hangs then reboots! (specs included)

[everlite]

Well it seems it's happening to all of us, so why should be any different, glad i'm not the minority for once. anyway ...

Mines kinda randoms, sometimes i get to play it for five -ten minutes (lucky me :-) other times i don't even get past the menu screen, it just blinks then bye-bye.

A few notes / specs:

When it crashes my monitors switch of/blink out but i can still hear the sound in the background looping over the same beat! i can't do anything other than switch off then back on.

Here's my setup:

Windows XP home Ed.
SP2

AMD athlon 64 processor
3500+
2.21ghz 1gb memory

NVIDIA Geforce 7800 gtx

duel monitors

Creative sound system

Belkin wireless modem

Logitech optical mouse

Internal hardrive 280gig

external hd 250gig

dvd drive

mmm, that's all i can think of, all drivers updated latest directx.

Oblivion and HL2 run perfect in top settings.

I know this is a wide spread problem, so there's a compatability glitch somewhere, interesting :-) hope you figure it out soon, what i played of Prey so far i really love, some really original concepts, well worth the cash :-)

Get it sorted soon please :-)

- Dave.

[MichaelLong]

Make sure your video and sound drivers are up to date. Updating your motherboard drivers may also help.

[everlite]

I checked this prior to posting, trust me when i say posting this problem was the last resort.

It's worth noting that sometimes Prey works wonderful for a around 5 minutes a time, and assuming a click save every few seconds i'm able to get quite far. But other times i don't even get past the menu screen itself.

My PC has worked sound for some time without any serious problems, i'm able to play all other high end games without any issues in full specs.

I'm not angry with you guys because i'm confident that you will soon release a patch that sorts this problem out. But please given the amount of people this problem is happening to try to achnowledge that there may indeed be a problem with your software. for whatever reason.

I'm confident you'll find a solution soon.

- Dave.

[everlite]

anyone figure this out yet?

[CameO73]

Could you post some more info? Especially the following stuff:

• video/sound part of dxdiag results (check other threads on how to get this)
• crash info on Prey.exe in Windows Event Viewer (eventvwr.exe)
• any strange stuff that happens to pop up in the console (Ctrl-Alt-~) Look for 'Error' or 'Failed' messages, if any...

A better idea might be to turn on the logfile and play until it reboots. If you're lucky, the last lines in that file could give us more clues...

• Add set logfile 2 to your Prey shortcut (e.g. "C:\Program Files\Prey\prey.exe" +set logfile 2)
• After running Prey a file qconsole.log should be in your base folder
• Post (the last part of) that logfile here

[everlite]

There is no reports or anything, it just seems like my graphics card blinks out, and i have to do a hard restart.

I can hear the sound strobing in the background.

I don't have no firewall, except windows own?

[chris06]

Have you tried disabling one of your monitors when you are playing? It shouldn't cause a problem but it is possible.

Do you have anything overclocked?

[ernie9]

i have the same problem, its starting to do my nut.

here are the specs of my pc:
asus m2n32sli nf590 mobo
amd 4600 x2
2gb ddr2 corsair
gainward 7900gt 512mg gs
windows xp prof sp2 plus updates
avg virus.

i cant ubnderstand it the pc is like a week old today it soul destroying.

also when is the patch goin to be released.

any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

Ernie

[everlite]

No, nothing over clocking, half life 2, fear and oblivion run fine, i would have thought had it been a problem as such then the same would happen with these games perhaps?

I've tried diabling the second monitor, no luck.

to be honest i've pretty much tried everything. For now i've given up, it's a really shame, very nice game; different.

I'll hold out for the patch, maybe something will click into place then. until then i'll set it to one side. No hard feelings :-)

Any ideas when the patch will be released?

- Dave.

[ernie9]

think im going to do the same mate its a shame i got well into it yesterday beofre it crashed.

really want to see it running on my new pc tho so hope they issue the patch soon

Ernie

[Smeggy]

I have the same issue as stated by the thread starter.
Is there any news on a patch? Like is there even one on the cards? I certainly hope so because as it stands the game is unplayable for me.

[ernie9]

There is a patch which is goin to be released in the near future (soon i hope). On this forum it says that its in testing. Great game from the half an hour before it went wrong though which is real frustrating.

Ernie

[Adipocere]

I agree with you guys. I feel that anyone with a high spec machine like allot of us posting in here are unable to play. I mean what are they writing games for these days? Commodore 64 compatable. hmm.
Noticed allot of you guys also have sli set ups like me and even when disabling one card the problem still presists.

[Adipocere]

Just looked over the patch info and didnt see any mention on support for sli graphics nor dual core. Bit of a shame really for a game to come out and not support these two features of many common computers that are being bought. I bought my rig as a gaming pc outta hard earned cash and couldnt wait to play games at high resolution etc but I cant even get onto prey.

[MttHo]

Hmm. I had a problem like this but on another game but i forgot the name of it. But how i fixed it was that i reformatted my computer, reinstalled the game and it worked perfect.

But u have a pc thats like a week old? heh, im running prey on a computer thats like over 5-6 years old

[ernie9]

was talking to my housemate about the issue im having wit prey on a new pc since he can play the game on his slightly older pc. he suggests that it may be a compatabililty issue that needs to be fixed with a patch. As for sli compatability this will likely be addressed in a later patch

ernie

[Maviarab]

Having same problem...No error msgs...just screen goes black...and then nothing...have to reboot to do anything.

Bought this game yesterday...installed fine...played fine for an hour then 4 crashes in 15 mins. Found these forums and regd.

Just tried again now and same thing...cant play for more than a few mins before she goes again.

This is very very pitiful..please someone sort this out.

P4 3.2ghz (new)
1Gb Ram (new)
Gigabyte Mobo (new)
Nvidia 6800GT (latest drivers)

system plays oblivion/halflife2 etc perfectly...

what is the problem with this game???

[Maviarab]

(saved game...exited to come here)

Ok, after reading through other threads within the forum I was interested to note firewall issues. I checked my firewall settings for the game (Zone Alarm Pro) and all were ok. I even manually edited them myself, played game again and CRASH as we were beamed aboard scotty.

I exited my firewall completly and tried again...2 hours later no crash ???

Now for me this is not currently an issue as Ill likely finish the game and then *maybe* play online...

But I do feel that this issue should be highlighted somewhere in the manual as its obviously causing a lot of issues here isnt it?

Will keep playing and report back

**EDIT** (5 mins later) well that will teach me wont it - crash

**EDIT** Installed patch guys...and its still crashing this is annoying me now...

[ernie9]

I just installed the patch played for 5 mins then crashed anyone know how we can contact the company directly. The issue needs to be sorted alot of games are crashing and from what i can tell its not a hardware issue.

Please help

thanks,

Ernie

[Maviarab]

This is becoming a major issue...I exchanged my copy for another at the store i bought it from earlier...uninstalled...reinstalled from new copy and still same thing.

I know this is not my hardware and so must be a game issue...and too many of us are experiencing this.

I have now uninstalled again until someone from this company comes up with a solution....and if none is forthcoming soon I will be sending this game directly to the makers for a refund. Its a shame as its a cracking game when its working.

[ernie9]

I think im doin the same the ironic thing is the reason i built my new pc is for prey ut2007 and crysis. thats life though hope someone comes up with a solution fast.


Ernie

[CameO73]

How can you expect people to solve your problem without any information? The only info I got from this thread is:

• the PC specs from the TS
• a couple of other people with (supposedly) the same problem
• the problem is a series of random crashes (sound still looping)

That doesn't tell us much. That's about the same as going to a garage and telling the mechanic that 'sometimes the car just stops'. And then expecting him to solve the problem without looking at the car.

I suggest trying the advice from post #5 ... that could give us some more insight.

[ernie9]

i posted the specs of my pc earlier on in the thread. me and my housemate are out of ideas to try and solve the issue.

[Aliendog]

Hello,

I have the same problem with involuntarily crashes. In the attachment i posted the Logfile and the Dxdiag of the last crash. Bevor the main crash happened my PC crashes two times, but the ATI Tools reseted my Graphiccard.

I hope you guys find this useful.

Sorry for my bad english!

[AnthonyJ]

IMO you're whining in the wrong place. The problem is highly unlikely to be with Prey, but with something else in your system.

In theory, no application may crash windows to the point where it reboots, or completely locks up and is unresponsive to the point where task manager doesnt work etc. For this to happen requires:
- a bug in Windows itself
- a bug in device drivers (which are "trusted" by windows not to crash the system)
- a system-level service. This may include virus scanners etc.
- a hardware fault.

IMO the most likely of these is a hardware failure, most likely overheating given the reports of it sometimes being able to cope with 5min of play. This can implicitly be caused by the application if it is particularly demanding (as prey is) and not show up under other games (saying you can run other games with options on full means nothing, because if its on full then its not pushing your PC to its limits!)

If you want to fix the problem, I'd say to investigate heating issues (eg try open case + pointing a fan at it), investigate different driver versions - both older and newer, and try disabling any system-level software like virus scanners, firewalls, spyware (!!), or anything else which has hooked into windows at a low level.

[Aliendog]

My PC only crashes involuntary in Prey. The sound and the music runs after the crashes normal forward.

And i have already the latest Audigy 2 ZS drivers, VIA AGP drivers and ATI Graphicdrivers (that worked) on my System installed. The two last ATI Drivers did not work on my PC. After install of them Windows XP did not start.

And i have contact the ATI Support already. They mean: "Our new Drivers are working 100 % and it could be an Windows error." But i have the last Windows updates installed! Also I have never overclocked any of my components. So this can't be no overheating problem! I never had problems with background applications when im playing an game.

This is strange! Has anybody an resolution?

[Maviarab]

Same same same..yadda yadda yadda

Bought a new spund card today (was sure that was my problem)...drivers of disc...it crashes...alternative drivers...it crashes....so...lets sum up...new mobo...new sata drive..new dvd rom...new memory...only thing not new in my system is the grfx card....but thats not old...old drivers..new drivers...same end result...yet plays any other top end spec game on market...except prey...hmmmm....please dont try and tell me its my system...or if it is...its a conflict not a hardware fault.

Too many ppl are having problems here (just look through the tech section of this forum) for ppl to say...its your system..its this or its that!

I realy cant be bothered to send my log...dxdiag...or any other piece of txt file as its obvious from reading other posts in this section of the forum that nothing gets done or resolved.

Ill leave my copy on the shelf for a couple more months in the event someone has a breakthrough moment here and works out why so many of us (we cant all have bad systems) what exactly the problem is we are experiencing....then if no answer..i may just use it as my new coaster

Please someone....its not us...have a think...we are the ppl keep you in business after all...the end consumer.

[Aliendog]

The new Prey patch 1.2 doesn't fix my problem with the game!

And now i have the newest VIA AGP and ATI Drivers installed.

Has anyone experienced the same? Or is it running on your system now?

[Mikeh]

you built is for Crysis?
does that mean you'll buy a dx10 card as soon as tehy come out?

I've read that one will NEED a DX10 card to play it.. though hopefuly that changes