sending bug reports to Malfador?

Randallw · #1 November 18th, 2006, 03:49 AM

SE5 has an annoying tendency to reboot my computer every once in a while. I'm fairly certain it's the game and not my computer. Anyway in an attempt to get the problem fixed I decided I should send an error report to Malfador, however I don't know how to get one. My computer was set to reboot if there was a system failure, i've turned that off*, but I don't know how to find the error report I assume is generated.

Edit:* which seemingly made no difference. It rebooted again. I can't get further than a year or two, barely time to meet another race, before the game and my computer crashes.

Will · #2 November 18th, 2006, 07:31 AM

Does it only happen when playing SEV? If it happens at any other time, I would worry about heat issues in your computer. Try playing a different game (I know, blasphemy) that uses up similar or more power, like the FPS-flavor-of-the-month demo. If it happens with that too, I would look into cleaning out any dust buildup that may be blocking airflow, or adding additional fans or coolers to improve temperature conditions.

Also try updating drivers for video, sound, etc., to rule out problems with buggy drivers making things go wonky.

As for a bug report, if you can reproduce it on a save, that would be most ideal. If not, describe under what conditions it happens (ie, during combat replays, in the system view, during turn processing, etc), and make as detailed a list of your main hardware as possible: processor family (core type and cache size included, if you know it), video card model, sound card model. If it really is a weird problem with the SEV code, then this will help track things down, especially if more people with same/similar hardware report the same problems.

Randallw · #3 November 18th, 2006, 08:53 AM

I keep an eye on heat issues. I measure the amount of heat it generates, if putting my hand on it counts

, and turn it off when it gets too hot (uncommon except during heatwaves). I play another game HoI2

D and have no problems, and leaving it on for hours doesn't cause a problem. The only real difference from SE5 is that HoI doesn't use 3D. I guess though that cleaning out the dust wouldn't hurt. Installing new drivers is a lot of trouble for something if it isn't necessary. SE5 is the latest game I have so it's not beyond the bounds of possibility it might need drivers. I have SW:battlefront 2, that's a 3D game that I would expect to need more processing. I can give it a go tomorrow to see.

Edit: I DID upgrade my drivers earlier this year when I picked up DOOM 3. Considering the fact the processing for SE5 doesn't need to be top of the market I find the idea odd. I know DOOM3 is a bit old but still it would appear it needs better stuff than SE5.

Atrocities · #4 November 18th, 2006, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Randallw said:
SE5 has an annoying tendency to reboot my computer every once in a while. I'm fairly certain it's the game and not my computer. Anyway in an attempt to get the problem fixed I decided I should send an error report to Malfador, however I don't know how to get one. My computer was set to reboot if there was a system failure, i've turned that off*, but I don't know how to find the error report I assume is generated.

Edit:* which seemingly made no difference. It rebooted again. I can't get further than a year or two, barely time to meet another race, before the game and my computer crashes.

You might, if you haven't already, update all of your drivers from Direct X through Video Card.

Randallw · #5 November 18th, 2006, 10:12 AM

Wow it's actually been almost a year since the last drivers. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

edit: you know it's actually possible that might be the problem. I tried large battles before with 30 fighters a side and full tech but gave up because every time the game froze as soon as they all started shooting

edit2: you know and another thing I didn't think it was a hardware problem because of the low end, but I guess the purpose of the latest drivers is to get the best performance from hardware, so I might not need a supercomputer, but I might need the latest drivers to let mine work.

2ghz xp pro
512mb RAM
Radeon 9600

and before the inevitable xp critique, I am considering a new system so I can learn Vista. anyone know if it's worth it? I thought if my work is in IT maybe I should have the latest windows. As for MAC, well I use that at work.

Will · #6 November 18th, 2006, 05:29 PM

Application-level software usually will not cause reboots of a computer as the result of a bug, simply because the code is too high level. Issues with drivers are far more likely as a software cause to unwanted reboots, and most likely is hardware heat issues. Yet it is strange that it would only occur for SEV.

AT may be on to something with the DirectX version. I remember there were some issues with the demo if the DirectX installation was not the absolute latest available. So that may be the root cause. I don't know if having DX9 will cause windows update to try to install DX9.0c (latest, last I heard), but give that a try. It should also have updated drivers if hardware manufacturers submit them to Microsoft.

As for Vista, I wouldn't bother getting it at launch. The major features that would have made it worth getting aren't really there anymore, and those features were mainly directed at businesses, not consumers. The only thing Vista really offers to a home user is a new graphics-intensive UI. Everything else you basically already get in Media Center Edition XP. For businesses, they don't get the new file system, they have anti-virus vendors locked out. So the new machines won't be protected under the AV solution already implemented within a company's Windows machines, meaning upgrading to Vista will probably entail: new OS, new hardware, new Office suite, redeploy anti-virus/maintain two seperate AV suites.

Anyway, I see no need to upgrade to Vista for either home or for business users. The sales of Vista for the first few months will most likely be dominated by OEM computer makers selling copies with new computers, and very few individuals personally "upgrading".

Atrocities · #7 November 18th, 2006, 07:39 PM

Many of the people who are in the know about VISTA say don't bother with it. That says volumes about it IMHO. I am happy with XP Pro and Win2k Pro.

Randallw · #8 November 19th, 2006, 08:51 AM

Upgrading directx had one benefit. I was able to run a simulation with 6 battleships a side and 30 fighters with full tech and it didn't freeze. Don't know exactly if directx or the latest patch is responsible for that one, but anyway just as I was starting to believe the problem had been solved, alas, yep the whole thing rebooted

. If I have the time tomorrow perhaps I'll try removing dust.

Phoenix-D · #9 November 20th, 2006, 11:13 PM

Do you have BSOD reboots turned off? By default Windows XP just reboots instead of showing you the error message..

Randallw · #10 November 21st, 2006, 12:04 AM

yes I think so. I turned off automatic reboots due to system failure but it didn't happen. I think it's working because yesterday my system failed when I tried to run a corrupt video and there was an error screen i'd never seen before.