Guild Wars FREEZING ! ! !

[CorCentral]

Installed Guild Wars 5 days ago and have experienced restarting and booting me back to desktop (w/sending an error report) I can sometimes play for 5min or 3+hours before freezing and sending me back to the desktop. It's not just me either. Just do a search (Guild wars freezing) on Google and you'll see. I play HL2, Doom3 and many other newer games with ZERO problems.

Since the last update (13th) I get no more hard restarts but the freezing/booting back to the desktop is still happening. Very frustrating when trying to complete a quest!!!

I know it's not a HEAT situation, no need to go there. All temps normal.

Up to date on drivers, patches & Win updates.
(No overclocks on anything....... All stock speeds)

Win 2000 Pro
Intel 865PERL
Intel 3.2/800
2x512 Mushkin pc3200 lvl1
EVGA 6800GT
Antec 350w PSU

I've read many threads on this issue but most talk out of thier ..... and point to 10 diff components.

 

[CorCentral]

Anybody?

 

[tweekah]

Happens to me too, can't explain why. My system seems to stutter when there's a drop of an item that isn't normal. I can almost relate it to that, but i'm not sure. Counted about 5 crashes so far and i've been playing a lot =)

XP pro SP1
Nforce2
Athlon xp 2400@2.3ghz
1gb geil ultra
evga 6600gt w/ 71.84
420watt

 

[CorCentral]

Well I got a response from a tech from the Guid Wars website and this is what he said:

I would suggest you adjust your paging file. How you do this is by RIGHT clicking on My computer - Properties - Advanced TAB - Performance SETTINGS - Advanced TAB - Virtual memory CHANGE - Custom size - Set Initial size to 0 and the Maximum size to 0 - SET - OK - OK - OK. Restart your system and the defrag the hard drive. Then RIGHT click on My computer - Properties - Advanced Tab - Performance Settings - Advanced TAB - Virtual memory CHANGE - Custom size - Set Initial size to 1024 and the Maximum size to 2048 - SET - OK - OK - OK

And you may want to make sure that there are no other programs running in the background to interfere with the game. To do this go to your START button and choose Run. Type in "msconfig" minus the quotations and hit enter. Once there go to the Services tab. At the bottom of the screen is a box called "Hide all Micrsoft services" Check this box and select the diasable all button in the bottom right corner. Then go to the Startup tab and select the disable all button there as well. Then just Apply and Close. When you exit msconfig the system will want to re-boot.

Thank you
The Guild Wars Support Team


Does anyone here think this could be the cause? I hate messing with setting like this. It's just strange I only need to because of this game. Will the setting changes he suggested screw up my computer in "ANY" way?

 

[luigi1]

I was just about to start a simalar topic, I can run any game with full eye candy (amd3500+ 1 gig ram geforce6800gt on nv3 mb) and this game bombes on me, and im used to plyers dropping during game, did it bomb on them? It always seems to start with sound dropping, latly ive been trying to type a message to my group that i may crash, but it happens so fast that i never get the message out. Its a really fun game but its hard to say that its my prob when i can play hl2, doom 3, far cry with no issues what so ever. im keeping virus scanner and spyware updated and running them daily. do we have the horsepower on this sight to troubleshoot this? or are we left to the devs? suddenly im realizing that monthly charges might not be the worst of all possible incentives.

 

[luigi1]

Just watched the e3 video, incredble action, no one crashed. surely we can figure this out with the collective brains that regually cruse by here. there must be a common thread between those who are having problems and those who arent.

 

[luigi1]

Check this out!

Thank you for contacting the Guild Wars Support Team! The drivers you have are fine. It sounds like your video card could be overheating. We've been contacted by several customer's with the same issue (despite other games they play not causing the card to overheat). Please try removing the side of the computer case and point a house fan in the general direction of the case. If this does not resolve the issue, try going into the Guild Wars Options and slide the visual quality all the way down to the left, in addition go into Advanced and turn off Post Process Effects. You may also want to make sure the fans on the motherboard and video card are running properly and clean of dust.

Side of my case has been off forever, and i bought a can of air last week to clean out my heatsinks.

Is it time to think of (gasp) ati? are ati users experiencing simlart probs, only YOU can say. please respond to this thread if you have any input.

 

[KeithP]

I am also experiencing freezing. It happens very randomly. Suddenly the sound will start stuttering and that will be it. I have to hit the reset button to get out of it.

It has been a long time since I have come across a game that is so buggy. I may put it on the shelf for awhile and see if they come out with some fixes over the next few months.

-Keith

 

[luigi1]

well after appling the callabrated finger thermoter test I have to agree its the 6800gt overheating. Buy following the instructions in the email from support i copied above I seem to go a little longer and have a bit more time from when I first start noticing the sound dropping out. Is it possible that this is nivinda's problem not nc soft? Could it be that guild wars is more taxing on the vid card than aquamark and the other gaming benchmarks? I know me and this stuff will drive me up the wall, I'll be going through a dewar of liquid nitrogen just to do some of the post searing quests.

 

[mb]

I ordered an nv silencer just b/c of this game.. not even doom3 or hl2 stressed my card this much.

 

[luigi1]

Do you think the nv silencer will cool better? I thought it was quieter. Is that the best soultion?

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: luigi1
Do you think the nv silencer will cool better? I thought it was quieter. Is that the best soultion?

Sounds like it will help.. check the reviews http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186132

MUCH quieter than the stock cooler on the EVGA 6800Ultra. The heatsink is not much different, but the fan and venting is an improvement.

This is an excellent cooling device. Keeps the card a slight bit cooler than the stock fan and it is very quiet. But, I have and SLi setup and it is too thick to allow the second video card. I believe...

This card does not pull air in from the outside. It pulls air from inside the case and exhausts it out the back of the case which helps in overall cooling. Temps will plummet vs the stock cooler.

 

[Abrasive]

I play this game at work on this system.

AMD 2100+ no oc
Gigabyte K7 board
512MB of PC2100
Radeon 9000 64mb GPU
Satelite Broadband connection

I have never had a lockup or freeze or crash to desktop. The games plays well for being on satellite connection. I get a chug whenever a new enemy is aggro'ed but the game plays surpridingly well on this machine. Of course at home it plays much better and I have ZERO issues. Just wanted to drop this to say that this game can be played on a very low end system pretty well.

 

[Tom]

All I can add to the discussion is my brother and I have had no problems with GW crashing. We do both have ATI cards, a 9700 and a 9600 pro, Windows XP, and Pentium 4s.

 

[luigi1]

Turning off antivirus real time may have been the issue. Really to soon to say for sure.

 

[CorCentral]

I have tried running with the Anti virus software off but the Freezing and/or Restarting still happen. I have nothing running in the background but still does it.

I just checked Windows Task Manager (Performance tab) and it says my cpu usage is 100% and my memory usage is about 465000 (little over half the 1gig I have) 1 Application running and that's Guild Wars

With guild Wars off...............
Cpu Usage= 3% to 5%
Mem usage= 223000

Oh, and my temps (from Nvidia properties)

Guild Wars off= 55%-57%C (ambient temp= 37c)
Guild Wars running= 75%-80%C (is this high?)

I have an Antec 835II case w/ 2x pulling air in & 2x for exhaust. Pc is very clean and free of dust internally.

 

[George Vasiliadis]

First it?s nice to see I am not the only one with this problem?

The one thing I can tell you for sure is that it is not a heat problem. Why do I say this ? simple my entire rig is liquid cooled. I build custom high end PCs as a side job am A+ certified and know more about hardware than your normal Joe. My video card is a high end Quadra FX 1000 which eats anything for lunch? Nothing on my rig is over clocked and I never hit temps over 30degrees (ever!).

From my research the game has issues only with Nvidia cards. It also seems that ATI is teamed up with ArenaNet as you see their logo at the bottom of every page in the Guild Wars website. So my professional conclusion is that it is a driver issue with Nvidia cards. How long will it take them to fix it and if they ever will ? that remains to be seen. However don?t be fooled into thinking changing the settings or tweaking your system will help. I have tried it all because I love the game and am not a big ATI fan. However I may just have to build a new rig with a ATI card just for Guild Wars because this random freezing during missions is just unsatisfactory.

 

[CorCentral]

I've read numerous posts in other forums dealing with the same problems. I can say it's not only happening with Nvidia cards.
You're right about the heat thing though, it has nothing to do with it! 90% of those posts trying to solve the problem usually end up saying it's something "HEAT" related. Monkey see Monkey do.

George, what problems are you having exactly? I'm getting all 3 problems and they are totally random. Sometimes I get nothing but restarts for 1 day, and the next day will be freezing!
1--- Hard Restarting
2--- Screen freezes, then boots you back to the desktop w/sending error report msg
3--- Screen goes blank, and you have to manually hit the restart button?

As I've said already, no problems with this computer for 1+ years before playing Guild Wars.

 

[theLION]

Hi everyone.

I am a new player to this game and i have never experienced any problems whatsoever. Since i wont benefit any of you too much about solutions to your problems, ill just tell y'all my computer build so as to hopefully find a link between which computers/compenents might cause the problems. Anyway, here's are my main components:

A64 3200+ winchester (no o/c)
ATi x800 XL (no o/c)
1 gig Corsair Value Ram
MSI k8n neo4 platinum

 

[CorCentral]

I'll have to thank that guy on the "Mushkin" forum

He said that my Intel 865PERL MB may not like the default setting of my ram 2-3-2 even though my ram was Mushkin Black lvl1 2/3/2 and fully capable of those settings.

So I switched it to 3/2.5/3 and have been playing all day now (it's actually still running in the background) Let me tell ya', it's a nice feeling not having my computer restart every damn 30min, 1 hour, etc!!!!!

I'm not going to call this 100% yet as I may Jinx it **LOL**
I'll post an update in the near future

Btw, Support has told me before this to actually pull the side cover off of my pc & have a small fan blow inside my case **LOL**......... I told them over and over that it was NOT a heat issue!! They also said to make sure nothing is running in the background........... Well all day today I've had all my side programs running in the background like I always do while playing Guild Wars without so much as a hiccup. Norton antivirus/Norton Firewall, sys monitors, 4-5 windows open, Ad-Aware Plus, etc.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Just for cross checking reference:

I have not had any problems on my setup, i play it for about 8 hours straight sometimes.

Windows XP 64-bit
Athlon64 3000+
Nforce3 Ultra
Geforce 6800GT
Audigy 2 ZS

latest drivers on all equipment, most are beta and non WHQL (note when i say latest, i am talking about the stuff on guru3d.com not the nvidia.com drivers)

no overllocking

 

[George Vasiliadis]

Originally posted by: CorCentralGeorge, what problems are you having exactly? I'm getting all 3 problems and they are totally random. Sometimes I get nothing but restarts for 1 day, and the next day will be freezing!
1--- Hard Restarting
2--- Screen freezes, then boots you back to the desktop w/sending error report msg
3--- Screen goes blank, and you have to manually hit the restart button?

Same as you, random all three.. never had or have an issue with anything else for over a year. So did the memory thing work for you? Would be interesting if it did.

 

[CorCentral]

So far in 2 days of playing (I play about 6-7 hours a day at the moment) I've only had 1 error and it just kicked me to the Guild Wars login screen with the error 7.

My Intel 865Perl mb just did'nt like the ram settings. It kind of sucks because I bought good ram and now have to run it at degraded setting

Before= 2-3-2 (8-10 crashes a day easy) VERY FRUSTRATING!!!!
After= 2.5-3-3 (once in two days, it put me back to the GW login screen)

I may try adjusting to 2-3-3 later on and see if it does anything. I'll keep you guys updated. If anyone here that has any problems with Freezing or Crashing and you wind up fixing, please post here to let everyone know what you did.

 

[SoulFire]

I am also glad this is a common problem. I haven't really paid any attention to sound, but I also have a higher end system. I just upgraded, I run Doom III and HL:2 On ultra high at 1600x1200 with no issues aswell. I'm currently running a Intel 3.4 HT with 2 Gigs of 3200 PNY High Speed Gaming RAM, Radeion XT 850 Platinum, and a CD-RW. I am having the same issues as everyone else, and was curious about this RAM fix.

 

[rawenha]

i fixed my guild wars freezing problem on:

win 64 rc1
a8n sli deluxe
fx 55
1 gb corsair twinx
2 bfg6800oc in sli
raid 0, 2 160 SATA2 (using nvraid)

when i first installed guild wars, it worked fine. this was during my computer building process. somewhere along the line, it stopped working totally, and i had symptoms that everyone was talking about. namely, guild wars was freezing up my entire system so i had to do a reset. i would only be able to do things for about 5 seconds before a total lockup. it sucked. here's what i tried that didn't work:

rx55 register patch
defragging/adjusting virtual memory
every mobo bios available
every signed and unsigned compatible video driver that was 64 bit
adjusting memory timings
adjustiing memory voltage
severly underclocking my video cards in case the core was easily taxed (case heat could not be an issue with my cooling setup)
disabling SLI
disabling any performance options in the video drivers
re-installing guild wars
setting guild wars video options to ridiculously crappy settings (ie, 800x600, all options off)

so after all that, and running various memory tests, and reading everything i could. i found the problem wasn't guild wars specific, if i left half-life 2 running long enough, the same thing would happen (note, after a VERY long time). so what the hell was up....

i updated my mobo bios 1011 final which caused my windows to unload all it's device drivers, which means i couldn't boot up because of acpi crap (win 64 needs a helping hand to work with raid). so i had to re-install windows (i chose repair) with the right decorated nvraid drivers and got to work. my bios options:

dual video card
hdd smart monitoring
nv raid 0
disabled all IDE, SATA, and PORTs that were not in use
2.8 volts for DDR
auto voltage for CPU
manually set my memory timings to their specifications (2-2-2-5) this is important, at these timings for corsair twinx, you should really check to see if your voltage is 2.8).

then i uninstalled the automatically installed video drivers, and put in the NGO 76.71 drivers.

everything works. guild wars for hours, half life 2 for hours, etc, etc, etc. no more hard freezes. if anyone has any more questions about options/settings/drivers i used, just ask.