Full system lockup not long into episode 2
How it locks up
Game loads up, have passed the initial Marcus recap, only progresses about as far as the first dialog decision. Sometimes gets a few seconds past, sometimes crashes before they even get untied. I have also let the game idle at the title screen, and have found it crashes out as well if left alone.
Lockup symptoms
Display goes black. Computer unresponsive. Hard reset seems to be the only recourse.
Stuff tried
- Latest AMD driver
- Latest AMD beta driver
- Bios update
- Changed to windowed mode
- Tried disabling Razer surround - saw a post that suggested disabling 5.1 audio - log will probably show this as enabled, but I've tried disabled
Other info
Generally computer is stable, play other games with no issue. Played episode one with a different graphics card, an old GTX 570. Have since swapped to a R9 290. CPU and GPU temperatures at the time of crash are very mild, no cause for alarm at all. I am preemptively running prime95 torture tests to see if I have a CPU stability problem. I will run 3dmark on a loop to test GPU if CPU is stable.
Support tool log
Comments
I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately after looking over your Support Tool information, I cannot seem to find the root cause of your issue. Please find below a few suggestions to resolve your issue (You may have tried a few, but I will post all of the potential solutions to resolve your issue below):
1) Restart your system
2) Unplug your gamepad (and all other USB devices other than keyboard/mouse) and plug in headphones to the audio out jack.
3) Verify your cache if you purchased through Steam (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335)
4) Run the game as admin
5) Run the game in compatibility mode (right click on game’s icon, click properties, click compatibility tab , and we recommend running the game in Windows 98/ME ) (We recommend Windows 98/ME)
6) Reinstall the game
7) Make sure that the Steam application is not set to a compatibility mode (right click on steam and click properties, then check compatibility, and make sure that it is not checked to play in a different OS)
8) Disable Steam Overlay, if you purchased through Steam (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3168263)
9) Opt out of the Steam Beta, if you purchased through Steam (http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/828934424165581080/)
Thanks for getting back to me.
Have since stress tested for 17hrs 10min under prime95 blend test with no errors, have left my computer idle for many hours to ensure there is no idle voltage issues that could be present as i note that there is very little cpu interaction around the time of the lockup, but no idle lockups. PC doesn't put a foot wrong otherwise.
I noticed you said you swapped graphics cards to the R9 200 Series GPU. You also have an integrated Intel HD Graphics card that is currently running below the minimum system requirements to run the game. I recommend making sure that the R9 GPU is enabled while running the game, and see if you are able to play successfully. (You may need to fully disable your integrated card in order to make sure you are using your more powerful card.)
Yep, we're on the same page
I forgot to mention that I've previously done that. I've completely disabled the onboard graphics and run through the R9 290 completely. Onboard disabled in computer management then through bios. Still the same problem. I use the onboard for a secondary display to allow the primary card to throttle down memory clock speeds for power and thermal savings.
On other trouble shooting fronts, I've tried updating my Asus Xonar drivers to the uni xonar drivers. I've also ensured that GX mode is disabled as there are numerous reports that GX mode causes audio weirdness and crashes. Regardless, I've never used GX mode, I've just made sure its not somehow automagically enabled itself. Also a deadend.
Have you tried playing the game in Windowed Mode using the PC Shortcut (Alt+Enter) to see if you can then progress successfully past that particular scene?
If you have your sound outputting in a 5.1 Surround Sound setting (or other setting other than Stereo), please try switching the sound output to Stereo (Left and Right), then restart the game, and see if you are able to progress without the game crashing.