Sam&Max ep 104 blue screens
I bought season 1 around when it first came out. I played through to the mob the mole and the meatball, and now was on a different computer so I decided to install Abe Lincoln must die.
Whenever I hit the .exe it launches, goes to through the opening movie, and while the cars are driving by with credits it blue screen errors me. So I have to turn my computer off.
When I turn it back on it does that, your system has recovered from a serious error box. The blue screen doesn't say much specific, try to update drivers/bio drivers/etc
I updated my video card drivers yesterday and now it still won't run, any suggestions?
EDIT: I tried the mob and the meatball e103, and it did the exact same error!
Whenever I hit the .exe it launches, goes to through the opening movie, and while the cars are driving by with credits it blue screen errors me. So I have to turn my computer off.
When I turn it back on it does that, your system has recovered from a serious error box. The blue screen doesn't say much specific, try to update drivers/bio drivers/etc
I updated my video card drivers yesterday and now it still won't run, any suggestions?
EDIT: I tried the mob and the meatball e103, and it did the exact same error!
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When it crashed I wrote down the stop error in hope someone can decipher this garbled message.
Stop 0x000000008E (0xc00000010, 0xE739F86A, 0xBA1AE88C, 0x000000000)
I also decided to attach my dxdiag since a lot of the posts I read the next post people ask for it before they help. So we can get straight to the helping. Thanks for anyone who tries!:rolleyes:
What Version of Internet Explorer do you have?
Have you tried starting the game while disconnected from the internet?
Your audio driver is quite old. You should try the Realtek AC 97 Driver.
I have a feeling it might be the audio driver. Now that you mention it, but do I need to uninstall the nvidia thing thats in control or can that realtek Ac97 even work with my computers sound set up??
I am not really great with computers so thanks for the help a lot man!
I need to know the Internet Explorer Version anyway.
According to the Nvidia driver download site your system already uses a Realtek AC'97 Driver. Therefore it should work.
But i just thought of something else. you should first download and install the most recent Chipset drivers for your system. This way other components get updated as well as the audio drivers. The version is from 2004 though but it's at least a bit newer.
Then try the game.
If it still fails install the Realtek driver. It should overwrite the version included in the chipset driver.
If that should fail, deinstall the realtek driver (if possible) and install the chipset drivers again.
Is that the right version for the chipset? Its awesome of you to look it up for me since i'm not really good at that. Its in german though and when I go to usa, it kicks to main page. could u link it in usa?
Haha kinda funny.:)
Yes, i forgot to use the US google this time. You can download it there anyway. It is multilingual.
Your Internet explorer version should be at least 7. At least i think i read that here a while ago. It has nothing to do with the Chipset. The drivers do.
When was the last time you installed windows updates?
Make sure you have all recent updates.
I think even the Internet explorer 8 should be automatically deployed by now.
If not, you can download it from microsoft or google for another download site that suites you better.
I tried installing your nvidia chipset drivers, and after that the other audio realtek or whatever. It made it even worse!!
Instead of playing the whole opening sequence before you even hear the phone dialing(if your familiar with the episode) the game would crash by a dll error of some sort.
Being freaked that it wouldn't even get to the blue screen, I uninstalled the drivers best I could, and reinstalled a different earlier version of nvidia nforce 4.(?) I can look up the version if neccesary. Anyway now the game gets past the opening sequence and crashes during the credits with the same blue error screen.
SO I'm open for suggestions!! Please guys I love sam&max and would love to play tomorrow.
Anyway heres the results, maybe u could help me figure out what to do.
Manufacturer: ASUSTek Computer INC.
Model: A7N8X Rev1 .xx
Chipset: NVIDIA NForce2 SPP rev. A2
Bios
Brand: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
version: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe ACPI BIOS Rev 1007
Date: 10/08/2003
I thought it might be this since its 2003, and the bluescreen says it might be bios drivers needing update. Can you help? (edit:heres my dxdiag just in case u wanna look)
Yes. That's what we are trying at the moment with the nforce drivers.
I already saw your mainboard model in dxdiag. In the other case it was not listed there.
You'll find the original Asus drivers for your mainboard here.
They are older then the ones i linked, but at least we can be sure they are the right ones for your mainboard.
To access them select
Product: Motherboard
Series: SocketA(462)
Model: A7N8X
In the popup window select winxp.
now you'll see all the software suitable for your mainboard, but in old versions. Install those and try the game.
If you know how to update your bios you'll find a newer one there. It is a challenging procedure if you don't know how. A little to complex to describe to someone who has never done it.
Audio contains the appropriate realtek drivers. The newer ones should have worked, but let's go back to those.
Under Utilities you find: NForce2 all in one version 1.16 driver for WinXP
install those as well.
Now your system has all the old drivers that ASUS supported once.
About the bluescreen: It really says you should update the bios?
I've never seen that.
Looks like i'll have to guide you through that somehow if the ASUS drivers don't work.
I can describe it, but i have to warn you. A wrong bios update can really break your mainboard. I would advise you to find someone experienced to do it, but if you don't care if your mainboard is broken for good we can try it. It doesn't hurt to get some information first.
The first thing we need to know is the PCB version of your mainboard. There are different ones and the suitable BIOS depends on that. You'll find that somewhere on your mainboard. It should be something like: 1.03, 1.04, 1.06 or 2.0 .
In some posts people suggested omega video drivers, I would try them if I knew how to (if they cause more problems)return to the supported ones. But I fear I won't be very good at that so I was looking for other ways.
The omega drivers for your graphics card are two years older than the ones you have installed. The original ones you have are from this year.
It's really not easy to find the best drivers for old systems. The Mainboard vendor stops supporting them at some point. That's why we tried the more recent generic nforce2 and realtek drivers.
But since they don't work... although it would have been interesting what the dll error was. Might be better and easier to fix than a blue screen, assuming the system worked normally after the error message?
If the old ones don't work we should try playing with the new ones and fixing the dll error. At least then we would have a filename which gives us more information on what's wrong.
okay, try that
I do not understand which audio I should have as I believe the nvidia one is still active even if realtek is there. Nvidia nvmixer is below the realtek one though. So if I installed nvidia first it is the nvmixer thats open in the bottom right near clock, but if I install the realtek one, the nvmixer isn't there but is still in add or remove programs.
Any suggestions if you can make sense of what I should do??
okay, so you installed nvidia then realtek. It shows you the realtek mixer near the clock, but not the nvidia one?
That's what i would expect in that situation.
I know it's a little convoluted what we are doing, but i wanted to try to rule out driver issues first. Since all drivers are quite old it might not work with any one of them. We can just try.
You could do the dxdiag again now, so we can see what's active.
Is this the directX version you installed earlier? If not, install it.
You're welcome. I am trying my best.
Okay, the new realtek driver is active. Have you tried sound playback of any kind to test it?
Above you said you didn't try starting the game while disconnected from the internet. You should try it. The easiest way would be unplugging your network cable or turning of your router if you are on wireless.
That's good news then. Then the new drivers work at least as well as the old ones, and we can concentrate on something else.
If disconnecting fails we should try a clean boot:
Msconfig for Windows XP:
To Boot Clean in Windows XP
1. Click Start --> Run --> Type MSCONFIG --> Click OK
2. On the General tab, choose Selective Startup
3. Uncheck Process SYSTEM.INI file
4. Uncheck Process WIN.INI file
5. Uncheck Load Startup Items
6. Click on the Services tab
7. At the bottom, check Hide All Microsoft Services
8. Uncheck all boxes in the window or click the button labeled Disable All
6. Click OK
7. Click Restart
8. After reboot, run the game to see if it works.
After performing the necessary steps, restore your system by doing the following:
1. Click Start --> Run --> Type MSCONFIG--> Click OK
2. On the General tab, choose Normal Startup
3. Click OK
4. Click YES, when asked to restart your computer
Based on Will's post
Instead of the bluescreen where I turn off my computer it just restarted, the exact same spot though.
The 2nd time I had realtek audio, and ati tray still on the bottom right next to clock. It did the same thing, so I'm not getting the blue screen anymore.
I dont know if a bluescreen is better than restart.
edit: i didnt see your reply, Ill try that right now.
Okay, so disconnecting does no good. A blue screen gives some information at least, but i don't think it's much better than a restart.
If the clean boot fails we should do some hardware tests.
Okay. Then let's try hardware tests first before seeking the needle in a haystack software wise.
I have a bunch of them and i'll post them all at once, so we don't need a lot of messages for that. You can try each one and report back.
Some of them take some time. Especially the Memory test. But it's definitely worth trying.
Testing your memory:
In order to test your memory download http://www.memtest86.com/ and make a bootable cd or disk. Start your system from that medium to run the memory test.
It is probably enough to run it for one pass. Look at the lower table that looks like this after one pass is finished:
If there are errors they are showed in red as in this example:
Testing your processor:
You should monitor your processors temperature while running the processor test, just as a safety measure to prevent hardware damage by overheating. You can do that with core temp.
Now download prime95 for 32-bit or 64-bit Windows and run it. If you see a "welcome to gimps" window choose "just stress testing".
In the "run a torture Test" window just press ok.
Let the Test run for at least 5 minutes. If the temperature reaches 60°C before that, abort it. To stop it use "Test/Stop" in the Menu, but keep the window open because you need the results. Just closing the window would keep it running in the systray.
If there are no Errors listed until then, your processor should be okay.
Errors would look like the red worker thread in this Picture.
Testing your graphics card:
Open your PC and make sure the graphics card cooler is dust free and look whether the fan runs when the PC is running.
Download FurMark to stress test your graphics card. Start it, select "Stability Test" and "Xtreme Burning Mode" and press "Go!".
While running you should monitor the temperature at the bottom of the screen. Run it for 10 minutes or until the temperature seems to be stable for some minutes. If the temperature exceeds 80°C, abort with Escape.rature seems to be stable for some minutes. If the temperature exceeds 80°C, abort with Escape.
For the graphics test, I do not see any temperature to monitor.
I see. It is not listed in the supported cpu list. I'll try to figure out why.
You should try the graphics card test now, and afterwards the memory test, since that takes more effort.
It is not shown at the bottom while running the test?
No need to write them down. I assume neither your cpu nor your graphics card have temperature sensors then.
Then the Memory test is the best option for now, because it easy to do.
Do you have a second hard disk lying around and know how to install it?
If the memory test is negative as well it would be worth a try to install a fresh windows. But i don't want you to sacrifice your current setup just for a test that might do nothing good.
As you can see, i am running out of ideas. It might just be that something is broken in the windows installation that's impossible to find.
What do you think of trying Omega, I am just guessing but maybe the new new drivers are the cause.
I found this thread of someone with the same videocard as me X1600
Sure it's worth a try. Here are the ATI omega drivers for windows xp.
You should uninstall the current driver first.
ATI catalyst control center and the ati display driver and ati hydravision
Should I uninstall all 3??
Won't when the ati display driver's gone, my computer not have any display? Sorry for the dumb question, but I'd like to be sure.
Uninstall them all. Your computer will use a minimal standard driver.
uninstall, reboot, install omega, reboot, test game :-)
I tried running with my old drivers in 800x600 but it still crashed, these omegas default went to 800x600 and it worked, So i'm gonna try in 1024x768 now. Bye..:D
You're welcome and good luck. I'm glad you came up with the omega driver idea. I'll keep that in mind for future cases