EA/Maxis has found the Nvidia problem!

[nil]

If simmers are not united to boycot or spend some times or moments to think or consider if to buy EAxis products, the company won't listen to most of the real complaints and problems because their sales and stock market(s) are still good enough to pretend nothing happened.

I know some people are not affected and they can be just being lucky.  But if some of them pretend there's really no problem or the problem is solely on those who complain simpl because they just happen not to have any problem, these people are just being ignorant.
Companies may like to disintegrate a crowd of complainers for easier management and make some tokens to create false impressions or confusions.

Customers without unity can barely fight against the tyranny of a big company when without no effective law protection.

Yes, it's a game only and so it's not really such a big deal.  So, we can wait and not rush to buy EAxis products like we had to.  We shan't die.  The sky won't fall simply because of that.

I run a GeForce 8600 GT, and if I don't turn off shaders I get the BSOD about 10 minutes within the loading of a lot. I don't have Norton on my computer and I turn everything, with the exception of iTunes, off before running Sims. These guys are so full of crap it's starting to really piss me off... Is anyone here going to bother fighting EA on the subject?
...

added:

Can you turn off the automatic update for that?

In my cases, I only let the OS inform me of any new updates, and I'm the one to decide if to download and/or install an update.
Normally, I skip over updates on outlook, messenger blah blah blah...

...
Now I have TS2 installed on a computer which has only ever seen the internet once, and probably never will again. I DO NOT WANT service pack 3, thanks. I simultaneously sim and net by netting on my laptop.

[FourCats]

but what exactly do you guys mean by a "memory leak" and how would they fix it?

A memory leak is when an application keeps taking new memory to run the same functions rather than using the memory it's already allocated. They fix it by proper programming (i.e., having the app check to see if what it's looking for is in memory already first before allocating more).

any chance our awesome modders can make a hack/fix to fix the memory leaks?

[nil]

:giggler: Oh my goodness, modders are supposed to fix ignorant companies' problems!
So, ignorant companies can stay ignorant?  (just being acidic for kidding... )

...
any chance our awesome modders can make a hack/fix to fix the memory leaks?

BTW, which version of Norton may cause a problem with TS2 so far?

From me, it's at least not Norton Internet Security 2004
vikitty: not Norton Protection Center  (year?)
WandaAnn: not Norton is 2007 (AV? , Internet security?, or else?)


Also, which versions of Nvidia cards are affected due to the use with the newer drivers?


doren:  6.14.00010.7772 build june 2005 works

We may need a table to fill out different infos in the hope to single out those combinaitons are more likely to be problematic.

[SnootCB]

6.14.00010.7772 build june 2005. I got the problem when I updated with the next version, build sometime 2006. I get a few minor graphical glitches (sometimes the neighbourhood screen darkens when I rotate the view, but only for a few seconds), but otherwise it works fine, I get all the effects, water reflections, fish etc.
I have a Geforce 6600 GT.

Thanks for sharing!  I have a GeForce 7800 GS which I purchased in early 2006.  Not sure when the card was made, though, and I don't know what it shipped with.  Does anyone know how I could find that info so I can figure out if it is OK to roll back to the earlier driver?

[KatEnigma]

I turn everything, with the exception of iTunes, off before running Sims.
 

With the exception of Itunes? Are you crazy? Itunes is a resource hog too. Even I get weirdness when I try to run Itunes and TS2 (If I start Itunes while TS2 is already running,  it corrupts my Library while trying to read it. So I have to load Itunes first.) That's the thing, because it has a memory leak, ANY other program that uses a lot of RAM is going to cause problems. An AV is just a handy place to point because of all that it uses. But obviously there are other issues with the way Nvidia drivers are handling the shaders.  I'd guess something about how it handles them eats RAM. Because some people, even with new cards, can run fine, even with the shaders. It probably has a lot to do with what other crap is running on their machines and how much RAM they have.

[JerseyGirlOOOO]

Holy crap!  Even if I did have this problem, turning my anti-virus off would be the very last thing I would ever do!  I feel so sorry for all of you who are experiencing this problem and I really hope you get an actual solution instead of the insane amount of bullshit that's been given to you from those EAssholes.  Turning off anti-virus programs is EAsshole's solution to very problem!  When are those jerkoffs going to realizse that it doesn't work and will actually do something about this memory leak? 

[jsalemi]

any chance our awesome modders can make a hack/fix to fix the memory leaks?

No; memory leaks are internal to how the application works, so no mod or hack can fix it.  It requires a completely new executable, or a patch for existing ones.

[JerseyGirlOOOO]

We all know the chances of that happening are slim to none!   

[MistyBlue]

It probably has a lot to do with what other crap is running on their machines and how much RAM they have.

Something to think about is editing your startup apps and processes. You can try changing them in the programs themselves or by typing msconfig into the run text box and selecting the startup tab. Here is a site that will help you determine what is and isn't needed: http://www.processlibrary.com. I guarantee that almost everyone has more shit running than they need. Won't solve the problem, but maybe will increase the playing time.

[KatEnigma]

Turning off your AV is something necessary often because they use so much of your processor and RAM and dig their hooks into so much of your computer that it borks other programs. Every program out there, basically, has that as the default instructions if you're having problems.  I know people who don't even run with AV, and I don't on my laptop. This is not the big danger symantec and mcafee would have you believe, and when I do run an AV, I do NOT run their bloatware.

Anyway, I use http://www.blackviper.com/ for looking at what services to shut down. Black Viper says to NEVER use msconfig to turn off services- use services.msc because msconfig allows you to disable services that will prevent your computer from booting, while services.msc will not.

While disabling services, however, I recommend keeping track of everything that you've changed so in case something borks, you can go back and set to defaults. I once had a windows update bork because it needed a service that should have been safe to set to manual. I print out his charts and then mark the settings I've changed on there.

[MistyBlue]

Tis true, Kat. But when I disable the damn things, I want them down for good. I know what I'm doing, though and I don't suggest msconfig to anyone who would use a Windoze fer Dummies book to walk them through it. It's just a different and (for me) easier way to go through the list of startup processes and disable them.

[KatEnigma]

  Well for the startup stuff, I go into msconfig myself. LOL And have googled for anything I don't recognize off-hand.  It's the only thing I've done since I rebuilt, too. I really should go in and shut down Microsoft's crap.

[Kristalrose]

I find this all very interesting.  I am also having problems with nVidia since I installed BV, but no BSoD, just a lot of graphic artifacts and distortions.

Artifacts and distortions that appear over time are generally a sign of overheating.

They don't appear over time.  They'll show up at random times, and sometimes from the neighborhood screen when I first open the 'hood.    Worse when I use shaders or camera mods.  I've tried to snap screenshots to post here and ask how to fix, but every screenshot I've taken does not show the distrotion.  The flash of the camera corrects the problem.  LOL  I guess I could use Print Screen, just hadn't thought about it. 

Okay, when I Alt-Ctrl-Delete it shows that I have 70 processes going.  I remember back in the olden days of TS1 there was a program that would cut off all the unnecessary background programs so that the game would run a little smoother.  Is that what this Black Viper program does, Kat?  Or, is there another program out there that does this?  I know that I do not need 70 processes going. . . and I don't know what is necessary and what is not.  It would seem that all I'd need in reality are the "System" processes, right? 

[Sivany]

Okay, when I Alt-Ctrl-Delete it shows that I have 70 processes going.  I remember back in the olden days of TS1 there was a program that would cut off all the unnecessary background programs so that the game would run a little smoother.  Is that what this Black Viper program does, Kat?  Or, is there another program out there that does this?  I know that I do not need 70 processes going. . . and I don't know what is necessary and what is not.  It would seem that all I'd need in reality are the "System" processes, right? 

Wow 70! This makes me feel a lot better, I only have 28. I always shut down unnecessary ones from inside task manager, as far as I know anything that has the name of your windows account under the column user name can be closed down with the exception of explorer, although obviously this might be different for you. I sometimes do this before I run the game but since there are only about 4 processes that I can turn off taking up under 0.5Mb it doesn't really make a lot of difference, might do if you have 70 running though!

[bowrain]

You really should look at your msconfig and turn off autostart for all the unnecessary apps. I'm using vista and I only have 13 including the AV.

[unregister]

Mentioning of "memory leaks, When securom began causing significant problems related to BV, I started reading various sites that were about different games and their problems with Securom. Repeatedly, was the mention that Securom caused "memory leaks". This was also posted numerous times on the EA Games site as one of the complaints about the use of Securom in Sims2 games. Of course EA denies this as they do no wrong.

[HystericalParoxysm]

Smells very very fishy... If this were truly Norton related then the useshaders cheat wouldn't do a damn thing to change it - yet in many cases, that resolves the problem.

Perhaps it's two (or more) unrelated causes resulting in the same or similar symptoms... but if this is a Norton issue, why would it only effect computers with nVidia graphics cards?  Surely having an ATI doesn't automagically protect you from memory leaks...

I agree with the previous poster whose name I'm too lazy to look up... it's irresponsible for them to release this info while having tested it on one and only one computer, and ignoring the other fixes which are known to work or at least help.

[morriganrant]

, as far as I know anything that has the name of your windows account under the column user name can be closed down with the exception of explorer,

Explorer can be turned off too. I always do to give my games a little more help. To turn it back on when you are done, just open up task manager, File> new task. Then type in explorer.exe and press enter.

[KatEnigma]

You can't blame SecuRom for the memory leak because it's been part of TS2 since the beginning- long before they went to SecuRom. Srsly, people blame SecuRom for everything, and it's ridiculous and takes away from the things that it ACTUALLY does.

Yes, going through Black Viper's lists and turning off services that he says are safe will reduce the number of things you see running in task manager. The startup part lets you kill 3rd party aps from starting automagically, services.msc lets you kill WINDOWS crap.

70 seems like really a lot. I haven't tweaked my services since I rebuilt my machine, and I only have 37.

[snapdragon]

If you want to rid yourself of Norton, there's a NortWare Begone tool in my 4shared stash. Link's in sig. Got it from Major Geeks forum.

I had trouble downloading that tool so I did a search for Norton removal tool (or whatever the tool is called on 4shared) on google and got the tool on Norton's site. I downloaded and ran it (because I had just removed Norton from my brand new laptop yesterday and wanted to be sure that everything was removed from the system) and when I rebooted, I couldn't access the internet. The diagnostics tool said that there was another firewall blocking my access. I had to do a system restore because tech support didn't know how to find the rogue firewall and disable it, or whatever would have had to be done. I guess I should have left well enough alone.

[Tchan]

Hmm. I get no Nvidia problem and I have Norton Anti-virus and Security protector and God knows what other Norton crap on my machine, and I always leave my internet on, and I have a very old Nvidia video gaming card.
But even I know not to turn my anti-virus off and leave my internet on; that's just asking for trouble.

[unregister]

You can't blame SecuRom for the memory leak because it's been part of TS2 since the beginning- long before they went to SecuRom. Srsly, people blame SecuRom for everything, and it's ridiculous and takes away from the things that it ACTUALLY does.

I am aware it has been a problem since the beginning, but when EA Games blames memory leaks as a problem and Norton as a source of these leaks, I question whether or not the situation is made any better by having a game protection such as Securom, which has been accused of causing memory leaks itself. I don't see how this observation "takes away from things".

[prattle]

Hmm. I get no Nvidia problem and I have Norton Anti-virus and Security protector and God knows what other Norton crap on my machine, and I always leave my internet on, and I have a very old Nvidia video gaming card.
But even I know not to turn my anti-virus off and leave my internet on; that's just asking for trouble.

I'm in a similar position; I play on an ancient nVidia card that doesn't know what a pixel shader is, and it has never blue-screened on me playing Sims 2 or anything else. My instinct is saying that it's either a EA problem, a nVidia driver problem, or some combination of both, and that Norton is fairly irrelevant; however, really EA and nVidia need to be working together to fix this, as it's not doing either company any good, rather than sniping about it.

[morriganrant]

Eh, I have my virus scan off when my games are on, but the firewall stays on. I do run my virus scan at least twice a week though. I caught a little something last week but I was rid of it rather quickly. I don't see all that much of a problem with turning it off, so long as you are diligent in your scanning. Unlike my families home computer, whose virus scan is on all the time. What good does this do them when they don't know how to use it, or even leave the pc on so it can run on it's own? Last time I was there I had to remove three things (one by hand) and install ad-aware, it was so full of crap. I've talked them through running both programs but every time I go it hasn't been used since I was there last.

[FourCats]

I remember back in the olden days of TS1 there was a program that would cut off all the unnecessary background programs so that the game would run a little smoother. . . . .  Or, is there another program out there that does this? 

I use a program called "end it all" I'm not sure where I got it.  It's a little program.  I like it.  Maybe do a websearch?