Correct me if I am wrong, but all a service pack is...is the current fixes rolled into one gigantic fix...and won't help - though MS just released some beta patches to fix compatability with programs - official release is supposed to be this upcoming week I think. I'm not going to dual boot Vista; I don't feel like it. If there is no fix, then all my source games will collect dust until Valve unfucks itself. Krenzo - Yeah, I've posted on the steam forums, no one is being very helpful, plenty of people with this very same crash in insmod and such, no dev responses. I'll poke at CSS again and see how I fair in there....if I do fine in there this time around, I'll look into changing empires to use something other than the Soruce SDK Base (Can I still do this?) Thanks.
A crash in materialsystem.dll can mean anything. It's those rare crashes where the call stack mentions what other code it was executing at the same time that really point out the source of the crash.
I got a C++ runtime error, this locked me out of VS and I couldn't see a bloody call stack...I did get the debug output: http://pastebin.com/m307953cd (Its WAY too long to post on the forums.)
God dammit. I was finally able to see a call stack, but sicne that meant HL2 was paused, I couldn't use my fucking mouse. Call stack, from the top of my head, was materials, then datacache, then launcher, then hl2.exe (multiple instances of each, and no matching functions...just hex line numbers.)
I can confirm two things: People running with a videocard at >= 512 MB of VRAM and Vista need to patch their EXE to be large address aware; they can do this with Visual Studio - alternatively, I can send my EXE in - this is in no way limited to 64bit Vista, it also applies to 32bit. Secondly - the crashes are NOT my X-Fi. I uninstalled it via Device Manager, shut down, removed it and turned on my onboard audio, rebooted, installed, tried Empires - C++ runtime crash. Not the X-Fi (glad too, else I would loose my ability to use ALchemy.) Something else is causing this. I'll go pest the INSMOD players, see how many have this issue. Eth0 - can i get your comp specs? Maybe catch me on AIM/GTalk/Jabber/MSN/IRC and go over, see if we can diff our computers in hopes I see some way you run fine and I don't? Thanks!
I give up at this point; no one is being helpful anywhere. All anyone wants to do is scream "X-FI SUCKS J00!" or "VISTA SUCKS J00!" when I give comp specs & driver versions...despite my build working with CS, BF2142 and so on. So, until some debug output is enabled or some major update is put out that might possibly fix the issue (either on Empires side, or on Source SDK Base side - which I suspect to be the issue), I'm done - I don't see how this issue can follow any further productive or logical progression in this current state. Sorry.
X-fi Sucks J00 No, i don't wanna spam or like that, but i have to mention that me and a friend of mine just built a new computer for him, specs: Intel e6850 Asus Board X-FI Asus Geforce 8800GTX 2x Corsair Dominator 2048 twin pack = 4096MB ram We also had problems with the x-fi drivers under vista ultimate x64 ( resulting in a strange background noise and random bluescreens at source games and 3D Mark ) and so we also tried to uninstall and started 3D Mark, still strage background noise and bluescreens. So now we checked the system a bit more in deep and found out that there are still x-fi related services running. The driver wasn't removed correctly! Only fix was to reinstall vista, which my friend did yesterday, and voilla, from then on no crash did occur in any game or program till now, and also the strage noises are gone. So sorry if i do like everyone but i have to say: X-FI SUCKS J00!
Well ive started playing the emp RC's and i have had the crash problems, i would like to help also as i have not been a good puppy and sent in my crash dumps but i have noticed it does say something to do with visual C++. So next time i crash out i will send you all the infos and help you more out as this issue will be needed to be fixed at some point.
That's some good info. Who has Vista that can guarantee the crashes are not related to having a creative sound card or ever having one?
What games crashed? If you say everything, then this does not apply. I've stated that everything BUT Source SDK Base games run fine. BF2142, CSS, HL2DM, HL Lost Coast, Spaceforce (Shitty game...) - they all work fine. Hell, I'll install and play Supcom (even though its on my "shittiest games of the year" list) as well as RS: Vegas and CNC3 Tiberium wars - and they will all play fine. Hell, I'll even dig up Deus Ex 1 and play it. The ONLY game that crashes is Souce SDK Base. EVen 3DMark06 runs perfectly in demo mode & benchmark mode. So unless you can tell me that is the EXACT problem you had - this (probably) does not apply to me. No, it means until something potentially fixes my problem - a problem I'm finding plenty of other people have - Empires & all other mods go in the recycling bin. I'm not downgrading to XP; XP is too far of a step backwards compared to vista to move just for some mods (albeit fun mods, but as I plan to be using DX10, both for games and for my 3d engine to some extent - it isn't worth it at this moment.) I have plenty of other games, and should I get overly bored, well...ET:Quake Wars, and other games that are due out shortly. If you want to throw a version on empires at me with debug info, I'll go ahead and run it, but as far as i can see, this is not an issue with Creative Drivers.
Did you see the article about how running in DX 10 over DX 9 hurts performance without giving a noticeable improvement in graphics?
If you take a DX9 engine and port it to DX10, sure...but engines made to use SM4 properly will see a sizeable advantage: randomization is easier, you can add more foliage at virtually no performance cost, weather affects/particle effects are also greatly improved, rendering a "true" circle is possible - the list is endless. There are plenty of comparisons & articles if you do a quick google search. Are you confusing gameplay in XP vs Vista with this?
I think i know what article you saw now - the HardOCP article on Lost Planet. There, they show a lack of graphical improvement as well as minor (very minor) drop in performance. However, they also show that shadows are greatly improved. My overall reaction? Its another HardOCP article where they did a decent job of creating test cases and looking at results, but then fuck up the conclusion. Early on, Kyle Bennet states that...ZOMG amazing shadows in DX10! In his conclusion, suddenly moving to DX10 showed NO quality improvements. HardOCP DOES properly state however that Lost Planet is but one game, and does not show any sort of trend, but rather - Crysis, Bioshock, UT3, Alan Wake and so on are able to showcase a GREAT improvement by going to DX10. I think the lack of improvement in lost planet is not DX10 or Vista's fault, but once again: shitty programming. Taking a DX9 game and trying to add DX10 effects at the last moment does not mean a good game. I won't really begin to judge DX10 until Crysis comes out - if anyone can push DX10 to its limits, the guys at Crytek can.
Me but i wasnt able to play since RC 17, so i dont know if the problems are still here. I have a crappy terratec soundcard with some opensource drivers.
yes i crashed out and i only have onboard sound, ive sent the dump of to the bugs area labelled correctly (using vista home premium 32)
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=3060&p=1 And yes I was wrong, it doesn't just map the VRAM to one address space.
Just read that today during my lunch break. I'll have to grab the patch and try running emp again, however I don't think this is my crash. Krenzo's been looking into my crash, and it isn't memory issues (I made Source SDK Base large address aware, so that patch should do nothing to empires for me...) But any way to help lower address usage is a massive plus. DNC & Brutos: I honestly think this is a Vista bug, not an X-Fi bug - and your reports sorta reinforce this. Later tonight I will upload a large address aware exe for Source SDK Base onto my website and PM you the address to get it; can you be specific on how you crashed? Error allocating a lump of memory, c++ runtime error...? If you get the memory error, this fixed exe should make you happy again...hopefully.
