Black Screen of Death

johnny truant · April 2013

So... I have a crash that completely bricks my machine and I have to do a forced restart (press the reset button) every time I join a game in NS2.

I can open NS2, join a server and then enter a game, run around for about 10 seconds and then black screen of death (occasionally grey with scan lines up and down. It doesn't let me ctrl+alt+del, and I have no way to get back to windows - nothing works. Ambient sounds and game music still seem to play. I've left it for about 5-10 mins to check it's not just a one-off. It seems to happen every time I join a game. The only way to get my machine back up and running is to do a forced restart. The following are the techy bits, hopefully this will shed some light? If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to let me know:

Operating System: Windows 8 Pro 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (9200.win8_gdr.130108-1504)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: To be filled by O.E.M.
BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/18/12 11:23:26 Ver: 04.06.05
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8178MB RAM
Page File: 1968MB used, 10817MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: None
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.02.9200.16384 32bit Unicode

Here is log:

Date: 04/04/13
Time: 22:26:05
Build 243
Steam initialized
Render Device: AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series (8.17.10.1172)
Error: SoundSystem::SetDevice - invalid ID
Sound Device: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device) stereo
Record Device: disabled
Loading config://ConsoleBindings.json
Loading config://FavoriteServers.json
Main Menu Initialized at Version: 243
Steam Id: 4242945
Connecting to server 85.236.100.33:27015
Loading config://ConsoleBindings.json
Loading config://FavoriteServers.json
Loading 'maps/ns2_descent.level'
Warning: Overriding map's pathing_settings.option_tile_size from 48 to 36
Error: Couldn't open file 'materials/descent/discovery_floor_01.material'
Error: No shader specified for material 'materials/descent/discovery_floor_01.material'
Building pathing mesh for level maps/ns2_descent.level
Finished loading 'maps/ns2_descent.level'
Compiling 'shaders/GUISmoke.surface_shader'
bOingball killed MakeZz|Cryo| with Bite
Lizard King killed bOingball with Rifle
Uncl3dad killed Lizard King with Bite
Ninj killed PiRRiaQuE with Rifle
notydino killed MILSTER with Rifle
notydino killed Uncl3dad with Rifle
Spuddaby killed Ninj with Spit
Compiling 'shaders/GUIWavyNoMask.surface_shader'

PogoP · April 2013

Hey man!

Does the menu screen work alright? Does it render properly? There should be stuff moving about in the background, drones and stuff.

Agiel · April 2013

Does running the game in windowed mode make any difference?

SquishpokePOOPFACE · April 2013

Compiling 'shaders/GUIWavyNoMask.surface_shader'

I blame this guy

Rippsy · April 2013

johnny truant wrote: »

Render Device: AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series (8.17.10.1172)

I am almost 100% certain your problem lies here, your GPU is performing an unrecoverable crash. Possibly due to overheating - I used to get exactly the same type of behaviour from an ASUS ROG laptop when the GPU over heated. System locks up to blackscreen or alternating gray lines

Have you experienced this in any other games?
Do you have two monitors and can keep an eye on the temperature of your graphics card while you play?
Are you running the latest drivers for your graphics card, latest bios & latest motherboard bios and correct settings(speeds) for your PCI-E slot?

johnny truant · April 2013

Menu all works fine Liam, it's a new build so this is literally the first game I tried running so far.

Screen looks exactly like in the picture Rippsy posted. I'll have a whirl in windowed mode and see if that makes a difference.

I've put all latest drivers on for graphics card, but I will see about updating my Bios.

Absolutely no idea about speed settings for PCI-E slot - any advice?

Unfortunately only one monitor at the moment but can probably try through my TV as a second.

Thanks folks

Rippsy · April 2013

johnny, you can try hunting a few of the overclocking forums for more stable GPU clock settings memory settings ( AT YOUR OWN RISK! ) knocking 5mhz of my GPU and 200 of my memory on my old Radeon stopped my crashes, but did decrease performance slightly.

PCE-E slot, I recall my newer system having options to set the pci-e speed from 4/8/16 or pci-e version 2 or version 3. Depends on your specific motherboard/gfx card combo

Because you specifically mention 'after 10 minutes or so' I suspect more that this is an overheating issue, try playing with the side of your case off. Is it hot where you live right now? Can you close all the windows/doors and set the air-con a couple of degree's down see if that makes a difference?

DC_Darkling · April 2013

seeing as windows does not respond & it looks just like the picture someone posted it MUST be a hardware issue.
Screen, cable, vidcard.. I would also blaim the vidcard

Best I can say is make a photo for proof when it happens & check for warranty on your pc. You can reproduce it to often to think about software issues and I would not trust any graphics card which crashed like that, that often. Something will have been damaged.

johnny truant · April 2013

I managed to get about 10 mins play (rather than 10 secs) on windowed. Have attached a screenshot of it idle in lobby. After I'd been playing, just before it bsod I noticed cpu temp had upped to about 54C or so, totally missed what gpu got to but it was definitely lower than 60. Max temp for that I've read is about 80+?

johnny truant · April 2013

It happens in Medieval Total War 2 as well, so it's not just limited to NS2. It wouldn't be linked to my power supply, would it? Its only 500w...

Daveodeth · April 2013

each time I had one of these it was a faulty video card both times.

johnny truant · April 2013

Thanks for all your help everyone, I've sent the card back and ordered a GTX660 instead - will give that a whirl once it's been delivered and let you know how I get on.

DC_Darkling · April 2013

Good luck with it.
Also temps are a lil bugger. Not every CPU and GPU can take the same degrees.
If you want to know for sure, best is to lookup specs.

Can never be wrong if you stay within spec.

Zaggy · April 2013

I'm a fan of using HWMonitor to keep an eye on temps, will show min/max/current: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

DC_Darkling · April 2013

while most programs like the onze Ziggy showed give correct temps & values, sometimes they are very very wrong.
Always keep this in mind please.

Farren · April 2013

Even a cheap, underperforming 500W should be fine for your specs, unless you've got 20 hard drives you weren't telling us about

However if it continues to happen with the new GPU, you could check that each of the wires are actually reaching the plugs at the end. Could be that you don't have as many dedicated 12V lines reaching the GPU as you think you do.

johnny truant · April 2013

OK guys - Geforce GTX660 fixed the problem, have sent the Radeon back. Thank you all for your efforts, they are very much appreciated. Game on!

IronHorse · April 2013

Thanks for reporting back!
And glad you can play now, see you in game

DC_Darkling · April 2013

I have not experienced this since the new patch.. yet.
Before patch I verified that the bigger the period ofthe black screen was, the more huge a ping 'spike' was when I was finally ingame. Went up to 6000 ping, making me amazed I never disconnected.
Took around 10 seconds to settle down to standard 20/30 ping.

Ironsoul · April 2013

your graphics card is overheating, likely your case has crap air flow... and I mean crap. Well you replaced it with a 660. I hope it was a 7850, because a 660 is about equal to a 7850, but a 7870 is quite a bit better than a 660.

Oh and, your cpu is old, perfect for most games but ns2 will struggle a bit with that cpu.

Black Screen of Death

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