Re: General protection fault crashes

I updated direct X and restarted my PC.

After that I played some more and after about 15 minutes another crash:

[2757.292] Critical: appError called:
[2757.292] Critical: Rendering thread exception:
General protection fault!

History: GZLibFile::~GZLibFile() Address = 0x1159e9c5 (filename not found) [in D:\Games\Origin Games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]
GMatrix2D::EncloseTransform() Address = 0x1154005a (filename not found) [in D:\Games\Origin Games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]

[2757.292] Critical: Windows GetLastError: The operation completed successfully. (0)

The update doesn't work, it says it can't find the game.

I have the origin edition of Mass Effect installed now and checking the executable it's already at 1.2

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@Selvator wrote:

The update doesn't work, it says it can't find the game.

I have the origin edition of Mass Effect installed now and checking the executable it's already at 1.2

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@Selvator

I know,  both Steam and Origin install version 1.2, but the patch nevertheless solved the "General protection fault" issue for some people in the past.

I can't guaranty it, but install the Patch anyway. You need to move the installation EXE to the game directory, then it will find the Game.  

I will now look at your DxDiag and reply later.

@Selvator

PANDEMONIUM interesting choice for a Machine Name, to bad it's program in the moment. 😉

A "General protection fault" error can have many reasons, so let's first cover the basics.

There are newer, WHQL signed drivers for your Xonar U7 at the Asus web side, I would suggest you install them,
especially because you have errors about the AsusU7UILauncher.exe in your DxDiag. (Or is there a specific reason you use this driver)
 
There is also a newer driver for your 970 out, please install 368.39 if you haven't done so already.  

Do you have Orgin or steam Overlay enabled? If so please disable it.

There error reports, as you said, change with about any new entry, so if installing the Patch, installing the new drivers and disabling the overly don't solve the issue, I would suggest to run SFC /scannow to see if your system-files are in order.

You should see my other hardware what names they have :P

That's quite a bit I can try, thanks for taking the time to help me ! 🙂

I just returned from work and I'm also checking the live steam from E3 so on my other screen I will do all the steps you provided.

I will report back with my findings.

EDIT1:

The audio driver is the latest version from the Asus website.

There is a newer out but that one is specifically for Windows 10, it doesn't work on windows 8.1 64bit.

It has crashed a couple of times but that's usually because of skype, it does weird stuff with my microphone settings from Xonar when skype is on.

Why it isn't WHQL signed I don't know but it should not cause any problems right?

SFC scan turned up ok and I am now updating my video driver.

Usually I only do this when I have new games that need the update or something else is changed but I will update it anyway.

EDIT2:

Updating the game still doesn't work.

It can't find the game even though I have put it in the same folder as the .exe

My video drivers are updated by the way.

@Selvator

@Audio driver

I meant the 8.1.11.19  version for Win 8.1 64bit. There are two versions, one with WHQL certificate and one fixed driver for problems with Nordic language OS which shouldn't be a problem for a Dutch OS. Do you use the fixed version?

@Patch 

That is strange, please run the Patch as Admin, if that don't work put the Patch into the "Binaries" Folder and try again.

Edit: You also disabled the Overlay? 

Small update:

I updated my sound driver with the other version.

The GUI is completely different but it seems to work the same nonetheless.

I disabled the origin overlay.

The only that isn't working right now really is the updating of the game, which is unfortunate since it may fix the problem, but I will now test all the other steps with have discussed so far and see how that goes.

EDIT:

Well good news, I followed the sticky on Answers HQ were you need to create a "dummy" masseffectlauncher.exe and it worked, the game is now patched.

It seems I have now followed all the steps, I have about an hour left before im off to bed so I will try again now and see how the game works.

Thanks again for the assistance so far, I will report back again if it's still crashing or if I have played several hours without any problems 🙂

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@Selvator wrote:

EDIT:

Well good news, I followed the sticky on Answers HQ were you need to create a "dummy" masseffectlauncher.exe and it worked, the game is now patched.

It seems I have now followed all the steps, I have about an hour left before im off to bed so I will try again now and see how the game works.

Thanks again for the assistance so far, I will report back again if it's still crashing or if I have played several hours without any problems 🙂

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@Selvator

It's true, learning never stops. I read that sticky after you mentioned it, never know about that tweak before.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Well we went trough a lot of thing but it still crashes.

I was talking to Wrex on the normandy and it crashed again when I clicked on a conversation option.

By the way the only time crashes occur is during conversation when I click on a option.

This the crash log:

[480.694] Critical: appError called:
[480.694] Critical: Rendering thread exception:
General protection fault!

History: GZLibFile::~GZLibFile() Address = 0x1159ee15 (filename not found) [in D:\Games\Origin Games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]
GMatrix2D::EncloseTransform() Address = 0x115404aa (filename not found) [in D:\Games\Origin Games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]

[480.694] Critical: Windows GetLastError: The operation completed successfully. (0)

@Selvator  sorry to hear that. ☹️

Please go to your "Dokumente\BioWare\Mass Effect\Logs" folder and load up the latest logfile. 

Did you made changes to one of the INI files of ME1?

Look in the in Game sound menu if Hardware sound is enabled, if so disable it.

Subsequent go to your  "D:\Games\Origin Games\Mass Effect\Binaries" folder and set ME1 to the compatibility mode for Win XP SP3.  > Test

I made only 1 change to the ini file and that was to fix the face texture of garrrus.

The game is already set to windows XP SP 3.

I will change the hardware sound to disabled and try again in the afternoon.

I was also able to contact EA about this.

They told me to reinstall the game, clear the Origin cache and even told me to create a new admin account for windows.

I will try all of these steps and let you know if it works 🙂

@Selvator

Yup, Origin cache and new installation can't hurt. 

Make a backup of the INI with the fix. You want to rule out any possible error source.

Also disable the windows XP SP 3 entry if the game doesn't woks with it, the game should work on Win 8.1 without the compatibility mode.

Do you have that one mission in your quest log about scoring some drugs for a guy who's standing right outside Flux? If that mission has been accepted but not completed, GPF errors can occur randomly.

Well I just tested the game again, new installation, hardware sound disabled etc.

The good news is the ran for about 2 hours before it crashed again, so that's a new record.
Unfortunately the crashing is still there when talking to an NPC.

The quest about scoring drugs for a guy is one I have already done so that shouldn't crash the game, in fact it crashed before I even got there but it was worth a shot to ask 🙂

This was the latest log file:

[13724.812] Critical: appError called:
[13724.812] Critical: Rendering thread exception:
General protection fault!

History: GZLibFile::~GZLibFile() Address = 0x1159e9c5 (filename not found) [in C:\games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]
GMatrix2D::EncloseTransform() Address = 0x1154005a (filename not found) [in C:\games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]

[13724.812] Critical: Windows GetLastError: The operation completed successfully. (0)

As you can see I also installed the game on a different drive for a change.

Yes I did disable the windows XP compatibility setting and cleared my INI settings, I forgot to mention that in my previous post.

I will try my onboard soundcard tomorrow and see if that helps.

I have contacted EA support again but they have now forwarded my case to a specialist who may help.

They first told me to create a "bug report" here but this game won't be patched any time soon, besides many people play this game without crashing on Windows 8.1 so there should be a fix out there somewhere 🙂

@Selvator

Yea, I also played it on 8.1 and now on Windows 10 without problems. That's why I think it's a Hardware or driver problem.

Small update:

I have done some more searching on the web.

and found out the windows Even Viewer gives some more details into this problem , this is the log result:

Faulting application name: MassEffect.exe, version: 1.2.20608.0, time stamp: 0x4a55fea1
Faulting module name: wrap_oal.dll_unloaded, version: 2.1.8.1, time stamp: 0x46927487
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0002f9e0
Faulting process id: 0x1d40
Faulting application start time: 0x01d1c898e03b09f6
Faulting application path: C:\games\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe
Faulting module path: wrap_oal.dll
Report Id: 196e32a0-34ac-11e6-8429-94de807d3b59
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

I read somewhere else that I could apply the following fix:

"1) in /program files/Mass Effect/Binaries locate the OpenAL32.dll and wrap_oal.dll files

2) Rename OpenAL32.dll to OpenAL32.bak

3) Rename wrap_oal.dll to OpenAL32.dll

4) Launch as Admin by using the MassEffect.exe"

Before I do that I will now test using only my onboard soundcard.

I am now using standard Realtek drivers and I am no longer using my Xonar U7 and will see what happens.

If it still crashes I will use the above fix and see if that changes anything.

On another side note, the Specialist at EA is a dead end, he won't help me, this is the respond I got:

"thanks for the update.

Sadly since this game was released so long ago, there is not any developers around that we can work with in order to get this up and running. That team simply does not exist anymore so it is difficult for us to support the game outside of the normal troubleshooting steps we have already tried.

Now with that being said, I do want to do everything I can to help you out. I can get you a newer title that we have and add it to your account for Free today. This is a list of all the games that I can offer you for Pc. Go ahead and take a look at them and shoot me back an email and I will be happy to get one of these games added for us.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Sims 4
Mass Effect 3
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare

I look forward to your reply and working with you to get this resolved"

I think it's nice that they are being honest about this though, the game is just to old to help me with this problem it seems, hopefully some day this game will get a "remastered" version so they can support it again.

The fact that they allow me to get a game for free is really nice though, I would easily trade in ANY offer just to prevent the game from crashing but hey it's a nice gesture.

I will update here once more when I have done testing the above stuff.

Sorry for the late reply.

Due to some personal stuff that's been happening lately I haven't had much time to play or to test.

However I have some VERY good news.

It seems that the crashing has stopped, after the last troubleshooting tests I have played about 13 more hours without a single crash.

At the end these 3 steps are probably what solved it:

1. Use my Onboard sound instead of my dedicated soundcard.

2. Disable Raptr

3. Disable my MSI Afterburner overclocking.

I completely forget about the last 2 steps.

I don't like Raptr at all, it causes issues for more games lately like crashing on startup for example, I only use it to "farm" points, disabled everything else in that program but I know it's bloatware and you may hate me for it :P

I also forgot about MSI afterburner, it never gave me problems but when I disabled it, it got rid of more crashing, I don't use the overlay of any of these programs but Mass Effect didn't like these.

Thanks for all the help you have given me to resolve this issue, in all honesty you were a lot more helpful then the "specialists" from EA, you should get paid by them instead :P

Hi @Selvator

Good to hear that it works, and Thanks for the XP.

I think that the renaming of the DLL also played a roll, but be that as it may the important thing is that it works now.