Computer Hardlocks

I can play for anywhere from 5-10 minutes in either Blitz or Crossfire but my system invariably hardlocks. I can't alt-tab to see a crash report or anything and have to do a physical reset. If you let me know how I can go back to obtain the system reports generated by these crashes I will post them here.

I'm running XP Service Pack 3. Is there a chance this is being caused by the older operating system?

No, it's not a cooling problem and I exceed the recommended specs for the game.

Athlon X3 3.2 ghz.
4 gb RAM
HD5770 (newest Catalyst drivers)
ASRock mobo w/updated bios

How sure are you that it's not a cooling problem? The one thing I have noticed with MNC is that it radically increases my processor temp - I get +20C over idle temperatures as soon as a match starts (any higher and my machine will enter thermal shutdown. hahaha).

I was alt-tabbing during my matches to check the processor and mobo temps to see if they were going up. They weren't--processor was always at around 32C and the mobo was at 28 or so. There's a chance the temps shot up while I wasn't looking, but I'm not running the game at nearly the level of detail that I should be able to i.e. I'm running it in ""720P" just to make sure that I don't put stress on anything.

Sol yes, it could be heat but it's unlikely.

Was worth a shot. At least you can ALT+TAB - can't bring the window back up once it minimizes so I have to rely on dual-monitors.

It just did it again -- took ten minutes this time but just like it has every single time I've tried to play. It completely freezes and I can't do anything. :cry:

pretty sure lockups could occur on memory as well.

edit: can you give us an exact time in the game it locks up, or is it random... between 5-10min all the time? Not a specific screen or anything?

It's random -- it's happened as soon as 2 minutes in, sometimes I've gone through a whole round, but usually 5-10 minutes. If it's a memory issue would I be seeing this behavior in relation to other programs?

I've included my latest launch log as per the request in the first sticky.

If it's the cpu or graphics card, I would also say "would I be seeing this behavior in relation to other programs?".

I'm just saying it doesn't have to be the cpu. Basically, you don't know what is wrong with it and guessing won't help. If you're sure it aint temps, then there isn't much to say and it's probably up to Uber to fix your problem.

I hope everything works alright...

Now lets eliminate memory problems. Grab your preferred memory tester (or memtest86+ will do fine) and run it for an hour or so.

We'll check your logs tomorrow but this sounds like a unique case.

Here's something that might be at issue -- when I check my motherboard in the BIOS settings it shows I have 4 GB of RAM running Dual Channel just like it should. Windows XP only shows 3.1 GB of memory, however. I've ordered a copy of Windows 7 and have figured this will solve the problem, but might this be a sign of corrupt RAM? I haven't had this problem (the complete and total hardlock) with any other programs/games I've run on this computer, however.

XP reserves a portion of the RAM when you exceed 3.25 GiB

intended behaviour

No, Windows XP (more correctly, all 32 bit operating systems) is limited to 4GB minus the other chips of RAM in other devices.

The operating system needs to assign addresses to the RAM in the video card too, and to a lesser extent what is tucked in things like sound cards and hard drive buffers. The bigger the video card you have, the less RAM you'll end up having access to.

I should point out RIGHT NOW that this applies 32 bit versions of ANY operating system INCLUDING WINDOWS 7.

Let me introduce you to PAE, what I said applies on a basic level because pointing out that devices like the Graphics card have to map their memory inside the 4 gigabytes boundary for non-PAE aware devices would just take it too far.

Out

I ordered Win7 64-bit so I should be fine.

OK, so it's not the RAM. If there's any more information that might help in tracking down the source of these crashes I'd be happy to give it.

One thing I noticed in that Log file I posted is that the last sentence ends VERY abruptly. It looks like some kind of network process was at work at the time. Is that the process that was being completed when my system went down?

Do you have a PAE enabled OS? IIRC, Windows XP doesn't support it.

PAE mode kernel doesn't work on non-Intel CPU's according to this:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/pl ... aedrv.mspx

I have an AMD processors so I'm guessing no PAE. Why would that matter?

This stuff is way beyond my comprehension in terms of getting stuff to work.

Tomorrow Windows 7 64-bit comes. I will install, play, and update my impressions.

Your memory lacks, hence me pointing out the existence of these things.

However this will not solve his hardlocks and I will stop digressing, I am done here.

This is actually happening to me too, since the beta launch, I've posted about it before but it has yet to be fixed yet. People were telling me it was a cooling problem though I've checked several times all my fans are running properly and I have liquid cooling, so I don't believe it's that. I have Windows 7 64-Bit though so I'm not sure how much it will help.

I installed Windows 7 64-bit and the newest Catalyst drivers and have had no lockups since. I'll consider the problem fixed unless/until my experience changes.