Doom 3 randomly crashes to desktop. :(

[Crimson behelit]

Hello and thank you for checking out my problem with Doom 3. I have a problem with Doom 3 crashing to the desktop during game play. Sometimes it crashes in 1 minute, sometimes 20 minutes. But it always crashes at random within 30 minutes. Funny thing is, I have great hardware and the game runs smooth at even the high settings. It is very annoying and it is impossible to enjoy the game when a crash is only a matter of time. No error messages, no artifacts, no overheating. I'll just be playing one second and next thing I know I am looking at my desktop. I'll start by listing my hardware and everything I have tried over the last month.

Please note, I have NEVER overclocked anything on my computer.

Hardware:
AMD Athlon XP3000+ (333fsb, 2.16ghz)
DFI Lanparty NFII Ultra B (latest bios)
Geil 1gb DDR400 dual channel ram CL=2.5-8-4-4
ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128mb (r360 core)
Nvidia nForce audio
160gb WD IDE harddrive with 8mb buffer
Memorex CD/DVD burner
Antec 350watt smartpower power supply
Four case fans

Temps:
CPU=106F on full load.
SYSTEM=100F on full load.

Software & OS:
Windows XP Professional (service pack 2)
Latest drivers from ATI and Nvidia.
Direct X version 9c
No other programs running. (16 processes total)

Now, here are the things I have tried, it's a long list.

1. I set the desktop to 800 by 600 (32bit color)
2. I have tried setting the AGP aperture to 64, 128, 256, and 512.
3. I have turned fast writes off.
4. I have changed the AGP from 8X to 4X.
5. I have tried changing the AGP clock from 66 down to 50.
6. I have tried AGP voltages 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7volts.
7. I have tried playing on low, medium, and high graphic settings.
8. I experimented with AGP latency, from low to high.
9. I have tried a clean install of windows.
10. I have tried running the ram in 400 timing and 333 timing.
11. I tried a VIA KT400A chipset motherboard.
12. I tried another power supply (420w Raidmax)
13. I have tried different ram (Samsung 512mb DDR400)
14. I have tried a different CPU (Same type, different chip)
15. I have tried a RMA replacement videocard.
16. I checked my voltage rails. (+/- 2% across the board) It's rock solid.
17. I tried triple buffering.
18. I have tried every available ATI Catalyst driver (3.9~5.3)
19. I tried disabling my soundcard.
20. I tried both the DVI and the analog VGA connector.
21. I tried original XP pro, service pack 1, and SP2.
22. I have tried 10 other openGL and directX games, all run perfect.
23. I have tried running Memtest86+ for 9 hours, ram is perfect.
24. I used 800X600 the whole time, but just for kicks, used 640X480.

Yet, with every little change or combination of changes, the game still crashes randomly about 3 to 20 minutes into the game.

As you can see, I have tried everything short of buying a whole new computer. All my components work amazingly good, DOOM 3 is the ONLY thing I have ever had a problem with. Which is why I was so meticulous in researching the problem. I am a part time pc tech as sort of a hobby, I make house calls and fix people's computers on a simi-daily basis. I can fix virtually any common computer problem in 30 minutes to 3 hours. Yet, I have been working on this Doom 3 problem for over a month now and I can't do anything with it. I am at the end of my rope so to speak. That is why I am passing the buck to who ever sees this message. If you need more information, I would be happy to provide all that you need. Also, is there any way to force Doom 3 into producing a error message instead of just crashing straight to desktop? LOL, I'm ready to try anything...

[Gu-X]

woah 2 days and no ones responded, I suppose you've goten no closer to figuring out the problem? Perhaps theres a way to contact Id directly (That is if you havent tried that all ready!) Sorry I cant help (And aparantly no one here knows) good luck.

Hmm.. have you tried starting it up using the windows 98 code? I know thats crazy sounding but perhaps you should try it, Instructions on how to do that is somewhere here, or maybe someone can get you a link.

[Crimson behelit]

UPDATE: I just thought I would let you guys know how helpful Activision support is. "Not very"...

Response (Kirk McNesby) 03/16/2005 09:09 AM
Hi,

Unfortunately I can't see anything with your system that should prevent the game from working. Any suggestions I would make at a time like that are overlapped by the steps you already took on your own prior to contacting us. Sorry we were unable to help you further.

Customer 03/15/2005 05:32 PM
Thank you for once again for the prompt reply. Here is the information you requested...

Response (Kirk McNesby) 03/15/2005 08:33 AM
Hi,

I would like you to generate and send to us a system information file. To do this we ask that you do the following.
1) Go to start->programs->accessories->system tools->system information. This will bring up the system information tool.
2) Go to the top menu and select file->Save. This will save a file with all of your system information. Save it to your desktop. You can name it sysinfo.nfo.
3) Login to your account at http://activision.custhelp.com. (your default username is your email address, your password will be blank unless you have set one up independently)
4) Click My Stuff and then click Questions.
5) Find your current incident and click on it under the Subject column.
6) Click Update Incident.
7) Under "Attach Additional Documents to Question" you will see a Browse button. Click that and browse your computer for the sysinfo.nfo on your desktop. When you locate the file, double click on it.
8) Once the file appears as attached, you can now enter any additional information about your Incident in the "Results and/or Additional Information" field.
9) Click "Submit Update to Question" to send the system information file

Customer 03/14/2005 06:11 PM
Thank you for the prompt reply. Here is the information you requested...

Response (Kirk McNesby) 03/14/2005 03:15 PM
Hi,

If there were a way to force a useful error report or log we would have provided you with instructions on how to generate it with out initial email.

I would like you to generate and send to us a directx diagnostic file. This will greatly aid us in troubleshooting your system. To do this we ask that you do the following.
1) Click on the Start button >Run.
2) In the box type: dxdiag
3) Click the OK button.
4) DirectX Diagnostic Tool will open, click the Save All Information button at the bottom.
5) Save the dxdiag.txt file to your desktop.
6) Login to your account at http://activision.custhelp.com. (your default username is your email address, your password will be blank unless you have set one up independently)
7) Click My Stuff and then click Questions.
8) Find your current incident and click on it under the Subject column.
9) Click Update Incident.
10) Under "Attach Additional Documents to Question" you will see a Browse button. Click that and browse your computer for the Dxdiag on your desktop. When you locate the file, double click on it.
11) Once the file appears as attached, you can now enter any additional information about your Incident in the "Results and/or Additional Information" field.
12) Click "Submit Update to Question" to send the Dxdiag

Customer 03/14/2005 12:33 PM
OK. First off, I have tried with and without the 1.1 patch. And... I tried copying the PAK files like you asked. The game still crashes to desktop after 2-20 minutes. I might note that I can leave the game in one place for hours without crashing, but when I am actually playing the game I can only play for 2-20 minutes. It's like the crash is triggered by some command or special effect in the game. I can't isolate it though, because it happens at random. Surely there is a way to force a error report or maybe even a event log?

Response (Lawrence Watthey) 03/14/2005 01:08 AM
Hello,

Thank you for contacting Activision Customer Support.

I understand that you are having problems with getting your game to run properly.

Let’s go through a few steps to see if we can figure out exactly what the problem might be.

Copy the pak files from the cd and overwriting the ones on the hard drive.
1. Put the first disc in the drive
2. Go into my computer and right click on the disc and select "explore" or "browse"
3. Browse into the setup folder, then the data folder
4. Right click on the base folder and select copy
5. Close this window
6. Now browse to the game directory (default is c:\program files\Doom 3)
7. Go to the edit menu and select paste (if it asks you if you wish to overwrite select yes)

Once the file copy is done repeat the above steps for discs 2 and 3.

Please make sure that you have patched the game. You can get the 1.1 patch here:
https://activision.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/activision.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=azNROCyh&p_tbl=9&p_id=13382&p_created=1096676316&p_olh=0

Please keep me informed regarding your progress.

[mslider80x]

I am having the same exact problem, and I have a system very close to yours. Ive been researching this issue for over 6 months off and on and I cant get my card to play for an extended period of time. Actually, mine crashes out after a 30 seconds to a couple minutes on my part, but there was a time I could play an entire level before it would die. (Different mobo)

Ive pretty much tried all those wonderful things you have mentioned as well, with no luck as of yet. I have also noticed, though, that the windows xp 3d screensaver (which you can download with the xp power tools) will also randomly crash out to the desktop, as well as 3dMark05. No errors, nothing special, just boom.

I have also noticed that if my virus scan is running or I am searching for files on my drives, that xp screensaver will automatically crash back out to the desktop. Ive checked the CPU & memory usage, and everythings fine. Its like theres some type of incompatibility, and its got to be with some type of function call these programs are calling. I mean heck if Quake III works fine on the best resolution and all the bells and whistles like AA turned up to full, and no issues, theres gotta be something in Doom 3, the XP screen saver and, 3dMark05 are doing differently. Im pretty much ready to go crazy.

I wonder if its the AMD chip & Video Card combination, seriously. I had a ati 9800 se before this card, and Id get the same thing. Id try an NVidia card or go with a different chip (Intel), but unfortunately, the funds arent there to start swapping.

[havok_uk]

Hi, I had the exact same problem, I have similar specs, including a Sapphire 9800 pro...
Tried EVERYTHING!!!!
But the thing that finally fixed it was reducing my CPU FSB.
I effectively underclocked my CPU from 166 multiplier to 163 multiplier (I think 165, 164 etc. works just as well) voila, I can now play the game for hours without a single crash.
My PC now thinks it is an overclocked AMD 2400 rather than a 2600 but I don't see any performance decrease....

Give it a go, let me know how you get on....

HaVoK_UK

[mslider80x]

Thats really interesting. I actually just reformatted my hard drive and everything seems to work this time around. The only thing I did differently was install all of my windows updates before attempting to install my radeon drivers. I also did happen to tweak the bios a little bit. Ill have to figure out which one it was, though. If it starts to crash again, which I bet it will eventually, ill try the FSB trick. Thanks for that!