Newbie needs help GP4 random crashing!

I've been playing through my first season on GP4 and have suffered the odd random PC crash whilst racing, I've now got to Suzuka the last GP and the problem has got worse and so bad I cannot finish the race.

It seems to happen in races when a lot is happening on screen like a heavy braking zone with lots of cars or when a collision is about to happen.

The game crashes and freezes, but not to desktop, it's stuck in game, pressing Ctrl-alt-del sometimes gets me out of the game but most times not and I have to reset. Also when it occurs the sound and FF are stuck on as well.

I have no mods installed only GPXpatch for live timing, I've tried setting CPU to 0,1 and All (have an Intel dual core CPU) but it still happens.

I was hoping to play the 1991 mod after finishing the current season, but I'm thinking about not bothering playing GP4 if it keeps happening.

Where do I find the log file? so I can post it here...

Thanks for reading

The 'save the error log' dialogue box appears after a CTD which is not happening in your case. Please post your system specs, cpu, ram, sound and the os.
Do a google on setting exe affinity for your OS. Do it for GP4.exe. Set the exe to run in win98 compatibility as well.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

Well mine crashes aswell but clearly not as frequently as yours.

Have you done these steps - in order - ?

1. Install GP4 official patch 1.02.
2. Get GP4.exe v1.02 nocd exe file and overwrite original GP4.exe file in c:\Program Files\Infogrames\Grand Prix 4 folder.
3. Install GPxPatch
4. On main GPxPatch tab, select 'Start GPxPatch in Debug mode'. Then set 'Verbosity' to high.

Then try it again.

What can also be tested after all these steps is to set GP4.exe and GPxPatch.exe to 'Windows 98/ME' compatibility mode. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I my case i rarely have a crash especially with the original game.
I put normally verbosity Low, Cpu 1 in Gpxpatch and ofcourse the gp4.exe 1.02 no cd.
With some tracks i have to set the verbosity to High and they work fine but
with melbourne original track i have to disable verbosity but the rest as i
described above.

Gp4world aka: Jcaranti
Racing Generation: Web Admin
WE OPENED AGAIN, COME AND JOIN US.

Ho3n3r Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well mine crashes aswell but clearly not as
> frequently as yours.
>
> Have you done these steps - in order - ?
>
> 1. Install GP4 official patch 1.02.
> 2. Get GP4.exe v1.02 nocd exe file and overwrite
> original GP4.exe file in c:\Program
> Files\Infogrames\Grand Prix 4 folder.
> 3. Install GPxPatch
> 4. On main GPxPatch tab, select 'Start GPxPatch in
> Debug mode'. Then set 'Verbosity' to high.
>
> Then try it again.
>
> What can also be tested after all these steps is
> to set GP4.exe and GPxPatch.exe to 'Windows 98/ME'
> compatibility mode. Sometimes it works, sometimes
> it doesn't.


Thanks for the replies guys.

Yes, I've installed the offical patch and applied the no cd file, and then installed GPX Patch.

I've tried different Verbosity settings of medium and low, not tried high yet nor have I tried the Win 98 compatibility mode.

What does Verbosity actually mean or do?

I'll also look into setting affinity too.

My system is:-

Intel dual core E5200 CPU
2x2gb Corsair XMS2 Ram
ATi 4870 1gb Gfx card

Running Windows XP Professional with service pack 3.

I'll try the things mentioned above an report back.

Thanks

nor have I tried the Win 98 compatibility mode <--------priority!!

Setting the affinity of the exe or setting the cpu to 0 or 1 in gpx is also a priority. Failure to do all of the above can cause lockups and ctd's.

Verbosity controls the detail of the output to the error log created by gpx. High is the best setting. If you wish to post a log for us to look at, upload it in a gpx error log topic and post the link as it is usually too large to fit into a post.
The verbosity setting has been known to affect some tracks differently. A matter of trial and error. Try different settings for a problem track.
Although if not using an updated track, it should work fine and the crash could be something else. Check the sound card settings, sometimes the sound card can cause a lock up. Disable EAX and set 2D sound, in gpx disable 3d sound and test.
It's worth a try.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

How i can run GP4 in Win 98 compatibility mode? Set this for gpxpatches or gp4.exe file? I'm also have crash and freeze when i play 2006 tony mod. But at other csm mod, i don't have this problem.

To set compatibility, right click and select the properties, then open the compatibility tab. Simple.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

Thanks! Should i set for gpx.exe or for gp4.exe?

For both, or either one seperately. Trial and error. And if I were you I'd remove XP service pack 3 - I've had numerous crashes on various programs the single week I had it installed... In other words you might need a format as just uninstalling it doesn't completely remove it. But that's just what I would do. It's up to you.

The compatibility setting does not work for everyone. I have Vista and if I set the win98 mode it gives me problems. But I do use 0 cpu, as well as setting the affinity for the exe just to make sure it's locked in and setting verbosity to high.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

How do you set the affinity before actually starting Gp4.exe?

For Vista. Binds permanently. [www.ehow.com]
For other OS read this: [www.techenclave.com]
gpx_patch is supposed to do it foryou if you set 0 or 1 cpu. Doing this ensures it is set. There are some proggys around that can do it, like this one: [www.softpedia.com] If you follow the instructions it's easy.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2009 03:21PM by mortal.

Thanks a lot Mortal ever the helpful guy...

Another question: GP4 seems to run better on CPU set to 1 on my laptop in terms of ctd(in fact only 1 ctd in-game in almost 2 25 and 50 % seasons) but does it really make a difference whether you select 0 or 1? i.e. would it make my ctd's even less if I set it to 0 instead of 1? Because it's working allright when it's set to 1 and I don't want to upset it by suddenly changing it to 0.

I know it's trial-and-error but is there any guidelines I should know of beforehand, e.g. why 0 should always be a better option than 1 or vice versa?

Another question: is there anybody that has a similar laptop to mine that has figured out a way to completely cancel out ctd's? Because although I don't get them so much anymore when in races, it still happens quite a lot when I do free practice and press 'setup menu'... I am trying to do my own custom setups now and learning about it, but this problem makes it really annoying and no fun.

My specs:

- Intel Centrino Duo 1.66 GHz T2300 980MHz FSB
- Intel 945 Graphics Media Accellerator -> v6.14.10.4926 driver
- 2GB DDR2-800MHz Kingmax RAM
- Realtek High Definition Audio -> v5.10.0.5273 driver
- Windows XP SP2

I don't expect any secret tips for this laptop and game combined, but I'd never know if I don't ask.

Thanks

I don't think it matters which cpu you choose, they both perform the same don't they? As for the other ctd's I don't know sorry.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

If I were to dedicate a PC to my GP4, would I be as well off running it on Windows 98 as opposed to compatibilty in a newer OS?

I would test either way. I have Vista and on my system I don't need to run compatibility.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

this is what I did in the bios, disabled the following:-

-cpu turbo boost, (you don't want the cpu to make variations)
-core performance boost (same deal no variation change)
-c6 support (this feature deals with power reduction for the cpu)
-cool&quiet (same deal power saving/reduction feature for cpu)
-All power management features

Additionally in bios:-

-disabled virtualization
-set the cpu temprature alarm to 70% (cpu was not hitting this limit from running the game)
-Turned on HPC (high performance computing) this feature exists only on PC2

So far so good no CTD, let me know if you have success too
I keep testing but looks real promising so far.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2017 10:30AM by gp4wonder.

Hi BYF,

I used to experience the same issue with the game freezing, exactly the same way you are describing and I know how frustrating that could be.

I can't find the original post where I found the solution but, this freezing is likely to be caused by the tire marks and that's why it happen while you are braking or sliding in a given corner. It happen most often on longer tracks like spa, suzuka, even monza.

There is a easy fix included in the last version of gpx. It is under the track tab of the advanced gpx menu. You can find the option "Max track length" or something similar, at the right upper corner of it. The default value is 8 km so, just change this value to 10 or 20 km and, that's it...

To my understanding, this feature it's a tire marks buffer.