Lasereth

My computer has been giving me problems with Battlefield 1942 since the day I installed it over a year ago. It frequently crashes to desktop. I'm talking usually randomly every 2 levels or so. Sometimes I can't even get through a single match before I crash to desktop. I'll just be playing the game, and BAM, the game stops and goes back to the Desktop with no warning. The resolution is always back at 800^600 because I run the game at that.

EA Games tech support says to use the latest Soundblaster Drivers. I have them installed. They say to use the best video drivers for your system, and I'm doing that too. Me and my brother use the same drivers, and his never crashes, despite us having the same CPU, mobo, videocard, etc.

They even say to disable every running process in Windows except for System processes. I do that as well, and it still crashes to desktop.

I've formatted 4 times trying to fix it, and it doesn't help. I've flashed the BIOS...nothing. I've tried different installation procedures, tried different DirectX versions, and none of that helps either.

As a last ditch effort, EA recommended trying out the VIA chipset beta drivers for VIA motherboards. I installed them, and it just made the game freeze after 5 minutes or so. It didn't crash, it simply froze the computer up! Awesome!

I installed the absolute newest VIA drivers (non-beta) and it fixed the freezing problem, but now it crashes to desktop again.

EA tech support has two last possible answers: a PSU that's not powerful enough (I don't see how this could make the game crash) or faulty RAM. Now, on to the point of this thread!

I need a software-based memory tester that doesn't take too long. I've Googled and found jackshit. I used Memtest 86, which is supposedly the best, but after running it for 12 hours with no OS, it was only 20% done. I can't wait 3 days for my RAM to be checked, not when I'm at school with one computer.

Are there any other RAM testers out there that don't take too fucking long? Under 12 hours would be nice so I can do it when I sleep.

Better yet, does anyone think the PSU not being powerful enough has any merit? I'm using a shitty POWMAX 350w, but it's never given me trouble before. Secondly, does anyone have any other ideas as to why my game keeps crashing? This is the only fucking PC game I play, and it pisses me off that it's the only game that my computer won't play stably.

My system:

AMD Athlon XP 1900+ Palomino Core
Gigabyte GA-7VR motherboard
512 MB of PC2100 RAM, 256 MB of PC2700 RAM, all generic shit
Soundblaster Live! soundcard
AOpen GeForce 4 TI4200 128 MB 4X AGP videocard
Maxtor 40 GB 5400 RPM HDD
POWMAX 350w PSU
Volcano 9+ CPU Heatsink Fan


Thanks for your input!

-Lasereth

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

bonehed1

I had the same problem and I ended up having to reinstall everything from scratch. I still can't figure out what was causing the problem. I checked out their boards and tried everything they recommended but nothing worked. Hopefully you dont have to reinstall everything.

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sailor

Memtest 86 should NOT be taking that long. One thing to remember though is that it loops--it was likely at 20% on the 7th or 8th loop. It should take between 30 minutes and an hour to run the full test.

Try installing on another machine. If it runs there, then it is something on your machine. I seem to recall people having lots of problems with BF1942, but what you have is a little extreme. If you cant get it running on another machine, call EA and see if you can get them to either send you another copy or refund your money.

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The_Dude

try 'docmemory' from www.simmtester.com

when i called in to get an rma from crucial, they asked what i used and i said docmemory and that's all they wanted.

as for time, there are 2 options in docmemory. the quick test and the normal test i think.

i ran the long one and it found like 10 errors in 45 mts or so (the test was still going, but i only needed to see the 10 errors).

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juanvaldes

bad code.

If it was the PSU or RAM the system would go down as well, and it would be more random them "every 2 levels". Other applications would also be effected. EA tech can not admit to you there code is bad but that's exactly what it sounds like.

edit: other idea, you said this is the ONLY game you play. Not that I'd expect it without signs in other apps/the OS but it could be your GPU up and dying under the games demand.

Silvy

I play Battlefield often and one thing that strikes me:
Many servers have each map twice before they cycle around to another map.
Could it be the map-change that is causing the CTD?
Try playing on a server that is dedicated to 1 map only (it will then play about 6 times before it is reloaded in my experience).

While I can't see how this would help you (sorry...) it might give some leads, certainly towards EA/DICE.

I agree with Juanvaldes: if it was the PSU your PC would freeze or restart. With faulty RAM you *should* see more random errors. I was thinking of an overheating problem, but that would most likely result in freezes/reboots as well...

Good luck!

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Lasereth

Thanks for the replies everyone!

One thing to point out: I've formatted and reinstalled Windows 4 times already trying to fix this problem. Reinstalling the OS doesn't help.

sailor420, the first "Test" only took about 20 minutes. I read on the Memtest 86 site that you should run all 11 tests though. Do I only need to do the first? I got to Test #6 after 12 hours and there wasn't a single error. Is this good?

Another issue: my brother has the exact same computer as me. He has the same motherboard, same processor, and even the same RAM (one chip is different, two are the same). He has the same videocard and same soundcard as well. Battlefield 1942 has NEVER crashed on his computer before, and he plays it frequently as well.

juanvaldes: this is the only game I play currently, but it's not the *only* PC game I've played. I used to play Morrowind frequently and Counter-Strike to a certain extent. I've also played UT2k3 and the original UT for long periods of time. I've played multiple games on this PC, but Battlefield 1942 is the only game that crashes to desktop. That's why I didn't think it was bad RAM or the PSU, like you said.

Silvy: I play on multiple servers, with the main one having two rounds for each game. The game has *never* crashed during a map change, map load, or anything like that. It crashes randomly during gameplay. Whether I'm walking along by myself, flying a plane, driving a vehicle...it doesn't matter what I'm doing, it simply crashes when it wants to. I've noticed that when it does crash, the HDD LED on the front of my PC goes crazy. It lights up and stays on for a good 3 seconds after every crash to desktop.

I'm wondering if one of my hardware components is fucked. After formatting 4 times and installing a hundred drivers, this problem still exists, and it simply does not on my brother's computer. Maybe my videocard is overheating or something? The fan works fine on it. My CPU fan keeps my processor at 44 celsius under full load, as well. This is the main reason I wanted to do the RAM test. That's basically the only other thing I can think of.

Thanks for your replies, and if you have ANY other suggestions I'll gladly try them! I want this problem fixed very badly.

-Lasereth

__________________
"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

Silvy

If feasible you might want to swap a few components with your brother's PC.

Switch the RAM chips and see wether the problem persists.

Off-topic...
The one time I needed the Mem86 test, I only ran test 1... it gave such amount of errors that the end result was clear: the memory was bad (or in this particular case: the memory controller on the cpu )

__________________
"Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. "
- Murphy MacManus (Boondock Saints)

SuperMidget

You never did mention what OS you use. Probably not an issue, but any of the Windows Servers (particularly 2003) have serious issues with Battlefield.

Not withstanding, have you messed with the RAM timings to bring the two different speeds more inline? (I have never used DDR RAM, forgive me if this question is asinine)

Is any of the RAM ECC?

Is the harddrive going bad? This one would be my bet. Maxtor's are not known for reliability. My roommate had a 60 GB Maxtor that caused similar issues. He replaced it and it works fine. (Well after he reformatted to XP and away from Server 2003)

Dragonlich

Go for Silvy's advice: swap the supposedly faulty ram, see what happens.

It might have something to do with the videocard becoming too hot (perhaps the cooler is dusty?). Or it could be just bad luck, and some problem *somewhere* on the motherboard... (such as: memory slots. oops)

Boner

Do you have more than one stick of RAM in the machine? If it will run with only one, pull one and run for awhile. If it crashes, swap the sticks. See if you crash with it. If you get crashes with one and not the other, I'd suspect that particular stick of RAM.

Lasereth

I'm using Windows XP.

I'll try the RAM testing. My brother is my roommate, so I can gank his RAM if I need to temporarily. I think I might try the one-stick-at-a-time thing. Again, thanks for the quick replies! You guys rock.

-Lasereth

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

Lasereth

Well, I tried installing another set of chipset drivers, and my computer did the freeze thing again. To make a long story short, I ended up formatting to try and get rid of the chipset driver settings, and games/apps STILL froze after the format.

That's when I said fuck it and decided to test out the RAM after all. I took out two sticks and left my Crucial in. No freezing! I took the Crucial out and put in my generic PC2700 in. The computer wouldn't even POST, and if it did (rarely) it wouldn't get to Windows.

I've put the two good PC2100 sticks in, so now I have 512 MB at least. The PC2700 is sitting on my desk, and my computer is now running perfect.

Thanks for the help everyone, it turned out to be bad RAM! Moral of the story: don't buy generic shit RAM.

-Lasereth

__________________
"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

bonehed1

I only buy from crucial....I swear by them

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