BATTLETECH - Constant Hard Crashes

[PhillyT]

One line summary of your issue
Constant Hard Crashes

What platform are you running the game on?
Steam

What operating system do you use?
Windows10

Which version of the game are you running?
1.9.1-686R

What DLC do you have installed?
None

Please explain your issue is in as much detail as possible.
Computer gives a hard crash (BSOD) after several minutes of gameplay. Don't think I've managed to ever complete a mission without a crash. Mitigate by saving every couple of turns.

Have you tried verifying your files?
Yes

Steps to reproduce the issue
Play. It crashes every time after a few minutes.

Attach DxDiag (PC), System Info log (Mac), or run sudo lshw -html > specs.html and uploaded specs.html (Linux)
File(s) attached

Attach Output Log
Windows: \Users\YourUserName\AppData\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH\output_log.txt
Mac OS: Users >{name} > Library > Logs > Unity > Player.log
Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/Harebrained Schemes/BATTLETECH/Player.log
File(s) attached

If the game crashed, please attach the crash file with the time stamp closest to the crash.
Windows: [Steam library folder]\steamapps\common\BATTLETECH\DumpBox
For v.17 and beyond try here: C:\Users\[YourUserName]\AppData\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH
OSX: Macintosh HD > Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > Steam > steamapps > common > BattleTech > DumpBox
Linux: [Steam library folder]/steamapps/common/BATTLETECH/DumpBox
File(s) attached

If a save game was loaded at the start of the game session, upload it. Please make sure to upload the save game with the timestamp closest to when you loaded it.
Windows:
Steam: [Steam installation folder]\userdata[SteamID]\637090\remote\C0\SGS1
GOG: 'C:\Users\USER_ID\AppData\Local\GOG.com\Galaxy\Applications\50593543263669699\Storage\Shared\Files\C#\SGS#'
Vanilla:'C:\Users\USER_ID\AppData\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BattleTech\C#\SGS#'
OSX:
Steam: Macintosh HD > Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > Steam > userdata > [SteamID] > 637090 > remote > C#> SGS#
GOG: Macintosh HD > Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > GOG.com > Galaxy > Applications > 50593543263669699 > Storage > Shared > Files > C# > SGS#
Vanilla: Macintosh HD > Users > [username]> Library > Application Support > unity.Harebrained Schemes.BattleTech > C# > SGG#
Linux:
Steam: /home/.steam/steam/userdata/[steamID]/637090/remote/C#/SGS#
GOG: /home/[username]/.config/unity3d/Harebrained Schemes/BATTLETECH/remote/C#/SGS#/
Vanilla: /home/[username]/.config/unity3d/Harebrained Schemes/BATTLETECH/remote/C#/SGS#/
File(s) attached

Attach screenshot / video
File(s) attached

 

[AndrewT]

Bluescreens are almost always hardwar eor driver problems, and I see some issues in your nVidia software in that dxdiag.

- uninstall the nVidia driver and all other nVidia software
- reboot
- install the latest (June 2021) from here:

Download The Latest Official NVIDIA Drivers

Download the latest official NVIDIA drivers to enhance your PC gaming experience and run apps faster.

www.nvidia.com

- reboot again

If you still get a BSoD after that, please record what it says on that screen, thanks.

 

[Wonderbill]

One line summary of your issue
Constant Hard Crashes

I have the exact same problem as you. I can never finish a mission. My game also crashes even if I'm in the menus, mech bay, and other non-combat situations. It seems to max out my GPU use & heat before killing the entire computer. I an nVidia RTX 2070, 32gb RAM, and I have done constant updates, driver installs, uninstall & reinstall, and it keeps happening. This is definitely NOT just a "bad driver."

 

[AndrewT]

I have the exact same problem as you. I can never finish a mission. My game also crashes even if I'm in the menus, mech bay, and other non-combat situations. It seems to max out my GPU use & heat before killing the entire computer. I an nVidia RTX 2070, 32gb RAM, and I have done constant updates, driver installs, uninstall & reinstall, and it keeps happening. This is definitely NOT just a "bad driver."

Can we see your files too please.

 

[Wonderbill]

-This forum is not allowing me to post everything I am typing, saying that there are "inappropriate elements." I'm not sure what to do with that info. I will attempt to attach the files in another post. I will also attach additional explanations. It doesn't seem to like me writing too much in 1 post.

I cannot even write a paragraph nor attach any files. (I am going in and editing this post to add files one at a time.)

I will try to attach everything in small sections.

 

[Wonderbill]

So, funny thing is I got a screenshot of the crash as it happened! That is to say, I was in the process of screenshotting the high GPU usage and the game crashed and totally froze everything on my computer. No little warning window or crash report, just 100% frozen. So, I have attached a few photos to document what was happening as well. As you can see, the very last thing it managed to show me was 88.5% GPU usage while I was sitting on the loading screen, which you can see in the background. Before I was able to save this as "SS2," the computer froze. I also took a photo of when the computer finally restarted, about sitting there doing nothing for almost 6 minutes!

-The "DumpBox" folder on my computer contains 64 files, all from May or June. However, since my computer 100% died, this particular instance appears to have not added a file. So, the attached "DumpBox" file is from a crash that happened yesterday, and not this most recent crash.

-I have not only updated nVidia drivers constantly, I even just upgraded from 16gb of DDR4 2133 RAM to 32gb of DDR4 3600 RAM and even updated my motherboard's BIOS, and these problems continue to happen. It's everything I can do apart from purchasing a completely different computer.
-I am loading my most recent Save Game from before this crash, but it happens on any save I use. I have to save every time a mech moves or else I make no progress. I also recently deleted many old Save files because I was informed that may improve performance. It did not.
-I also attempted the game in Windowed mode and on Medium and Low graphic settings. That also did not help.
-The file named "SS1" was taken immediately upon loading the game. I hadn't even played for 1 minute and was already at almost 80% GPU capacity while looking at a loading screen. I played 1 and a half turns of the mission before the game froze my computer to death. This happens often.
-Just before playing this game, I verified my game files.
-I always do a "fresh install" of my nVidia drivers when new ones are released.

 

[AndrewT]

It's quite normal for this game to use the GPU heavily, that in and of itself is not a problem. What you can do is check the fps you are getting in the game - if that is excessive (say, more than your Windows desktop rate of 75) that can cause GPU hardware problems, which might explain all the errors we see at the end of that dxdiag.

In that case in the game's video options to into Advanced, and scroll down and check that Vsync is enabled.


And Please report the temperatures of your CPU and video (GPU)
1/ before starting the game up and
2/ after say 10 minutes' play.
If your PC's vendor has given you no way of reading temperatures, install
SPEEDFAN http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

 

[Wonderbill]

The GPU was at 35 C without playing the game. Only 2 minutes after starting, it was up to 71 C. The GPU gets up to 80-85 C while playing battletech for just a few minutes. VSync has also been enabled this entire time. As soon as I quit the game, it dropped to 59 C within 10 seconds.

 

[AndrewT]

That will be the problem then! Choices are to set your Windows refresh rate to say 60 instead of 75 and leave Vsync on, OR to turn Vsync off and use GeForce Experience, fraps or some other utility to cap the frame rate to 60.

Also you should check into your cooling system. Clean out all air vents it has (compressed air cans are good for this). Make sure airflow to them is not blocked by anything like walls, books or whatever.
If that doesn't drop the temps enough, you probably have a faulty fan or a heatsink/thermal paste problem. You may need professional help at that point.

Good luck with that!