Lots of crashes and plane destroyed error with 2.12 patch

[nats]

Getting lots of crashes with the new 2.12 patch and planes destroyed error as follows:

System is AMD X6 2.8GHz six core machine
12Gb Ram
ATI Radeon HD4850 526Mb card
Windows 7 64 bit
Clean install incl 2.11 multiskin

Main crashes I am getting (roughly once an hour) are when I either go into the 3d bit or when I come out of the 3d bit of the game - game just freezes. Computer is not frozen because I can still CNTL ALT DEL out of it. the freezing going into the combat sint too bad because obviously I have a save file but the probllem coming out of combat is really annoying because I have wasted my flight. As far as I am aware this crashing has been in the game for ages - certainly since the last 3 or 4 patches, its never been fixed. I keep trying to play the game and this keeps putting me off and then I give up and go away for a few months till I see and new patch and do it all again. Certainly its been going on for ages now this crashing and I have upgraded my computer since its been happening (new motherboard, ram and cpu) as well, to no avail at all. I wonder if its the graphics card? I know the HD4850s are subject to overheating issues - I certainly have crashes in AMRA2 quite often due to overheating. I will have to check the temp next time but I did look recently and it didnt seem to be getting too hot in the game from what I can see.

And the destroyed plane error I am seeing is when my hurricane or whatever is destroyed my enemy fire the cockpit view zigs and zags all over the place like crazy. But when I go to the external view I can see my plane crashing as it should look - nice and smmoth. But then I go back into the cockpit view and its still jagging around like mad. Its just the cockpit view that seems to do it and it only happens as soon as my plane is irrepairably damaged by fire.

[Buddye]

Plaese read the following entire thread and ensure you have completed all the setup items recommended.

http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 17&t=30752

Post your Crashlogs which can be found in the crashlog.txt file in your BOBII folder. Just cut and paste the first 20 lines of each crashlog into this thread.

We have never had a verified hang in BOBII caused by the BOBII software and we have very few BOBII software CTD in 2.12 as I look at all of them. I suspect a setup, install, OS or OS setting, Driver, virus software, or some other PC environment issue.

[nats]

Plaese read the following entire thread and ensure you have completed all the setup items recommended.

http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 17&t=30752

Post your Crashlogs which can be found in the crashlog.txt file in your BOBII folder. Just cut and paste the first 20 lines of each crashlog into this thread.

We have never had a verified hang in BOBII caused by the BOBII software and we have very few BOBII software CTD in 2.12 as I look at all of them. I suspect a setup, install, OS or OS setting, Driver, virus software, or some other PC environment issue.

So far today I havent experienced any freezes when entering/exiting the 3d part after changing the shorcut to 'disable desktop composition' which is good after the number I was experiencing yesterday. But I did experience a crash to desktop from inside the 3d part of the game today. I checked my graphics card temps and they arent high so its not to do with the card overheating.

Other than the card and the hard-drive everything else in my computer has been upgraded and I have done a new Windows 7 64bit install and a new BOB2 install since I experienced the last few crashes with the last patch (but I seem to remeber they were all CTDs from within the 3d part of the game itself).

The only thing knowingly wrong with my computer is that it often hangs at the Windows 7 'Welcome' screen when starting up which I am assuming is to do with my hard drive being quite old now (only thing not upgraded) and probably on its way out - so I wonder if it could be that causing the problem? Although once I have got my computer up and running I have never had any other issues with my other games I have (other than my card overheating with ARMA2 which is a well known issue with that game).

Here is my crashlog text anyway:

------------ Begin of section written with bob.exe, Build/Rebuild all date: Dec 21 2012 17:39:32 ---------------------------
bob.exe caused a EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module <UNKNOWN> at 0023:53FF8B90
Exception handler called in drawloop.
Write to location 70e08294 caused an access violation.
Code: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Stack dump:
Stack: 0023:53FF8B90 (0x00000000 0x2C42BAA0 0x0C94CBE0 0x1467F69C) <UNKNOWN>
Stack: 0023:70E23BBD (0x00000000 0x2C42BAA0 0x2C869158 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+93928 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:70E23B4E (0x00000000 0x2C869158 0x8507BA04 0x0C94CBE0) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+93817 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:70E239BE (0x0C8FE320 0x0C900E5C 0x00000004 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+93417 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:70E2B8CC (0x0C8FE320 0x00000004 0x00000000 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+125943 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:70E2B774 (0x0C8FE320 0x00000004 0x00000000 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+125599 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:0052728D (0x13C3585C 0x000002AA 0x00862E60 0x00000002) bob.exe, DynamicVertexBuffer::Flush()+4637 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\lib3d\renderd3d9.cpp, line 1151+108 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:0052779A (0x00000001 0x00000002 0x00000000 0x1467FB64) bob.exe, DynamicVertexBuffer::Render()+634 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\lib3d\renderd3d9.cpp, line 1380+12 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:00529B1B (0x00000001 0x74FA26E0 0x050686C0 0x05564348) bob.exe, Renderer::Render()+59 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\lib3d\renderd3d9.cpp, line 4045+29 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:005BB4B3 (0x00000001 0x08A56E44 0x050686C0 0x08A56B18) bob.exe, ThreeDee::DrawVisibleObjects()+1377 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\3d\3dcode.cpp, line 6558
Stack: 0023:0060183C (0x08A56B18 0x08A25138 0x8D4BB469 0x114A7438) bob.exe, ThreeDee::render3d()+2227 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\3d\3dcode.cpp, line 2073
Stack: 0023:00601C56 (0x08990048 0x08A56B18 0x08A25138 0x8512E84E) bob.exe, ThreeDee::render()+124 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\3d\3dcode.cpp, line 4840
Stack: 0023:0041A13E (0x114A7438 0x8512E94A 0x00000000 0x135DD330) bob.exe, View3d::drawloop()+357 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\mfc\stub3d.cpp, line 1827
Stack: 0023:0042C8BA (0x0018FB40 0x8512E982 0x00000000 0x135DD330) bob.exe, _AfxThreadEntry()+218 byte(s), f:\dd\vctools\vc7libs\ship\atlmfc\src\mfc\thrdcore.cpp, line 109+5 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:004777B0 (0x00000000 0x767C33AA 0x135DD330 0x1467FFD4) bob.exe, _callthreadstartex()+27 byte(s), f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\threadex.c, line 348+6 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:00477855 (0x135DD330 0x1467FFD4 0x77729EF2 0x135DD330) bob.exe, _threadstartex()+127 byte(s), f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\threadex.c, line 326+5 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:767C33AA (0x135DD330 0x62923600 0x00000000 0x00000000) kernel32.dll, BaseThreadInitThunk()+18 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:77729EF2 (0x004777D6 0x135DD330 0x00000000 0x00000000) ntdll.dll, RtlInitializeExceptionChain()+99 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:77729EC5 (0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000) ntdll.dll, RtlInitializeExceptionChain()+54 byte(s)

------------ Begin of section written with bob.exe, Build/Rebuild all date: Dec 21 2012 17:39:32 ---------------------------
bob.exe caused a EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module <UNKNOWN> at 0023:53FF8B90
Exception handler called in drawloop.
Write to location 6c198294 caused an access violation.
Code: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Stack dump:
Stack: 0023:53FF8B90 (0x00000000 0x0BC18500 0x0BB8C340 0x1353F69C) <UNKNOWN>
Stack: 0023:6C1B3BBD (0x00000000 0x0BC18500 0x0BBE4698 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+93928 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:6C1B3B4E (0x00000000 0x0BBE4698 0xE5D9B976 0x0BB8C340) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+93817 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:6C1B39BE (0x0BB39E60 0x0BB3C99C 0x6C19D778 0x0BB39E60) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+93417 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:6C1BB8CC (0x0BB39E60 0x00000004 0x00000000 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+125943 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:6C1BB774 (0x0BB39E60 0x00000004 0x00000000 0x00000000) d3d9.dll, Direct3DCreate9Ex()+125599 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:0052728D (0x15933214 0x000002AA 0x00862E60 0x00000002) bob.exe, DynamicVertexBuffer::Flush()+4637 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\lib3d\renderd3d9.cpp, line 1151+108 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:0052779A (0x00000001 0x00000002 0x00000000 0x1353FB64) bob.exe, DynamicVertexBuffer::Render()+634 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\lib3d\renderd3d9.cpp, line 1380+12 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:00529B1B (0x00000001 0x754626E0 0x050686C0 0x05564348) bob.exe, Renderer::Render()+59 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\lib3d\renderd3d9.cpp, line 4045+29 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:005BB4B3 (0x00000001 0x17290C54 0x050686C0 0x17290928) bob.exe, ThreeDee::DrawVisibleObjects()+1377 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\3d\3dcode.cpp, line 6558
Stack: 0023:0060183C (0x17290928 0x097235B0 0x77325A19 0x11AC18D0) bob.exe, ThreeDee::render3d()+2227 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\3d\3dcode.cpp, line 2073
Stack: 0023:00601C56 (0x08580048 0x17290928 0x097235B0 0xE5CF9412) bob.exe, ThreeDee::render()+124 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\3d\3dcode.cpp, line 4840
Stack: 0023:0041A13E (0x11AC18D0 0xE5CF9516 0x00000000 0x0C04BE98) bob.exe, View3d::drawloop()+357 byte(s), c:\merlin\bob\src\mfc\stub3d.cpp, line 1827
Stack: 0023:0042C8BA (0x0018FB40 0xE5CF95DE 0x00000000 0x0C04BE98) bob.exe, _AfxThreadEntry()+218 byte(s), f:\dd\vctools\vc7libs\ship\atlmfc\src\mfc\thrdcore.cpp, line 109+5 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:004777B0 (0x00000000 0x758433AA 0x0C04BE98 0x1353FFD4) bob.exe, _callthreadstartex()+27 byte(s), f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\threadex.c, line 348+6 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:00477855 (0x0C04BE98 0x1353FFD4 0x77BE9EF2 0x0C04BE98) bob.exe, _threadstartex()+127 byte(s), f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\threadex.c, line 326+5 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:758433AA (0x0C04BE98 0x644F4B8F 0x00000000 0x00000000) kernel32.dll, BaseThreadInitThunk()+18 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:77BE9EF2 (0x004777D6 0x0C04BE98 0x00000000 0x00000000) ntdll.dll, RtlInitializeExceptionChain()+99 byte(s)
Stack: 0023:77BE9EC5 (0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000) ntdll.dll, RtlInitializeExceptionChain()+54 byte(s)

[Buddye]

As you can see from the crashlogs, you are crashing in EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module <UNKNOWN>. The unknown is of no real help but in the past it means that something basic is wrong and the crashlog program is not even able to set itself up correctly.

The last issue as you might have seen on the thread I linked your to was some thing called "cloud" which I know nothing about except it interferres with BOBII. The other issue I remember was the virus softwaretaking over to check files (Norton was bad about this). When the crashlog shows a EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module <UNKNOWN> something is taking focus from BOBII and the crashlog program can not setup.

Double check you have done each one of Note1-Note13 (if they apply):

Note1: this update will bring *any* previous version up to 2.12. You do not need any previous patches at all.
Note2: You will need the latest DirectX 9C to run 2.12. Here is the Web Installer which will update only what is needed:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en
You will get a missing .dll error if you do not. When you run the 2.12 self-installer it will point you to the Microsoft DirectX update page. Update to DirectX9.0c (June version). Unfortunately, there are multiple versions of 9.0c so if in any doubt, update.
Note3: The MultiSkin patch should go ON TOP OF Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory v2.12 Patch (English) OR Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory v2.12 Patch (International)
You should have a 256M gfx card to be sure to run without issues.
Note4: How to back up your existing settings from earlier BoBII updates.
Buddye's installation guide HERE-> http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vie ... 0&t=19368B
Back up your Bdg.txt and \savegame, \2dGauge, and \keyboard folders (these folders contain all your settings and joystick buttons)
Note5: If you have a low end system and experience a crash once into 3D, go to your bdg.txt file and set LANDSCAPE_TEXTURE_SIZE = 1024 (the default is 2048). This will reduce the landscape texture resolution by a factor of 4 and should help users with low system memory.
Note6: The minimum requirements for BoBII have changed very significantly since initial release. To run 2.12 successfully we recommend Win XP/7, 2GB RAM, 1GB Video card, Strong Dual or Quad Core processor.
Note7: Vista and Windows 7 users may need to apply the 'Vista/Windows 7 fix' to your desktop shortcut as a fresh 2.11 install will overwrite the previous shortcut.
Right click on shortcut and go to properties. Go to the compatibility tab. Check "disable desktop composition" and check the privilege level, run this program as an administrator.
Note8: Forcing VSync with ATI card
There is a known issue with the latest ATI cards and VSync. See http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vie ... 10&t=21660
In short, you need to right click your ATI tray icon and enable through that (Wait for vertical refresh->Always on).
Note9: Framerates over densely populated areas of 3D objects.
See the section later in this thread. Object rendering is not as efficient as we hope to make it in the future. Be prepared to check your Ground Object Density settings in densely populated urban areas. See below.
Note10: You will not be able to run old campaigns with 2.12. You will need to restart them.
Note11: To run 2.12 with max settings you will need minimum of 3G RAM (ideally 4G). Players with 32 bit Windows7 will need to enable the "/3GB switch" to their system.
Note12: To see in-menu videos with Win7, see here: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 07#p161307 or install codecs here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/indeo_codec.htm
Note13: If you have a wide screen monitor then you must do the following:
http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vie ... 17&t=12695

[nats]

As you can see from the crashlogs, you are crashing in EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module <UNKNOWN>. The unknown is of no real help but in the past it means that something basic is wrong and the crashlog program is not even able to set itself up correctly.

The last issue as you might have seen on the thread I linked your to was some thing called "cloud" which I know nothing about except it interferres with BOBII. The other issue I remember was the virus softwaretaking over to check files (Norton was bad about this). When the crashlog shows a EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module <UNKNOWN> something is taking focus from BOBII and the crashlog program can not setup.

Double check you have done each one of Note1-Note13 (if they apply):

Note1: this update will bring *any* previous version up to 2.12. You do not need any previous patches at all.
Note2: You will need the latest DirectX 9C to run 2.12. Here is the Web Installer which will update only what is needed:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en
You will get a missing .dll error if you do not. When you run the 2.12 self-installer it will point you to the Microsoft DirectX update page. Update to DirectX9.0c (June version). Unfortunately, there are multiple versions of 9.0c so if in any doubt, update.
Note3: The MultiSkin patch should go ON TOP OF Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory v2.12 Patch (English) OR Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory v2.12 Patch (International)
You should have a 256M gfx card to be sure to run without issues.
Note4: How to back up your existing settings from earlier BoBII updates.
Buddye's installation guide HERE-> http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vie ... 0&t=19368B
Back up your Bdg.txt and \savegame, \2dGauge, and \keyboard folders (these folders contain all your settings and joystick buttons)
Note5: If you have a low end system and experience a crash once into 3D, go to your bdg.txt file and set LANDSCAPE_TEXTURE_SIZE = 1024 (the default is 2048). This will reduce the landscape texture resolution by a factor of 4 and should help users with low system memory.
Note6: The minimum requirements for BoBII have changed very significantly since initial release. To run 2.12 successfully we recommend Win XP/7, 2GB RAM, 1GB Video card, Strong Dual or Quad Core processor.
Note7: Vista and Windows 7 users may need to apply the 'Vista/Windows 7 fix' to your desktop shortcut as a fresh 2.11 install will overwrite the previous shortcut.
Right click on shortcut and go to properties. Go to the compatibility tab. Check "disable desktop composition" and check the privilege level, run this program as an administrator.
Note8: Forcing VSync with ATI card
There is a known issue with the latest ATI cards and VSync. See http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vie ... 10&t=21660
In short, you need to right click your ATI tray icon and enable through that (Wait for vertical refresh->Always on).
Note9: Framerates over densely populated areas of 3D objects.
See the section later in this thread. Object rendering is not as efficient as we hope to make it in the future. Be prepared to check your Ground Object Density settings in densely populated urban areas. See below.
Note10: You will not be able to run old campaigns with 2.12. You will need to restart them.
Note11: To run 2.12 with max settings you will need minimum of 3G RAM (ideally 4G). Players with 32 bit Windows7 will need to enable the "/3GB switch" to their system.
Note12: To see in-menu videos with Win7, see here: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 07#p161307 or install codecs here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/indeo_codec.htm
Note13: If you have a wide screen monitor then you must do the following:
http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/vie ... 17&t=12695

Doesnt help at all but thanks for your time anyway. Ive probably just got some software/hardware that BOB doesnt like, the game has always been a bit flakey.

[Buddye]

Doesnt help at all but thanks for your time anyway. Ive probably just got some software/hardware that BOB doesnt like, the game has always been a bit flakey.

Actually, BOBII has been solid for some time with 2.12's record to date being the best. We have had very few CTD and never a proven hang. As always, a few PC environments have issues with BOBII that take some time and effort to find and fix. Most of these issues are bad installs, bad down loads, use of mods, OS settings, drivers, virus software, not updating DirectX 9C to latest level, and PC hardware issues, and FPS performance.

Also keep you FPS counter up and running during your missions (shift+F), and record your "Minimum FPS". If your minimums are dipping below 10 "Minimun" then you may need to do some performance tuning (trade off GFX quality for performance). The very weak link in your PC environment is the graphic video card with only 500 MB of ram. See Release Note #6 below:

Note6: The minimum requirements for BoBII have changed very significantly since initial release. To run 2.12 successfully we recommend Win XP/7, 2GB RAM, 1GB Video card, Strong Dual or Quad Core processor.


First thing to try is turning off Multi Skin in the BDG.txt. other performance tips here:

http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 17&t=10091

[Prem Holdaway]

Nats,

As Buddye says. You are crashing in an unknown program. I have always found when this happens. It is a program running in the background and BobII does not like programs running in the background. You will need to check every one of your programs and see if they have various tasks scheduled. If they do then turn them off because this will certainly crash BobII.

Some of these programs will be very hard to find out how to turn off. Once I found out how to turn off the awkward programs including all the others. I never had any more crashes in 2.11 or 2.12 and Windows 7 64 bit.

Good luck in getting to the bottom of your problems.

[nats]

Nats,

As Buddye says. You are crashing in an unknown program. I have always found when this happens. It is a program running in the background and BobII does not like programs running in the background. You will need to check every one of your programs and see if they have various tasks scheduled. If they do then turn them off because this will certainly crash BobII.

Some of these programs will be very hard to find out how to turn off. Once I found out how to turn off the awkward programs including all the others. I never had any more crashes in 2.11 or 2.12 and Windows 7 64 bit.

Good luck in getting to the bottom of your problems.

Yeah I will have to try turning off a few background tasks. I had several freezes when entering the 3d and a crash whilst in the 3d yesterday again so there is definitely something up.

[nats]

Tried a few more days of campaign missions.

Crash inside 3d was possibly related to too high settings (maximum/full) I usually have them at high and since high was set I havent had any more so far.

But I am still getting very common freezes whilst going into the missions themselves - usually the screen goes black ready to go into the loading screen but nothing else happens. I've had that happen pretty much 3 times a day,every 3/4 missions so far. I dont know what that could be related to but generally I find these kinds of things are the game programming conflicting with some hardware/software on my computer and I will probably never find it. It isnt too bad because I can reload the mission again easily enough with no time wasted.

At least the crashing within the 3d seems to have stopped or be very infrequent because that was the thing I really didnt like - having to lose whole missions is really disappointing.

[Prem Holdaway]

Hi nats,

Glad to hear you're gradually getting sorted out. The recommendation for particle density is to leave, set to medium and leave the sound settings as is.

Looking at your comments. It still looks as if you have some background program pinching some of the CPU time.

The only one I think I'm left with, which pinches a bit of CPU time. It is my Java updater, but luckily that updates in the morning, so doesn't interfere.

Good luck in your still searching.

[Buddye]

The problem with a slow down at the beginning of a mission has frequently been the virus software checking files or some other activity. Norton was the one we have had the most trouble with.

[nats]

The problem with a slow down at the beginning of a mission has frequently been the virus software checking files or some other activity. Norton was the one we have had the most trouble with.

Its not a slow down its a freeze. I can't imagine its a virus checker creating that. I use MS Security Essentials I used to use AVG but it wasnt finding all my viruses. The MS one is very good by the way.

I think if its freezing when the mission is initialising it could be a hard disk problem, mine is old and time for a replacement soon. Like I said before I freeze on the Win7 Welcome screen all the time and I think thats the same issue perhaps. Anyway its not too bad - if thats the only place it freezes I can live with that.

Thanks for all the input anyway folks.

[nats]

The problem with a slow down at the beginning of a mission has frequently been the virus software checking files or some other activity. Norton was the one we have had the most trouble with.

Its not a slow down its a freeze. I can't imagine its a virus checker creating that. I use MS Security Essentials I used to use AVG but it wasnt finding all my viruses. The MS one is very good by the way.

Sorry Buddye I read another forum thread about issues with antivirus programs and the loading screen temporarily freezing for 20/30 minutes etc and realised that must be what I have because I had MSE on my system. So I have changed to AVAST and we will see if the loading screen freezing stops over the next week. Thanks for the help.