Crashing to Desktop -- DEP is set up

[Serena Darrin]

Hello all!

So I'm wondering something.  Every now and then, my game will crash to desktop.  It will stop, and then I get the notice that 'Sims 3 has stopped working'.

This was reduced a lot when I found out about setting up DEP. Ok, great, sounds wonderful, got that set up without a problem.

Thing is, it still happens occasionally.  Thing is, it usually happens at the same spot.  If I re-load, it will happen again at the same time.  So my game basically gets 'stuck' on a specific event. The newest one was when a Sim's carpool arrives.  It's happened 4 times now, every time I reload.   If I can figure out what event the game's getting 'stuck' on, I can avoid it, but sometimes it gets 'stuck on events outside my control, like carpools, or graduation.

What's really annoying is that I can't pin down an exact cause, because eventually, I will play through that part, and it won't crash. *grumble* It's like my game gets 'unstuck'.

Error Trap isn't catching any errors on this one.  Using Awesomemod's 'fixall' command sometimes seems to help, but not always.   I do also have Master Controller and Overwatch installed.

It's rather annoying, as my current game takes a bit to load, only to crash 30 second into playing.  I'll try clearing my caches (which I should do more often and don't, I admit), and see if that helps.

Also, for info's sake, I haven't patched up to 1.31 yet, I'm on 1.29.

Anyway, thoughts?

Edit:  Clearing the caches seems to have fixed it this time.  I'll have to remember to clear my caches more often and see if that makes a difference.

Edit: Nope.  I got past breakfast this time, but just after they'd finished eating, the game crashed again. *grumble*

[wednesday21]

I'm afraid I have no idea how to help you at this point, with all of the probable solutions tested to no avail. Though, I still find it necessary to ask a few basic questions.

1) Could you please provide some essential computer details? A dxdiag would be good too *(google it).
2) Are you using Windows, Mac or Linux?
3) Why didn't you patch up? The patch might be able to fix your problems.
4) Do you have any expansion or stuff packs; if so, which?
5) Have you tried starting a new game and seeing if this reoccurs? How long have you been playing this save file?

[Serena Darrin]

I'm afraid I have no idea how to help you at this point, with all of the probable solutions tested to no avail. Though, I still find it necessary to ask a few basic questions.

That's fine. 

1) Could you please provide some essential computer details? A dxdiag would be good too *(google it).

I'll have to grab that.   I'll post it later. (Sims is minimized right now while it loads Sunset Valley, and I don't know if the dxdiag would interfere.)

2) Are you using Windows, Mac or Linux?

Windows 7. I didn't know Sims could run on Linux, that's kind of awesome.

3) Why didn't you patch up? The patch might be able to fix your problems.

I've got a core mod I'm waiting on to be updated, and I always wait on the patches until I have some idea of the trouble I'm getting into.

4) Do you have any expansion or stuff packs; if so, which?

No Stuff packs, but I do have World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, and Generations.

5) Have you tried starting a new game and seeing if this reoccurs? How long have you been playing this save file?

It happens in all my games. As for this save file, it's my Dynasty, but I'm still near the beginning.  I started it a couple of months ago, barely played, and came back to it about. . . . ooh, a week ago, maybe two?[/quote]

Hope that helps, and thanks for your effort.

[wednesday21]

You are welcome. I have experienced multiple errors with Sims and I know how frustrating that can be; I don't want anyone else to go through all that so I try my best to help people who have issues with Sims.

Windows 7. I didn't know Sims could run on Linux, that's kind of awesome.

Indeed.

I've got a core mod I'm waiting on to be updated, and I always wait on the patches until I have some idea of the trouble I'm getting into.

No Stuff packs, but I do have World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, and Generations.

That's actually pretty wise thinking. I wouldn't recommend you to install patch 1.32 since you haven't got Showtime and it will cause you even more trouble.

It happens in all my games. As for this save file, it's my Dynasty, but I'm still near the beginning.  I started it a couple of months ago, barely played, and came back to it about. . . . ooh, a week ago, maybe two?

Hmm. That's pretty weird...it shouldn't really happen in such fresh save files. What town are you playing in? Maybe the town is overpopulated or something of that sort, though that might not really be the culprit.

Could you please name a few major mods you are currently using? Do you have many .package files in your Mods/Packages folders?

[Serena Darrin]

Hmm. That's pretty weird...it shouldn't really happen in such fresh save files. What town are you playing in? Maybe the town is overpopulated or something of that sort, though that might not really be the culprit.

I usually play in Sunset Valley, which is where almost all my games end up.  The rest are in Bridgeport if I specifically want the apartment-style living.  I've edited Sunset Valley heavily to add in my own custom bars and such, if that makes a difference.

Could you please name a few major mods you are currently using? Do you have many .package files in your Mods/Packages folders?

Major Mods?  AwesomeMod, and Twillans' ErrorTrap, Overwatch, as well as MasterController. I put Twillan's stuff in to fix errors in my first (unofficial) Dynasty attempt.

I do have a good amount of CC in my Packages folder.  But I've also gotten crashes with nothing in my Packages folder. (I wanted to see if I had a piece of bad CC I missed which was causing this.)

I will say this, my crashes have gone down since I remember to clear my Caches, and it seems to stop the immediate 'sticking' of the game.

[wednesday21]

I suggest you do a factory reset if you haven't done so already. You have two core mods which could probably cause your computer to work harder than it is supposed to; same for CC and your other mods. It would be good to check whether the game behaves the same way without all the custom content and modifications...if it still does, a full reinstall might be the only solution.

I'm still waiting for your dxdiag though, that could answer many questions.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I do suggest trying the things suggested in this thread.

[Serena Darrin]

Gah!  Sorry this took a bit, Real Life decided to throw things at me (and not good things)

I did do a factory reset, playing with absolutely no mods or CC, and it still crashes if it's going to.    It's just odd that sometimes I can play perfectly fine for hours, and sometimes I have crashes every 5 minutes.

I don't know if you want the entire text output of my dxdiag?  It's actually pretty big.  Is there one section that would help more?

[wednesday21]

You can post only the basic computer specs + the video card statistics parts. That would be enough.

[Serena Darrin]

Sorry for the delay once again.  Life has gotten -really- busy.

Anyway, is this what you needed?

Time of this report: 3/25/2012, 11:45:06
       Machine name: SARAHDAWN
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.110622-1503)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Alienware
       System Model: M17x
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          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       X 920  @ 2.00GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
             Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8180MB RAM
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        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
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Driver File Version:  ()
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          Vendor ID: 0x1002
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 Driver Strong Name: oem102.inf:ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1:ati2mtag_Manhattan:8.692.2.0:pci\ven_1002&dev_68a0&subsys_043a1028
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[wednesday21]

Hi again!

Your computer looks good. It should be able to run the game on high settings and your video card is definitely decent. I'm a bit baffled as to why it'd crash. Anyway, assuming it's been almost a month since you reported this problem, I find it necessary to ask... does the game still crash? It would be good if you could re-check it.

[Serena Darrin]

Haha, I had to get a new computer, so I splurged and got a really good one, so that I wouldn't have to replace it for a while.   That means that I can still run my favorite games in a few years.

I wasn't playing for a bit (as schoolwork is more important then Sims, unfortunately, )  but I played last night and had the same crash problem. It's at a different point in the game, but it's the same thing.

Though I think a contributing factor -might- be Firefox.  I leave Firefox open sometimes to check things on the Forum/Guide as I play.  Once when The Sims crashed, (I have to pull up the Task Manager to shut it down), I saw that Firefox was consuming an absurd amount of memory.  Maybe that's got something to do with it?

Also, thank you -so- much for trying to fix this.  I've gone beyond my own technical knowledge, so I'm really glad for your help.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I doubt this is anything to do with the crashing, but my friend has that card and he reports that he can only run the game smoothly on low settings. His other computer requirements only just meet the requirements, so that'll be why. I just wanted to point that out, because it's often believed that if you have a good card, everything else will fit into place, but really that isn't true at all. I just know about this card because it was one I considered while deciding on what computer to get for my birthday. However, the other requirements look awesome so, like Wednesday said, it's a bit weird that you're having problems.

Anyway, I know you didn't want to patch, but surely the mod you were waiting for has been updated by now? If so, then I also suggest you try this.

[Serena Darrin]

Huh, it might be a graphics card thing.  I'll play with my settings and see if that helps.

Thanks.

Anyway, I know you didn't want to patch, but surely the mod you were waiting for has been updated by now? If so, then I also suggest you try this.

Oh my goodness, I totally forgot to mention that.   

You're right, the mod I was waiting on did get updated, and I've patched up.  Seems I'm one of the lucky ones who's had no problems with the new patch.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

That's great! I still suggest doing what the link says, it's about your pre-generations games not being patched up, because the launcher only does the most recent. Reason I linked it is because this fixed both Frey and Moons' crashing problems, because it had turned out that their pre-Gen games hadn't been patched up, despite them having installed the most recent patch. (Same here, though it didn't fix my crashing when I had it. However, my problem was a hardware issue, and now that I have my new laptop I've never crashed once.)