Trainz CTD with directX mode

[move67]

Hi all

I know this is an old story, cause I been readin so many threads about this issue. I'm talkin about the tendency of TRS2009 to crash when using directx mode. Sometimes the game runs for 10 minutes before crashing and sometimes about 1.5 hours and if I'm really lucky I can sometimes play it even 3 hours. But inevitably I got this message:

The instruction at "0xoocbe36c" referenced memory at "0x00000000" the memory could not be written

This never happen with openGL.Too bad that openGL is unbearable jerky and flickery to play.

Ofcourse I can make save games, but loadin savegame mess up AI trains driver commands and ruin the whole session. So thats not an option either.

I've tried many different types of memory modules(1gb and 512mb),had tried both ATI and Nvidia graphic cards with newest and oldest drivers, same with mobo drivers, configured system memory usage, tested older service packs, installed microsoft Directx fix kit, checked the computer cooling is ok etc. but for no use.(BIOS is something I haven't touch...yet) My computer runs very neatly overall and I have no problems with other programs.

It is said that theres nothin you can do to fix this issue, and you just have to live with it.
...But If there is people playing TRS2009 with directx mode without problem like this,it means that there IS fix existing.
So, In case somebody playing TRS2009 with directx mode without this problem, I would be very thankful to know what kind of hardware configuration, OS and trainz servicepack versions is used.


Regards

 

[JCitron]

This shouldn't happen no matter what version or service pack.

If this happened recently, it could be caused by either a recently updated video driver, and or a bad asset. I would go with a bad asset, which means you need to go through most recent asset(s) you have installed and used on your route as this is a more common reason for the problem.

Yes, Open/GL is slow and always will be due to technical reasons.

 

[move67]

^Thanks for your reply mate.

Yes, it wasn't always like this, the game started crashing some time ago. I will follow your advice and go checking the stuff installed recently to find faulty assets.

One thing that baffles me is that the game crashes also when playing built in routes. Can the downloaded and installed bad asset cause troubles even if it is not present on the route which is played?

 

[JCitron]

^Thanks for your reply mate.

Yes, it wasn't always like this, the game started crashing some time ago. I will follow your advice and go checking the stuff installed recently to find faulty assets.

One thing that baffles me is that the game crashes also when playing built in routes. Can the downloaded and installed bad asset cause troubles even if it is not present on the route which is played?

They sure can and sadly once you've had crashes, these can then cause other assets to become corrupted if the program shuts down unexpectedly. Before going on an asset hunt, I recommend running a database repair from Content Manager. This will get you back to base one and then searching for the bad assets will become the next step. Keep in mind that there will be errors and warning after a database repair. Go to the faulty tab and highlight any faulty assets. Choose View Errors and Warnings, and any faulty-assets should disappear. If there are any left over, then you need to repair those.

With that out of the way, the next step is to go through the long drawn out process of chasing bad things that cause crashes. This part is a bit of being a detective, technician, and scientist all at the same time. Sometimes though these skills, which I'll put lightly, don't always come into play and it's all luck that eventually works out the problem.

I have a very, very large route about 320 km long, which is a merger of multiple routes by a handful of authors. The problem I had was I would arrive or drive in one particular section of the route and I'd find myself suddenly looking at the desktop. Switching to Open/GL worked, but as you said made the route into a slideshow with terrain sliding up to form the mountains and the ground under the track to buckle when the track displayed. I then did some reckoning and thinking about the problem and decided to dig deeper. I'm not one to give up that easy, though sometimes is it work the battles on some things.

I was about to give up on the route when T:ANE came along and decided to give it one more ditch effort after I had imported it into the new version. I'm not saying you need to upgrade; it's just what I did that fixed my problem. With T:ANE I needed to update my Speed Trees in order to work in the new version. This required using the replace assets tool and replacing the trees in bulk from one kind to a compatible one. With lots and lots of trees from various authors, I dug through the list methodically without a problem until clicked on a Pofig tree in the scenery object list...

I couldn't even drag that tree into the replace-it side of the replace assets tool before I had a crash to the desktop. Eventually I did replace the trees, after getting hit with more than a few faulty ones before I was able to finally run the route without the crashes, and export it out to a CDP for import into T:ANE.

Good luck with your asset hunt.

John

 

[move67]

^Thanks very much for further instructions and information.

I'm pretty sure, I'm now on a right track seeking solution to this issue. I made a new clean istallation of Trainz and tested it without any problems. So the problem must be connected to some downloaded assets messing with my route. Now its up to me make things working well again.

I apperciate your efforts helping people.
Regards

 

[move67]

I can't make it work. There were loads of bad assets, database repair didn't repair not one of them and eventually I deleted all of them. Those the game didn't let me to delete, I disabled....And the game still keeps crashing. The culprit most likely is that "repair database" function that seem to make bad things to the game files. From time to time it is mandatory to use it if I want the game start at all. And little by little it seem to make modifications to the game files that eventually makes the game unplayable.
I viewed some of the alleged bad assets of one of my favorite loco and CM claims that textures cant be loaded, nonetheless theres nothing wrong with its textures. All the textures were present, it looked as beautiful as always. It doesn't make any sense! I also compared some of the the built in assets gone bad to the original good assets and in some cases they looked very different. Does that mean that they are somehow modified without my permission? If so, too bad that, that kind of modifying disrupts my game I paid for and that once worked fine.

I have average skills with computers and been dealing with them from late 90's, but this is just too much for me. Being a technician, scientist and a detective didn't help me much, what I've really needed to be is magician.
I could write a lot more about all the mad things about this game I encountered when trying to solve this issue. My conclusion is, that the only way to make my route playable again is to buy newer version of Trainz and move it there. But who guarantees that after a while this same ordeal don't start all over again?
..Of course its good for the Aurans businesses that people are buying new trainzes.

Anyway in my case, I'm tired of this waste of time and sure not gonna give anymore a dime to Auran. Enough is enough.
The game that once was a dream came true has turned to be a nightmare.

Goodbye Trainz.

 

[shaneturner12]

Did you try right-clicking the offending assets and using Revert to Original?

Shane