Games Discussion & Community Multiplayer Matches

[sqitso]

Well I decided to put this in a seperate thread as I know there are some Vista users here. For those of you that don't know. Stalker under Vista 32 or 64 crashes a lot when dynamic lighting is set to full and very high res is set. This is apparently due to  a 32-bit application without LARGEADDRESSAWARE not being able to see and use more then 2 GB on any Microsoft OS (32 or 64 bit).  This doesn't mean the OS can't see more memory.. this means the program was programed to only see 2gb total.. so it doesn't matter if it is in x86 or x64, the program is restricted. Since the OS and other resources eat up that same memory, when the game is set up just right.. it will crash due to lack of memory.  Why doesn't it happen under XP? It does.. just not as often because XP uses less ram as a whole. Vista eats up more resources and exploits the problem better... ANYWAY..

Here is the fix. Hours of web trolling helped me find this.  You actually have to manually patch your own damn software. Whichever primary executable you are using is the one to fix. So if you patch then simply fix the patched main exe. Now I never crash. Not randomly.. not trying.. not when I save.. nothing.. works perfect. This method actually patches you main executable with the LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag so it will address more memory. WHY THQ did not see this as a problem I have no idea.


Just download that:
http://files.filefront.com/3GB_enabler2zip/;6791818;/fileinfo.html

In this zip file, you should find editbin (this zip file was for "patching" supreme commander)
Don't forget to backup your original XR_3DA.exe file (for futur patch compatibility)

FOR VISTA 32 and 64 "Vista 32 users may have to apply second step as well."
1. Copy your XR_3DA.exe from your /Stalker/bin file to your editbin "3gb_enabler2 unzipped" directory.

2. Open an Elevated Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges " See below if you're not sure how"
3. Change to your unzipped 3gb directiory where you have editbin.exe.
4. type "editbin.exe /LARGEADDRESSAWARE XR_3DA.exe" no quotes

EXTRA STEP VISTA 32:  x64 users do not have to do this at all as x64 has no problems giving 4gb+ ram to 32 bit apps.. however.. Vista 32 users may.

5. type "BCDEDIT /set increaseuserva 2900" no quotes. NOTE: System boards vary. if 2900 does not work try 3072

6. Copy the patched XR_3DA.exe back to your /bin directory.


How to Open Elevated Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges in Windows Vista.

1.Click on Vista Start button.
2.Locate the Command Prompt menu item (buried deep inside Accessories under All Programs or appear on program access history).
3.Right click on Command Prompt.
4.On the pop-up right click context menu, select “Run as Administrator”.

Details:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/17/how-to-open-elevated-command-prompt-with-administrator-priv...

editbin.exe works with securom protected XR_3DA.exe or with nodvd version. Don't work with starforce protected russian version.

Other Notes:
The clue is 32-bit application without LARGEADDRESSAWARE can't see and use more then 2 GB on any Microsoft OS (32 or 64 bit). Not depend on how many GB you have installed. Stalker on max settings use more then 1,5 GB memory. Vista after start use about 500 MB. 1,5 GB + 500 MB = 2 GB - max memory limit reached and cause application crash when STALKER try to use more memory. With LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag 32-bit application can use 3 GB on 32 bit Windows and 4 GB on 64 bit Windows. It is more then enough for STALKER max settings handle.
BTW the same issue is true for Gothic 3 with max settings and Vista.

[ogunther]

Just wanted to say thanks for the post. This worked exactly as you said. The only addition I'd add (which really should have been a no brainer but apparently it stumped me for all of 5 minutes) is that you'll probably need to reboot after step #5.

I'm going to try this fix for some of my other problem Vista games like Company of Heroes and Gothic 3 and see if it resolves those problems too. Now if only THQ would come out with a patch to fix all the mission and item bugs in the game I'd be in heaven.

[jwhx]

Heheh....my only vista machine is my laptop and I don't think I'll be running stalker on it any time soon. Speaking of stalker, I need to get a copy of that game. I could use a good FPS fix.

[ogunther]

I've been enjoying it tremendously. It does have its share of bugs and there are definitely things that lead me to believe it was pushed out the door about 3 months too early however it's the most fun I've had playing a FPS in a very long time. Before I did the above fix it was crashing every 10 to 15 mins and was basically unplayable (especially when you consider that it would also crash when I went to save the game about 75% of the time). After the fix I haven't had it crash once. Why THQ hasn't addressed this in a patch I have no idea.

[navyseal]

I can't seem to get it to work. Can someone please, please break down into more detail. Thanks.

[ogunther]

Is there a particular part you are getting stuck at or think you might be confused about? Also did you reboot your machine after trying Step #5 both different ways?

[navyseal]

I keep getting errors on the command script part. editbin.exe is not a windows executable, or cab file. Something along that line.

[darren1]

Also experiencing same problems..regular game crashes when saving..

Updated my 8800GTS Nvidia drivers to the latest Beta v163.11

Resolved issue...no more game crashes

Good luck..

[lestat666]

Hi Sqitso,

I need some help understanding this one.

I have opened the command prompt, but I am stuck on steps 3, 4 and 5. 

When you have us change to the unzipped 3gb directiory (on step 3) where the editbin.exe is, where do we type in the "editbin.exe /LARGEADDRESSAWARE XR_3DA.exe", and the "BCDEDIT /set increaseuserva 2900" ?   Do we type these into the command prompt separately? Or do we type that somewhere the the unzipped 3gb directory?

thanks! Lestat666

Message Edited by lestat666 on 07-16-2007 04:01 AM

Message Edited by lestat666 on 07-16-2007 04:02 AM

Message Edited by lestat666 on 07-16-2007 04:03 AM

[ogunther]

In Step 3 you are changing to the 3gb directory from the command prompt; ie. you open up the command prompt with Administrator privileges and then from within the command prompt you change the file directory to where you have the 3gb directory (something like C:\users\[account]\desktop\3gb_enabler or wherever you unzipped the directory to on your computer).

Step 4 is simply adding the command listed onto the end of the command line. Given the example I have above, the command line in the command prompt would look something like:
C:\users\[account]\desktop\3gb_enabler>editbin.exe /largeaddressaware XR_3DA.exe

Step 5 is similar in that it would look something like:
C:\users\[account]\desktop\3gb_enabler>BCDEDIT /set increaseuserva 2900
or
C:\users\[account]\desktop\3gb_enabler>BCDEDIT /set increaseuserva 3072

I hope this helps to clarify.

[lestat666]

Thanks for the response.  Unfortunately, I have never done this type of stuff before and still don't understand this part :

 "from within the command prompt you change the file directory to where you have the 3gb directory (something like C:\users\[account]\desktop\3gb_enabler or wherever you unzipped the directory to on your computer)."

I don't get how to change the command prompt.  When I open the command prompt, it has this in it:  C:\Windows\systems32>   and if I hit the backwards key, it won't allow it, and if I hit enter, it just repeats itself.

How do I get around the C:\Windows\systems32  to be able to put the> C:\users\[account]\desktop\3gb_enabler>editbin.exe /largeaddressaware XR_3DA.exe  in the command prompt?

thanks!

Message Edited by lestat666 on 07-16-2007 07:46 AM

Message Edited by lestat666 on 07-16-2007 07:58 AM

Message Edited by lestat666 on 07-16-2007 07:59 AM

[ogunther]

No problem. The command prompt is a throw back to the old DOS days or what is referred to as command line and doesn't always (or even usually) behave in ways you'd expect it to unless you know its' tricks. So there are a (huge) number of commands that can be used in the command prompt if you know what they are...if not you're SOL. For what you want to do you can get away with just one command: cd


So what you want to do is remove the "windows\system32" part (obviously) and replace it with the parts below. There are a few different ways you can do this but I'll walk you through the easiest but most time consuming one.

1.) Starting with your first prompt you should type cd.. so that it looks like the line below and then hit enter.
       
        C:\Windows\system32>cd..

2.) That should take you back one directory so that the system32 is no longer showing. Once again you want to type cd.. so that it looks like the line below and hit enter.

        C:\Windows\>cd..

3.) That should take you back one more directory so that the Windows is no longer showing and you will just be at the C:\> prompt. From here we want to start going back down the directory tree to the folder that you have unzipped the files to. Since I do not know where that is, I will use my example for this explanation. To start back down the directory tree we still use the cd command but this time without the periods. So the next directory in my example is the Users directory so you would type in cd users so that it looked like the line below; then hit enter.

        C:\>cd users

4.) Next, continuing down the directory tree you'd put in the next directory, proceeded by cd so it would look like the below line (though [account] would be replaced by whatever your account name is), then hit enter.

        C:\Users>cd [account]

5.) Next, we do the same thing for the next directory.

        C:\Users\[account]>cd desktop

6.) And finally, for my example, we do it one last time for the last directory:

        C:\Users\[account]\desktop>cd 3gb_enabler

7.) Once you hit enter you should see the below line (or something similar based on where you extracted the files). From here you can continue the other steps.

        C:\Users\[account]\desktop\cd 3gb_enabler>

If at any point in steps 3 through 6 you get an error message that says something like "The system cannot find the path specified" that means that you typed something in wrong. You can use the dir command to list all the folders and files under the directory you are currently in and see if you are spelling the name of the directory wrong.

I hope that helps.




Message Edited by ogunther on 07-16-2007 08:18 AM

Message Edited by ogunther on 07-16-2007 08:48 AM

Message Edited by ogunther on 07-16-2007 08:58 AM

[lestat666]

cool, this helps and looks promising   

 I have deleted the "windows",   but I can't get rid if the >  in the C:\>,  to get to the C:\cd user

Jay

[ogunther]

Sorry that is a typo. It should be C:\>cd user

You can't get rid of the ">" as it is basically just a placeholder or guide. I'll edit my original post to correct this.

[lestat666]

thanks for all the help.  

I just tried C:\>cd user   and it said "The system cannot find the path specified"

[ogunther]

It should have read "Users" instead of "User". This has been corrected. I doubled checked the rest and it should be typo-free *fingers-crossed*.

[lestat666]

Fantastic, I believe I got it!

Looks like I'll be playing Stalker after all

[ogunther]

Fantastic!

[lestat666]

Thanks to this fix, and the help I got here, I'm running at 1680x1050 resoluiton with everything maxed out (GTS 8800 640mb) without a hiccup. Before the fix, I couldn't even move my mouse around without  it freezing up every 3 seconds

thanks agian!!

[sqitso]

---

lestat666 wrote:

Thanks to this fix, and the help I got here, I'm running at 1680x1050 resoluiton with everything maxed out (GTS 8800 640mb) without a hiccup. Before the fix, I couldn't even move my mouse around without  it freezing up every 3 seconds

thanks agian!!

---

Not a problem.. around here the majority do not use Vista.. so this was a slow thread.. but I figured it would come up on google hits eventually.

[emo_masterchief]

I can get all the way to

C:\Users\[account]>cd desktop

but when i try to put the 3gb_enabler on it says that it can't find the path

i use the dir command and it is under the desktop.

it is starting to get annoying

[ogunther]

I'd unzip the file to a different location like your documents folder or something and see if you still have a problem getting there. Otherwise without more info there's not a whole lot of troubleshooting I can help you with.

[emo_masterchief]

i found that on another website and tried it but the thing still says the samething.

c:\>cd users *enter*

c:\Users>cd owner *enter*

c:\Users\Owner>cd documents

c:\Users\Owner\Documents>dir *enter*

3gb_enabler                      

IC words                                      

Bullet For My Valentine Tab

Detonation

Gunshot To The Head of Trepidation

c:\Users\Owner\Documents>cd 3gb_enabler *enter*

the system cannot find the patch specified

i hardly have anything on my desktop but the 3gb_enabler is there for sure (**means action)

Message Edited by emo_masterchief on 07-18-2007 01:36 PM

[ogunther]

Are you running the command prompt with Administrator privileges? Also what version of Vista are you running?

[sqitso]

It sounds like you just can't get into the newley created unzipped 3g directory... Just put it someplace easier you can get to. Move the 3g file to the root of your C drive.. then unzip it. Then you only have one path to go with.

[emo_masterchief]

i just tryed playing the game with out the 3gb_enabler and it seems to have just needed to warm up i played it  for five hours with no lagging or crashes.

my OS is a Vista Ultimate 32

thanx for the help

[sqitso]

---

emo_masterchief wrote:

i just tryed playing the game with out the 3gb_enabler and it seems to have just needed to warm up i played it  for five hours with no lagging or crashes.

my OS is a Vista Ultimate 32

thanx for the help

---

You only need the fix in Vista at higher resolutions and graphics settings.

[Element926]

Wow, I wish I had this fix when the game was installed :/

[18-DELTA-MRD]

[ashesfalldown]

Message Edited by ashesfalldown on 10-31-2007 07:38 PM

[sqitso]

---

Ashesfalldown wrote:
I need some clarifying on this step: Copy your XR_3DA.exe from your /Stalker/bin file to your editbin "3gb_enabler2 unzipped" directory. Do you just copy the XR_3DA.exe and put it in the 3gb_enabler2 file? because the editbin is not a file so I can't put it into it, unless there is a special way I don't know of to put it into the editbin.  I tried to run the editbin and it just closes out automaticly, I understand how to do the rest of the steps its explained very well, I just need clearing up on step one.  Thanks, I hope I get a reply soon cause this is just wearing thin all these vista problems.

---

You are simply patching your main executable.. so take the original from your installed directory.. place it in your working directory.. patch it.. then move it back to your installed game directory.. All this must be done from an admin console. Instructions for opening an admin console command line are above.

[ashesfalldown]

Message Edited by ashesfalldown on 10-31-2007 07:38 PM

[sqitso]

Which version of windows are you running?

[ashesfalldown]

Message Edited by ashesfalldown on 10-31-2007 07:38 PM

[sqitso]

---

ashesfalldown wrote:
i have the 64 bit edition of vista, 8800 nvidia ultra, 6000+ amd 64x2 processer, 3 gigs of ram.  I just want to do this right and right now I don't understand what I do with the stalker start up file for step one. Do i just throw it in the 3 gb folder and do the other steps or do you do something else.  I just don't understand that part of it, just need to know in more detail how to do step one.

---

1. Copy your XR_3DA.exe from your /Stalker/bin file to your editbin "3gb_enabler2 unzipped" directory.

This one? You unzupped the file that had the 3gb enabler in it right? Copy the XR3da file to it.

[ashesfalldown]

Message Edited by ashesfalldown on 10-31-2007 07:38 PM

[ashesfalldown]

Message Edited by ashesfalldown on 10-31-2007 07:39 PM

[18-DELTA-MRD]

 second window says "may not have installed properly" or "it installed properly"
I got that yesterday when I updated the drivers. I just said it did install properly and have had no problems in the last 6hours of use. (fwiw)

[ashesfalldown]

Message Edited by ashesfalldown on 10-31-2007 07:39 PM

[BugBlatter]

EDIT: Ok never mind; I realized that if you are trying to patch Railroads! then you need to switch the name "Railroads.exe" in for the one mentioned here (XR_3DA.exe) in the instructions. Doh! :-)

______________________________________________________________________________

Ok Sorry if I am being a bit dense here but could somebody tell me where I find this XR_3DA.exe file? I searched my disk and didn't find it....? I couldn't find a directory called "Stalker" either.

I am trying to patch "Railroads" and came across a link on wikipedia to this thread as a fix for it crapping out on me just as things are going well.

I am using Vista32 Ultimate on a quad-core HP w/ 4Gb RAM; NVidia GTS 8800 Video Card.

Message Edited by BugBlatter on 10-24-2007 08:47 PM

Message Edited by BugBlatter on 10-24-2007 08:50 PM