Skyrim crashes. Any advice

[Joseph Harrison]

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you said you updated your graphics drivers and like i mentioned before sometimes a game crashes because of the sound card (some games have a higher sample rate by default than your on board soundchip can handle). its just a try if it fixes your problem.

but since you said it only crashes when you reach a certain level (lvl 25), it is more likely that one of your mods is causing the trouble.

perhaps you installed a mod that is adjusted to the main game plus one or several expansion DLCs.

i am not sure if you can access the dawnguard dlc quest only when you reach a certain level, but if that is so, a mod is the major suspect in your crash.

the mod might be "thinking", you reached level x and that is the start of y quest from dlc z and since it cant find the content, it conflicts itself and crashes the whole game.

so please tell us what mods you are using (we wont judge..) and please start using a mod manager.

I am currently using a Mod Manager and the mods I'm using are

Spoiler

A Quality World Map with Roads
Dark Souls Elite Knight Armor
SKSE
Sky UI
Unofficial Skyrim Patch
Iron Armor with Sleeves
Kill them Generals
Sounds of Skyrim Dugeons and Wilds
Bandits Eyepatch
Saber fur backpack
Iorveth Light Armor
Nordic Spears
Vanguard Armor
Viking Armor
Warchief Armor
Bandolier Bags and Pouches
Moonpath to Elyswer
Tundra Defense
Walk
Conjure Ethereal Horse
Amazing Follower Tweaks
Water and Terrain Enhancement Redux
House Map Markers
Ramp of 7,000 Splinters

 

[Groenteman]

If nothing at all works, then chances are your Skyrim has the same problem as mine does and that it wont ever work.

Mine crashes once the memory adress reaches a certain size, usualy around 1.3gb, regardless of large memory awareness. Sound like yours does about the same, skyrim character saves increase in memory load as you progress. I presume your crashing when traveling around the outside world? (not fast travel, just walking there)

I have made a thread about this on the Bethesda tech support forum, none of the solutions there worked (I have seen none here I didnt also see there) and there were actualy quite a lot of people who had this problem.

The only reponse from Bethesda staff was to update drivers, turns out my driver updater was borked, still didnt solve anything though.


Anyhow, I have spent about a month trying to get the damn thing to work, heres a few things I came up with that maybe do work for you:

- Remove skyrim folder, as well as the config files found in C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local\Skyrim and C:\Users\(username)\Documents\My Games\Skyrim (I hate it when programs do this)

- Reducing mod load has not fixed the problem for me, but it does keep it back for a little longer.

- To test whether or not the problem was fixed I went outside and used the 'showracemenu' command, which forces the game to load up a fairly large pile of data, and then minimised and checked with taskmamager to see if the memory adress was larger than the size that made it crash. So far, it has either been smaller or crashed the game so I cant tell whether or not this would still crash a perfectely funtional game.

- As I said before, lots of people have this problem, with and without mods. Generaly, to see whether or not it mods that fudge your game, see if the crashes happen due to the memory adress problem I mentioned which usualy happen while you move around in the overworld (or showracemenu).

- Also note that a lot of mods persist in save files even after you remove them (particularly mods that use scripting). Start a new character to find problems there.

- For me and most the people I saw on the Bethesda forums this problem came up around the time Dawnguard was released (which came with an update to the main game for everyone). Perhaps when the dragon DLC finaly finishes its crooked exclusivity deal another update will fix it? Maybe wishful thinking, Bethesda does not seem to care.

- This is not a problem specific to one GPU. I have an ATI 4890 2gb, seen plenty others.

- Bethesda forum thread: http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1405600-dawnguard-results-in-crashfest-game-freezing-or-ctd-ing-whenever-memory-adress-reaches-13gb/page__fromsearch__1


... that got long. Oh well, hope it helps.

 

[Rawne1980]

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Yeah, I downloaded BOSS and I've run it and done the steps its asked of me and I downloaded TES5Edit and cleaned my files with that.

One last quick question how do you use Wyrebash after you install it. I've been watching GophersVids on how to use all this stuff and he hasn't made a video for Wyre Bash so I'm a bit in the dark.

Found a vid for you, it's easier than me going through it because I really suck at explaining things and you would probably end up setting fire to your game by listening to me.

Also found a pic guide which might be helpful for s step by step.

I'll just point out it's good bits though because it isn't the easiest thing to use but it is well worth it.

If any mods screw up you can restore your game to before you added them.
You can exceed the 255 mod limit by merging mods (only useful if your a mod whore like me).
It makes the vast majority of mods work together.

http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/35230
http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/38857

The guides are in the Oblivion section but it's the same tool used for Skyrim just updated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC0dOo0vvWg

I did notice in your mod list you have a couple of large ones. Chances are one of them had an error which was screwing up your game.

Hopefully with BOSS and TES5edit you shouldn't have any trouble but Wrye Bash is a great tool if just because it fixes your game if anything breaks.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/1840

 

[Joseph Harrison]

snip

Does this only happen when you get Dawnguard because I don't have Dawnguard but that sounds similar to whats happening on my computer

snip

So I did all this and it seems to have fixed my Skyrim a bit. Instead of crashing every two minutes and pausing every few seconds it Crashes every 15-25 minutes and pauses every minute or two.

My only question is can wrye bash fix a borked skyrim save or can it only help if you've been using it from the start, before you installed any mods.

 

[Doom972]

After loading the game without any mods, save your game on a new file (don't quicksave), exit to desktop, run the game (again without mods) and load that save. See if you still get crashes. The point of it is making a save that has no mod-related data. I hope this helps.

 

[Rawne1980]

snip

Does this only happen when you get Dawnguard because I don't have Dawnguard but that sounds similar to whats happening on my computer

snip

So I did all this and it seems to have fixed my Skyrim a bit. Instead of crashing every two minutes and pausing every few seconds it Crashes every 15-25 minutes and pauses every minute or two.

My only question is can wrye bash fix a borked skyrim save or can it only help if you've been using it from the start, before you installed any mods.

Once a save is screwed it's corrupt, no amount of sacrificing to the gods of "make my game work NOW *****" will fix it.

You need to start all over again from scratch.

 

[Groenteman]

Does this only happen when you get Dawnguard because I don't have Dawnguard but that sounds similar to whats happening on my computer

I havnt tried the game without Dawnguard, but I suspect the crashes came with the update released for the whole game around the time Dawnguard came out in which case you could be having the same thing.

And yeah, savegames with bugged mods are a massive pain in the ass. Make a permanent save before adding any mods.

 

[Saviordd1]

1. Remove Skyrim
2. Install Oblivion
3. Play the much superior game

Oblivion isn't 'superior' in every way. Combat is better in Skyrim. So are the graphics, even if they used more bland colors. Not to mention the main plot, and the random dungeons. Npc's too have a bit more personality than in Oblivion, if only a little.

Yes Oblivion has a better skill system, better magic, and better models. But it's not 100% superior.

Graphics don't mean shit, especially since it's mod-able.

The main-plot of Skyrim sucked as much as Oblivion did, it was just presented better; and ah yes, the random dungeons.
Will I get Dragur or Bandits? I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT.
Also, he didn't say superior in every way, he said "Much superior", there is a difference.

1. Remove Skyrim
2. Install Oblivion
3. Play the much superior game

Agree 100%, Skyrim was a good game, but Oblivion was way better.


OT: Honestly I'd reinstall your game. That's a weird bug that's not typical and can be chocked up to Bethesda's QA team being run my monkeys.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Sorry if this has been mentioned but consider using the LARGE ADDRESS AWARENESS FIX. This is assuming that you have more than 2GB of RAM (Which, if you don't, then may doG have mercy on your soul.)

Bethesda added that in as part of the 1.3.10.0 patch, which was released December 20th..... 2011

Will I get Dragur or Bandits? I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT.

You mean like how Oblivion was "WILL I GET BANDITS OR ALYEID UNDEAD?" At least Skyrim added Falmer, and Dwemer machines to the mix.

 

[barbzilla]

--snip--

--again--

Sorry for the confusion, but just to clear that up, I was referring to the load order being irrelevant, not the missing mods. I know that not loading a requied mod can cause crashes, but changing the order of disabled mods will (to my knowlage at least) have no effect of the game.

Still, the load order of enabled mods is vital as a bad order can dozens of problems. However I don't see how it a bad load order can cause problems like the OP's. It sounds more like he's installed a bad mod or has hardware that is not fully compatable.

Sorry for the way late reply, but... You are correct. Load order on disabled mods doesn't make a lick of difference. I was only pointing out potential causes for errors. For example if he sets up a bunch of mods to load (especially texture mods that can overwrite files), if the load order is off, it can (very rarely) delete a file that was needed when it is over riding the file.

 

[xefaros]

So I've had the urge to play Skyrim recently but I've been having problems. Basically the game will play fine for a few minutes then it will start to stop randomly just for like a second or two then resume. The audio will continue to play but the screen won't change for like two seconds. After doing this like five or so times the game will suddenly crash to desktop. No error message or anything just crashes.
The weird thing is that this happened with one of my characters at lvl 25 so after the game became virtually unplayable I decided to start a new game and see if that did anything. And oddly enough that worked and the game stopped crashing until that new character reached lvl 25 then his file started crashing. I started a new file and that one won't crash but I don't want to just get this guy to 25 for him to start crashing.
Anyone else experience this problem and know what to do, I checked the Steam forums but no one else seems to be experiencing the same thing.

TL;DR
PC Skyrim game continues to crash once characters reach lvl 25 no matter the graphics settings

Hardware thing,Your hardware is a piece of trace and you might have a memory incorrectly placed or burnt out

 

[Aariana]

Sorry if this has been suggested already, but have you looked in event viewer? You say that it crashed with no errors, but is there anything listed in there that just didn't pop up at the time? The reason I ask this is because I once had a faulty video card that acted in quite the same way, but for Dungeon Defenders. It would freeze up for a second, and if I Ctrl+Alt+Del to pull up the task manager, then tab back in, it would work fine. If I left it frozen long enough, it would just eventually crash with a display driver error (but it wouldn't always pop up on desktop). I also had this same behaviour happen in Kingdoms of Amalur, Skyrim, and Saints Row The Third.

Might be something worth taking a peek at.