Elite Dangerous crash fix?

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 13:17

I know there's already an ED thread, but there's way too many posts to trawl through - sorry!

Anyway, I just bought a pre-owned gaming laptop to play ED with but it keeps crashing after about ten minutes of gameplay! I have tried minimal graphics options and maximum (both run just as smooth) but it doesn't make any difference!!!

My system Specs:

Lenovo Y410P Laptop with i7 cpu @ 2.4GHz
Nvidia GTX 750m with 2GB
12GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 10 Technical Preview - latest build

I bought ED via Steam. I have latest Nvidia drivers etc.

I have done many a google search, but all I find are references to the BETA ED.

Please help me as I've been waiting for this game ever since reading The Dark Wheel 20 years ago - I used to be a complete ELITE addict!

Thanks,

Commander Joebob

Dano · 2 Jun 2015 at 13:20

Thanks for the detialed crash description, we shall get right on with dealing with the specific error message you have given us. In the meantime please wait until one of us attains psychic abilities to ascertain the nature of your problem.

My guess is heat related though.

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 13:33

Dano said:
Thanks for the detialed crash description, we shall get right on with dealing with the specific error message you have given us. In the meantime please wait until one of us attains psychic abilities to ascertain the nature of your problem.

My guess is heat related though.

Blimey - are you not having a good day?

It just freezes completely at random times and I have to close the program and restart it.

Nasher · 2 Jun 2015 at 13:42

Corrupt files maybe.

Hodders · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:26

Hate to say it, but did it happen before you put win10 on ???

If not, then it's drivers/software (try reinstall). If it did then it's hardware (not much you can do with a laptop)....

Rroff · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:29

Which nVidia drivers are you using?

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:49

Nasher said:
Corrupt files maybe.

I guess it could be, but I'm hoping there's a quicker fix before trying a re-install.

Hodders said:
Hate to say it, but did it happen before you put win10 on ???

If not, then it's drivers/software (try reinstall). If it did then it's hardware (not much you can do with a laptop)....

It came with Windows 8.1, which I hate, so I put Windows 10 on straight away. I haven't had a gaming PC for quite a while and now I'm remembering why!

Rroff said:
Which nVidia drivers are you using?

I'm at work at the mo so will need to look when I get home. I installed Nvidias GeForce Experience software last night and it updated drivers to latest for Windows 10.

Rroff · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:51

Some people have reported crashing (not ED specifically) with the latest drivers so you might need to go back a bit to something like 348.xx (not sure whats available for Windows 10 off the top of my head).

Azraeluk · 2 Jun 2015 at 14:52

Using incomplete Beta OS might also be an issue

Paradiso · 2 Jun 2015 at 15:46

Checking Memory/Hard disk for errors is worth a go but suspect its a win10 driver issue.

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:54

Just checked and the driver I have is 352.84 WHQL, which is the first released for Windows 10.

maxzuk · 2 Jun 2015 at 17:16

I play on a fairly large Elite community and game is very stable and nobody reporting issues, although not graphicly intensive it does heat a gpu up.

Monitor GPU temps and get rid incomplete OS as with any new incarnation of windows software/hardware generally needs a patch or two.

Dano · 2 Jun 2015 at 17:25

Joebob said:
Blimey - are you not having a good day?

It just freezes completely at random times and I have to close the program and restart it.

My day is just fine, was trying (and obviously failing) to be a little funny

Is it only elite you have issues with or do other games also do similar?

bluebeatle · 2 Jun 2015 at 17:28

Not used Windows 10 yet but assume it still has an even viewer. Go look and see if there are any errors at the same time as your crashes. That may give you somewhere to start.

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 19:22

Dano said:
My day is just fine, was trying (and obviously failing) to be a little funny

Is it only elite you have issues with or do other games also do similar?

No I got it, my reply was meant to be tongue in cheek too - obviously the tone is lost in the written word!

The only other game I play on it is CS-GO and no issues with that.

bluebeatle said:
Not used Windows 10 yet but assume it still has an even viewer. Go look and see if there are any errors at the same time as your crashes. That may give you somewhere to start.

I will test it out and see.

I'm left with a dilema now.

This is one of my little Bro's old laptops - my other little Bro had a Y510P with dual GT 750M's in SLI.

They have new laptops now and I said I would ebay these for them and see what I could get. I have actually been looking for a smaller, more powerful laptop for some video editing. Smaller to make it easier to transport to and from work. So I gave him £300 for it.

The other laptop I stuck on ebay and got £400 for after fees (I was expecting more). The buyer didn't pay though so I still have it.

My dilema is this - do I pay and extra £100 to get the Y510P, but put up with a little extra weight and bulk when tranporting - then see what I can get for the Y410P (I need at least £300) or do I wait and see if this laptop can handle Elite and video editing etc?

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 20:08

bluebeatle said:
Not used Windows 10 yet but assume it still has an even viewer. Go look and see if there are any errors at the same time as your crashes. That may give you somewhere to start.

This is what I'm getting in the event log:

Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

I guess it is the graphics driver afterall.

Joebob · 2 Jun 2015 at 20:53

Installed MSI Afterburner and cranked doen the Core and Memory clocks a bit, then ran it on minimal settings - seems to be working now.

I guess i will keep hold of this laptop and see if I can increase the performance by tweaking it. I might even stick some Artic Silver on the GPU.

casual_eze · 3 Jun 2015 at 00:25

Its due to a combination of Windows 10 (not supported by ED) and immature graphics drivers (not production ready as the OS is still in beta).

Joebob · 3 Jun 2015 at 08:46

casual_eze said:
Its due to a combination of Windows 10 (not supported by ED) and immature graphics drivers (not production ready as the OS is still in beta).

It's working now though. I don't mind playing with gfx set to minimal & then I can see if things improve over time with the official release of Windows 10 and fixed drivers etc.

Thanks for everyones input - like I say, it's been quite a while since I've done any kind of PC gaming so my fault finding skills are quite rusty!

Joebob · 5 Jun 2015 at 07:37

UPDATE:

Ok, so yesterday I decided to completely strip down my laptop and give it a service. I'm glad I did as the fans were full of dust and dog hair...!!!

I also took the opportunity to apply some Artic Silker 5 to the CPU and GPU.

It's actually running cooler now and I was playing ED last night on medium setting for about an hour (big improvement) but then it crashed again... I checked the temp logs in MSI Afterburner and it seemed it was pottering along at about 50-60 degrees c before spiking to over 100 which is when it crashed.

I'm wondering if such a suddent big temp increase coulld be something driver related?