dvd in it and see what happens.

[wimlore]

When you say "it will shut you down randomly." do you mean it will kick you to desktop? Because im experiancing a very instant and complete lockup, ONLY during battles. I think I know of the crash you speak of but this is not it. Either way, I've tried it with a retail fresh installation of 1.0, and ran it off the DVD but it did the same exact same crash. =/ I will try the international drivers Runner speaks of. Ive also done the following by now:

-Defragged.
-Ran spybott and did some whimpy attempts to repair my registry.
-Cleaned my video cards 150% and the tempature was about 86*f when a crash occured. So im almost certain heating is not an issue.
-Cleared up about 50% of my harddrive just to be positive it wasn't dumping, because now im wondering if it has something to do with memory. Or possibly my OS. Gotta test those drivers now.

[irishron]

Do you have two sticks of memory? Change slots with em and see if it goes away. Some people have had this problem when overclocking memory, graphics, and whatelse can be overclocked these days. Your temps are actually cooler than mine so no problem there.

[wimlore]

I have 4 sticks of memory. None are overclocked. I haven't overclocked any of my gear since they were bought. But just for the heck of it, I will swap a few around, and see how things go.

So I tried the international drivers. I crossed my fingers but my will power alone was no match for the demon that lives in my computer. It crashed just the same. I do wish to get to the bottom of this, any more suggestions would rule.

[Darkzeon]

I have had exactly the same problem for awhile now the game worked fine for years and has just started crashing in the battle screen.

It ocurred Just after I Upgraded my graphics card, memory and hard drive. I have multiple partions on my hard drive and was installing it on a partion not the c drive.

I have finally managed to get it working just version one i have'nt tried any patches or kingdoms yet. I completely uninstalled it deleting the main folder manually i then installed it to the default location "c:\program files\Sega\Medival II Total War" and let it do all the main install functions e.g. directx install and have now managed to successfully complete two battles without a crash. I hope any of this onfo can help you.

[.i.Am.runner]

My game is also installed in a non-default place. I guess I'll try that.
Thanks a lot I'll post another message telling if it worked or not.

[wimlore]

I think I fixed it...

I feel as though a dark cloud that has been looming over my computer for the past few months has finally dispersed. As far as I can tell, I fixed the problem. I did exactly as Darkzeon said. I comlpetely 100% uninstalled everything and deleted the SEGA folder. Then I reinstalled from the DVD to v1.0 and played a 30+ minute long game, where 2 full armies of shimmering knights stood facing eachother, not attacking, with max graphics, during a raining/thunder storm. I ran it long and hard to see if it would actually crash. It went longer than any of my previous battles, and around 30+ minutes my memory began to show some signs of lagging and it appeared to have frozen. I alt+tabbed and came back, to a slightly refreshed, but significantly Un-Frozen medieval! I did one more serious battle after that, and successfully made it through the entire battle without crashing. Im still highly sceptical and expect it to crash at any moment. But as for the time being, I am able to play medieval 2 v1.0 comfortably.

Now to do some terrifying things... I'm boldy going to install a mod i've been wanting to play for so long and hopefully it too, will be stable. Who knows, maybe soon I will be able to play all of kingdoms and some retrofit campaignes and still not have any crashes. I will let you all know how the expansion goes. Hopefully doing what Darkzeon did is the definitive fix for this issue for everyone. I thank you all for the help... now... finally... for some fun!

[irishron]

Be careful which mod. Most if not all mods require version 1.2 Medieval2 or Kingdoms.

[wimlore]

I tried Broken Crescent on 1.3. I lazily decided not to even test 1.2. Although it says BC works for 1.2/1.3/kingdoms. Either way... to my astonishment, the exact same crash occurred. Now I need to test a 1.3 Me2 battle and see if the same crash happens.

[wimlore]

So I downloaded a fresh version of 1.2. This one installed much more cleanly and I was able to play 6 consecutive high-graphics battles. 10 battles all together actually, but after 4 my computer was having heating problems, but once I resolved that (opened my window) it was working like a charm... Hopefully... Now, BC will work. GL for now!

[irishron]

So I downloaded a fresh version of 1.2. This one installed much more cleanly and I was able to play 6 consecutive high-graphics battles. 10 battles all together actually, but after 4 my computer was having heating problems, but once I resolved that (opened my window) it was working like a charm... Hopefully... Now, BC will work. GL for now!

Glad to hear it. I had to download 1.2 twice to get a good copy. Hopefully your fun has just begun.