Random Crash Problem: Fixed Exe Available (Feedback wanted)

**Thomas** · 05-10-2010, 06:43 PM

I am trying to work out what makes the game randomly crash and since I cannot replicate it on my computer I need your help!

The bug(s?) that I am investigating is the one that has been reported in these threads:
http://frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-3305.html
http://frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-3272.html

There are two ways in which the bug happens:
1) A random crash that happens every couple of minutes in the game.
2) A crash that happens when opening a door leading a new level by using a crowbar in the incinerator level.
Both bugs are fixed by applying an 1.03 (that Jens has been supplying).

Please do not respond this thread on less you have one of these problems!

Please download the following zip file and unzip it in the redist directory of Penumbra Overture (where Penumbra.exe is at), replacing the Penumbra.exe.
Before doing so, make a backup copy of the normal Penumbra.exe!
http://www.unbirthgame.com/Penumbra.zip

Please reply and tell me how it works!

If the above exe does not work, try this one, but please try to other first.
[attachment=273]

**travis** · 05-16-2010, 05:38 PM

Works perfectly for me. Initially, my game was crashing upon opening doors. I replaced my libvorbis.dll file and updated my graphics drivers. The game seemed to be working, but upon opening a door to a new room, such as the office, the game would halt upon loading. This new exe completely fixed that problem, and I have yet to encounter any problems. Thank you so much!

**Coldspire** · 05-17-2010, 02:47 AM

Hi, Thomas,

My Steam-installed copy of Overture crashes similar to your 2) above, when opening a door to a new level. Actually, I've tried running the game on two different hardware sets, a desktop and a notebook, and the same crash (same as far as BlackBox reports it, at least) occurs on both systems but at different times. I ran the game using the updated executable on both machines.

On the Vista desktop, the game crashes after opening the door to the Incinerator section. The "Loading" screen appears for a couple seconds before crashing.

On the notebook (a MacBook Pro running Windows in Boot Camp), I can actually enter the Incinerator section, and even complete it. But after using the crowbar on the door to exit the Incinerator area, the game displays the narrative text while loading and crashes after a couple seconds.

Let me know if you need any additional information about the above. Actually, thanks to the Humble Bundle I now have a license for the OS X version too, so I might try that next.

**Thomas** · 05-17-2010, 07:19 AM

Coldspire: did the fixed exe work?

**travis** · 05-17-2010, 02:39 PM

i've noticed a couple bizarre things, and i don't know if it's the result of the new exe. one, lights seem to be really speckled. a random set of pixels will be green or gray or something, and they'll switch around every second. also, in the second part of the mine, i'm getting what looks like a debug window or something. in the top-left part of my screen, when facing certain objects (usually the giant shipping crates), the screen will pop up for a couple seconds. nothing severe, but i figured i'd let you know.

**Coldspire** · 05-18-2010, 03:11 AM

(05-17-2010, 07:19 AM)Thomas Wrote: Coldspire: did the fixed exe work?

With the fixed exe, I can get into the Incinerator, but it still crashes when attempting to enter the Shelter. (I don't know why I couldn't get into the Incinerator before today. Maybe Steam was reverifying and redownloading the original file when I wasn't paying attention.)

Here's the odd thing now: I used the Humble Bundle installation to test using a version of the game that didn't auto-update (a la Steam). And that version works without first copying in the updated exe -- I was able to pass through the Incinerator and finish the game without issue. But I hopped back to the Steam version (with fixed exe) to test, and that one still crashes when trying to enter the Shelter. Same save files and settings -- just different installations. (Ran a diff on the two redist directories: only differences besides text files are Penumbra.exe and wrap_oal.dll.)

I'm sure this seems easily dismissible. Maybe I just haven't been careful somewhere. Undecided

**LucasG** · 05-21-2010, 01:22 AM

Hi, I am having the same problem as 2) however i never had an issue with 1) I tried the exe and it didnt work I am getting the same thing as coldspire.

My game crashes to the black box with the following error:
penumbra.exe cause an EXCEPTION_ACCESS+VIOLATION in module penumbra.exe at 001B:0058FBE0

This is whats in the stack trace:
001B:0058FBE0 penumbra.exe
001B:0059697B penumbra.exe

Im running windows XP and have an Nvidia Graphics card in SLI as well as a Soundblaster X-fi sound card, though i'm not sure if any of that is important. Oh I also am running the steam version of the game when this issue occurs though I have not tested the Humble Bundle of the game as coldspire did. Personally I think the root here is steam I based on that, I dont know if steam automatically re-updates the altered exe back to the original when you try to run it or not, it is possible. maybe I will try putting steam in offline mode before trying it again.

Also, good luck on finding the fix for this, was looking forward to finally finishing this.

Edit: Yeah just tried it in offline mode still nothing, heh. Well it was worth a shot.

**Thomas** · 05-21-2010, 07:58 AM

LucasG: Have you tried turning off SLI?

**LucasG** · 05-21-2010, 08:24 AM

(05-21-2010, 07:58 AM)Thomas Wrote: LucasG: Have you tried turning off SLI?

Hi Thomas,

Im not sure how I would go about doing that seeing as it is built in to the geforce gtx 295 architecture (I only have one card but it has two GPUs in SLI within it). I will look it up and see if I can find out how to disable the SLI for the card and tell you what happened if anything.

Edit: Ok so that was alot simplier than I had anticipated, it was disabled the same way as any other SLI. It still crashed in the same way after disabling SLI and after replacing the exe again to ensure that nothing changed. I still recieve the black box error message I posted above and as before I see the loading screen with the text after opening the door with the crowbar for a fraction of a second before it minimizes and gives me the black box. I have a laptop with vista on it I will try to load it on tomorrow and see if the same thing happens.

**LucasG** · 05-22-2010, 08:57 PM

Ok so after Applying the exe to the steam version of the game I loaded to my laptop and copying over the save game at the incinerator I was able to get past the door with the crowbar without any crashing. I dont know what the issue is with the install on my tower with windows XP is but at least now I finished the game Smile

The main difference between the two systems is the OS (vista 32 bit on the laptop which worked and XP 32 bit on the tower which didn't) other than that, the graphics on my laptop is a geforce 8600 GT Mobile with 256 MB dedicated memory and as before on my tower I have a GTX 295 and a core i7 975 Extreme edition on the tower with a core 2 duo on the laptop. everything else (whats left) is pretty simmilar, so I dont really know what the issue is comming from here. I am however satisfied that I got to finally complete the game so if nothing can be done so be it.