Game Crashes after Large Windows 10 Update

[apbarog]

Yesterday Windows 10 updated on my PC. It was a very large update. It could have been the "anniversary" update that I've read of. After this update, I worked on my turn for several hours yesterday, and the game crashed. I was able to redo my work after this.

Today, I spent 2 or 3 hours working on a turn. I had chosen a submarine, picked "Set Destination", then moved the mouse to the top of the screen to scroll the map. The map did not scroll. I immediately feared losing my work, so I clicked on the Save button, and got a C++ runtime error.

I'm not expecting any answers from the limited information that I have to give, but I do believe that the large Windows update has changed something. Before the update, my game did not crash. I want to alert others that something is going on here.

My switch settings include War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -px1920 -py1080 -dd_sw -deepColor -SingleCpuOrders

[Oberst_Klink]

What are your PC specs? How many cores your CPU got? Also try to add -fd -skipVideo and run the .EXE in Admin mode. Test it with a Japanese turn calculating for the 7th December as AI.

Klink, Oberst

[apbarog]

I've been running AE for years on this PC without this problem. I'm running an Intel i7 920, with 6 GB RAM. As I said, it has worked fine until yesterday, with the big Windows 10 update. I'm using Windows 10 64 bit. The error is when I'm plotting my turn, not when I run the replay.

I uninstalled the 2013 C++ Redistributable runtime, since it had an install date of yesterday, hoping that the older version would work. I also changed the setting for my toolbar, so that it was hidden. Just guessing here.

I worked on another turn for a few hours, saving very often. I was just about done, created a new task force in SF, and I could see that I may be having a problem when I tried to set the destination. I then went to save the game, again, and the save failed with the C++ runtime error. The worst is that the saved file was corrupted with a size of 0, so I lost my intermediate saves. I should have saved in a different slot.

The error is now common for me, but I do work on my turn for 2 or 3 hours before it crashes. So far. Like I said, I know that it's impossible for someone else to solve this just from my description. I just want to get the information out there. If it is related to the Windows 10 update, I won't be the only one with the problem.

[apbarog]

I was able to uninstall 3 of the 4 Windows updates that occurred yesterday. I'll see if that makes any difference.

[BBfanboy]

Someone else reported recent graphics problems with their game around the time Win 10 really started rolling out.
Conjecture on my part - but it seems that the version of DirectX may have something to do with it - Win10 had DirectX 12 while the game works with DirectX9.
Again, I am not sure that is the problem but if you are eliminating variances that is one to try. Not sure if you can have two versions of DirectX on your system.

[apbarog]

I was working fine with Win 10, until this big update arrived yesterday.

I can confirm that through running dxdiag that I am running DirectX 12, even after uninstalling 3 of the 4 Windows updates from yesterday. I now have updated my video drivers to the latest and greatest. Although my old driver was fine for AE, maybe it wasn't playing nice with DirectX 12.

Time to try doing my turn, again.

[apbarog]

I did successfully complete plotting my turn. Only time will tell if my issue is fixed. The issues occurred after a couple of hours of plotting my turn. I may have just completed my turn more quickly this time, and left things out, the third time around.

I am saving mid-turn very frequently now, and in a different game slot each time. I'll update this thread as I do more turns.

[Korvar]

Thanks for giving everyone a heads-up!

I've avoided the Anniversary Update like the plague; in fact I have Windows Updates blocked on my firewall just to be sure it doesn't slip through; however, that doesn't help you much now.

I would suggest adding a 'Plan C' for a little extra redundancy - stop right now and make a complete backup of your SAVE folder from the WitP Directory. A simple copy/paste into another directory will do. That way if things go total FUBAR you will at least have a repository of relatively recent saves to rebuild with. You are otherwise doing what I'd recommend doing immediately.

Your executable switches look fine - the only (unrelated) thing I might suggest is adding -multiaudio if you have any sound misalignment issues.

I would also suggest running the game in compatibility mode. You can do that by right-clicking the shortcut to the game and clicking 'Properties' just like if you were editing your switches. Click on the 'Compatibility' tab and configure it for Windows XP Service Pack 3 and run as administrator as seen here:




The next step is to gather more information. Open your start menu and just start typing the word 'event'. You should see a shortcut for 'Event Viewer' pop up in the start menu search. Click it. Look through the 'Custom Views' and 'Windows Logs' folders - particularly at the 'Administrative Events', 'Application', and 'System' logs as shown here:




It will show you error logs in the space below what this picture shows. Everything has a timestamp, so look for likely suspects based on that, as well as if you see any logs which mirror the error messages you were seeing earlier.

That will tell us a lot more about what is going on.

[apbarog]

The first event with each crash is an Event 1000 Application Error.

Faulting application name: War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe, version: 1.7.11.23
Faulting module name: War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe, version: 1.7.11.23
Exception code: 0x40000015
Fault offset: 0x0040f178
Faulting process id: 0x1dd8

There's a slew of errors and warnings that follow this, but the application error seems to be the first problem.

This information may be helpful to a developer, but all it tells me is that the application failed.

[Korvar]

Is there anything in the logs referencing .dll files?

FYI, here is a list of the C++ Redistributable packages I have installed on my Win 10:


The newer ones 'shouldn't' affect WitP:AE unless newer patches have somehow incorporated them (I doubt it) - programs only reference the C++ that is applicable to their programming, the newer stuff is ignored. Also, only the 'x86' (32-bit) packages should apply here.

In the off chance that a system file on your machine was corrupted during the update process, you can also try a system file scan/repair:
Open start menu, type 'cmd', right-click "Run as Administrator" and type 'sfc /scannow' (without quotes) in the black Command Prompt window.

It probably won't solve the problem, but it's a good due diligence item to check off the list.

[apbarog]

No mention of any .dll files.

The application error comes first. 5 minutes later, I get a bunch of Windows kernel processor errors, but that's 5 minutes later.

As for the C++ packages, I have 2 for 2005(one is x64), I have 4 for 2008(2 are x64), I have 2 for 2010(1 is x64), I have 2 for 2012(1 is x64), and I have the same as your for 2013.

And this afternoon, Microsoft was nice enough to reinstall the updates that I deleted this morning. The only way that I've fixed the issue is if the updated video driver fixed it. I'll determine if the problem is fixed when I work on future turns.

I'll try the scannow command.

[apbarog]

Sfc/scannow found no errors. Thanks for the help though. I've learned some troubleshooting methods that I wasn't aware of.

[Lowpe]

Windows has released a patch, patching the Anniversary Patch. Err, do you call them upgrades? Or Updates?

I read it caused quite a few systems with cams much grief, and several other problems.

I just did a turn on the patched Anniversary update, with no problems...although I do notice my Windows 10 slowing down on routine functions like file management. I didn't check to see how much resources it is eating up now, but I guess more since Cortana is turned back on against my wishes.

Gawdzooks, I hate how windows is treating the customer.

[Korvar]

Keep an eye on it, and note what you were doing when any error messages appear. Specifically, were you trying to click on a menu, saving, etc. Also, I'd keep tabs on your approximate play time from starting the application to the occurrence of an error.

The symptoms so far seem to indicate it is more time than action related. Time related typically means memory leak - but it's too early to say for certain. Hopefully you've already quashed it by chance, and trying more things without making more observations quickly becomes an exercise in chasing our own tail.

Another possibility is that the update has added just enough extra bloat that at some point you are running out of available RAM. 6GB seems to be more than enough, but Win 10 can easily push 3GB used in a 'resting' state (i.e. no applications besides background apps/services running). You can use the 'Performance' tab in Task Manager to monitor your system RAM usage in realtime.

Post here again if you run into the issue again, and we can try some more things. If the Anniversary Update breaks compatibility with WitPAE, it is something we are all going to have to deal with at some point. The more information provided, the better we can whittle down the likely culprit(s).

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Korvar

The symptoms so far seem to indicate it is more time than action related. Time related typically means memory leak - but it's too early to say for certain. Hopefully you've already quashed it by chance, and trying more things without making more observations quickly becomes an exercise in chasing our own tail.

Do you have any advice on how to stop an old guy "memory leak" ? And 'no string around the finger or other body part' solutions either, we need a permanent fix. Photographic memory will do.

And what's wrong with chasing our tail? [;)]
It's not our fault it runs away!

[Korvar]

I know you said it in jest, but my quick, honest advice is that you are already doing one of the best things possible - playing this game.

Anything as complex as WitPAE will keep your neurons forming new and strengthening existing connections. Read The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne for mnemonic tricks to help you remember small things like where you left the keys. Exercise. It improves blood flow to the brain and also stimulates the production of BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), which stimulates new neuron growth. It doesn't have to be much - something as simple as walking the dog around the neighborhood for 30 mins a day helps tremendously. Rowing is one of the best exercises you can do - it works almost your entire body, is capable of keeping your heart rate in the aerobic training zone, and is low-impact on your joints - and it can be done indoors; if interested, google 'Concept2'.

As for chasing your tail, you're on your own! [:D]

[BBfanboy]

I was going to try rowing once, but when I went to the neighbor to ask if I could borrow his hoe, he punched me in the mouth! [X(] [;)]
So I just used my hammer drill to make holes and drop in the seeds! [:'(]

[BillBrown]

Here is a link to whocrashed. I use it for those occasional crashes. It does a fair job of analysis. http://download.cnet.com/WhoCrashed/300 ... 05821.html

I went out and googled Exception code: 0x40000015

It seems that it indicates a damaged or corrupt system file. It sounds like the update did not
finish properly. Maybe a system restore to before the update happened would fix it.

[apbarog]

Could be. I uninstalled the Windows updates (3 of the 4 anyhow), and they were automatically reinstalled in the afternoon. I did check the integrity of the system files, as suggested, and they checked out fine.

I still suspect that my video card driver was too old to be compatible with DirectX 12.

The next few turns of the game will have the excitement of the war and the concern for future crashes.

[apbarog]

Unfortunately, the problem persists. This time, I had chosen an air unit, picked "Select Destination" for the mission, moved the mouse to the map edge to scroll the map, and the map did not scroll. The failure for the map to scroll has been the first indication of a problem. Following that, the game will soon lock up doing other normal things, like picking other units, etc.

The Windows updates were automatically reinstalled yesterday. I have the latest video driver for my card.

This time, I was doing frequent saves, so I didn't lose all of my work, just some. Of course, I can't be sure that the real problem was unseen and occurred before my save, so nothing is guaranteed.

I did open Task Manager when the problem occurred, and I had plenty of RAM available. About 3 of the 6GB was unused.

So there's still a problem. The problem did occur after significant time in the game, again. I did frequent saves, but did not exit the game after each save. I will try to continue my turn from my latest mid-turn save and see what happens.