Frequent Crashes: EQ2 has encountered an error and needs to close

[Spaceweed]

ChildofHate wrote:

it's not a driver issue...  did you try the "memory fix" that's been discussed in the other posts?  alter your boot.ini file to accept larger memory (whether you have more or less then 2g) and then change the everquest2.exe file to accept >2g memory?  It works.  You just have to keep a copy of the .exe file elsewhere and recopy it to the eq2 folder because the patcher overwrites the fix you implimented.

Has your memory been overclocked?I spent a week with this problem on a brand new Core2 system, and it was driving me nuts.  My 800mhz had been overclocked to 950mhz.  I turned this down to 900mhz, and hey presto, I have a game.  Hasn't crashed since .I set up a dual boot system too, and play the game on XP Pro.  Not gotten round to reloading onto Vista, as I've had enough arsing around for a few weeks ^^.

[Spaceweed]

KingXenophon wrote:

I am certainly not overclocking.  I have a Dual Core Duo 2.4Ghz

Yesterday I changed my sound card and installed all new drivers etc.  Still crashed (lastest crash log above)

Is there a listing of supported drivers for sound cards? If so, I haven't been able to find it.

I have the correct drivers for my video card (per support forum threads)....

Any other drivers I should look at?

See my post directly above this one - replied to wrong person

[KingXenophon]

How do I check what speed my memory is?

I have not overclocked it.

[ChildofHate]

KingXenophon wrote:

How do I check what speed my memory is?

I have not overclocked it.

heh, this tells me it's not overclocked.

regardless of the specific error message he's seeing, i am guessing it's the same OoM issues that most are having.  Because it's manifesting different doesnt mean it's the same.  I've seen the OoM error as well as other error messages but in the end, they all were caused by Large Memory Access.  No matter how you slice an apple pie, it's still an apple pie.

[willnotuse]

CPU-Z can tell you what your memory speed is. 

[willnotuse]

ChildofHate wrote:

KingXenophon wrote:

How do I check what speed my memory is?

I have not overclocked it.

heh, this tells me it's not overclocked.

regardless of the specific error message he's seeing, i am guessing it's the same OoM issues that most are having.  Because it's manifesting different doesnt mean it's the same.  I've seen the OoM error as well as other error messages but in the end, they all were caused by Large Memory Access.  No matter how you slice an apple pie, it's still an apple pie.

Not always true.  As per the Microsoft article you can end up purchasing a computer that is already overclocked either on the CPU, GPU or the memory.  Sometimes multiple items.

[uux]

ChildofHate wrote:

it's not a driver issue...  did you try the "memory fix" that's been discussed in the other posts?  alter your boot.ini file to accept larger memory (whether you have more or less then 2g) and then change the everquest2.exe file to accept >2g memory?  It works.  You just have to keep a copy of the .exe file elsewhere and recopy it to the eq2 folder because the patcher overwrites the fix you implimented.

The amount of memory he has is in the crashlog he posted.  He isn't running out of memory.

If you can explain the memory protection values of PAGE_NOCACHE and PAGE_WRITECOMBINE together, then sure, I might believe it's not a driver issue.  If you can't, well, ...

Seriously, try disabling DEP.  Go into your boot.ini file and change /noexecute=optin to /noexecute=alwaysoff and reboot.  It's a lot less intrusive to try than modifying the binary.

Also, one of the reasons overclocking can cause this is *HEAT*.  Even if you're not overclocking anything, heat can still be an issue.  However, the fact that the OP said other things run okay leads me to believe this is not an issue.  You can usually find out pretty quickly if heat or overclocking is an issue by running a stress test on the system.

[ChildofHate]

TSR-RichardM wrote:

The memory issue that I see shows a memory type of INVALID. You might want to check this link:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894472There's a hotfix that may fix the problem.I hope this helps you. Best regards,Richard

so i followed this link and ended up having to "sign-up" to get the HotFix.  Having almost all the same issues others have posted, i decided to entertain this option.  Keep in mind i had absolute SUCCESS with altering the boot.ini file and then tweaking the exe as per the descriptions of the fix in other posts.  But i figured heck, this is a tech support mod posting, the link provided must be a valid fix and should be better then me having to re-tweak the exe every time.

As stated, i wrote to MS, explaining in great detail, including with SEVEN separate links pointing back to EQ2 support forums for reference, of the issues that keep coming up in game.  Included links of jpgs i captured of the various error messages (slices of pie, remember that phrase?) and then waited for my HotFix to be sent to me (complete with password protection, LOL).  MS did write back about 4 hours later explaining that the issue is indeed a Large Memory Address problem.  They included a password protected zip file and said it shjould work but is not guaranteed, use at my own risk.

I restored my boot.ini file, replacing the one i altered with the backup i made for it.  installed the Hotfix, repatched my everquest2.exe file and hopped into game.

and got absolutely NOTHING out of the fix that was recommended in the above quote.  I had stuttering issues and multiple lock-ups.  Basically reducing my game to the unplayable state that existed prior to doing the boot.ini mod and everquest2.exe tweak.

Bottom line, the Hotfix was no good.  Altering the ini file and exe is the way to go.  It's been ONE HUNDRED PERCENT effective.  Not much else to say about this.  I unstalled the hotfix, restored the altered ini file, tweaked the exe accordingly and played the rest of the night FLAWLESSLY.

big slices, small slices, round, square, chunks, crumbs of pie... it's still pie, no matter how you dissect it.

If someone wants to try out the "official" MS fix stemming from TSR-RichardM's above quote,  i can post a link to the unprotected file on here for you.  Not sure why they felt it necessary to password protect it to begin with... it wasn't specifically created for my machine's specs or OS.

As for the prospects of his machine being "overclocked" by the manufacturer...  i did 4 years in retail selling computers at Circuit City and for Dell... unless a customer specifically requested it of their Dell machines, it wasn't done and not a single one of them came overclocked when i worked at CC.  So as valid as that excuse may appear... it holds no water.

[uux]

ChildofHate wrote:

so i followed this link and ended up having to "sign-up" to get the HotFix.  Having almost all the same issues others have posted, i decided to entertain this option.  Keep in mind i had absolute SUCCESS with altering the boot.ini file and then tweaking the exe as per the descriptions of the fix in other posts.  But i figured heck, this is a tech support mod posting, the link provided must be a valid fix and should be better then me having to re-tweak the exe every time.

What did you put in your boot.ini?  If it was /nopae, or anything that disables PAE, then you disabled DEP.

[willnotuse]

ChildofHate wrote:

TSR-RichardM wrote:

The memory issue that I see shows a memory type of INVALID. You might want to check this link:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894472There's a hotfix that may fix the problem.I hope this helps you. Best regards,Richard

so i followed this link and ended up having to "sign-up" to get the HotFix.  Having almost all the same issues others have posted, i decided to entertain this option.  Keep in mind i had absolute SUCCESS with altering the boot.ini file and then tweaking the exe as per the descriptions of the fix in other posts.  But i figured heck, this is a tech support mod posting, the link provided must be a valid fix and should be better then me having to re-tweak the exe every time.

As stated, i wrote to MS, explaining in great detail, including with SEVEN separate links pointing back to EQ2 support forums for reference, of the issues that keep coming up in game.  Included links of jpgs i captured of the various error messages (slices of pie, remember that phrase?) and then waited for my HotFix to be sent to me (complete with password protection, LOL).  MS did write back about 4 hours later explaining that the issue is indeed a Large Memory Address problem.  They included a password protected zip file and said it shjould work but is not guaranteed, use at my own risk.

I restored my boot.ini file, replacing the one i altered with the backup i made for it.  installed the Hotfix, repatched my everquest2.exe file and hopped into game.

and got absolutely NOTHING out of the fix that was recommended in the above quote.  I had stuttering issues and multiple lock-ups.  Basically reducing my game to the unplayable state that existed prior to doing the boot.ini mod and everquest2.exe tweak.

Bottom line, the Hotfix was no good.  Altering the ini file and exe is the way to go.  It's been ONE HUNDRED PERCENT effective.  Not much else to say about this.  I unstalled the hotfix, restored the altered ini file, tweaked the exe accordingly and played the rest of the night FLAWLESSLY.

big slices, small slices, round, square, chunks, crumbs of pie... it's still pie, no matter how you dissect it.

If someone wants to try out the "official" MS fix stemming from TSR-RichardM's above quote,  i can post a link to the unprotected file on here for you.  Not sure why they felt it necessary to password protect it to begin with... it wasn't specifically created for my machine's specs or OS.

As for the prospects of his machine being "overclocked" by the manufacturer...  i did 4 years in retail selling computers at Circuit City and for Dell... unless a customer specifically requested it of their Dell machines, it wasn't done and not a single one of them came overclocked when i worked at CC.  So as valid as that excuse may appear... it holds no water.

The overclocking is mainly done by Mom and Pop shops.  Sometimes by the vanity dealers.  Also, some video cards you buy are overclocked as a selling point.  BFG being the best example of a company that does exactly that.

[ChildofHate]

uux wrote:

ChildofHate wrote:

so i followed this link and ended up having to "sign-up" to get the HotFix.  Having almost all the same issues others have posted, i decided to entertain this option.  Keep in mind i had absolute SUCCESS with altering the boot.ini file and then tweaking the exe as per the descriptions of the fix in other posts.  But i figured heck, this is a tech support mod posting, the link provided must be a valid fix and should be better then me having to re-tweak the exe every time.

What did you put in your boot.ini?  If it was /nopae, or anything that disables PAE, then you disabled DEP.

no.

this:

[boot loader]timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn /3GB /USERVA=2800

even if you system has 2gb or less system memory, it works.  Case in point, my machine.

[ChildofHate]

as for being "mom and pop" built... i take same stance as i did with machines from CC and Dell, unless the "shop" uses poor or seedy business practices, they wont OC a machine except for if the client requests it.  Too much risk involved.

So here's the question Mr. OP, where'd you get the machine so that speculation about its integrity will cease and we can get down to REAL analysis and stop with the potential excuses

[uux]

ChildofHate wrote:

uux wrote:

ChildofHate wrote:

so i followed this link and ended up having to "sign-up" to get the HotFix.  Having almost all the same issues others have posted, i decided to entertain this option.  Keep in mind i had absolute SUCCESS with altering the boot.ini file and then tweaking the exe as per the descriptions of the fix in other posts.  But i figured heck, this is a tech support mod posting, the link provided must be a valid fix and should be better then me having to re-tweak the exe every time.

What did you put in your boot.ini?  If it was /nopae, or anything that disables PAE, then you disabled DEP.

no.

this:

[boot loader]timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn /3GB /USERVA=2800

even if you system has 2gb or less system memory, it works.  Case in point, my machine.

Page File: 426MB used, 3515MB availableI did notice the info on his page file.  It's dynamically sized, and barely being used.  The error messages speak for themselves.  He is not running out of memory.Of course the /3GB switch works even if you do have less PHYSICAL memory.  It's because that's referring to virtual memory, not physical.  Furthermore, the /3GB option causes the kernel to use more physical memory (less available for the game).  I wouldn't recommend it unless the application was really running out of memory.  It still requires changing the linker flag on the executable so the game can support more than 2GB, which I highly advise against.  Simply because not only is it extremely annoying (updates, tweaking the /userva switch, ...), it's unsupported and trying to get support for a binary you modified is unreasonable.It really is the program (or drivers) trying to access memory that it is not supposed to.  Whether it be from buggy code or corrupted memory, this is what is happening.  Mind you, corrupted memory can happen in various ways (heat, overclocking, low power, physically bad, ...).  Disabling DEP is an easy test.

[ChildofHate]

uux wrote:

Page File: 426MB used, 3515MB availableI did notice the info on his page file.  It's dynamically sized, and barely being used.  The error messages speak for themselves.  He is not running out of memory.Of course the /3GB switch works even if you do have less PHYSICAL memory.  It's because that's referring to virtual memory, not physical.  Furthermore, the /3GB option causes the kernel to use more physical memory (less available for the game).  I wouldn't recommend it unless the application was really running out of memory.  It still requires changing the linker flag on the executable so the game can support more than 2GB, which I highly advise against.  Simply because not only is it extremely annoying (updates, tweaking the /userva switch, ...), it's unsupported and trying to get support for a binary you modified is unreasonable.It really is the program (or drivers) trying to access memory that it is not supposed to.  Whether it be from buggy code or corrupted memory, this is what is happening.  Mind you, corrupted memory can happen in various ways (heat, overclocking, low power, physically bad, ...).  Disabling DEP is an easy test.

as i said, i had similar error messages as well and my pagefile is setup as sys mng'd as well.  i wasn't truly running out of memory either. yet i got errors like his  and others.  Also keep in mind, the ini fix works in juncition with the exe tweak.  doing the ini mod isnt a stand alone fix.  presuming otherwise means you haven't followed everything said so far.

Be happy to test your dep fix when i get home though.  if it works and no longer have to tweak the exe, great!  i just have a sinking feeling that it will be as effective as the recommended MS link mentioned earlier.  btw no, i know for sure my memory is not bad as i tested it with the memtest86 program when this first started happening.  If you search the net, there are many games, especially flight sims that have same or similar issues.  the ini mod coupled with the exe tweak fixed it in those situations as well.  but as i said, be more then happy to test your dep suggestion.

[willnotuse]

ChildofHate wrote:

as for being "mom and pop" built... i take same stance as i did with machines from CC and Dell, unless the "shop" uses poor or seedy business practices, they wont OC a machine except for if the client requests it.  Too much risk involved.

So here's the question Mr. OP, where'd you get the machine so that speculation about its integrity will cease and we can get down to REAL analysis and stop with the potential excuses

Like I said, some vanity computers are also overclocked.  VoodooPC, Alienware and others have it as an option.  Some components are sold specifically to the gamer market overclocked like BFG does.  BFG offers the 8800 GT OC for example. 

[KingXenophon]

First and foremost thank each of you So much for your help.  I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to help a complete stranger.   Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

I disabled DEP last night (it gave me an option to select specific .exe to disable it for).  I played for a bit longer and I did not crash.  This is not conclusive because I didnt play long enough last night to test the fix.  I will play almost all day tomorrow and should have more data.

My PC, nor my Video Card is overclocked  (to my knowledge). (Is there a way to see this in the DXDIAG file?) It was built by a friend and has been stable and beautiful for about a year (until 3 weeks or so ago).  I thought it had something to do with the sound drivers not supporting the dynamic sound as sometimes I would get a repetitive sound before crashing.  I read the forums and saw lots of issues with EAX, Creative Audigy 2 Zs's etc and I decided to replace the sound card (cheap fix if thats what the issue was) with  no luck.  I was still getting crashes.

Other times there is no sound and I just get the error message.  "Everquest2 has encountered an error and needs to close."

After reading all of this I am unsure how to proceed.  Is this a driver issue? Is this a memory management issue?  Is this a power supply issue?

Can someone tell me specifically what to remove and add back into my .ini file?

Thanks in advance for all of your help

[uux]

ChildofHate wrote:

as i said, i had similar error messages as well and my pagefile is setup as sys mng'd as well.  i wasn't truly running out of memory either. yet i got errors like his  and others.  Also keep in mind, the ini fix works in juncition with the exe tweak.  doing the ini mod isnt a stand alone fix.  presuming otherwise means you haven't followed everything said so far.

Be happy to test your dep fix when i get home though.  if it works and no longer have to tweak the exe, great!  i just have a sinking feeling that it will be as effective as the recommended MS link mentioned earlier.  btw no, i know for sure my memory is not bad as i tested it with the memtest86 program when this first started happening.  If you search the net, there are many games, especially flight sims that have same or similar issues.  the ini mod coupled with the exe tweak fixed it in those situations as well.  but as i said, be more then happy to test your dep suggestion.

I didn't presume anything.  As I stated, you still have to modify the linker flags on the executable.I don't know what the problem is with your system, or what the errors you received when the game crashed for you.  I don't even know if your processor supports DEP.  I recommended it to the OP only.  He is not receiving out of memory errors.  These errors are very specific.  The memory usage at the time of crash is even in the above information.If your game was crashing with out of memory errors or errors stating it could not allocate any more memory (and this has nothing to do with the physical size of ram sometimes) disabling DEP won't help you.  DEP has nothing to do with the amount of memory available, or whether or not the memory is bad.  That again, was to the OP only.

[uux]

KingXenophon wrote:

I disabled DEP last night (it gave me an option to select specific .exe to disable it for).  I played for a bit longer and I did not crash.  This is not conclusive because I didnt play long enough last night to test the fix.  I will play almost all day tomorrow and should have more data.

You cannot pick and choose which devices drivers and system services use DEP.  Only applications.  The only way to disable it completely is with modifying the boot.ini file (change "/noexecute=optin" to "/noexecute=alwaysoff").  Until you have done so, you are still running with DEP enabled device drivers.Also, you can disable EAX through the sound options in the game rather than removing the card completley.  I've been running stable also with a Creative Audigy 2 ZS with EAX enabled.  I reduce the amount of simultaneous sounds to 8 though.

[KingXenophon]

Where do I find the boot.ini file?