Help please - error with game - Page 2

LLB · #11 October 23rd, 2001, 01:04 AM

quote:
Originally posted by fredgorch:
We very well may not have had the same problem. But......I uninstalled and reinstalled at least 10 times, with all different variation of no patch, 1.35 patch, 1.41 patch, TDM Modpack 1.71, 1.80. What I noted was that if I uninstalled, then shut down, then reinstalled, the game ran fine, for hours, until I shut down. Then I got the range check errors when I loaded a save game, or when I started a new game. So I thought maybe I just had to leave the computer on forever in order to play. It also made me think that possibly there was some setting stored when I shut down that was causing the range check error. In fact, Win ME has a hidden file on the C drive (forget the name right now, its not backup but its something like that, maybe restore?) that isn't present on Win 98. In any event, I can play now so long as I shut down with hibernate.

Fred,

That's interesting. I don't think we can entirely blame the OS though. I've got two WinME machines: The desktop is a Dell Dimension 4100 1 GHz PIII with 512 MB RAM and a 32MB nVidia GeForce2 GTS graphics card, and SEIV 1.41 (no mods) has run flawlessly on it from day 1; the laptop is a Dell Inspiron 4000 900 MHz PIII with 256 MB RAM and an ATI Rage Mobility 128, and SEIV 1.41 (no mods) has crashed flawlessly from day 1.

Maybe it's something about WinME *and* laptops, and/or (in my case at least) the ATI card that's causing the problem. I don't know, but it sure would be nice to get it fixed.

L.

davetox1 · #12 October 23rd, 2001, 08:15 PM

I've had the same RANGE CHECK error reported while using Win ME and a Dell P4 1.3 GHz using v.1.41 w/no mods. No SEIV saved games will play and new games crash as soon as I try to move a ship. Reloading SEIV does nothing. Other software works fine.

I did find a work-around. If the computer is used for other purposes for 30 min, the range check error disappears completely. This suggests that some flag is set while the computer is operating. When it is shut off, the flag resets. It may be that putting the PC into hibernation mode fails to clear that flag, and hence the Range Check error doesn't occur.

Since I use my PC sporadically, this is a serious problem and often prevents me from playing SEIV. Please solve the Range Check Error problem with the new patch!

Aub · #13 October 23rd, 2001, 08:30 PM

Redently I have been fighting a lot of "Range Check" errors myself. In my case, they did not disappear with time. But, using the other computer on the LAN I was able to process the same game files that had given me errors without a hint of a problem!

I suspect that there are some temporary files somewhere that may not get cleaned up properly. That would explain why using the computer for other purposes gets rid of the error - the temp folder may get flushed periodically, especially if there is not too much spare space on the hard disk.

I'll need to check those, e.g. wait for the next error and search for all recently updated files. Sounds like fun

jpowell · #14 October 23rd, 2001, 10:36 PM

I've noticed a thread with most of these problems on this site and for other games on other sites- Windows ME. This is a really problematic OS for game playing and unfortunately I understand that XP may be even worse. It looks like gamers will be having a tough time upgrading their systems if the upgrade includes one of the newer OS's. I strongly suggest gamers locate a copy of Win98SE and keep it on their hard drive, just in case...

LLB · #15 October 24th, 2001, 02:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by davetox1:
I've had the same RANGE CHECK error reported while using Win ME and a Dell P4 1.3 GHz using v.1.41 w/no mods. No SEIV saved games will play and new games crash as soon as I try to move a ship. Reloading SEIV does nothing. Other software works fine.

I did find a work-around. If the computer is used for other purposes for 30 min, the range check error disappears completely. This suggests that some flag is set while the computer is operating. When it is shut off, the flag resets. It may be that putting the PC into hibernation mode fails to clear that flag, and hence the Range Check error doesn't occur.

Since I use my PC sporadically, this is a serious problem and often prevents me from playing SEIV. Please solve the Range Check Error problem with the new patch!

Thank you, Dave! I haven't had a chance to do any substantial testing, but your work-around seems to work for my machine too. The only clarification I would add is that (on my machine at least) I seem to need to trigger the "Range Check Error" first, then do something else on the machine, then restart SEIV, after which the game seems to run normally. The first time I run the program after a boot it seems to crash no matter what else I might have been doing with the machine since booting it.

Now if we could figure out why my desktop WinME machine has never crashed with the same Version of SEIV installed we might really get a handle on the problem. Meanwhile, I'll certainly second your plea for a program fix.

As an aside, although your work-around is consistent with fredgorch's idea of shutting down with hibernate, I don't think that's viable in the long run. SEIV seems to have a memory leak that will destabilize even my desktop machine after a few sessions, and I seem to recall reading somewhere that WinME has some stability problems with hibernate.

Thanks again,

L.

LazarusLong42 · #16 October 24th, 2001, 04:10 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jpowell:
I strongly suggest gamers locate a copy of Win98SE and keep it on their hard drive, just in case...

This particular gamer strongly recommends Win2KPro, actually. Even 98SE was buggy. XP is supposed to be based off the 2000Pro line... but it has other, more insidious problems that will keep me from likely ever purchasing it.

LL