CTD right after startup completes

[hiddentemple 18]

This is a very recent issue. My game has only crashed three times in the past year.

After the splash screen, it will allow me to move around and do things for about ten seconds before it immediately crashes no matter what I do; even after loading one of my cities it will crash after about ten seconds.

Here is the first part of the last exception report:

Quote

Exception time: 12/18/2017, at 21:41:28.
Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION.
Current thread ID: 12404 (0x00003074).
Version information:
Application/module path: C:\Users\Admin\Documents\SimCity 4\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition\Apps\SimCity 4.exe
Application/module version name: SimCity 4
Application/module version: 1.1.641.0
System version: Windows NT 5.1
System memory: 1024 Megabytes total, 1024 Megabytes free.

Exception module:  C:\Users\Admin\Documents\SimCity 4\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition\Apps\SimCity 4.exe.
Exception address: 0x00876c03. Section:Offset: 0x01:0x0046fc03.

Registers
   EAX: 00000000
   EBX: 00000000
   ECX: 01728114
   EDX: 0036e000
   ESI: 0172c314
   EDI: 1da62588
   CS:EIP: 0023:00876c03
   SS:ESP: 002b:0019fa0c  EBP:0019fa64
   DS:002b  ES:002b  FS:0053  GS:002b
   Flags: 00010202

I hope this helps.

~ hiddentemple ~

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

10 minutes ago, hiddentemple said:

This is a very recent issue.

Since you've not had major problems until now can I presume you do have the -CPUCount:1 in your startup command?

Next, have you recently installed a Tree Controller or Seaport Controller mod? And what happens if you rename your Plugins in your Documents folder to xPlugins and then start a new temporary region? (After the test you'd delete the empty Plugins the game auto creates and then rename xPlugins back to regular Plugins.)

[hiddentemple 18]

1) I do have the whole -CPUCount:1 deal in the startup command and it hasn't failed me yet.

2) I have not installed any major mods or made any major changes this year.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

Ok. Have you had any OS updates? What I'm wondering is if the drivers for your sound card got updated and are now not quite compatible with DirectX. How about try adding -audio:off to your startup as a quick test?

[markussaage 762]

Have you installed anything new to your SimCity 4 plugins, because you mentioned, that this problem occured just recently. If the answer is YES, than one of the new plugins is most likely the culprit here. Remove them from your plugins folder to a backup place and put them back in one piece by one piece at the time and run the game with every single piece to test it. I am sure, pretty soon you'll find the "bad" plugin.

Kind regards!

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

@markussaage I presume the game still crashes since I already suggested:

8 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

And what happens if you rename your Plugins in your Documents folder to xPlugins and then start a new temporary region? (After the test you'd delete the empty Plugins the game auto creates and then rename xPlugins back to regular Plugins.)

And if so, that only leaves a driver issue IMO considering it crashes in the region view as well as in a city tile based on this:

8 hours ago, hiddentemple said:

After the splash screen, it will allow me to move around and do things for about ten seconds before it immediately crashes no matter what I do; even after loading one of my cities it will crash after about ten seconds.

(I'm interpreting that to be after the splash screen and moving around in the region view perhaps changing the view from satellite to transportation or quickly entering a city tile.)

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

9 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

How about try adding -audio:off to your startup as a quick test?

I just went through about 25 pages of analysis of the  exception code 0xc0000005 1073741819 access_violation  and it looks like you are on the right path Cori, its a memory conflict according to those other attempts at resolving the problem, but apparently can be for a variety of reasons.  If an update of some kind was made then one way to find out if it is the problem would be to use system restore and go back previous to update.  From there its another problem of fixing it.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

16 hours ago, hiddentemple said:

crashes no matter what I do

Does it crash if you stay in the region view, or only after loading a city?

[hiddentemple 18]

4 hours ago, jeffryfisher said:

Does it crash if you stay in the region view, or only after loading a city?

It crashes regardless of whether I do nothing, move it around, or loading a city.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

1 minute ago, hiddentemple said:

It crashes regardless of whether I do nothing, move it around, or loading a city.

And does it crash if you use the -audio:off parameter?

[hiddentemple 18]

20 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

Ok. Have you had any OS updates? What I'm wondering is if the drivers for your sound card got updated and are now not quite compatible with DirectX. How about try adding -audio:off to your startup as a quick test?

My OS updated last week. I can try using System Restore to see if that helps any.

[rsc204 21,808]

11 hours ago, RandyE said:

I just went through about 25 pages of analysis of the  exception code 0xc0000005 1073741819 access_violation  and it looks like you are on the right path Cori, its a memory conflict according to those other attempts at resolving the problem

The thing is, that information relating to the exception code is very unlikely to help diagnose or fix this problem. It's so generic, it tells us nothing really useful.

19 minutes ago, hiddentemple said:

It crashes regardless of whether I do nothing, move it around, or loading a city.

If you can get to the Splash Screen and even further onto Region View, we know this isn't caused by a Windows Update which disabled SafeDisc. Because in that scenario, you'll never make it to the Splash Screen.

What this also tells us, is that mods/the contents of your plugins folder, is not the issue here. Because, the Region View screen is rock-solid stable unless something is very wrong.

So what is the most likely cause?, your video drivers have been updated, perhaps without you realising. This brought about an incompatibility with SC4's rendering mode you have selected, and now you are getting major instability in-game. It's a common enough problem sadly. Your first port of call is trying all three rendering options to see if any of the three work stably. Find your shortcut for SC4 (it can be done in-game, but if it's crashing, this'll be easier), right click that and select properties. In the target line, add the following commands one at a time, before testing each in-game:

• -d:DirectX
  DirectX rendering gives the best possible experience with SC4, but is most likely to have issues with modern hardware.
• -d:OpenGL
  OpenGL can work for some users, it's the next best thing to DirectX, but was never properly implemented, but worth a shot.
• -d:software
  Software rendering is a compatibility mode, when all else fails, the game should run at least. But, now your CPU has to do the work of the GPU too, which isn't ideal for a game which eats CPU cycles. Not to mention it doesn't allow for many of the fancy graphical effects.

There is another setting that can greatly affect things too, use of either Windowed or FullScreen mode. For those use the additional command -w or -f. It's worth trying each combination of these to see what works. Bear in mind, you need a space between the - that denotes each command.

For now, you should test the 6 variants and report back to us. Sure Software rendering might simply work, but it's awful. Once we have more information, it's usually possible to force DirectX to work with a little tweaking. But this test will simply confirm if the problem is graphics and driver related.

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

2 hours ago, hiddentemple said:

My OS updated last week. I can try using System Restore to see if that helps any.

I hope I'm not too late, but before you rollback using system restore, make a restore point where you are so then you can roll forward after determining that the update made a change that caused the (CTD) Crash to Desktop. (exit to system control).
 
Then follow the instructions as per my respected colleague @rsc204

[Fantozzi 4,067]

Once I heard if the aspect ratio of the resolution typed in the command line doesn't match the monitor ratio set in OS in some cases the mouse driver may get stuck - so moving around with the mouse may cause randomly crashes after short time. Makes me think - if os updated -  maybe sc4 would reveal some kind of missmatch between mouse driver and graphic card driver.  

[Bombardiere 591]

A lot of suggestions and true that error message does not tell much, but I would too focus to audio. If you don't have any audio devices plugged in (including headset) the SC4 crashes right about ten seconds after loading screen. This was a huge problem to me when I bought a new computer about a year ago and for a while I thought that the game is unplayable with my new rig, but then I plugged headset in and everything was solved.

[hiddentemple 18]

Now, the damn thing won't even start - it passes the user account control with no problem, there's about a split second of background activity then nothing. Tried -audio:off, cleaned up my registry, etc. Haven't tried system restore yet, but I'll see if that works out so long as it doesn't mess with my files and whatnot...

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

37 minutes ago, hiddentemple said:

system restore yet, but I'll see if that works out so long as it doesn't mess with my files and whatnot...

Before you use system restore, bear in mind that it is an action taken by users of MS windows and all responsibility for what it does or does not do is between you and the computer retailer, manufacturer, Microsoft, etc, and their warranties and license agreements. 

As an experienced user of Windows, its never caused any problems for me, other than messing up whatever icon arrangement is on my desktop.  You should study a bit about system restore before using it.  On my system it indicates what programs will be impacted, those are whatever has been installed since the restore point.  Making your own restore point first is a good way to start learning how to use it if you haven't before.  Also look at the amount of storage space you have, how much is allocated to system restore, and how the restore points are organized.   The system restore will lock out user control while it does its thing, it will reboot the computer and take at least several minutes to longer.   

In case of any difficulty users should also know how to gain control at boot level through the BIOS and do a diagnostic re-start of Windows.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

6 hours ago, hiddentemple said:

Haven't tried system restore yet, but I'll see if that works out so long as it doesn't mess with my files and whatnot...

System Restore is designed to preserve personal data (e.g. in My Documents), along with keeping common non-system files untouched. Depending on the setup, the operation does restore monitored program files, drivers and often most importantly a snapshot state of the Windows Registry.

Since there can be leftovers, it's no full substitute for uninstalling programs properly via the Control Panel, but can be useful in working around issues triggered by system changes (often the classic story where one thing leads to another). Once a restore is initiated, as a fail-safe to revert back to the current configuration, the system creates an auto checkpoint before proceeding. However I still like Randy's suggestion above to first create one manually as an extra safeguard. Also for some extra assurance, I'd suggest making a manual backup at least of your essential files to external storage (e.g. HDD, flash drive, CD or DVD).

From your exception report stating "Windows NT 5.1", is it safe to assume you're running Windows XP?

If so, here's a useful guide I found with more details on the process:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/windows-xp-system-restore-guide/

Also this site has some most excellent info (archived from the Wayabck Machine). See the "System Restore in WinXP" tab at the top to view the other pages listed.

[MiCephia 63]

It sounds like your loading this manually or from shortcut. I was having same prob because of windows 10 stuff but I started using the SC4Launcher and has worked since. The launcher is great, has a bunch of options so you don't have to modify shortcut with -cpucount=1 and etc. has the force draw on scroll as well. I doubt that's the prob but doing both those things fixed mine for some reason. Which OS are you using?

BTW, I have 4GB of mods installed and my game runs no prob, takes a few to load first screen but I datpacked everything so going from region to city now takes 5-6 seconds instead of 2 minutes, even with 4GB of mods to load.