Episode 3 : Error access violation

[Welshy]

God no :eek: its happening all over again!!!!!

Well...i've got the same access violation error that kept popping up in eposide 2

Is this just my pc :S if so then why doesnt episode 1 crash constantly as well?

[Emily]

Wait, wait! Don't freak out!

Yeah, it's happening again, and it sucks. BUT! Two days ago I took the games home to test on my home machine, and got the same bug. This is good! We have never been able to duplicate the bug before, and now that we can, we will actually be able to figure out what the problem is.

I am physically bringing my home machine in to work tomorrow so Kevin can tinker with it over the weekend. We are in a much better position to figure this out than we were before.

Is this just my pc :S if so then why doesnt episode 1 crash constantly as well?

Some changes have been made to the game engine since episode 1 came out.

[Welshy]

man that was a quick response, i suppose, day of release and all, you gotta be pretty on the ball.

Thanks, hopefully now that you've witnessed the error the answers to the problem will also be discovered soon :)

[Emily]

We always believed the error existed, but actually GETTING it makes a big difference. ;)

[fandangobr]

Just downloaded it and... I'm getting the same error... ;-(

"Error: Access violation at 0x00736002 (tried to read from 0xB62604F6), program terminated."

Played EP1 and EP2 without any issue.
Looks like today isn't the day that I'll enjoy EP3...

I'll be more than glad to provide any other info if necessary in order to help identifying it.

[luizpapa]

I got the exact same problem.
Hope Telltale correct it soon.
Meanwhile I will have to check the site by my own or will you send a newsletter or a may you send us a mail when a correction is available?

[HipGunslinger]

I had no problems with Episode 2.
Between then and now, I installed new RAM (that didn't work, so put the old ones back in and I was fine) and updated my Nvidia 6800 GT drivers.
Now Episode 2 doesn't work, and neither does 3.

[fandangobr]

I also have a NVIDIA 6800. Maybe the problem is related to this card?
I'm having to play EP3 on my Notebook as I could not play it on my machine yet. The splash screen opens up and, when I hi PLAY, the game exits with that error message. I've made 6 tries in a row and left the errors on screen on the following image, in order to better show the different messages:
http://www.paiva.eng.br/EP3_Error.gif

The computer specs are:
Brazilian Portuguese Windows XP SP2
NVidia 6800 128MB - Latest NVidia Drivers (just downloaded)
Pentium 4 3GHz
1GB RAM

Please note that EP1, EP2, CSI Demo, Bones 1 and Bones 2 run perfectly on this computer. Just tried them all. This is specific to EP3. Also tried deleting the props file - no luck.

I hope this helps finding the error.
Regards

[luizpapa]

I get the Access Violation errors (0x00736002) and my system is:
Brazilian Portuguese Windows XP SP2
NVidia N7600GS 256MB
Pentium 4 3GHz
1GB RAM

EP 1 and EP 2 run perfectly.

It may be nvidia related or maybe it is a problem with Windows in Portuguese...

Hope Telltale solves it soon, I don't have a notebook to play the game :-)

[Vardemis]

I have the same problem too. Ep 1 & 2 ran just fine but i get the access violation error with ep3. I also have an Nvidia card a 7600 GT (256 Mb). I run a dutch version of Windows XP and an Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core.

[Welshy]

Just to confirm, i also have an Nvidia card with the latest drivers.
(just realised i never mentioned it in my original post)

[Naqaj]

Hello, maybe interesting tidbit:
Ep. 1 worked fine, Ep. 2 did not (access violation error), but ... Ep. 3 seems to run just fine!

Specs are
Win XP Prof. SP2
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1 GB RAM

NVIDIA GF6600GT with Omega 1.6693 drivers (before standard NVIDIA drivers, neither worked)

[Emily]

Welshy, and anyone else who gets an access violation right after the opening song plays, what version of XP do you have? Kevin updated my computer (that was having this problem) to SP2 and it has fixed the problem.

fandangobr and luizpapa - when are you guys seeing an access violation? Is it before the opening credits, or after?

[Welshy]

Im using Windows XP home edition

Unfortunately upgrading to service pack 2 didnt help me, i tried it at the time episode 2 was released, as well as updating all my drivers.

[ChodTheWacko]

I'm getting a different access violation. Seems to happen shortly after an autosave. In fact, I know for a fact it's ave related - it just happened when I hit 'save'. The message is:

Error: Access violation at 0x00000002 (tried to read from 0x00000002), program terminated.

I work in Tech support, so I know that printing just an access violation address isn't going to be a huge help.

Here is the stacks:
Thread 0:
# ChildEBP RetAddr Args to Child
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
00 0012d7a4 77d561c6 000f034e 00000000 00000001 ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet
01 0012d7cc 77d6a92e 77d40000 0014b6f8 00000000 USER32!DrawStateW+0x1f2
02 0012da8c 77d6a294 0012dbe8 00000000 ffffffff USER32!SoftModalMessageBox+0x677
03 0012dbdc 77d95fbb 0012dbe8 00000028 00000000 USER32!MessageBoxIndirectA+0x23a
04 0012dc34 77d96060 00000000 0014b180 00000000 USER32!MessageBoxTimeoutW+0x7a
05 0012dc68 77d80577 00000000 0012e638 00000000 USER32!MessageBoxTimeoutA+0x9c
06 0012dc88 77d8052f 00000000 0012e638 00000000 USER32!MessageBoxExA+0x1b
07 0012dca4 00b06422 00000000 0012e638 00000000 USER32!MessageBoxA+0x45
08 0012f774 00b0176f 00000000 00000004 00000000 Sam_and_Max___The_Mole__The_Mob_and_the_Meatball+0 x706422
09 0012fed8 00b018ac 0012ff0c 00b020ca 00000000 Sam_and_Max___The_Mole__The_Mob_and_the_Meatball+0 x70176f
0a 0012fee0 00b020ca 00000000 00b15b2b 0012fef8 Sam_and_Max___The_Mole__The_Mob_and_the_Meatball+0 x7018ac
0b 0012ff0c 00b15bf9 00400000 00000000 00142517 Sam_and_Max___The_Mole__The_Mob_and_the_Meatball+0 x7020ca
0c 0012ffc0 7c816fd7 00380039 00350039 7ffde000 Sam_and_Max___The_Mole__The_Mob_and_the_Meatball+0 x715bf9
0d 0012ffc4 00380039 00350039 7ffde000 805502fa kernel32!RegisterWaitForInputIdle+0x49
0e 0012ffc8 00350039 7ffde000 805502fa 0012ffc8 0x380039
0f 0012ffcc 7ffde000 805502fa 0012ffc8 84bbe020 0x350039
10 0012ffd0 805502fa 0012ffc8 84bbe020 ffffffff 0x7ffde000
11 0012ffd4 0012ffc8 84bbe020 ffffffff 7c839aa8 0x805502fa
12 0012ffd8 84bbe020 ffffffff 7c839aa8 7c816fe0 0x12ffc8
13 0012ffdc ffffffff 7c839aa8 7c816fe0 00000000 0x84bbe020
14 0012ffe0 7c839aa8 7c816fe0 00000000 00000000 0xffffffff
15 0012ffe4 7c816fe0 00000000 00000000 00000000 kernel32!ValidateLocale+0x2b0
16 0012ffe8 00000000 00000000 00000000 00b2a000 kernel32!RegisterWaitForInputIdle+0x52


Thread 1:
# ChildEBP RetAddr Args to Child
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
00 014aec58 7c90104b 00b41490 00b037ad 00b41490 ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet
01 014afcf8 77d48734 00200686 00000113 00000001 ntdll!RtlEnterCriticalSection+0x46
02 014afd24 77d48816 00b036ca 00200686 00000113 USER32!GetDC+0x6d
03 014afd8c 77d489cd 00000000 00b036ca 00200686 USER32!GetDC+0x14f
04 014afdec 77d496c7 014afe40 00000001 014affb4 USER32!GetWindowLongW+0x127
05 014afdfc 00b03677 014afe40 0012d9c4 7c80243c USER32!DispatchMessageA+0xf
06 014affb4 7c80b683 0000004c 0012d9c4 7c80243c Sam_and_Max___The_Mole__The_Mob_and_the_Meatball+0 x703677
07 014affec 00000000 00b032c3 0000004c 00000000 kernel32!GetModuleFileNameA+0x1b4


Thread 2:
# ChildEBP RetAddr Args to Child
00 0165fff4 00000000 00000000 00000008 000060c0 ntdll!DbgBreakPoint



I am currently doing the following in order to gather additional info when my next access violation occurs. I suggest everyone does the same. Knowing what the program is doing at the time of the access violation is a tremendous help in debugging.

1) Install Debugging tools for windows:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx

2) Start Sam and max: set options to turn off full screen.
(possibly an optional step)

3) Start windbg, installed in step 1.

4) File -> attach to process
select the sam and max process.

5) play the game until you hit the access violation box.
6) Go back to windbg, and do: Debug -> break
7) view ->processes and threads
view -> call stack

8) click on each thread in the processes and threads window.
THe contents of the Calls (call stack) window will change for each thread.

IN the calls window, in the upper right corner, there is an icon that you can right click on, that lists the option 'copy stack to clipboard'.
Copy , and post to this thread, the three stack dumps. Actually i suspect
the 'large one' is the only one you need, but it never hurts to have more info!

Some more notes:
1) It'll be difficult/annoying to play with windbg if sam and max is running in full screen mode, hence that suggestion.
2) You may need to do 'show to desktop' in order to be able to see the windebug window while S&M is running - it seems to have 'stay on top' activated.

Actually, I suspect it's easier to get a drwatson dump instead via:
drwtsn32 -p ProcessID

But I haven't verified that works well. I"ll try it, and post results.

- Frank

[Emily]

Unfortunately upgrading to service pack 2 didnt help me, i tried it at the time episode 2 was released, as well as updating all my drivers.

Episode 3 has a fix that was made to resolve some of the crashes reported in episode 2. That fix seems to have created the access violation error directly after the opening credits on some machines (mine included), which was then fixed by upgrading to SP2.

Are you still using SP2 or did you uninstall it after trying it with ep2?

[ChodTheWacko]

It just happened again, it keeps happening right after an autosave.
It's pretty easy to reproduce on my box if I hit save right after an autosave.

Same address though, so I don't know if it's related to anyone else's problem.

It would be nice if you could turn autosave on/off.

[Welshy]

Are you still using SP2 or did you uninstall it after trying it with ep2?

Still using SP2 im afraid :( , im getting the error message constantly throughout the game, but it seems more frequent when changing area's

[fandangobr]

Emily,

Right after the LAUNCH GAME button. Credits don't even appear. I can see the blank white shape of what would be the new game window being created but it crashes at that point, leaving a "white frame" on screen with the error message box on top of it.
This frame is not maximized and it goes away once the OK button from the error messagebox is pressed and the executable terminated.

I hope it helps.

Regards and thanks for bringing back these great games.

----
Brazilian Portuguese Windows XP SP2
NVidia 6800 128MB - Latest NVidia Drivers (just downloaded)
Pentium 4 3GHz
1GB RAM

[Emily]

Still using SP2 im afraid :( , im getting the error message constantly throughout the game, but it seems more frequent when changing area's

Okay, then, the problem you're having is not the same as the problem I was having.

Thanks for the details, everyone. The more specific, the better!

[luizpapa]

Emily,
I coudn't explain the problem better than fandangobr did. It happens on my computer exactly as he explained.

If I can do anything to help debbuging, let me know.

[HipGunslinger]

Em,

I'm having the access violation directly after the opening sequence. Everything works fine, the purple hued silhouette intro, Sam 'n Max snap a finger at each other, the screen fades to black and the title comes up.
Then explody.
I'm unfortunately running SP1 windows. I tried installing SP2 a while back, but my machine didn't like it too much and I had to reinstall. As badly as I would like to play this game, I'm not sure I want to play it so badly that I need to perform miracles just to be back where I started.

[Vardemis]

I'm also using SP1 (SP2 messes up my system). The error also comes right after the title screen.

[Welshy]

dont suppose theres any more news on a patch being released? I fear the same thing will happen with Ep. 4 :(

[Emily]

For people who have the error right after the credits, we found that upgrading to SP2 fixes the problem. If you don't want to upgrade to SP2, I'm afraid there isn't anything else we can suggest right now. The same problem has been reported by a few win2k users, for whom upgrading to XP SP2 is obviously not an option. ;) Win2k is not a supported operating system for these games, so if you're using win2k and are getting the access violation error right after the credits, there's nothing we can do at this time.

Regarding the other errors, we are continually trying to optimize the games to prevent these things, and hopefully some of you will see improvements in ep4. We've found that many of these issues are due to the copy protection we're using (not the game itself) and we're trying to tweak it to cut down on these sorts of problems.

For those of you getting access violation errors with the Brazilian version of XP, it definitely seems tied to the version of XP, and it's not something we're going to be able to test right now.

Guys, it kills me that we can't just wave our hands and magically fix this, but there are so many variables at play, we can only do our best to optimize the settings to prevent errors for the majority of people (which is what we've been working on ever since the problems were first reported).

As I've said before, if the game isn't working for you due to this sort of problem and you don't want to wait anymore, that's totally understandable and we'll refund your money.

EDIT: Welshy, please see the PM I just sent you.

[Vardemis]

If i wait, will there eventualy be a fix (without having to install SP2)? SP2 has conflicts with some software I run so it's not an option for me to install it.

[Emily]

If i wait, will there eventualy be a fix (without having to install SP2)? SP2 has conflicts with some software I run so it's not an option for me to install it.

Probably not, but you can at least try episode 4 and see if the problem still occurs. It might not, due to other tweaks we're making.

I resisted installing SP2 for a long, long time (until last week when Kevin started messing with my machine!) I didn't do it because of some problems with the service pack when it first came out, but it's a lot more stable now.

[Sacharissa]

Probably not, but you can at least try episode 4 and see if the problem still occurs. It might not, due to other tweaks we're making.

I resisted installing SP2 for a long, long time (until last week when Kevin started messing with my machine!) I didn't do it because of some problems with the service pack when it first came out, but it's a lot more stable now.

It's a PeeCee running a ********** operating system, right...? That means it's about as stable as a house of cards in a light breeze...<grin>:D

Guess what my main system is...? Hint, it doesn't run *******...

The phrase 'stable M$ OS' is an oxymoron.

Sarah

[indiana_helge]

Win2k is not a supported operating system for these games, so if you're using win2k and are getting the access violation error right after the credits, there's nothing we can do at this time.

If Win2k is no supported OS for this game why does the "Find my order" - Page show Win2k as a supported OS? (see attached screenshot) :confused:

[z-man]

Yeah, I was wondering about that, too.

But for the record, upgrading my Inspiron 8200 laptop powered by an NVidia GeForce2Go graphics chip from Win2k with latest patches to WinXP with SP2 turned me from a person having this problem to a person not having this problem. Also for the record, Episode 1 worked fine on Win2k for me on both my machines, the other one being my much more powerful desktop where I, ironically, uninstalled XP because Episode 1 showed very weird texture bugs (not Telltale's fault, other games were affected as well) that were absent in 2K. Add me to the list of people who would appreciate a real fix, I'd really prefer to use the other machine :)

[Emily]

That's because when these products were originally set up, someone chose the wrong entry for them in Digital River's system. It's completely our fault, and I'm going to fix it so anyone who buys them moving forward sees the correct OS, but it won't change the settings for anyone who already placed an order.

But for the record, upgrading my Inspiron 8200 laptop powered by an NVidia GeForce2Go graphics chip from Win2k with latest patches to WinXP with SP2 turned me from a person having this problem to a person not having this problem.

My computer (the one that we upgraded to SP2) also has an Nvidia Geforce2 card.

Also for the record, Episode 1 worked fine on Win2k for me on both my machines, the other one being my much more powerful desktop where I, ironically, uninstalled XP because Episode 1 showed very weird texture bugs (not Telltale's fault, other games were affected as well) that were absent in 2K.

The games have always seemed to run fine on Win2k. The problem is that we're not set up to support Win2k, so we have no way to test it. I'm not saying there might not be a fix for this problem on Win2k, but Telltale just doesn't have the resources right now to figure out what it would be.

[z-man]

I understand that :) I'm putting my hopes on you fixing the crash for XP SP1 machines at least for future episodes and that this solves the Win2k problem automatically. What are the chances that a freak crash at the same position is caused by two different things? But don't worry about me; I can't get my desktop machine to support 1280x960 (the NVidia driver refuses to) which would be the best resolution for my monitor, but my laptop supports it, so after all, Episode 3 actually looks better now running on my laptop than Episode 1 and 2 ever did running on my desktop PC.

[Emily]

fandangobr - I think the new version of Software Passport that we used for episode 4 has resolved the problem you were having. (I heard from another Brazilian who had the same problem with episodes 2 and 3 that it doesn't occur in episode 4.)

[danny01]

I also get the access violation error message after the intro (credits).
Episode 1 and 2 run fine.
System: geforce 6800, XP SP1

[Emily]

Hi Danny - updating to SP2 might fix the problem for you.

[danny01]

Thanks Emily, but for various reasons I can't upgrade to SP2.