Age of conan crashes with a black screen with sound

shivac · 07-10-2008, 07:39 AM

I have been struggelig with this problem a while now. It randomness makes it hard to troubleshoot and im getting very tired of it. Im gonna bring you guys the most detailed information I can get.

At the momemt i only have this crash in a mmo game called Age of Conan. This game is running DX9.0c and should support dx10 later. Its a high req game with stunning graphics and even the most expensive machines get a beating running this game with a smooth FPS.

The specs:
http://www.evga.com/community/ModsRi...asp?sysid=5160
Running Vista x64 with all the latest hotfixes after SP1.

The crash:

The game freeze, in a flash of a second you see the screen blink. 2 seconds later my main monitor goes black, my second monitor goes blinking and textures from the game sometimes jitter all over it. The sound keeps playing for about 5-6 seconds before it end up in a loop. Complete freeze and need to reset computer. There is no BSOD visible. And there is no message on the onboard LED.

I even have a picture on my mobile phone, will add this to topic later today. I also get some strange "artifacts" on screen some places. But guessing thats not because of temperature issues, (because temps are good)
What I have tried so far:

- Every driver available from 169.35 and upwards.
- Uninstalling properly. Even deleted old files in Filerepositary folder. (this required a figgeling with commands to take ownership of the files, but i found about 9 nvlddmkm.sys files there that i deleted among with their native folders)
- Every combination of driver settings in "Manage3d" in control panel.
- Underclocking
- Temps are fine, but fan running at 100%. CPU and MCP temps are also good.
- Uninstalling rivatuner
- Ingame settings for 3d and sound.
- Reinstalling soundcard drivers
- Upgrading chispet drivers.
- Ram memtest86 for 18 hours and orthos for 12 hours. Stable.
- Unlinked memory from 900 to 800. Currently running linked/synched.
- Various bios settings.
- Reinstalled some video codecs. K-Lite 4.0.0 now.
- Turning off AA and AF ingame, and from control panel.
- Forcing AA and AF settings in control panel.
- Tried disabling sound card special features.
- Tried installing beta soundcard drivers
- Ingame
- Forcing V-Sync on and OFF.
- PSU should be sufficent for this system.
- Turning off second monitor for dualview.
- Posting on Techforum :) (hope it helps)
- I have a G15 Keyboard with LCD, this with everest applikasjons adds a function to let me monitor my system temps. CPU, MCP, HK and GPU dio. They are all fine.
- Been browsing Age of conan forums all the time. People have the same issues with no real solution yet. (they could say that they are "omg im error free" but .. it is so random next day, or next day after the issues could be back.

Things I haven't tried yet/dunno if it's worth the effort:

- Installing a new directx update? In that case what do I install? 10 or 9c? Age Of Conan is currently running on DX9. Not sure if i can install a dx9 update on vista that has dx10 support.
- RMA the Videocard (but why?)
- Replace TIM on mofets and NB+SB. (Even though temps are fine, and memcontroller haven't died yet)
- Swapping VGA cables.
- Reinstall Vista x64.

Hope there is any help to get here :)

Bat0u89 · 07-20-2009, 01:25 AM

my problem with the game is similar, after 2 hours of playing the screen gets black but the pc doesn't shut down or restart, sometimes there is a sound lag, you posted your thread quite a long time ago did you find a solution? i heard something about setting the pagefile to a fixed value gonna try this later...btw my vga is 8800gts after installing the new driver i remember having issues with far cry 2 which kicked me out of the game and the vga stopped working but i could still be in windows (in bad resolution and 8 colours).

07-10-2008, 07:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
shivac Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 7 OS: Vista x64	Age of conan crashes with a black screen with sound I have been struggelig with this problem a while now. It randomness makes it hard to troubleshoot and im getting very tired of it. Im gonna bring you guys the most detailed information I can get. At the momemt i only have this crash in a mmo game called Age of Conan. This game is running DX9.0c and should support dx10 later. Its a high req game with stunning graphics and even the most expensive machines get a beating running this game with a smooth FPS. The specs: http://www.evga.com/community/ModsRi...asp?sysid=5160 Running Vista x64 with all the latest hotfixes after SP1. The crash: The game freeze, in a flash of a second you see the screen blink. 2 seconds later my main monitor goes black, my second monitor goes blinking and textures from the game sometimes jitter all over it. The sound keeps playing for about 5-6 seconds before it end up in a loop. Complete freeze and need to reset computer. There is no BSOD visible. And there is no message on the onboard LED. I even have a picture on my mobile phone, will add this to topic later today. I also get some strange "artifacts" on screen some places. But guessing thats not because of temperature issues, (because temps are good) What I have tried so far: - Every driver available from 169.35 and upwards. - Uninstalling properly. Even deleted old files in Filerepositary folder. (this required a figgeling with commands to take ownership of the files, but i found about 9 nvlddmkm.sys files there that i deleted among with their native folders) - Every combination of driver settings in "Manage3d" in control panel. - Underclocking - Temps are fine, but fan running at 100%. CPU and MCP temps are also good. - Uninstalling rivatuner - Ingame settings for 3d and sound. - Reinstalling soundcard drivers - Upgrading chispet drivers. - Ram memtest86 for 18 hours and orthos for 12 hours. Stable. - Unlinked memory from 900 to 800. Currently running linked/synched. - Various bios settings. - Reinstalled some video codecs. K-Lite 4.0.0 now. - Turning off AA and AF ingame, and from control panel. - Forcing AA and AF settings in control panel. - Tried disabling sound card special features. - Tried installing beta soundcard drivers - Ingame - Forcing V-Sync on and OFF. - PSU should be sufficent for this system. - Turning off second monitor for dualview. - Posting on Techforum :) (hope it helps) - I have a G15 Keyboard with LCD, this with everest applikasjons adds a function to let me monitor my system temps. CPU, MCP, HK and GPU dio. They are all fine. - Been browsing Age of conan forums all the time. People have the same issues with no real solution yet. (they could say that they are "omg im error free" but .. it is so random next day, or next day after the issues could be back. Things I haven't tried yet/dunno if it's worth the effort: - Installing a new directx update? In that case what do I install? 10 or 9c? Age Of Conan is currently running on DX9. Not sure if i can install a dx9 update on vista that has dx10 support. - RMA the Videocard (but why?) - Replace TIM on mofets and NB+SB. (Even though temps are fine, and memcontroller haven't died yet) - Swapping VGA cables. - Reinstall Vista x64. Hope there is any help to get here :)

07-20-2009, 01:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
Bat0u89 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1 OS: windows xp sp3	Re: Age of conan crashes with a black screen with sound my problem with the game is similar, after 2 hours of playing the screen gets black but the pc doesn't shut down or restart, sometimes there is a sound lag, you posted your thread quite a long time ago did you find a solution? i heard something about setting the pagefile to a fixed value gonna try this later...btw my vga is 8800gts after installing the new driver i remember having issues with far cry 2 which kicked me out of the game and the vga stopped working but i could still be in windows (in bad resolution and 8 colours).