Re: Game crashes to black screen

@kittell17  It's not a crash report, it's a log of hardware data.  You can try attaching it to a post—it's too big to just put in the text body—but that often corrupts the log.  If you do attach it, change the extension to .txt (as in, hwinfolog.txt, not hwinfolog.csv.txt).  But if my log reader can't open it, as has happened before, you'll need to upload it elsewhere instead.

For Reliability Monitor reports, they're short enough to put in the body of a reply.  The spoiler button is with the other formatting buttons; it's a triangle with an exclamation point.  Highlight the text you want to put under the spoiler and click the button.

@puzzlezaddict 

I tried to copy and paste the Reliability thing via spoiler, but it was too large and far exceeds the max word length here. I am sorry for all this inconvenience, truly.

@kittell17  Do you mean the hwinfo log?  Yes, it's far too long to paste into a reply, and I couldn't use it in that format anyway.  Please attach it to a post, as described earlier, or else upload it to a third party site (Google Drive, Dropbox, Mediafire, etc.) and link it here.

A single Reliability Monitor entry should be about 20 lines long.  (I'm looking at one from Origin right now, and it's exactly 20 lines.)  If you see an error, click "View technical details," copy those 15 lines, and paste them here.

@puzzlezaddict  Nope. I don't mean the HWininfo log because I have not had the time to do your steps yet. Believe it or not, my Reliability Monitor entry was far larger than 20 lines long, and this was only an entry from this week. Thinking about it, I think I can select specific errors. I'm sorry, I've never used this feature before. I was thinking you needed the whole thing, similar to DXdiag. But there were no crash reports on the day the black screen occured, only Origin being unable to connect because my network was being a pain. Did you want to see those?

However, I worry about the security integrity of those third party sites. I don't feel comfortable using them let alone sharing something through an account that might become compromised.

Is there another way? Maybe I can zip up the files and attach it that way? I mean, I will also see if I can squish them in a spoiler. Don't worry, I will figure this out and have you look into them. 😉

@kittell17  I was only asking for the info from an individual error.  As in, click the column for today, click one one error listed at the bottom, choose "View technical details," and copy the information on the next page.  Here's a guide:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2014/09/critical-events.html

If the single entry is really that long, copy it, open Notepad, paste the info, save, and attach the .txt file to a post here, as you did with your dxdiag.  But don't bother until the next time something happens while you play.

Again, if you do end up running hwinfo, you can try saving the log as a .txt file (hwinfolog.txt, not hwinfolog.csv.txt) and attaching it to a post here.  It doesn't always work though.  If it doesn't, you'll need to provide it some other way.

@puzzlezaddict Ah! Gotcha! My apologies. I have not done troubleshooting like this and hope my last response here did not sound curt. I thank you for the clarification, for in my mind I stupidly thought that you wanted the whole thing. Why? I have no clue. I am not that techy and get cross eyed with some steps, my bad. Tell you what, if there are any more errors and I capture them as you instructed, I will certainly post it here. Perhaps I may upload that Nvidia driver error, if it's not corrected later today.

So...to be continued. 🙂

@puzzlezaddict Before I forget I uploaded that Nvidia app installation issue. Regardless if I have everything set to C or D drive I get the same error message. 

@kittell17  You should be installing Control Panel to the location of your Nvidia driver, which should be C:\Program Files\Nvidia Corporation.  If the driver isn't there, please let me know its full file path.

By the way, you can take a screenshot by hitting Windows key-shift-S and dragging your cursor over the section of screen you want to capture.  Then open Paint and crtl-V to paste the image.

@puzzlezaddict I got the Nvidia thing fixed as far as I can tell...for now. When I saw the tech that built my PC we did a lot of troubleshooting and Nvidia was definately on that list. He got rid of that error, so that problem has been erased as of now, unless the error somehow pops up again. If it ever occurs again (touch wood) I will let you know. I took those screenshots at his shop while we did some additional things.

The tech guy ran a software (fur something) to test my video card to its full capacity. I would have provided the name and more info of my post here but I accidentally forgot my HDMI cord at his shop. The cord (or cable) to my monitor was another suspect that could have caused the black screen. I was due for a replacement today but plumb forgot it as I was hauling my tower back home. The shop is closed now until tomorrow due to limited hours because of Covid.  So sometime tomorrow I will upload you some details as I can.

There was no errors generated regarding the video card test, and we ensured everything was up to date there. I have to see how my computer runs in coming days to say for certain. The tech guy took 2 screenshots which I will upload tomorrow. This relates to my black screen crash. Can't remember the exact name of the error except it has to do with screen capturing? You will see the source of that error in an upcoming upload.

Then we went a bit further. In an post on EA Answers, posted some years ago regarding black screens during Sims 4, it was traced to the Origin app. It's in applications and turning off the feature that enables Origin to run while you are playing a game, since there has been issues with that in the past. Not sure if this would correct it indefinitely, but the screenshot tomorrow should coincide with this Origin thing and Windows 10...I think. So that's all for now. 🤒

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

I have returned! This is a continuation of my last post here. I have uploaded and attached 2 jpg files regarding a "Game DVR" error that my PC tech found during our troubleshooting the other day. Upon seeing this it became evident that the likely problem was in fact Origin. So my tech also pointed me to an old EA Answers thread that talks about a similar issue with Sims 4 and black screen crashes. Here is the step that we did:

I uploaded and attached a screenshot of what I meant. So, the other thing could also have been my HDMI monitor cable, which I had replaced and that my PC does not have the capabilities to do video capturing or something as in the "Game DVR 2" jpg reference. We also performed a stress test on my video card using a program called "FurMark". No problems there even though my video card my not be the best. I have a feeling that the culprit could be the Origin in-game thing, but to know for sure I would have to play Sims 4 again, which I have not had the time to do yet because of my birthday. Before I saw my tech, however, I had the Origin in-game option turned on. So yea, there you go. I might have solved my own problem, not sure. I just want to thank you @puzzlezaddict for all your assistance and support. 🙂 Touch wood, let's see how things go and that I do not experience any other technical issues with Origin, Sims or my new PC, moving forward. 

@kittell17  I could have sworn you mentioned disabling Origin in-game in one of your PMs, but maybe not.  (I'm too tired to go back and check right now.)  I haven't heard of Origin in-game specifically causing the issues you've described, although it's certainly a nuisance in many cases.  If disabling it helps though, that's an easy fix.  Just make sure it doesn't reenable itself after an Origin update, as it often likes to do.

Also, (looks at clock) Happy Birthday.

@puzzlezaddict 

Thank you so much for that birthday wish! 🙂🥳🥳 Party on!

Regarding that Origin in-game thing, I am praying that this is the master solution to the problem, but you can never be certain. If you don't hear back from me here or in a PM or another new thread for the same issue, or whatever, then it works! Time will tell. Take care and get some sleep! 😉