After hotfix, crashing ensues

[EllisDee37]

Occasionally -- used to be around once a month but since a couple updates ago it's been around once a week -- the game doesn't crash but my entire computer locks up, forcing me to manually reboot by hitting the reset button. No rhyme or reason when or why this happens, but hey, could just be my setup.

Many times my client has crashed porting into the desert, which has long been a known problem and doesn't bother me since I mentally prepare every time I port to desert that I'll probably crash. (Happens maybe 20% of the time.)

Never, in all my 17 months of playing, has the client ever just crashed while running around in a quest. Just now, a mere 16 hours after the hotfix to correct crashing issues, my client crashed four times (4!) while running epic hard bigtop. Super annoying. Not a loading screen when going into the tent, just running around playing normally. Crash. Crash. Crash. Crash.

Considering the hotfix also wiped ship buffs while claiming to fix the bug that wipes ship buffs, that's 0-2.

[UltraMonk2]

If you have a video card that has a fan on it then I suggest checking to make sure the fan is still spinning.

[Taskmage]

I can assure you that client crashes most of the time have nothing to do with graphics fans (or heat buildup at all). I'm running water cooled systems for years now, and still had a lot of zoning crashes even with my system temperature between 40-50 degrees (including gpu and cpu).

For me the zoning crashes stopped after i switched from XP to Win7. No zoning crashes at all, but a 'out of the blue' client crash now and then (i'd say around one crash per 40+ hours of playtime). I know quite a few others that experienced the same.

My best bet for the reason would be memory fragmentation and memory leaks, and as a result the inability to allocate large memory blocks by the client, however never checked that.

Not much you as a user can do - getting more RAM can help, switching to Win7 can help, reinstalling windows and/or the client can help, as might updating drivers (board, sound, graphics). Yet, the source of the problem, the client, can't be changed, that is something only turbine could do. However, given what happened over the last year, i highly doubt there will be major improvments anytime soon, if at all.

[Missing_Minds]

I can assure you that client crashes most of the time have nothing to do with graphics fans (or heat buildup at all). I'm running water cooled systems for years now, and still had a lot of zoning crashes even with my system temperature between 40-50 degrees (including gpu and cpu).

Years huh? Same graphics card also? Now maybe it is Turbine, but could be your card now just showing its age also. I honestly hope it isn't.

Edit: as I stated to this one, OP, maybe it is Turbine, but it could be your card also. Stranger timings of things have happened. Heck, I just went through one at work where 3 things all at once happened. That was a mess to figure out.

[Smitey]

the game doesn't crash but my entire computer locks up, forcing me to manually reboot by hitting the reset button.

What you originally describe is a hardware issue which will only get worse as time goes by, as you note in changing 1permonth > 1 perweek

If you have an underlying fault with your PC it will cause instability with anything running on top (such as DDO).

For technical advice from players regarding your system I'd suggest posting the technical specifications here:
http://forums.ddo.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55
as per the sticky on how to get help.

[Taskmage]

Years huh? Same graphics card also? Now maybe it is Turbine, but could be your card now just showing its age also. I honestly hope it isn't.

If you need to know:

Since i play DDO (from re-release as Eberon unlimited):
4 different mainboards; one had a deffective power converter that...decided to convert the cpu into a piece of coal
4 different CPUs; one...well coal
5 different graphics cards; one broke down (not playing DDO), one was used only temporarily for about two months
4 hard drives; SSD for two years now, Raptor and VelociRaptor before
2 Operating systems; XP-32 -> Win7-64
All watercooled (actually for almost 10 years now): mainboard power converters, bridge (only in the very beginning), cpu, gpu, hd (not since i use SSD).
System temperature usually around ambient+10 degrees (40-50 degrees celcius hottest part..usually gpu...on a hot summer day. Around 30 degrees on cool days).

First gpu, when i started to use watercooling (long before i started playing ddo), was at around 90-100 degrees without, around 45-55 degrees with watercooling. But got **** radiators back then.

So nope, nothing breaking down. I upgrade my system about once a year, since i need the performance not only for playing. However crashes stayed the same, until i switched to Win7/64.

[FrancisP.Fancypants]

Years huh? Same graphics card also? Now maybe it is Turbine, but could be your card now just showing its age also. I honestly hope it isn't.

It could be. But I've been crashing 2 to 3 times a week since the client update (up from maybe twice in the 6 months prior), and my graphics card is barely a year old and freshly dusted. There's been a noticeable increase in party member DCs as well.

Maybe it's coincidence, or a common service provider, the weather, or simply the OP's card. But it is Turbine.

[Missing_Minds]

If you need to know:

Since i play DDO (from re-release as Eberon unlimited):
4 different mainboards; one had a deffective power converter that...decided to convert the cpu into a piece of coal
4 different CPUs; one...well coal
5 different graphics cards; one broke down (not playing DDO), one was used only temporarily for about two months
4 hard drives; SSD for two years now, Raptor and VelociRaptor before
2 Operating systems; XP-32 -> Win7-64
All watercooled (actually for almost 10 years now): mainboard power converters, bridge (only in the very beginning), cpu, gpu, hd (not since i use SSD).
System temperature usually around ambient+10 degrees (40-50 degrees celcius hottest part..usually gpu...on a hot summer day. Around 30 degrees on cool days).

First gpu, when i started to use watercooling (long before i started playing ddo), was at around 90-100 degrees without, around 45-55 degrees with watercooling. But got **** radiators back then.

So nope, nothing breaking down. I upgrade my system about once a year, since i need the performance not only for playing. However crashes stayed the same, until i switched to Win7/64.

*sigh* seriously?
You realize you could have said "this card is less than a year old" and it would have provided better information about your current card and less about yourself.

In your second post you go "I can assure you that..." which is one hell of a warning bell to anyone who's ever done help desk. This post only confirms that. Have fun fixing your issue.

[Taskmage]

*sigh* seriously?
You realize you could have said "this card is less than a year old" and it would have provided better information about your current card and less about yourself.

In your second post you go "I can assure you that..." which is one hell of a warning bell to anyone who's ever done help desk. This post only confirms that. Have fun fixing your issue.

Next time, at least make sure you quote the one that actually HAS the problem
As i stated twice (no, 3 times now), my problems were gone AFTER I SWITCHED TO Win7
Also it would help to actually read (someone from a help desk should know) - i said systems - not system.

[Urjak]

I can assure you that client crashes most of the time have nothing to do with graphics fans (or heat buildup at all). I'm running water cooled systems for years now, and still had a lot of zoning crashes even with my system temperature between 40-50 degrees (including gpu and cpu).

For me the zoning crashes stopped after i switched from XP to Win7. No zoning crashes at all, but a 'out of the blue' client crash now and then (i'd say around one crash per 40+ hours of playtime). I know quite a few others that experienced the same.

My best bet for the reason would be memory fragmentation and memory leaks, and as a result the inability to allocate large memory blocks by the client, however never checked that.

Not much you as a user can do - getting more RAM can help, switching to Win7 can help, reinstalling windows and/or the client can help, as might updating drivers (board, sound, graphics). Yet, the source of the problem, the client, can't be changed, that is something only turbine could do. However, given what happened over the last year, i highly doubt there will be major improvments anytime soon, if at all.

those crashes that happen after a long gaming session, after a lot of switching characters or simply running some background programs and not having restarted for a while: thats almost definitely the memory leak ... just try switching between a lot of different characters (who all happen to be in different zones at best) ... you will soon notice longer loading times and increasing "lag" during the first few seconds logged in ... if you continue, you ll probably produce a crash (or said lag will become really unbearable) ... thats simply the memory leak ... best thing to fix this:

after switching characters more than once: restart client before playing any quests/raids
after about 5-6 hours gaming: restart client

this fixed those crashes for me

@OP:
really hard to say what causes this :/ ... might be hardware (my guess though wouldn't be the graphics card ... you normally get weird pictures on the screen before the machine dies ... and more often than not, after restarting the card is dead (tons of pixel errors^^) - had problems with a defect gfx card cooler for quite a long time ... so I kinda know the symptoms^^) ... might also be some software error ... try checking for viruses (preferably with different scanners ... the one you have installed may already be infected) ... or just reinstall windows (important: manually disconnect your computer from the internet while reinstalling ... my record on setting up windows anew and having to restart all over because of a new virus infection lies at about 1 - 2 seconds^^) ;p

and yeah .. ofc it could also be Turbines fault^^

[Missing_Minds]

or just reinstall windows (important: manually disconnect your computer from the internet while reinstalling ... my record on setting up windows anew and having to restart all over because of a new virus infection lies at about 1 - 2 seconds^^) ;p

Almost 10 years ago I started that practice after my friend asked to have one of his PCs put into a DMZ. In less than 10 seconds he registered about 15 different attempts. So I can completely believe you.

[UltraMonk2]

I can assure you that client crashes most of the time have nothing to do with graphics fans (or heat buildup at all). I'm running water cooled systems for years now, and still had a lot of zoning crashes even with my system temperature between 40-50 degrees (including gpu and cpu).

The OP stated that their computer was locking up hence the reason why I suggested to look at the fan on the graphics card. They did not say their client was crashing.

[Urjak]

Almost 10 years ago I started that practice after my friend asked to have one of his PCs put into a DMZ. In less than 10 seconds he registered about 15 different attempts. So I can completely believe you.

happened to twice to me (sometimes i m a bit of a slow learner it seems lol^^):

first time:
setting up windows on my notebook in school, after a selfinduced heavy crash (we were doing some programming ) destroyed some system files ... after about 10 mins logged in again (just a few seconds before antivir setup would have finished), a virus completely crashes my system ... can't reboot ...

second time:
setting up a computer at home ... I thought ... well in school, it was no wonder I got that virus ... I mean hundreds of students all using the same network ... coulda thought of that ... win2k installation "complete" - first time actually booting up to the login screen ... start typing the password .. didn't come to even enter the 2nd letter => "This system shuts down in 1:00, 0:59, ... " ... you know THAT virus ... *sigh* started all over again ... in the meantime and 8 or 9 years later I m a bit smarter (at least when it comes to installing windows lol^^)

[DarkForte]

Occasionally -- used to be around once a month but since a couple updates ago it's been around once a week -- the game doesn't crash but my entire computer locks up, forcing me to manually reboot by hitting the reset button. No rhyme or reason when or why this happens, but hey, could just be my setup.

Many times my client has crashed porting into the desert, which has long been a known problem and doesn't bother me since I mentally prepare every time I port to desert that I'll probably crash. (Happens maybe 20% of the time.)

Never, in all my 17 months of playing, has the client ever just crashed while running around in a quest. Just now, a mere 16 hours after the hotfix to correct crashing issues, my client crashed four times (4!) while running epic hard bigtop. Super annoying. Not a loading screen when going into the tent, just running around playing normally. Crash. Crash. Crash. Crash.

Considering the hotfix also wiped ship buffs while claiming to fix the bug that wipes ship buffs, that's 0-2.

The issue with big top has been around for a while (stopped happening to me after u14 though). On your computer locking up: hardware issue, pretty sure I've never heard of DDO causing system-wide crashes.

[EllisDee37]

The OP stated that their computer was locking up hence the reason why I suggested to look at the fan on the graphics card. They did not say their client was crashing.

Yes I did. Read it again.

[matttherat88]

I had that same problem in BigTop once, the whole party kept crashing repeatedly. That was a few months ago.

[UltraMonk2]

Yes I did. Read it again.

the game doesn't crash but my entire computer locks up, forcing me to manually reboot by hitting the reset button.

I did read it again. :-)

[eonfreon]

I did read it again. :-)

Read the whole thing. And use your reading glasses this time.

Here, I'll help.

You've gotten this far:

Occasionally -- used to be around once a month but since a couple updates ago it's been around once a week -- the game doesn't crash but my entire computer locks up, forcing me to manually reboot by hitting the reset button. No rhyme or reason when or why this happens, but hey, could just be my setup..

Okay almost there, but not quite:

Many times my client has crashed porting into the desert, which has long been a known problem and doesn't bother me since I mentally prepare every time I port to desert that I'll probably crash. (Happens maybe 20% of the time.).

Alright, it's somewhere here:

Never, in all my 17 months of playing, has the client ever just crashed while running around in a quest. Just now, a mere 16 hours after the hotfix to correct crashing issues, my client crashed four times (4!) while running epic hard bigtop. Super annoying. Not a loading screen when going into the tent, just running around playing normally. Crash. Crash. Crash. Crash.

Considering the hotfix also wiped ship buffs while claiming to fix the bug that wipes ship buffs, that's 0-2.

[Impaqt]

Client Crashing: DDO Stops responding, sometimes closes itself (Like an Alt-f4), sometimes needs a force close. Either way, you can reload ddo without rebooting compute.

Generally, this is a DDO Problem or software conflict with something in your system.

Computer Crashing: Computer becomes completely non responsive. Sometimes screen artifacts or dreaded "Blue Screen of death". Must shut down and reboot machine.

Generally, this is a hardware issue, but can sometimes be caused by driver conflicts.

[UltraMonk2]

Read the whole thing. And use your reading glasses this time.

Sigh, I did originally. If your entire computer is locking up when playing the game then in that case it is usually a hardware issue, so I pointed the OP to looking at his graphics card as a possible potential cause, in this case specifically the fan as it would cause overheating problems.

All the rest of the other symptoms described can be a result of the same issue, something wrong with a piece of hardware and most likely the graphics card. (Yes there are other possible hardware reasons).

It is not needed to harp on about the rest of his post if the main symptoms are the computer completely locking up.