Guide: Solving Vista Error 13/14/driver stopped..
By
Absolute_Control,
Posted on: 2008-12-05 03:10 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Ok, what the heck is Aero?
Winner of Players' Choice Best Villainous Arc 2010: Fear and Loathing on Striga; ID #350522
all i know is this damn problem needs to be fixed asap, im getting tired of crashing every 20 mins or less
Aero is a skin of sorts. Its what makes vista so shiny. On your desktop right click... select Personalize.. Select Window Appearance and Settings... In the dropdown box you can select, among several, Window Aero and Windows Vista Basic.
OK. so. ive tried EVERYTHING on here. + all the additional things my fantastical brain could think of. and have NO positive results.
Why OH WHY! is this so complicated? Can a mod or someone that knows more than we do shed some light on the subject of whats being done behind the scenes to solve this epidemic? lol
I have downloaded the thing from the first post on here. We have done everything possible.
I am still getting OpenGL disconnects almost twice every session.
I have already turned my settings down and worked them back up. Nothing changes. I disconnect on low settings same as high settings.
Those of you that are still stuck, need to post a new thread with full details and full system reports (coh helper and hijackthis). Like I said, we still arent getting most of the 9xxx cards totally stable but usually down to once a day or so. Post your reports so we can look at the systems - in independent new threads - that this isnt working for.
I'm having the same display driver crash on a GTX 280 card, so it's not just 9xxx cards messing up.
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I'm having the same display driver crash on a GTX 280 card, so it's not just 9xxx cards messing up.
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My own testing has shown that this happens on GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9 and 200 series video cards running 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows Vista.
I wonder if there's any truth to the claim that Nvidia's newer drivers have dropped support for some of the older OpenGL rendering calls/extensions that City of Heroes uses.
It would seem that way.
I have a 9xxx card >.> Great.
No Fade, its certainly not only the 9x messing up. It is however the 9x cards that we are having the most difficulty getting stable. Ex has also posted that (official) tech support is having the same issues with the 9xxx series. In 99% or so of most cases we can get everything stable BUT the 9x cards. However with both the hotfix and the driver rollback even the 9x's get substantially improved (down to once a day or so) instead of really frequent crashing. (To make matters more confusing, the 9x series is becoming the 1x series, if I understand this renaming mess half-correctly.Heres to good ole' confusion.)
I DID agree with the argument of them dropping support for some openGL calls, when I saw it across so many systems. However the second version of the hotpatch alone (unlike the first version) is enough to get most cards back able to use the newest driver. So that issue doesnt fully pan out. This is also uniquely a vista issue, and NOT uniquely a Nvidia issue. ATI cards can and (albiet much much more rarely) do get this same issue (I havent confirmed for ATI if its linked to this game or some other trigger however). This is a three headed monster named Vista-Nvidia-CoX.
PS: Perfect_Pain, You have the most trouble with that PC! I wish you were my neighbor or something that I could get a good look at whats going on with that box. It sure does love griefing you, LOL.
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No Fade, its certainly not only the 9x messing up. It is however the 9x cards that we are having the most difficulty getting stable. Ex has also posted that (official) tech support is having the same issues with the 9xxx series. In 99% or so of most cases we can get everything stable BUT the 9x cards. However with both the hotfix and the driver rollback even the 9x's get substantially improved (down to once a day or so) instead of really frequent crashing. (To make matters more confusing, the 9x series is becoming the 1x series, if I understand this renaming mess half-correctly.Heres to good ole' confusion.)
I DID agree with the argument of them dropping support for some openGL calls, when I saw it across so many systems. However the second version of the hotpatch alone (unlike the first version) is enough to get most cards back able to use the newest driver. So that issue doesnt fully pan out. This is also uniquely a vista issue, and NOT uniquely a Nvidia issue. ATI cards can and (albiet much much more rarely) do get this same issue (I havent confirmed for ATI if its linked to this game or some other trigger however). This is a three headed monster named Vista-Nvidia-CoX.
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Well, given the issue it certainly seems that there's more code-refinement, perhaps, that can be done with the game.
I mean, we all know what was originally happening when you'd even get near the tower in Grandville a couple years back. The polygon count in that one construct, by itself, was enough to induce system-crippling lag because of its count (somewhere in the thousands, I'd bet).
Nvidia usually has a very solid track-record with driver quality/support. However, 2008 was a really bad year for that (IMO). We saw how many driver releases in how short a period of time?
175.16, 175.19, 178.13, 178.24, 180.28 and now 181.20. That's six driver updates in 12 months. It used to be that only ATI was providing such haphazard-quality drivers/support. That's not even counting the never-WHQL-released 177.92 drivers.
In defense of the 181.20s, though, I will say that I've seen a substantial boost in both performance and stability across all of my systems running Co*
What's with these freakin naming schemes, anyway?
Here's the stew going on inside. Crash just about every time in. Thanks in advance for any help or tips.
---System information gathered by [url=http://home.roadrunner.com/~dasloth/CoH/CoHHelper.html[/url] version 0.1.1.6---
DxDiag gathered at January 20, 2009 12:35 (-06:00)
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
System Manufacturer: Gateway
System Model: GT5628
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (3 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 3054MB
.Net Memory Report: 2033MB out of 3053MB available
Page File: 4843MB (1475MB currently in use)
C Drive: (ST3500630AS) 153829MB out of 466489MB (32%) free
H Drive: (ST3500630AS) 3974MB out of 10448MB (38%) free
N Drive: (WD 2500JB External USB Device) 115468MB out of 238414MB (48%) free
D Drive: (Optiarc DVD RW AD-7173A SCSI CdRom Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 10
DirectX Diag version: 6.00.6001.18000 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
No problems found.
No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: LG L226W(Digital)
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 9600 GT
Video Memory: 1768 MB
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.7813
Driver Date: 9/17/2008 11:55:00 PM
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: Speakers (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Driver File: stwrt.sys
Driver Version: 6.10.5405.0000
Driver Date: 2/28/2007 8:57:28 PM
Sound Device Description: Headphones (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Driver File: stwrt.sys
Driver Version: 6.10.5405.0000
Driver Date: 2/28/2007 8:57:28 PM
Sound Device Description: Digital Output Device (SPDIF Out) (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Driver File: stwrt.sys
Driver Version: 6.10.5405.0000
Driver Date: 2/28/2007 8:57:28 PM
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: DG33SXG2
Motherboard Version: AAD94468-403
BIOS Manufacturer: Intel Corp.
BIOS Name: Default System BIOS
BIOS Version: GATEWA - 105
BIOS Release: 20070723000000.000000+000
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1680x1050
3D Resolution: 1680x1050 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes
Physics Quality: Very High
Maximum Particles: 46518
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No
Anti-aliasing: 4x
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High
World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.797
Entity Detail Level: 2.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600
Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 597160 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 18.20081105.12T5
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found
I wasn't able to install the Hotfix located at the start of this guide. Vista said I didn't need it. Not sure on that one. However, I did search for Vista SP2 on microsofts website. It is beta however since I installed it I have been crash free and without dirver errors.
MOTDAY, I'd say your browser presented you the wrong OS version (x86 vs x64) and thats why it declined it. If you didnt manually force it to download the right one, thats why. The patch is included in sp2 beta however, so glad to hear your golden.
TreyTrey, after you work through all the suggestions here, including rolling back your driver, if you still have issues, start your own thread please.
I thought the same so i actually downloaded both the x86 and x64 versions of the hotifx. The x64 started installing before it gave me that error message. The x86 wouldn't even run. I hope that isn't a sign of yet another issue with Vista.
[ QUOTE ]
I wasn't able to install the Hotfix located at the start of this guide. Vista said I didn't need it. Not sure on that one. However, I did search for Vista SP2 on microsofts website. It is beta however since I installed it I have been crash free and without dirver errors.
[/ QUOTE ]
Quick update....downloaded the Vista SP2 and I too have been crash free. Thanks for the tip, hope it holds.
I appreciate the work that has gone into this. I recently upgraded from a BFG 8600 GTOC2 to a BFG 9800 GTX+ and had been having crashing problems left and right. I applied the hotfix and now have been running problem free for the last few days. 
"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress." - Joseph Joubert
I did everything you said to do in your post, parts 1 and 2.... Maybe i'm just a dork somehow and am doing something wrong. But I tried rolling the driver back, and even updated to windows vista service pack 2 beta after the hotfix didn't work.
The program will load and i will get to play for maybe 5 minutes...more likely 30 seconds... and boom c++ runtime error, and then driver stopped error 14.
I have attached the information as gathered by CoHhelper.
I just upgraded to to vista lastnight... i should have looked in advance at all of the problems with it. Now I'm stuck.
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.5---
DxDiag gathered at January 22, 2009 20:49 (-08:00)
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2, v.113 (6002.lh_sp2beta.081017-1605)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Central Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 3070MB
.Net Memory Report: 1459MB out of 3069MB available
Page File: 4949MB (1435MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD1600JS-56MHB1 ATA Device) 86825MB out of 152617MB (56%) free
D Drive: (WDC WD2500KS-00MJB0 ATA Device) 84016MB out of 238464MB (35%) free
E Drive: (ATAPI DVD A DH20A4H ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 10
DirectX Diag version: 6.00.6001.18000 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 7300 GT
Video Memory: 1784 MB
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.6925
Driver Date: 12/11/2007 5:06:00 PM
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6002.16497
Driver Date: 10/17/2008 7:33:54 PM
Sound Device Description: Digital Output Device (SPDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6002.16497
Driver Date: 10/17/2008 7:33:54 PM
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: M2A-VM
Motherboard Version: 1.XX
BIOS Manufacturer: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Name: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Version: ATI - 42302e31
BIOS Release: 20070329000000.000000+000
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1024x768
3D Resolution: 1024x768 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes
Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 39845
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No
Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: Low Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High
World Texture Level: High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 0.802
Entity Detail Level: 2.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600
Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 785067 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 18.20081210.7T3
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found
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Now, to properly - fully - uninstall the old drivers and reinstall the new drivers.
<ul type="square">1. Navigate to the the Programs window: (Start -> Computer -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features)
2. Find the "Nvidia Drivers" listed in the list.
3. Click "Uninstall/Change" near the top of the list. Uninstall your video drivers only, if the option comes up. (The other board drivers are not to blame.) Let it do its thing.
4. Reboot when prompted. As it is rebooting, begin step #5.
5. While the PC is rebooting, before it brings up the first windows splash screen, begin tapping continually on the F8 key. (If it boots into regular windows, simply try again.) This should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu", a black and white "dos" style menu. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.Once the PC is booted successfully into safe mode...
6. Navigate on your hard drive to where you saved the Driver Sweeper utility to. Run Driver Sweeper and select the Nvidia Display drivers. Clean "sweep" them. Once that is complete...
7. Reboot, again, this time not hitting F8, going back into "regular" Windows Vista.
8. Navigate on your hard drive to where you saved the new drivers to and install them, following any prompts they include.
9. Reboot when prompted.[/list]
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I Use a 64 bit version of Vista and have a EVGA NVIDIA 9800 GTX+.
I've been reading the first 4 or so pages of this forum and it seems to be a great help, so I'm going to attempt to fix my crashing problems.
I followed setp 1. Haven't tried to play since I downloaded the Hotfix.
I read you saying something about a Hotfix version 2...which is that? I used the x64 one found on the first post (Under 32 bit listing). I used IE and it said that it was dowloading for x64. So everythign should be in check there.
But...Whers version 2 o.O
Also...Before I screw up and uninstall the wrong part of my video driver *If I need to* to roll back my drivers...Which do I uninstall
When I go to controll panel/ Programs and Features/ NVIDIA Drivers... I get a pop up that has 3 options:
Remove all NVIDIA Drivers, including display
Remove all NVIDIA Drivers, except display
Remove only the following (Can select each one):
--NVIDIA Display Driver
--NVIDIA Ethernet Driver Components
--NVIDIA Media Shield
--NVIDIA nForce PCI System Managment Driver
Going to test out just the first version of the hotfix, then second version, then roll back drivers
But when it comes time to roll back drivers *Hopefully I wont need to because ocasionally I like to get on COD5*..I wanna make sure I choose the correct option
Thanks guys!
-Nc
Ncnub,
For the uninstall you want "Uninstall Only... the display driver" (the rest are mainboard drivers and as long as they are up-to-date, are not your problem.
Screenshot of Hotfix page Was buried on page 6 or 7.
When you have the page expanded all the way out like this, you see that their are two rows that only have different dates. Version 1 is from July and Version 2 is from October. You want the version 2 (or you can skip the hotfix and upgrade to sp2 beta which includes it). Its version 2 or sp2 beta you need.
(If you go to install the patch and it says your system does not take/require/use this patch, you simply downloaded the wrong one.)
Given that your on a 9xxx card, the odds are VERY high you will require a driver rollback. The 9xxx's have issues, LOL.
@Tease
Alright, well I downloaded the right hotfix.
Guess I'll test out how it works this weekend =P
Thnx for the help, will post back if I have further questions or anything.
-Nc
I love you guys.
Just the hotfix worked for me.
Played this entire weekend hours upon hours straight, no crashes.
I told a friend about it too, same thing for him.
I use a:
EVGA 9800 GTX+
Intel Core2 Quad 2.4 GHZ
4 GB of RAM
Vista Ultimate 64bit
Thank you so much...Gl with the problem everyone!
Thanks so much for this! I got my new gaming laptop from BB and downloaded the new driver for my Nvidia card and boom this error came up everytime. I put the hotfix on and so far so good. Though finding that was a bit tuff, just because it was a new process for me. But thanks again!! Nice to find solutions that actually work! One question though, as time moves forward is this going to become a bigger and bigger problem with CoH?
Jem, It's about to become a almost non-existant issue. This hotfix is bundled into Vista sp2 thats due to release soon. Soon everyone that has properly updated their pc will have the patch. There will probably remain issues for some of the 9xxxx cards but thats not new. So, to answer you, I dont think so. I think this was a hiccup.
You know this is the second time this week that the dual monitor configuration has been raised as an issue. I think Zloth may be looking into adding that info to the coh helper report. Somehow it totally slipped my mind to ask you to make sure your system was set to Single Monitor (Performance Mode) from the Nvidia Control Panel. I hope this works for you!!