[KotOR 1][WinXP] Endar Spire random crashes

[Zerkesh]

Hi helloes.

 

I just took KotOR 1 off the shelf and dusted it in a nostalgia moment and figured I'd give it a try.

 

Game is patched to the 1.03.

 

I've tested the game twice now, first time with setting my own graphics settings and the second time without touching them at all from default.

 

Crashed firstly in the room with the very first two sith, after combat ended.

Second crash is just after, where the grenade is popped at the soldiers. On combat initiation this time as I pop a grenade over to the 3 remaining sith.

 

First crash I manually selected my character, second time I randomly selected one and had the auto features work their magic.

 

I'll be trying the game one more time to see if I can at all get off the Endar Spire.

 

*edit*

 

Tried one more time, changed down resolution to 800 x 600, picked up the pace to test something but now characters and certain objects like doors etc turned black, crashed after killing the 3 remaining sith after the grenade scene on Endar Spire.

 

*edit 2*

I tried running it again and setting CPU affinity for the game to one cpu only, I got about a few metres further this time as I got to kill the 3 sith aaand the 2 next that follow after the grenade scene. Crashed as I started looting.

 

*edit 3*

It could be graphics related, there's a image attached just below with what happened once I tried again to start a game, it's similar to the black doors etc.

 

http://www.home.no/mythos/gfx_issue.jpg

 

-Z

 

Specs:

 

[sWKotOR]

ReportDateTime=17.02.2009 03:41:29

SysInfoVersion=v1.00.60

GameExists=1

GameVersion=v1.03.514077

GameInstallLocation=C:\Program Files\LucasArts\SWKotOR\

 

[OS]

Name=WinXP

Version=Windows XP v5.1 build 2600 Service Pack 3

Service Pack=Service Pack 3

Status=Pass

 

[swapFiles]

C:\pagefile.sys=2046

C:\pagefile.sys=2046

 

[CPU]

CPUCount=2

CPUSpeed=3013

CPUFamily=15

CPUModel=3

CPUStepping=3

CPUVendor=AMD

CPUName=AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+

Status=Pass

 

[Memory]

RAM=2048

Status=Pass

 

[Disk Free Space]

C: (NTFS), UNICODE=139.24GB

D: (NTFS), UNICODE=207.79GB

E: (NTFS), UNICODE=214.07GB

Status=Pass

 

[CD-ROMs]

DriveLetters=F:\,G:\

Drives=LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-851S

 

[Video]

Video Card Name=NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

Video Memory=1024

Desktop Resolution=1280x1024x32 @ 75Hz

DirectX=DirectX (9.0+) (4.09.00.0904)

OpenGL Version=2.1.2

OpenGL Vendor=NVIDIA Corporation

OpenGL Renderer=GeForce GTX 260/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!

NVidia Driver=6.14.11.8120

Vid Card Status=Warning

Vid Card Driver Status=Pass

GL Status=Pass

DX Status=Pass

 

[Audio]

Sound Card Name=Primær lyddriver

Status=Pass

 

 

;Game Options from swkotor.ini

 

[sound Options]

Sound Init=0

Music Volume=85

Voiceover Volume=85

Sound Effects Volume=85

Movie Volume=100

Force Software=0

EAX=2

Disable Sound=0

Number 3D Voices=16

Number 2D Voices=24

Environment Effects Level=0.60

2D3D Bias=1.50

Environment Effects=1

Environment Effects Nonstreaming=1

Environment Effects Streaming=1

 

[Game Options]

GUIsInScreenShot=1

EnableScreenShot=0

Reverse Mouse Buttons=0

Hide InGame GUI=0

Use Small Fonts=0

Keyboard Camera Deceleration=2000.000000

Keyboard Camera Acceleration=500.000000

Keyboard Camera DPS=200.000000

Hide Unequippable=0

Tutorial Popups=1

Subtitles=1

Mini Map=1

Floating Numbers=1

Status Summary=1

Enable Mouse Teleporting To Buttons=1

Mouse Sensitivity=33

Auto Level Up NPCs=0

Mouse Look=0

AutoSave=1

Reverse Minigame YAxis=1

Combat Movement=1

Enable Tooltips=1

Difficulty Level=1

TooltipDelay Sec=1.000000

Memory Access=1

Memory Level=1

Disable Movies=0

 

[Movies Shown]

Movie 0=16

Movie 1=0

Movie 2=0

Movie 3=0

Movie 4=0

Movie 5=0

Movie 6=0

Movie 7=0

Movie 8=0

Movie 9=0

Movie10=0

 

[Alias]

HD0=.\

OVERRIDE=.\Override

TEMP=.\Temp

MODULES=.\Modules

LOGS=.\Logs

LOCALVAULT=.\LocalVault

DMVAULT=.\DMVault

SERVERVAULT=.\ServerVault

STREAMMUSIC=.\StreamMusic

TEMPCLIENT=.\Tempclient

SAVES=.\saves

CURRENTGAME=.\currentgame

TEXTUREPACKS=.\texturepacks

STREAMWAVES=.\StreamWaves

 

[Graphics Options]

V-Sync=0

Anisotropy=1

Frame Buffer=0

Anti Aliasing=0

Texture Quality=2

Emitters=1

Grass=1

Soft Shadows=0

Shadows=1

Brightness=57

EnableHardwareMouse=1

FullScreen=1

RefreshRate=75

Width=1024

Height=768

 

[Autopause Options]

Mine Sighted=1

End Of Combat Round=0

Enemy Sighted=1

Party Killed=1

Action Menu=0

New Target Selected=1

 

[config]

firstrun=0

 

[Keymapping]

Action286B=8

Action286A=7

Action285B=10

Action285A=9

Action284B=54

Action284A=51

Action283B=54

Action283A=51

Action282B=69

Action282A=73

Action281B=53

Action281A=76

Action280B=69

Action280A=73

Action265=52

Action264=57

Action263=43

Action262=85

Action261=84

Action260=83

Action259=82

Action258=81

Action257=80

Action256=79

Action255=78

Action254=77

Action253=31

Action245=75

Action244=55

Action243=67

Action242=74

Action241=87

Action240=56

Action239=68

Action238=82

Action236=83

Action234=81

Action232=80

Action230=79

Action228=78

Action226=77

Action225=70

Action224=90

Action223=31

Action222=25

Action221=24

Action220=29

Action219=28

Action218=42

Action217=87

Action216=65

Action215=63

Action214=62

Action213=60

Action212=61

Action211=66

Action210=59

Action209=71

Action208=89

Action207=72

Action206=30

Action205=55

Action204=67

[Star Admiral]

Unfortunately, newer graphics cards, especially one as new as the GTX 260, do not play nice with KOTOR. If you still have an older copy of the Forceware drivers, such as the 167.xx series, you could try using those and see if KOTOR will play properly.

 

- Star Admiral

[juansaman]

Hi, I'm having the same issue, my computer is an AMD Phenom II 3 GHz - 4 GB RAM and and I use a NVDIA GeForce 9800 GT with Windows XP 64.

I play KotOR 1.03 version, and I must say I had the same problems than Zerkesh. I tried everything with graphics config but no results. One thing that worked was set the exe compatibility with XP and the game runs better, but it crashed by no reasons sometimes.

Is sure there is no solution for this wonderful game to run with modern computers or newer graphics cards? Or is maybe a XP 64 compatibility problem?

THanks.

[moda]

rollback your drivers to 177.1 i think it is thats how i fixed the issue

 

the issue has to do with how newer nvidia drivers have had the method used to handle opengl rewritten modern nvidia drivers will more often than not crash your game due to these inconsitances its why i wont upgrade my video card for the next 3 years

alternatively i had some success in running kotor in a virtualised enviroment (as my home pc is technically a server i have a user enviroment which supports high end virtualisation) vmwares native graphics processing is a tremendous benefit when playing older games even if it does take up the vast majority of your system resources

[juansaman]

Thak you very much, Moda, I never thought about virtualization's beneffits, that's a good idea. Anyway, I think I solved the issue by another way:I went to the KotOR ini file and added this line into the [Graphic Options] section: Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1.

This option is supossed to make the graphic card render faster and giving a better frame rates, but it's known to have some incompatiblities or bugs with the modern graphic cards. So it's better to disable it.

I did that yesterday and I had no more problems.... I will post a status report once I advance further in the game, as I'm still on Taris, played during 2 or 3 hours the Lower City and the Under City, and so far quite well.

If this fails, I'll follow your suggestions.

 

-------------------------------------------------

[Edit]

 

Ok, I tested it and it works perfect!!! Problem solved, I'm on Dantooine right now (in the game), and no crash has appeared!!!

[eria]

hey juansaman, just wanted to confirm that this worked for me as well. I've been messing with setting and stuff on and off for about a week now to get my game to work (was crashing on Endar Spire as well). Came across this thread and figured I'd give it a shot, and just played through the Endar Spire with no crashes. I'll try to go through it a few more times just to make sure, but so far so good. Thanks!

[Mister V]

Juansaman, thanks, that was very helpful. I was able to get through the Endar Spire without crashes, finally. However, the game now crashes every time I try to go to the Taris Upper City from the apartment complex... Is this part of this problem or something else?

[The Betrayer]

Thak you very much, Moda, I never thought about virtualization's beneffits, that's a good idea. Anyway, I think I solved the issue by another way:I went to the KotOR ini file and added this line into the [Graphic Options] section: Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1.

This option is supossed to make the graphic card render faster and giving a better frame rates, but it's known to have some incompatiblities or bugs with the modern graphic cards. So it's better to disable it.

I did that yesterday and I had no more problems.... I will post a status report once I advance further in the game, as I'm still on Taris, played during 2 or 3 hours the Lower City and the Under City, and so far quite well.

If this fails, I'll follow your suggestions.

 

-------------------------------------------------

[Edit]

 

Ok, I tested it and it works perfect!!! Problem solved, I'm on Dantooine right now (in the game), and no crash has appeared!!!

 

This solved the Endar Spire crashes for me. I'm using Windows 7.

[juansaman]

Wow, has been a while since I walked here. Glad to see that helped somebody! Fine. A pleassure to been helpful to you, Eria. Medal for me, let's monkey dance !!!

 

However, the game now crashes every time I try to go to the Taris Upper City from the apartment complex... Is this part of this problem or something else?

 

Well, that's beyond my scope now, the issue I had was fixed with the value I post above. Anyway, what OS are you using? Graphic Card? Mods?

 

This solved the Endar Spire crashes for me. I'm using Windows 7.

 

Fine to know that, I was thinking about using that OS soon.

 

For that status report I promised, I played KotOR from start to end, with BOS:SR mod in the middle (I was lucky enough to have it released while I was about the first Star Map), and a lot of other mods working with it, and no problem at all. No crashes.

 

A quick way to see if your graphic card is victim of this problem is to go to the Force Alingment screen of the menu. It usually crashes when you click on it.

 

Good luck everyone.

[N**]

You downloaded it? From where?

 

Maybe you can post a screenshot of that error, because it looks intriguing.

[JACooley]

Thak you very much, Moda, I never thought about virtualization's beneffits, that's a good idea. Anyway, I think I solved the issue by another way:I went to the KotOR ini file and added this line into the [Graphic Options] section: Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1.

This option is supossed to make the graphic card render faster and giving a better frame rates, but it's known to have some incompatiblities or bugs with the modern graphic cards. So it's better to disable it.

I did that yesterday and I had no more problems.... I will post a status report once I advance further in the game, as I'm still on Taris, played during 2 or 3 hours the Lower City and the Under City, and so far quite well.

If this fails, I'll follow your suggestions.

 

-------------------------------------------------

[Edit]

 

Ok, I tested it and it works perfect!!! Problem solved, I'm on Dantooine right now (in the game), and no crash has appeared!!!

 

I also tried it and was able to get through the ship at the start of the game without a crash. I will have my grandson give it a more thorough run-through tomorrow. He will so tickled!

[J510]

"Anyway, I think I solved the issue by another way:I went to the KotOR ini file and added this line into the [Graphic Options] section: Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1.

This option is supossed to make the graphic card render faster and giving a better frame rates, but it's known to have some incompatiblities or bugs with the modern graphic cards. So it's better to disable it."

 

I'm almost completely computer illiterate and I was wondring if you could give a description of the directions I would need to try this fix on my KOTOR game?

[Q]

Here you go.

• First, figure out where the .ini is installed. Default is "C:\Program Files\Lucasarts\swkotor(2)\swkotor(2).ini". If its not in that location, then your going to have to do some searching around on the hard drive a bit.
  
• When you find it, just double-click on the file to open it in Notepad.
  
• Scroll down the file until you find the Graphics Options
  
• Under the last line ("last line" as in the last line of the list of entries under "Graphics Options", NOT the last line of "swkotor(2).ini), add "Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1", without the quotes.
  
• Goto File, then Save.

[Razzerian]

I tried changing the .ini file but it keeps crashing for me...

 

I've just ended up after the Levithian and I'm in the gun turret, it keeps crashing everytime I finisht he minigame int he transition to the next video or loading screen or whatever.. (I am not sure since then my crash pop-up spams the screen...

 

I have NVidia GTX 260 1024 mb 3D card.

3GB ram and a 32bit processor

Using XP service pack 2..

 

 

You might wonder "How the hell did you get so far in the game without crashes?"

 

Well.. I got loads of them I just saved A LOT and when I knew I was gonna get a crash from previous experiences I just saved a fraction of a second before it would crash and then restart from that point on. Sadly that is not possible when you're manning the gun turret..

 

 

This is seriously letting me down, I started playing KoTOR two like a year ago but never got around to play KoTOR one... Bought it a few weeks a go on the interwebz but it keeps crashing...

 

I mean come on, an original game should not crash and if it does there should be some propper support for it even if it is 6 years old I still payed for the bloody thing >.<

[Sgt. Strike]

Ok, I'm playing KOTOR, with XP SP3. I'm using updated nvidia drivers. My problem is that I get so far, then it crashes. The game is updated to 1.03. Is there some fix, some way, etc. that I can do to be able to play the game more than a few minutes, or even go to the character screen, and update my characters?

[kdoh12]

Thak you very much, Moda, I never thought about virtualization's beneffits, that's a good idea. Anyway, I think I solved the issue by another way:I went to the KotOR ini file and added this line into the [Graphic Options] section: Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1.

This option is supossed to make the graphic card render faster and giving a better frame rates, but it's known to have some incompatiblities or bugs with the modern graphic cards. So it's better to disable it.

I did that yesterday and I had no more problems.... I will post a status report once I advance further in the game, as I'm still on Taris, played during 2 or 3 hours the Lower City and the Under City, and so far quite well.

If this fails, I'll follow your suggestions.

 

-------------------------------------------------

[Edit]

 

Ok, I tested it and it works perfect!!! Problem solved, I'm on Dantooine right now (in the game), and no crash has appeared!!!

 

 

ok so i found the file and added the line to the game options section but now i cant save the file it keeps saying

Cannont create the C:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic\swkotor.ini file

so i was wondering about how to save it

[Qui-Gon Glenn]

^^^ you are not operating as an administrator, kdoh12. Right click on the file swkotor.ini. Make sure it is not set to Read-Only - look at the tick box, un-tick it if necessary. Then open the file as an administrator, alter the file, then save. You must be logged in as an administrator/use administrator status in Vista/7 for things to get saved properly, as well as making sure the file is not Read-Only. Hope this helps

 

BTW: this was posted in a thread specifically for an XP install... your Program Files (x86) tells me that you are running a 64bit OS, which is probably Vista or 7, thus my instructions on using the administrator account. Are you using XP Pro 64?

[Gashadokuro]

Hi,

I'm having a similar problem to this where I cannot make it past certain parts of the Endar Spire level. Each time I have applied one of the fixes I've found I've managed to make it slightly further; from looting the corpses of the first group of Sith to looting the corpses just before you first see a Jedi vs Sith battle.

 

The fixes I have tried are:

Compatability [installation, patch & running]

Admin' privileges [running only as admin is needed to install/patch anyway]

Changed the .dll to a newer version that had been used as an early fix for other problems

Updated the SecuROM

Changed the .ini file as listed above.

Changed the CPU affiliation so that it runs on 1 core.

Backdated DX to v9 from v10 [patched along side Dx10]

Patched [1.03]

Changed graphics settings

Tried just changing what class / gender I was playing as an early problem I experianced on the Xbox version of TSL was rectified by something similar.

 

Non of these have worked as I had hoped. The thing that confuses me the most is I've already played both Kotor and TSL on my current computer without problem. I reformat and this happens...

 

Its spec's are as follows:

 

MBoard

-750A

CPU

-AMD Phenom 9750 [Quadcore]

Graphics

-9800 GTX+ [not SLI'd]

Drivers

-267.24

Ram

-4GB

Dual monitors

Resolution

-1650 / 1080 [main screen/games run here]

-1024 / 768 [mainly used for desktop. Has a few problems if you make it run graphics heavy applications e.g. games]

Windows 7 Home premium, 64-bit (Service Pack 1)

Game is patched to 1.03

 

I have not tried TSL yet as I'd like to play through them in order while I wait for the final release day of The Old Republic but I'll see if that works after I've finished this post. I'm not sure what to do after that lot though as the last time I played it (which was on Win7) I only had a minor graphics glitch that was quickly rectified. I also never experianced any problems on xp when it first released; which I recently heard it was really buggy?

 

Any help you may be able to offer will be greatly appreciated.

 

-EDIT-

It would seems that after typing all that out I decided to just give it one last launch to save an error report and its just... started working?..

I love computers oh so very much; hehe....

(>^.^)>o

[Q]

One thing I don't see listed up there is the Dantooine lag fix, which is required for any graphics card that supports DX10 or higher:

• First, figure out where the .ini is installed. Default is "C:\Program Files\Lucasarts\swkotor(2)\swkotor(2).ini". If its not in that location, then your going to have to do some searching around on the hard drive a bit.
  
• When you find it, just double-click on the file to open it in Notepad.
  
• Scroll down the file until you find the Graphics Options
  
• Under the last line ("last line" as in the last line of the list of entries under "Graphics Options", NOT the last line of "swkotor(2).ini"), add "Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1", without the quotes.
  
• Goto File, then Save.

[Sintroz]

I'm playing KOTOR II and after the first two mining droids I fight, I can't move. W/S/Z/C don't work. I have control over everything else. And if a door/locker/enemy/etc is close enough I can do the default action and my character will run over to it and do the action but I still can't move.

 

I looked at some things on this post and I added the Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1 and I have my graphics set to default and it still didn't fix it. Plus I couldn't roll back my drivers. :/

 

So now that I can't play I've started playing it on xbox 360 and it is pretty laggy on it. I'd really like to play it on PC. Any help?

[Letum]

I had this problem on Windows 7 for KOTOR I. I fixed it by applying the compatibillity for windows XP option on all of the .exe files. It is a little slow loading but that is it.