# [SOLVED] Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450



## pniky (Jul 22, 2008)

Dear Sirs,

The most amazing thing happened to me. I had the new "Mass Effect" [Sci-Fi geek even at 46 years old here!] game which ran smoothly on my old system; upgraded it almost entirely and now it crashes Blue Screen a moment than restarts my computer whenever I try to launch it. MORE! Reinstalled on the old structure it still runs.

*Old Structure:* 
OS = XP-SP2
Proc = Core2 Duo E6600 2.4G FSB 800
MB = ASUS P5B-DeLuxe FSB 1066, 800
Mem = 2GB [4 x 512M] Kingston ValueRam 800Mhz
Video = Leadtek PX8800GTS TDH 320M
Sound = OnBoard [probably Realtek AC97]
HDD = Seagate ST3320620NS
Power = Enermax 500W Silent [32A for 12V]

*New Structure:*
OS = XP-SP3
Proc = Core2 Quad Q9450 2.66G FSB 1333
MB = ASUS P5E3-DeLuxe FSB 1333
Mem = 2GB [2 x 1G] Kingston ValueRam 1333Mhz
Video = Leadtek PX8800GTS TDH 320M
Sound = OnBoard [probably Realtek AC97]
HDD = Seagate ST3320620NS
Power = Enermax 620W Silent [40A for 12]

Let's see how it goes thru your 10 steps:

1] Game Specs - RECOMMENDED ONES:

Operating System: Windows XP or Vista
Processor: 2.6+GHZ Intel or 2.4+GHZ AMD
Memory: 2 Gigabyte Ram
Video Card:NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or higher.
Hard Drive Space: 12 Gigabytes
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compat. – 5.1 sound card recommended

It is clear that both old [running] system and new [resetting] system pass even the RECOMMENDED game specs.

2] The computer restarts itself by the discussed problem. But to be sure, i have donne myself a complete shutdown, 10 minutes pause and startup again - the same thing happened.

3] The game is too new to have any mods, you know... But, no, I don't have any mods, so "3" does not apply.

4] No download or instant messenger active and I've disabled Kaspersky; no other notable background activity - new system man; after XP deployment, drivers and antivirus install I proceeded dirrectly to MassEffect install. So the system was ABSOLUTELY CLEAN.

5] The game installed it's own DirectX9.0c [October 2007 - if I remember correctly] as it did on the old [working] configuration.

6] The drivers were last issue, just installed, as I previously stated. The video was 97.something - still the latest driver on Leadtek's site. And with the same driver it worked at reinstall on the old structure.

7] No patches were issued by BioWare - I checked even BEFORE reading your 10 points program.

8] Checked - all OK [although I could tell in advance, no one touched it but ME - not even my wife!]

9] Reinstalled twice on the new configuration, still the same; reinstalled on the old one as a test, IT WORKS! But I need it working on the new one, as the old one is soon to be for sale.

10] System specs are at the start of the post and this is the only game with troubles. I reinstalled also "Halo 2" and "Grand Prix Legends" [with all patches and updates] and they work OK. Only "Mass Effect" is doing the nasty thing.

*To recap:* When I start it, it shows the splash screen with an hourglass cursor still movable - known behaviour from old config - but instead of starting after a long time, it first freezes even the cursor, than it shows the Blue Screen Of Death for around half a second, than it reboots without any effects on the hardware or the operating system.

*OBSERVATIONS:*
- thought it's due to SP3 [old one had only SP2], that's why I test-reinstalled on the old configuration which has now applied SP3 and IT STILL WORKED.
- both old config and new config have now fresh reinstall of XP-SP3 WITH ALL NEW DRIVERS, so turning to old drivers seems to be out of the question.

I wonder if the game doesn't get lost between the 4 cores of the processor... This seems the only significant difference, beside the new X38 chipset and the increased FSB of the MoBo.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

Hi, welcome to TSF

To see the BSOD without the computer restarting, go to Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Startup & Recovery Settings button > System Failure and remove the checkmark from 'Automatically restart'.

The full BSOD message and error code will help pinpoint the cause of the problem.

Also, run memtest on one stick of RAM at a time to test for any errors.

Direct link to pre-compiled bootable ISO (click the link to download the zipped ISO file)
*http://www.memtest.org/download/2.00/memtest86+-2.00.iso.zip*

Unzip the file and burn the ISO to CD (as an image, not as data) to create a bootable CD. *ImgBurn* is ideal for this. Reboot and go into the BIOS. Change the boot order to 'CD first', save settings, insert the CD and reboot. This will start the program. Run for one RAM stick at a time (very important, to prevent false readings) for at least 10 passes each and post back with the results. Any errors at all means faulty RAM.

Have you made any changes from default/optimized in BIOS? Voltages, clock speeds, etc.

See what your PSU voltages are like in BIOS. They should be within +-5% (eg. +12V range = 11.4-12.6V). Then see what you get during gameplay (any 3D fullscreen game) using *SpeedFan* or *PC Wizard*.

It could also be a codec problem, as I think the opening scene in Mass Effect is a short video clip. This should be handled by Bink, which is installed by the game, but there might be a problem with it.


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## pniky (Jul 22, 2008)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

Ok, let's start with the collateral other little things:

- MEMTEST: I have an older one on a diskette, MemTest86 called, but it tests well the 2G of my RAM. When I got the new components I kept the Motherboard+Processor+RAM+Diskette a whole continuous 16 hours on MemTest with absolutely no error. Don't remember how many passes were donne, but clearly there were more than 20. I forgot to mention this at the observations in my first message...

- No overclock or other BIOS changes, I don't do such things as a principle. I graduated electronics, so I know what one can do to such devices by pushing them to the limit.

- The power source is absolutely new. Enermax Liberty 620W with cable-management. The voltages are4 in parameters:
05 -> 05.11
12 -> 12.04

Now about the BSOD message. It says that the error is generated by the nv4_disp file which is "stuck in an infinite loop". I guess this means a nvidia file, huh? I checked the driver downloaded from leadtek and it's "WinXP_9794.exe". And still they have it on their site as the last driver. AND IT WORKED WITH THE E6600 PROCESSOR AND DDR2 RAM!!!


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

nv4_disp is, as you say, an nvidia driver problem. What was the BSOD Stop Code? 

The latest XP 32bit driver on nvidia's website for the 8800GTS is *GeForce 175.19* (winxp_175.19_WHQL, 9-July-2008). The version you're using is from 2007. See what happens with this one before we try anything else.

As your card is the older version (pre-G92 chipset), it might be worth trying the driver that came on your graphics card CD, or an older version from nvidia's website instead of Leadtek's.

When you migrated your components to the new motherboard, did you format and reinstall Windows, or do a repair install, or just carry on using your exsting installation?

Did you follow the instructions to uninstall the existing graphics driver before updating, and did you install the new driver in VGA/Safe Mode with antivirus disabled?


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## pniky (Jul 22, 2008)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

*Short Note* [as I am at work now]

When I went to the new MoBo I had also a new HDD although the same type as the old one - the old config has to be sold COMPLETE. I kept only the VideoCard from the old machine. So I made a brand new instalation. And the order is WinXP [new OEM licence], MoBo chipset inf, Network driver, Sound Driver, Video driver, WindowsUpdate, than took NortonGhost2003 image snapshot of system partition, THAN Antivirus. So new video driver on new instalation was deployed before antivirus but in normal operating mode. On the old configuration I wiped out the system partition and repost the existing .GHO image with {XP->MoBo_inf->net_drv->video_drv->Winupd} than WindowsUpdate and MassEffect. Took Video Card with me [old sys at work to be sold] for the test.

The original drivers - as I browsed the Leadtek CD - was W:\Drivers\32bit\WinXP_2K\9728 [build 11/16/2006] The other folder [93.51, 10/06/2006] does not list the 8800 card in the modes.txt file

BUT[!!!] on the old structure I just replaced 9728 with the 9794 [no antivirus, SafeMode, cleaning after previous install - the whole procedure] and MassEffect STILL WORKS!!!

So, if 175.19 doesn't work, is it worth yet to try the 97.28?!?

Oh, and about the BSOD code, the only figures on the screen were:
0x000000EA (0x8892D020, 0x899838C8, 0xBACEFCBC, 0x00000001) - I wrote them down but forgot to put them in my previous message.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

You've tested RAM, installed chipset drivers, installed old and new graphics drivers, set BIOS to Optimized, checked PSU voltages, installed everything in the correct order......

If you google this error message, there are hundreds of forum posts going as far back as 2004 from people who have tried all the advice listed above as well as other methods not relevant to your specs (ie. AGP cards, older specs, etc). Most of them fail to fix the problem and have to replace or upgrade the card. Nvidia's response is to recommend updating the drivers, and that's about it.

Let's try a few more things before looking at the BIOS in more detail. Go to Control Panel > Display > Settings > Advanced button > Troubleshoot tab, disable Write Combining and drop the Hardware Acceleration slider a notch at a time, testing Mass Effect after each one.

Go to Start > Run > dxdiag > Display tab, enable the DirectX Acceleration buttons and run the 2 tests. Any problems listed in the Notes box?



pniky said:


> So, if 175.19 doesn't work, is it worth yet to try the 97.28?!?


As this is most likely a driver problem, it's worth trying a few different driver versions, following the correct procedure each time. You could also try *Omega*, which is a well-respected tweaked version of the official nvidia driver aimed at gamers. Its main purpose is to give an increase in framerates and image quality, but it might also fix your error.


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## pniky (Jul 22, 2008)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

Sorry,

Urgent family business keep me from making other tests now. For not being inconsiderate to Koala or other readers, I dropped this note to let you know that I will post here even if the problem will be solved, to let all of you know how it was donne.

THank You


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

I hope it's nothing too serious. Thanks for posting back. I'm subscribed to this thread so if you still need help we can pick up again whenever you're ready.


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## pniky (Jul 22, 2008)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

Everything donne:

- guests went away, entertainment obligations finished, so I could return to my beloved MassEffect

- quick but correct install [uninstalled old drives, reboot in safe-mode...] of the 175.19 nvidia drivers and - SURPRISE!!! - the game runs smoothly. Remember that I said *"if 175.19 doesn't work"*, trying to enlarge my options on drivers to try. So actually 175.19 DID work after all...

Probably Nvidia were not prepared for X38 chipset and|or quad-core processors in that 97.94 drivers. I wonder why Leadtek doesn't update on their download pages; I must write to tip them and help other users thru this too.

THANX FOR ALL YOUR ATTENTION AND TIME.

:beerchug:ray::4-clap::wiggle2::spinning:


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: Mass Effect doesn't start on my new Intel Core2 Quad Q9450*

Good news! Glad you got it fixed. :smile:


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