Random freezing/crashing

So when I'm playing (on Vector) it'll be running along just fine, when all of a sudden the ongame activity will freeze completely - snow won't fall from where it is etc, so no movement of any sort, except the mouse pointer. Nothing is clickable, and pretty soon the mouse pointer will freeze also, then the screen goes completely black and my computer hits me with NO SIGNAL INPUT right in the middle of my 22" LCD monitor. The music will still play though.  Nothing short of rebooting my PC fixes it. On reboot, event viewer doesn't show anything at all out of the ordinary. The only thing I notice is that the little light on my wireless dongle that flashes when traffic is going back and forth goes out; I WOULD think that it's overheated and dropped the connection (as it does from time to time) but usually the light comes on solid green when that happens, and it wouldn't explain why it takes out my screen and causes the game to freeze (unless the game can't handle this and isn't programmed to produce a "CONNECTION PROBLEM" message the likes of what appears in CS: Source)

Now no other games do this, and my system is well equipped to handle this game (see below):

AMD Athlon64 @ 2.4GHz
AGP Radeon X1650
1.5GB Ram
Windows XP Pro SP2

I'm running on a 1.5mbit connection with a wifi network - signal strength is always excellent and other than the occasional wifi-dongle-freezing issue holds a stable connection constantly.

Basically those are well above what it takes to drive the game, so it's not like it's overtaxing my pc or driving it into the ground or anything. My system can handle other games ie STALKER, Bioshock, F.E.A.R. etc with nary a complaint, so...

I have to ask if this is a known bug with the game, something I'm overlooking, or if it's just what the game does when it's connection is severed.

God, I am getting so sick of this.  It's making the game practically unplayable at certain times. I'm gona post my DxDiag info as requested even though I know for a fact that it's not my pc. Here's how I reached that conclusion.

Bioshock - OK
F.E.A.R. - OK
Doom 3 - OK
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl - OK
Counterstrike Source - OK
Matrix Online - NOT OK

Now I've also confirmed that the game itself is still running, still talking to the server and still active, as I am able to enter text into the chat (blindly though), have it be received and receive replies to it, or at least more network traffic from the server (never let it be said the blipping noises in the chat window are useless).

So obviously something is telling the video card to write blanks to the monitor, or the game is trying to do something it's not supposed to be doing and causing the video card to... seize up or something; before you say OH IT'S TEMPERATURE RELATED, remember again that I play some very 3D FX intensive games without hassles, and also, it just happened to me not 2 minutes after the world loaded up, yet other times it's fine for hours. I fail to see how 2 minutes can cause a spike in temperature higher than hours and hours of constant gameplay.

Overclocking and underclocking makes absolutely no difference whatsoever, it still randomly crashes.

So obviously it's a bug in the game.

DxDiag is attached for anyone who still wants to try and convince me otherwise.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/21/2008, 15:44:16
       Machine name: SKYNET
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_qfe.070227-2300)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: ASUSTek Computer Inc.
       System Model: K8N
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/20/05 11:07:31 Ver: 08.00.09
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+,  MMX,  3DNow, ~2.4GHz
             Memory: 1536MB RAM
          Page File: 323MB used, 3107MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Music Tab: DirectMusic test results: All tests were successful.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: Radeon X1650 Series (Omega 3.8.442)
     Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc. (Omega 3.8.442)
        Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor AGP (0x71C6)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71C6&SUBSYS_216A17AF&REV_00
   Display Memory: 512.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6755 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 12/5/2007 13:04:08, 269312 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: n/a
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 12/5/2007 15:26:40, 2782208 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-3286-11CF-7C6E-6001A1C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x1002
        Device ID: 0x71C6
        SubSys ID: 0x216A17AF
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV8_B ModeWMV8_A ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
 Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
                   {3C5323C1-6FB7-44F5-9081-056BF2EE449D}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

Yup, just did it twice in a *CENSORED* row while trying to mish with Uzz.

I find it ridiculous and somewhat sickening that a graphically inferior game like this is causing way more hassle for my box than games like bioshock, which have been known to completely decimate peoples systems.

I think I've wasted my money on this product.

supersdcurge wrote:

I have a X1600 Radeon (im guessing that they are a similar card other even thought mines PCI-E) and i have similar issues but it is NOT only when i play MxO and it rarely happens. the screen goes all black but i can still hear any music/sound that i was playing. normally when i shake the cable a little it will come back but other times i just have to restart. I am using the DVI connection on the card, i know its not a problem with my screen as i have used this screen with many other cards without any problems. i have tried updating drivers etc. but nothing seems to fix it. since it only happens once in a blue moon i just left it without fixing it.
    I would go into more detail but i am guessing by the looks of the post below this guy has no interest in getting the problem fixed and is only here to cry. I  find it quite funny how you call the game graphically inferior and then compare it to a game that was released 3 years after.

I'd watch my tone if I were you, dude. I'm not here just to have a cry, I do want the problem resolved but as yet NOBODY HAS POSTED A SOLUTION THAT I HAVEN'T ALREADY TRIED.

Jiggling the cable? Oh sure, that's going to work, when the cable is snug and screwed in so much it isn't going to move without some serious effort.

The reason I compared it to a game released more recently was this: one would expect, if a game that was released 3 years ago causes problems, then a recent game would be unplayable. That is in fact not the case at all. BioShock runs beautifully, MxO likes to crash alot.

Do me a favour too, would you? Unless you're going to properly read my posts and post something constructive in return, stay out of this thread.

Vinia wrote:

I'd say that if it was a problem with the game itself then a lot more people would be having similar problems and would have already posted a long established thread on the boards such as the 8000 series indoor lag or the Vista texture issues.
The nVidia 8000 series has shown that GFX card companies drive their technology forward with little regard for older games to the point where a game can be unplayable because it doesn't understand the newer technology or processes on the card. If Jeffers is right then it shows a problem with your card not MxO in the same way that the 8000 series runs other, more recent games perfectly but has major problems with MxO.

As Phluff says some people on the tech help forums go out of their way to help people, that doesn't guarantee that they're gonna be able to come up with an answer immediately and sometimes they can't respond to an issue straight away, as mentioned its been a holiday today.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not having a go at the residents of the tech forum. My comment about no solutions I haven't tried being posted was only to showcase to that other guy that i wasn't just "interested in having a whinge".  Fair play I'm frustrated as hell about this but what's getting mad at the tech guys going to achieve?

Ok so you made a valid point there, if it was an issue with the game then it would be happening with everyone HOWEVER not everyone has the exact same hardware setup that I do, which is to be expected. Also newer, more hardware intensive games, like i mentioned before, run fantastically without issues. One would think that if there's a problem with something on my pc, running a recent game would really showcase it as it would stress the card and my pc.

What i think it comes down to is bad coding in the game that causes incompatibilities with newer hardware, which is ironic considering that it needs newer hardware to run properly. This is supported by my girlfriend who's studying to become a computer engineer.  So it's a game bug that exists only because of some specific piece of hardware that I'm using. The problem is the game, but it's only evident due to my hardware.

phi wrote:

Uninstall any display modifiers and remove your video drivers and replace them with the most up-to-date ones from ATI.
Then let us know how that goes.

Also one last question... have you tweaked your useropts.cfg or options.cfg MxO game files in any way? They are easy to modify but it is equally easy to make the game unstable by pushing the GFX limits beyond certain ratios and memory limits.

Installing the standard Catalyst drivers for my card actually produces more problems than it solves, as is usually the case with standard drivers. Omega drivers are at least modelled on the core files from Catalyst, and they are definitely the better option, at least for me.

Interesting point about the windows modifier. I use windowsblinds with a vista theme as the XP theme makes me sick. Might have to see what getting rid of that will do.

No, I haven't tweaked the game files, don't know enough about the game and how it works to go in manually editing things.

Also last night I changed the AGP speed from 8x to 4x - I was suggested to do that by someone here, and I also recall it fixing a similar issue with a different ATI card back when I started playing doom 3.  It didn't crash after that but admittedly I didn't play for long and I might just have gotten lucky.