I am on my way home now. Will do ones i get there.
My bandwidth is 10 MBi/S and i am from Israel. Connected via Bezeqint ISP.
Already said it persisted through a different router but i will come back home and swap them for the test. Also i am about to recieve a new lan card so i will try that too, and i have downloaded XP so will run VMWare player and see if there is a difference via that
Downloading HWInfo thingy... While the website was off i noticed a very annoying thing. Even with that batch file you gave me the game would still crash at any point i need to make a certain choice (Not all).... Or maybe it's where it auto saves? I am not sure but it still does crash in mid game unless i disconnect internet all together
Okay here is the attachment of the HMiNFO thingy you asked for.
By the way i tried it with a different router and have the same issue as well as connecting with my wireless adapter to my neighbors and still no luck. The game crashes regardless
The game does track the decisions you make and sends them to TTG for the statistics.
I haven't checked yet when it does that, but it's possible that that caused the crash.
I don't understand though why it would crash with the workaround, while the site is offline for maintenance. It should not be able to make any internet connection, and therefore should not notice if the site is online or not. Also the maintenance concerns the websites, not api.telltalegames.com and meta.telltalegames.com. I haven't checked yet if it does connect to additional servers than those for the decision tracking, but i don't see why it should, and again it should not matter because of the game being firewalled. Maybe it's a coincidence.
Thanks for trying the router an neighbors WiFi. Now we can be sure that it's something about your hardware. If it works in the VM, that would confirm that, since then most of the hardware doesn't matter that much anymore.
Motherboard is a Gigabyte product - Model GA-P55-US3L
It's SN is 094140091684
What do you mean by manufacturer and model of PC? I got it by parts, not a whole piece from the shop. Bought the parts separately and gave them for assembly in a PC shop as i didn't have the CPU glue etc...
I noticed some really old chipset drivers in the HWInfo. Your BIOS also has never been updated.
I suggest you update to the Win7-64 drivers available on the Gigabyte website.
Please skip "Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility" and "GIGABYTE SATA2 Preinstall driver ", because they are used in special cases only.
For now, postpone the BIOS update and see if that helps first.
Downloading and installing now. I don't know how to install BIOS and all of my friends were telling me i better get away from it as far as possible as i can gimp the whole PC and it'll take me ages to work out in a PC store -.-
And besides.... BIOS? How is it even relevant to a program that is run via Windows?
Edit:
Just installed everything and still no luck. Crashed at same point. I am installing Windows XP on VMWare Player now
Bummer, but that's at least one more thing we can check off the list.
The BIOS controls how your PC works on a lower level. The Operating System builds up on that. There's always a risk in updating the BIOS, that's why i suggested to postpone it.
It's been much riskier on old systems though. According to the Manual your Mainboard has a backup BIOS, which it copies back in case the main BIOS doesn't work, so updating is a lot safer on it.
My problem is that so far any hardware driver updating didn't do anything, and more to it - The game works... It just does. It's not that i am having issues to run the game, no. The game runs almost perfectly (I will explain later) and the only issue is that it crashes whenever it tries to connect to the game server or wherever it tries to. I believe that if it was a hardware issue or driver issue then the game would've not started to begin with.
I am kind of afraid of updating BIOS, specially as for me it is a dark dark forest... And i have no idea how to restore old one or whatever
Can i have a hint on how can i get my installed "The Walking Dead" to just be copied into VMWare player? Instead of me downloading the whole thing again on the virtual machine?
If so, you can copy the "\Steam\SteamApps\common\the walking dead" folder to the VM by dragging it onto it, and move it to the respective folder in the VM.
I don't know how steam reacts to that procedure though. At any rate i would verify the game cache files afterwards.
Okay, just have tested it all. It works on the VMWare machine. Now can you please tell me what it means? Does it means my hardware is ok? Or that... I dunno -.- i really don't know anymore what might be the reason for it
Edit:
I am starting to think it might be my windows? I don't know... This is the only game that doesn't work on my system and i see no reason for it. Anything else does, regardless of connection to the internet... I just don't get it
Edit 2:
Gonna put my own Windows unto VMWare (No updates or anything just raw windows) and see what happens then
It's mainly told us that it's not a Steam issue, and that the game can work on your system in general, if the problem is not triggered by whatever is not present in the VM.
Since the virtualized hardware is entirely different, that's a lot.
It's some kind of incompatibility on either hardware or software. Since your windows installation is new, software is unlikely, unless there's something unusual about your Windows 7 installation CD.
If you are still up to trying stuff. You could rule that out by running Win7 in the VM. I just suggested XP first, because it's small and different, to maximize the chances.
If you have a spare hard disk, you could also try XP on your real hardware. If it would happen there too, that would be really strange, and harden the evidence for something hardware related. That would be the more interesting test.
It doesn't necessarily mean that your hardware is defective. Possibly the game is just incompatible in some weird way with some hardware.
It is still possible though, that the same doesn't happen on XP, Vista or Windows 8, on the same hardware. They might do something just different enough to not trigger the problem. Although Windows 8 is not officially supported, so it would be a bad choice to test on it.
Ideally we would have a second similar system for comparison, but that's hard to get, since the mainboard can not even be bought anymore. That's probably one of the most critical components in trying to reproduce it.
Currently i only have ideas left which are quite extreme.
- As i mentioned, trying other windows versions on your hardware
- Trying a different Mainboard
Besides that, there's still the odd chance that one of the many BIOS updates released for the board fixed something that causes it.
But if it was BIOS wouldn't it still not work on VMWare? As it uses the same? I am not sure, just asking.
And i will try and see if i can find another hard drive... Just not sure... At the very least i will install Windows XP on my second partition (I have partition C and D seperated) and delete it later manually (Like shift+delete from W7) i guess... Just so i have two systems to boot from
Be careful, installing an older windows on another partition will at least overwrite the Bootloader and make the other windows inaccessible.
I just started some specific searching and found something awesome.
Look at this post and the dxdiag two posts below.
Almost the same system, and it also crashes on connecting. The Mainboard might be slightly different, but it also identifies as
System Manufacturer: GBT___
System Model: GBTUACPI
and is also based on the P55 chipset.
So yeah i read through it, only useful thing i've found was an update for Direct X which i didn't try yet. Rest of them are saying it works fine when switching internet off, well it does as well for me but i see no reason for it to be like that and i do need internet connection while playing so that's a solution, just not for me. And i don't see a reason why the game support team never actually posts in this forum? Only moderators (Which are supposed to moderate the forum and not solve tech issues - But just still being very awesome!)
The only posts i've seen from devs are looking like that :
"Which version of the game you have" etc.. -.- which is kind of frustrating as they do not pay attention to majority of people who started to thread and have the same issue but look at certain cases which are not related to the topic of the thread.
At any rate - Yes the game works when i turn internet off. However it is not satisfying as it doesn't work properly. It should work without requiring me to turn off anything just like the majority of users do
P.S.
A lot of DxDiag's -.- kinda hard to read through it all, and a lot of people posting about random issues in the same post and keeping it hard to track what exactly kind of solution worked for which issue -.-
I was not posting it to say there is another solution in there somewhere, but to confirm that it's very likely an incompatibility with your mainboard.
I pointed that out in my Mod Forum thread, and am currently searching the forums for other chipsets/mainboards affected.
Well it would be great to know that it is the issue, but then -.- that means i need to change my mainboard just for 1 game for it to run properly -.- which is kind of ... Ehhh... >_>
Yeah, i see what i mean. So far working around it is the most reasonable solution.
At least now there is the possibility it can be reproduced by TTG if they get the same mainboard, which is the first step to figuring out why it happens.
Would be way more appreciated if there could be a patch to fix it. But hey man! Thanks for trying to help me so much ^.^ You're awesome! Waiting for a verification about the mainboard
Here's an image of the mainboard.
You can see the revision in the upper left corner, on the image it is Rev:1.0.
That's needed for the BIOS update too. The Mainboard restores the previous one automatically, but i'll have to check the manual for your revision. I had an arbitrary 2.x revision manual before.
Okay. I suggest first you download the latest manual for your mainboard.
There are instructions on how to update the BIOS on pages 70-73.
I suggest you first read these pages, so you know what's next ahead of time.
It also has the DualBIOS protection i mentioned earlier, to protect from broken BIOS flashes.
It describes two possible ways.
One is under windows, the other one is run from the BIOS itself using the Q-Flash utility. Since the greatest risk in a BIOS update is interruption, i suggest using Q-Flash, as described on page 70ff, as there are no other processes in the background as in windows which could cause problems.
First, download the latest BIOS into an empty folder. Run it, to extract the files. Then copy the p55us3l.f7 to a USB stick. The USB stick has to be FAT32 formatted to be recognized by Q-Flash, which most are by default.
That was the most error prone part already, mentioned in step 1 and 2 of the manual.
Continue with the other steps from the manual to start the update.
Sorry i did not reply yesterday, been talking with fiancee.
I will try that today after work i guess, just have very high doubts it'll change anything and on top of that i am really worried i'll ruin my BIOS.
You don't have to try it, if you don't feel confident about it. Maybe you know someone who's done it before, who can guide you through it.
I have two requests from TTG:
Please try if it also crashes during a clean boot, without USB devices, and with all other applications closed down.
Also, if the modem is separate, please try connecting to the Modem directly.
Booting clean in Windows Vista / 7:
1. Click Start --> Type msconfig --> Press Enter
2. On the General tab, choose Selective Startup
3. Uncheck Load Startup Items
4. Select the Services tab
5. Check Hide all Microsoft services
6. Click Disable all
7. If running the game on Steam, re-check the "Steam Client Service"
8. Click on OK
9. Click Restart.
10. After reboot, run the game to see if it works.
After performing the necessary steps, restore your settings by doing the following:
1. Click Start --> Type msconfig --> Press Enter
2. On the General tab, choose Normal Startup
3. Click Ok
4. Click Yes, when asked to restart your computer
We already have tried a clean boot before, and besides that i have been trying it out myself and have configured my router as a bridge (Aka i had to use a dialer to connect to the internet just like with a modem) and it have done the same crash.
I will get back home and will try the clean boot again
Back home. I will postpone the BIOS thingy as much as possible, about the two requests i have just configured my router as bridge again and ran my PC in a "Clean Boot" and executed a dialer to connect to the internet. Still the same. I have disconnected my headset and anything out from USB except my mouse and keyboard - Still no luck
Today I had some more ideas what can be tried, which are actually network related.
- You can try disabling the windows firewall entirely
- Disconnect the wireless adapter, and keep the wired one. In the properties of the wired network adapter, disable everything except "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)"
I usually am never using the wireless adapter, i plugged it in for testing alone. It never is part of my PC any ways to begin with. I am using it only to connect to the printer and that's happening very rarely :P
Kills internet entirely (Obviously, but i tried it just for the fun XD)
Basically same as disabling "Local Area Connection" all together, there are only rare programs that are able to run with IPV6 - And ISP's are not registering you on the internet with IPV6 yet...
Comments
My bandwidth is 10 MBi/S and i am from Israel. Connected via Bezeqint ISP.
Already said it persisted through a different router but i will come back home and swap them for the test. Also i am about to recieve a new lan card so i will try that too, and i have downloaded XP so will run VMWare player and see if there is a difference via that
By the way i tried it with a different router and have the same issue as well as connecting with my wireless adapter to my neighbors and still no luck. The game crashes regardless
I haven't checked yet when it does that, but it's possible that that caused the crash.
I don't understand though why it would crash with the workaround, while the site is offline for maintenance. It should not be able to make any internet connection, and therefore should not notice if the site is online or not. Also the maintenance concerns the websites, not api.telltalegames.com and meta.telltalegames.com. I haven't checked yet if it does connect to additional servers than those for the decision tracking, but i don't see why it should, and again it should not matter because of the game being firewalled. Maybe it's a coincidence.
Thanks for trying the router an neighbors WiFi. Now we can be sure that it's something about your hardware. If it works in the VM, that would confirm that, since then most of the hardware doesn't matter that much anymore.
I'll dig through the HWInfo now.
Do you happen to know that?
Can you also name the Manufacturer and Model of the PC, if available?
It's SN is 094140091684
What do you mean by manufacturer and model of PC? I got it by parts, not a whole piece from the shop. Bought the parts separately and gave them for assembly in a PC shop as i didn't have the CPU glue etc...
I found something new we can try to fix it.
I noticed some really old chipset drivers in the HWInfo. Your BIOS also has never been updated.
I suggest you update to the Win7-64 drivers available on the Gigabyte website.
Please skip "Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility" and "GIGABYTE SATA2 Preinstall driver ", because they are used in special cases only.
For now, postpone the BIOS update and see if that helps first.
And besides.... BIOS? How is it even relevant to a program that is run via Windows?
Edit:
Just installed everything and still no luck. Crashed at same point. I am installing Windows XP on VMWare Player now
The BIOS controls how your PC works on a lower level. The Operating System builds up on that. There's always a risk in updating the BIOS, that's why i suggested to postpone it.
It's been much riskier on old systems though. According to the Manual your Mainboard has a backup BIOS, which it copies back in case the main BIOS doesn't work, so updating is a lot safer on it.
Let's keep it as a last resort.
I am kind of afraid of updating BIOS, specially as for me it is a dark dark forest... And i have no idea how to restore old one or whatever
If so, you can copy the "\Steam\SteamApps\common\the walking dead" folder to the VM by dragging it onto it, and move it to the respective folder in the VM.
I don't know how steam reacts to that procedure though. At any rate i would verify the game cache files afterwards.
Edit:
I am starting to think it might be my windows? I don't know... This is the only game that doesn't work on my system and i see no reason for it. Anything else does, regardless of connection to the internet... I just don't get it
Edit 2:
Gonna put my own Windows unto VMWare (No updates or anything just raw windows) and see what happens then
It's mainly told us that it's not a Steam issue, and that the game can work on your system in general, if the problem is not triggered by whatever is not present in the VM.
Since the virtualized hardware is entirely different, that's a lot.
It's some kind of incompatibility on either hardware or software. Since your windows installation is new, software is unlikely, unless there's something unusual about your Windows 7 installation CD.
If you are still up to trying stuff. You could rule that out by running Win7 in the VM. I just suggested XP first, because it's small and different, to maximize the chances.
If you have a spare hard disk, you could also try XP on your real hardware. If it would happen there too, that would be really strange, and harden the evidence for something hardware related. That would be the more interesting test.
I am trying to install W7 on VMWare now.... With my own installation CD so yeah we'll see
So it is hardware i assume.... Just great -.-
It doesn't necessarily mean that your hardware is defective. Possibly the game is just incompatible in some weird way with some hardware.
It is still possible though, that the same doesn't happen on XP, Vista or Windows 8, on the same hardware. They might do something just different enough to not trigger the problem. Although Windows 8 is not officially supported, so it would be a bad choice to test on it.
Ideally we would have a second similar system for comparison, but that's hard to get, since the mainboard can not even be bought anymore. That's probably one of the most critical components in trying to reproduce it.
Please tell me what else can i do? Or when you have a new idea. I'll be waiting for a reply here
- As i mentioned, trying other windows versions on your hardware
- Trying a different Mainboard
Besides that, there's still the odd chance that one of the many BIOS updates released for the board fixed something that causes it.
And i will try and see if i can find another hard drive... Just not sure... At the very least i will install Windows XP on my second partition (I have partition C and D seperated) and delete it later manually (Like shift+delete from W7) i guess... Just so i have two systems to boot from
Be careful, installing an older windows on another partition will at least overwrite the Bootloader and make the other windows inaccessible.
I just started some specific searching and found something awesome.
Look at this post and the dxdiag two posts below.
Almost the same system, and it also crashes on connecting. The Mainboard might be slightly different, but it also identifies as
System Manufacturer: GBT___
System Model: GBTUACPI
and is also based on the P55 chipset.
EDIT: Wait, there's another one and another one
That's good news, since it seems to be Mainboard related.
The only posts i've seen from devs are looking like that :
"Which version of the game you have" etc.. -.- which is kind of frustrating as they do not pay attention to majority of people who started to thread and have the same issue but look at certain cases which are not related to the topic of the thread.
At any rate - Yes the game works when i turn internet off. However it is not satisfying as it doesn't work properly. It should work without requiring me to turn off anything just like the majority of users do
P.S.
A lot of DxDiag's -.- kinda hard to read through it all, and a lot of people posting about random issues in the same post and keeping it hard to track what exactly kind of solution worked for which issue -.-
I pointed that out in my Mod Forum thread, and am currently searching the forums for other chipsets/mainboards affected.
At least now there is the possibility it can be reproduced by TTG if they get the same mainboard, which is the first step to figuring out why it happens.
I just had the thought, that some default BIOS setting could be the cause.
Do you know which Revision of the Mainboard you have?
And about BIOS - If you can give me a guaranteed way to install BIOS and then if it doesn't work how to restore the previous one?
You can see the revision in the upper left corner, on the image it is Rev:1.0.
That's needed for the BIOS update too. The Mainboard restores the previous one automatically, but i'll have to check the manual for your revision. I had an arbitrary 2.x revision manual before.
There are instructions on how to update the BIOS on pages 70-73.
I suggest you first read these pages, so you know what's next ahead of time.
It also has the DualBIOS protection i mentioned earlier, to protect from broken BIOS flashes.
It describes two possible ways.
One is under windows, the other one is run from the BIOS itself using the Q-Flash utility. Since the greatest risk in a BIOS update is interruption, i suggest using Q-Flash, as described on page 70ff, as there are no other processes in the background as in windows which could cause problems.
First, download the latest BIOS into an empty folder. Run it, to extract the files. Then copy the p55us3l.f7 to a USB stick. The USB stick has to be FAT32 formatted to be recognized by Q-Flash, which most are by default.
That was the most error prone part already, mentioned in step 1 and 2 of the manual.
Continue with the other steps from the manual to start the update.
I will try that today after work i guess, just have very high doubts it'll change anything and on top of that i am really worried i'll ruin my BIOS.
I have two requests from TTG:
Please try if it also crashes during a clean boot, without USB devices, and with all other applications closed down.
Also, if the modem is separate, please try connecting to the Modem directly.
Booting clean in Windows Vista / 7:
1. Click Start --> Type msconfig --> Press Enter
2. On the General tab, choose Selective Startup
3. Uncheck Load Startup Items
4. Select the Services tab
5. Check Hide all Microsoft services
6. Click Disable all
7. If running the game on Steam, re-check the "Steam Client Service"
8. Click on OK
9. Click Restart.
10. After reboot, run the game to see if it works.
After performing the necessary steps, restore your settings by doing the following:
1. Click Start --> Type msconfig --> Press Enter
2. On the General tab, choose Normal Startup
3. Click Ok
4. Click Yes, when asked to restart your computer
I will get back home and will try the clean boot again
Anything else i can try out?
Thanks for trying, i forwarded the information.
Today I had some more ideas what can be tried, which are actually network related.
- You can try disabling the windows firewall entirely
- Disconnect the wireless adapter, and keep the wired one. In the properties of the wired network adapter, disable everything except "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)"
Gonna try disabling protocols
Basically same as disabling "Local Area Connection" all together, there are only rare programs that are able to run with IPV6 - And ISP's are not registering you on the internet with IPV6 yet...