Can Sound Errors Cause Game to Crash?

[KellyQ]

I've been playing for weeks now without any problems when suddenly last night I got the Wonderful Return of the Black Screen followed by the announcement my monitor was going to sleep during the middle of playing .

Looking through the Log files this morning, I see that the "AppErrors" and "AudioErrors" files have been modified at the exact same time as when my game crashed. They are all audio errors, such as "ERROR TSAudio: Failed to initialize sound" and "ERROR,TSAudio,Failed to GetSoundDefinition for sound".

I have noticed for months that the sound in my game can be "glitchy". So, as per my subject line, can sound errors cause the game to crash? And if that is the case, can I simply replace the sound file without having to uninstall and reinstall?

I have all EPS and stuff packs.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think if you load your game for one second, then close it, you will see exactly the same errors in those files - I understand they are useless data left over by EAxis.

If your PC is trying to go into hibernate mode, the obvious answer, to me, would be that it doesn't recognise that the PC is in use, and has reached the time when it is programmed to hibernate.  Just turn off hibernate mode altogether, and it shouldn't happen, and you save quite a large slice of hard disk space.

[KellyQ]

Thanks for the suggestion, ZZ, but my computer isn't set to hibernate. This only started happening after I installed a new video card last month. After weeks of battle and very helpful suggestions from people on MATY, I thought I had it all sorted out until last night.

I am just totally perplexed about why would it run fine for almost two weeks, multi-hours of gameplay and then just suddenly start doing it again. The only error files I can find are the audio ones so I have no other ideas.

[KatEnigma]

Did you put in an ATI card? I have had this happen to me from time to time. I thought it was the card itself, or maybe the motherboard, but if you are having it happen occasionally too...

[ThyGuy]

This has happened to me too, and it is utterly baffling. I always end up having to turn off the computer. I'm using a Radeon 9200. Piece of shit, yes, but what's sad is the intergrated card doesn't do the shit that this card does.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Is it the monitor that is shutting down, or does your PC itself shut down too?  Have you checked all the settings that the video card has, just in case there is something not right there.  Just suggestions, not at all sure if they are any use, but sometimes these settings get altered.  I had this problem when Windows Update decided I ought to install the world time clock update - and when I did, all my settings had been completely lost.  I had to do a system restore to get them back and informed the updater it could keep the darned clock update!

[Inge]

Proper crashes tend to be generated by sound and missing mesh errors more than coding errors which tend to allow the game to continue or material errors which cause pretty blue or red effects.  So yes I think it is perfectly possible your problems could be caused by a problem (or missing) sound file.

[Kala]

Did you put in an ATI card? I have had this happen to me from time to time. I thought it was the card itself, or maybe the motherboard, but if you are having it happen occasionally too...

I have an ATI card and I'm having the same problems as KellyQ.  What'd possibly going on?

This has happened to me too, and it is utterly baffling. I always end up having to turn off the computer. I'm using a Radeon 9200. Piece of shit, yes, but what's sad is the intergrated card doesn't do the shit that this card does.

I have the same/simular video card.  The same card my brother made the main video card for my computer!

Is it the monitor that is shutting down, or does your PC itself shut down too?  Have you checked all the settings that the video card has, just in case there is something not right there.  Just suggestions, not at all sure if they are any use, but sometimes these settings get altered.  I had this problem when Windows Update decided I ought to install the world time clock update - and when I did, all my settings had been completely lost.  I had to do a system restore to get them back and informed the updater it could keep the darned clock update!

What setting should I check and alter?

[KellyQ]

Is it the monitor that is shutting down, or does your PC itself shut down too?  Have you checked all the settings that the video card has, just in case there is something not right there.  Just suggestions, not at all sure if they are any use, but sometimes these settings get altered.  I had this problem when Windows Update decided I ought to install the world time clock update - and when I did, all my settings had been completely lost.  I had to do a system restore to get them back and informed the updater it could keep the darned clock update!

It's just the monitor, the computer continues to run but the monitor shuts off and will not come back on. I end up having to manually turn the pc off because nothing will make the monitor resume.

I have a XFX Nvidia Geforce 7600. B and Hegelian(sorry if I am misspelling that) have been quite helpful with suggestions and ideas and I really thought it had been squared away. The only other thing I could think of was to check the error logs and hence my post regarding the sound.

[witch]

We had a few of the screens at work start doing that the other week. Dell machines. Turned out to be a problem on the motherboards.

[Kala]

We had a few of the screens at work start doing that the other week. Dell machines. Turned out to be a problem on the motherboards.

What?  I have a dell

[witch]

My sympathies.

[ZephyrZodiac]

And the screens can't be switched off/on independently?

I have the same, or very close, graphics card to yours, which got better when I got rid of the drivers that came on the installation cd with the driver, and used the (supposedly identical, but apparently not) drivers that I downloaded a while back to upgrade my old graphics card.  Do you by any chance still have a copy of your old drivers?

[KellyQ]

We had a few of the screens at work start doing that the other week. Dell machines. Turned out to be a problem on the motherboards.

What?  I have a dell

I don't have a dell, I have an HP. I've already updated the motherboard, the BIOS, chipset, etc., etc.,

ZZ, I am using the newest drivers from Nvidia's website. What version are you using?

edited to add: I can tun the monitor off but when I turn it back on, it remains "asleep"  (I guess)  because it remains black until I restart the whole damned computer

[witch]

At least pop into your bios then and make it so the machine turns off when you push the power button. It might save crashing out of Windows or turning off the power if your screen goes on the blink again. New motherboards / video cards / hard drives etc are not always fault proof. Doesn't sound like a sims problem to me, sounds like some kind of hardware.

[Madame Mim]

I think that the problem is your video card - nvidia had a problem with Seasons and now it has it again with BV. I think that your monitor is going to sleep because it is getting no signal from the video card and thinks you have turned the machine off. Try adding the line

boolprop useShaders false to your userStartup.cheat and see if it improves things. If it does then what you were experiencing was the nvidia/BV 'bug' and you'll need to leave that in until a proper nvidia patch comes out.

[MuseEgo]

Actually, I recall having this exact same problem a while back, immediatly after I upgraged my graphics card to a nvidia geforce. I had downloaded the updated drivers, and my moniter was continually turning itself off and getting strange graphics effects. Rolling back to the previous driver stopped it, so I haven't been quite game to update the driver since then. 

[KellyQ]

I think that the problem is your video card - nvidia had a problem with Seasons and now it has it again with BV. I think that your monitor is going to sleep because it is getting no signal from the video card and thinks you have turned the machine off. Try adding the line

boolprop useShaders false to your userStartup.cheat and see if it improves things. If it does then what you were experiencing was the nvidia/BV 'bug' and you'll need to leave that in until a proper nvidia patch comes out.

Already did that, less then a week after installing the new card.

[ZephyrZodiac]

ZZ, I am using the newest drivers from Nvidia's website. What version are you using?

93.71 - from the website, not from the installation disc (supposedly the same, but there were some distinct differences in how I was able to customize my desktop) and I just didn't like the effects I was getting, so I switched to the one I'd downloaded for OFB, which seems to be working fine for me. 

I have problems with my game, but they are not due to my video drivers, I'm pretty sure, as if they were, then every lot would present problems, and not every lot does.  Damned attraction markers that don't all get deleted, I think....)

[Deviancy]

I have a XFX Nvidia Geforce 7600. B and Hegelian(sorry if I am misspelling that) have been quite helpful with suggestions and ideas and I really thought it had been squared away. The only other thing I could think of was to check the error logs and hence my post regarding the sound.

I'm using the asus 7600.. lovely card.. no fans... totally quiet. 

But I have the same issue as you..

As for the answer to your question...

Yes.. soundcard conflicts can cause the game to crash your monitor to get that out of sync error shutdown.

You don't need to go into your bios and you don't need to check hibernate, it has nothing to do with that.

BV also has a memory leak which may or may  help the video card to switch off the monitor.  Hard to say..

Nvidia has beta drivers out now.. they should be finalized sometime soon.  So maybe that'll fix the issue, maybe not.  There's also an issue with BV that affects a few of creatives chipsets.. that won't be fixed by nvidia or creative.  Creative hardly ever updates their drivers.  That is going to have to be on Maxis to fix.

Sucks, eh?

[KellyQ]

Well I replaced the sound file with the original from the cd and I downloaded and installed the drivers that ZZ is using. While I don'thave glitchy sound now, my monitor is still going to sleep at inopportune moments.

I am considering doing an RMA with the card but in all honesty, I don't think it is the card. I think it is something to do with TS2 because that is the only time it happens. I am out of ideas though. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I'm afraid I am just as baffled as you, KellyQ, and I'm all out of suggestions. 

[Deviancy]

It isn't your card..

It is the game.. otherwise I wouldn't have the exact same issue as you.

I had the same issue with my nvidia 5900 when it came to seasons, I got the 7600.. same issue.  EA just seems to rush Maxis to release things without properly testing things as thoroughly as things need to be tested. 

I mean you can try a 7800 or one of the cards from the 8 series, but I bet the issue would be there.

And you can flash your bios and tweak the settings.. still gonna be there.  Maxis just has to patch this buggy lil ol expansion.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, no doubt they will, eventually, and I shall await everyone's reports.  Meanwhile, I still haven't removed the cellophane from my copy of BV!

[Deviancy]

Unless one gets a great pre-order deal on an expansion.  I'd advice holding off a bit until at least the first patch is released and a few hacks are updated.  This is the first time since University that I jumped on an expansion on the day of the release, won't be doing that again.