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'Access violation' errors - please help
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RPGDot Forums > Gothic 2 - Troubleshooting

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DeusLegion
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 24 Jan 2004
Posts: 4
'Access violation' errors - please help
   

Whenever I run Gothic II the game plays fine with high detail and performance for anywhere between a few seconds and five or so minutes. Then the game crashes to the desktop and presents me with an error message stating that there was an 'access violation'. This is exceedingly annoying as the game seems very promising.

I have searched the forum and tried the suggested solutions. I have the latest drivers for my video card. I have increased the virtual memory settings and this has no effect. Closing background applications is similarly ineffective. Indeed, running Windows with nothing but the essential programs does not prevent the crashes.

My system is as follows:

P4 2.8GHz
MSI 865PE Motherboard
1Gb DDR Ram
GeForce FX5600 with 256Mb DDR
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Windows XP
DirectX 9.0b

I have the 1.31 UK version of the game.

JoWood and Piranha Bytes have been completely unhelpful. Any solutions would be hugely appreciated!
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 2:50 am
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Sir Markus
Counselor of the King
Counselor of the King




Joined: 11 Jan 2002
Posts: 369
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
   

I'd say run an up to date virus program. Uninstall the game then run ScanDisk, and then run Defragment. Re-install and try again. I have no idea if that will work, but that's where I'd start if I were in your shoes. Also make sure you have enough hard drive space for swap files.
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 4:32 am
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless




Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany
   

You should also check your CPU temperature immediately after a crash and run the memory test program mentioned in a thread nearby.
Disable sound in the gothic.ini to take the sound card out of the equation.
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Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 10:13 am
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DeusLegion
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 24 Jan 2004
Posts: 4
   

Ok, I had already run checkdisk and defragmented the drive (which is 120Gb split into 80Gb and 40Gb with Gothic II on the 80Gb partition). This doesn't help. I have reinstalled the game numerous times already and do not have any other Gothic installs or demo installs that could be conflicting. I have plenty of hard disk space left for the swap file and the virtual memory is now set to a minimum of 2Gb.

I checked for viruses using various programs and none were found. I also used adware and spyware removers. This has not solved the problem.

The CPU temperature is around 45-50 'C when the game brings up the error. The processor (and system in general) are not overclocked and are configured to prioritise stability over performance. Fan speeds are at maximum.

The MemTest program does not find any errors. I have noticed that Gothic II does not use all available Ram anyway. Could this be related to the problem?

I have tried disabling the sound completely via the .ini file but the game still crashes. Changing the sound provider does not help either.

I also installed the game on a friend's computer and, whilst performance was awful, we did not encounter any 'access violation' errors. This suggests that the installation media is not corrupt.

It is odd that Gothic II is causing so much trouble. I have not had any problems with other games or applications, though I have noticed that Deus Ex Invisible War performs below expectations (it struggles in 640x480). I doubt this is relevant, however.

Any other suggestions?
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:23 pm
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hwfanatic
Average Fanatic
Average Fanatic




Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 2850
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
   

Access violation errors are generaly raised when there is a software flaw (in which case you would go for different drivers or DirectX) or when there is a problem with memory, which is caused by high temperature (same goes for cpu).

Maybe we're looking in the wrong direction; maybe the graph. card is overheating and not the cpu (it is the FX after all)... Try opening the case, it might reduce the overal temperature of the whole system.
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 5:47 pm
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Wulf
The Shepherd
The Shepherd




Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 2312
Location: North/West.England
   

Hey ther DeusLegion,

I don't think i can help too much,

But is your MSI mobo a "neo series 3 or 5 PCB? and if so are you running
ver. 7.1 Bios 22/12/2003 ?
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Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 5:58 pm
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DeusLegion
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 24 Jan 2004
Posts: 4
   

The motherboard is a Neo2 series. According to the utilities that came with it the BIOS is V1.3 and is dated 06/24/2003 i.e. 24/06/2003. So you think the BIOS might be causing the errors?

I ran the game and after it brought up the usual access violation error message I immediately used the aforementioned utilities to check on the system temperatures:

CPU Temp was 48 'C
SYS Temp was 38 'C
NB Temp was 50 'C

Too high?
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 7:57 pm
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balconygolf_ThE_bRiDe
Alien Dwarf
Alien Dwarf




Joined: 26 Dec 2003
Posts: 705
Location: Greece/Athens or *BrOtHeRhOoD*
   

@ DeusLegion:You didnt mention anything about your hard disk's speed...
...also check it out.If your hard disk is messed up then it is far common
to encounter "acces violation" problems...how should the hard disk read
the right adress????
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Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 8:32 pm
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Wulf
The Shepherd
The Shepherd




Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 2312
Location: North/West.England
   

Hey there DeusLegion,

Be rest assured your temp' are not the problem (but we all know that the
lower the better) The temp' safety margins are well above yours.

There are many forums on the net dealing with cooling and a fan upgrade
would help the temps (and case cooling)

Don't worry about the temp' (page) file, Gothic II makes its own! (thats what
takes some of the time on loading up (2.2 gig) so yours is way to big,
stick close to what win' control panel (size) suggests in advanced/then to
advanced.

I will come back to you if i find anything usefull.

Also required is your mobo chipset info (brand/version) what is your version
of agp driver?

Bios upgrades to mobo's are allways (mostly) advantageous to sorting
problems especially fairly soon after the introduction of a new model (thats
what they're for)
_________________
Forever aches my wretched soul, for Chromanin locked in that dark hole, though crypted key i've yet to learn, he knows one day i will return.
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 8:35 pm
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Cm
Sentinel of Light
Sentinel of Light




Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 5209
Location: Missouri USA
   

I had major install problems until I updated drivers and bios. Once I made the updates it was smooth sailing. I have auto update on my computer, but it didn't update bios, so check that one out for sure. It also didn't update my sound card for me.
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=Member of Worshippers of the Written Word=
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Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 8:48 pm
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DeusLegion
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 24 Jan 2004
Posts: 4
   

Got a BIOS update and an INF update. Have just played for 20 minutes and it hasn't crashed at all, even with all settings on maximum.

I didn't expect the BIOS and motherboard would have such an effect on games. Thank you! JoWood have been entirely unsupportive (and I wasn't even able to contact Piranha Bytes) yet an unofficial forum community were so helpful. Everyone who contributed to the thread, thank you very much!
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 10:26 pm
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Cm
Sentinel of Light
Sentinel of Light




Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 5209
Location: Missouri USA
   

You're welcome from all, and Welcome to the boards by the way.
_________________
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Member of Worshippers of the Written Word=
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
Mark Twain
Post Sat Jan 24, 2004 11:29 pm
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