Project Reality Forums

So I was enjoying playing online - really this game kicks ***. The level ended and my team won. Great so far. The next level finished loading, a commander was elected - and I was about to spawn...

Crash boom Bang. Splat. No response. Ok. Ctrl-Alt-Del does not work. Kinda odd (I'm running Win 2003 R2 64-bit), and this is the first time my computer stopped responding.

I press the reset switch. Windows loads, but I get "A device or service failed to start". So I check the event logs - MySQL and Apache failed to load, some stupid error code. Hmm... interesting. I go to try find the Apache logs to see what happened. Hey, where is my E: F: and G: partitions?

Gone - 250GB of 3x 80GB partitions are suddenly missing. Holy ****. This is a first.

Luckily, my C: and D: drives were OK, so I was able to still boot and connect to the Internet. After some time I saw my partition table on Disk 1 had been corrupted. 3 hours of searching later for a really suitable partition tool, I finally got it to work.

Now I'm scared to run this Project Reality again. What the hell could have gone wrong? This was not a hardware failure (no bad sectors). Something was simply writing to my HDD non-stop. The HDD access light was on for 5 minutes b4 I pressed the reset switch. I'm pretty sure it would have stayed on for 5 hours had I given it the chance. Is there anything in your code that could have done this (gone into a file-writing loop)? Or is this just some random BF2 bug?

I have no viruses, spyware or anything like that. Latest DirectX, drivers, a fast stable machine - never any problems.

How much RAM do you have? Because if you do not have enough RAM, some maps that are RAM intensive will start to swap data between your HDD and your RAM.

Is 2GB of DDR2-667 enough? System issues aint gonna be a problem here - I've been overclocking since 1994 with a Cyrix 486-SX 33

Project Reality does not and cannot cause this sort of problem by the nature of what it is.

Possible explanations are that you did not download a 'clean' copy of the mod and also downloaded a virus(es). Where did you download it from.

Secondly, you may have suffered a computer security attack (hack etc) coincidentally whilst playing PR or as a result of logging into a particular server/downloading from a particular mirror.

Third, you may have had a dormant virus/worm/trojan that was activated by your accessing the internet or use of system resources etc and it was only coincidental this error surfaced when playing PR.

Or it could be something completely different, a HD failure or CPU power surge or anything like that. Check all your hardware, then look at all event logs and see if anything funky was happening around that time.

Well, I normally end up stopping playing PR because my computer freezes, and then I'm forced to pull the plug to get my computer to restart. It only does this on RAM intensive maps (so, just about all of them) and it's definitely a PR thing, because this doesn't happen on the old maps with fewer statics, and just about every single new map is packed full of statics. BF2 is very poorly coded and is totally uneconomic, and PR mappers appear to be pushing the coding beyond its limits, at least for players who can't afford high end machines, such as myself.

Yes this is true Xizor but losing partitions on a disk is different to having your Ram fill up!

'[R-CON wrote:Duckitt']Yes this is true Xizor but losing partitions on a disk is different to having your Ram fill up!

True, but I'd still call it the worst crash in any game I've played.

I consider my computer fairly high-end and stable. I specifically chose Windows 2003 R2 64-bit because it is billed as the most stable version of Windows currently available (Vista is based on the Windows 2003 R2 kernel).

I don't have any software issues - everything works great. Games such as FEAR run at 1280x1024 with 4x anti aliasing and 8x Anisotropic filtering with frame rates in the high 40s. My system runs BF2 like a Pentium II 266 ran Quake I (damn smooth) - its just begging for more to be thrown at it.

I have ruled out power or any other hardware issue out here. All my system components are new and way above cheap specs. I built this machine specifically to eat Windows for breakfast and then ask for seconds.

I downloaded Project Reality from an FTP server linked by the site itself. Windows NEVER has done anything like this. My RAM is genuine Kingston (the good stuff) and I have the Original BF2 CD (no cracked shit).

As a programmer by profession 10 years+ (C/C++/Delphi/PHP/JS/HTML/etc), I can say I agree that the nature of Project Reality means that it is UNLIKELY that it caused this to happen. However, I read that you use Python for scripting. I don't know what calls/functions Python exposes or if there might be some code that was added that can result in such an error.

I just want to get to the bottom of this. Project Reality turns BF2 into the best game of its genre I have ever played. Not that there have been that many games that really attempt a shot at soldier simulation successfully. If it helps, the level had already loaded (and it did so very quickly, about 20sec) - it happened just as I was about to spawn.

Yes this is true Xizor but losing partitions on a disk is different to having your Ram fill up!

4 sure. And besides this, its kinda hard to fill up my 2GB's of RAM, unless a program is leaking memory. Although 3D Studio MAX 9 does succeed sometimes.

True, but I'd still call it the worst crash in any game I've played.

Lol. Damn right.

Well I load maps in about 20secs as standard due to spec of my machine.

I doubt its the hardware - as you say it is high spec. Which mirror was it you dl'd from? And did you use an accelerator? Can you remember which server you connected to.

The python script is the BF2 script and PR should only effect BF2.

Have you still lost your partitions?

I think he said he fixed them.

'[-=IDSF=- wrote:SykloAG']So I was enjoying playing online - really this game kicks ***. The level ended and my team won. Great so far. The next level finished loading, a commander was elected - and I was about to spawn...

Crash boom Bang. Splat. No response. Ok. Ctrl-Alt-Del does not work. Kinda odd (I'm running Win 2003 R2 64-bit), and this is the first time my computer stopped responding.

I press the reset switch. Windows loads, but I get "A device or service failed to start". So I check the event logs - MySQL and Apache failed to load, some stupid error code. Hmm... interesting. I go to try find the Apache logs to see what happened. Hey, where is my E: F: and G: partitions?

Gone - 250GB of 3x 80GB partitions are suddenly missing. Holy ****. This is a first.

Luckily, my C: and D: drives were OK, so I was able to still boot and connect to the Internet. After some time I saw my partition table on Disk 1 had been corrupted. 3 hours of searching later for a really suitable partition tool, I finally got it to work.

Now I'm scared to run this Project Reality again. What the hell could have gone wrong? This was not a hardware failure (no bad sectors). Something was simply writing to my HDD non-stop. The HDD access light was on for 5 minutes b4 I pressed the reset switch. I'm pretty sure it would have stayed on for 5 hours had I given it the chance. Is there anything in your code that could have done this (gone into a file-writing loop)? Or is this just some random BF2 bug?

I have no viruses, spyware or anything like that. Latest DirectX, drivers, a fast stable machine - never any problems.

Two words "power cut" ive had this before when there has been a power outage (or ive knocked the power lead) the only solution is to starts up in safe mode and do a restart (this happend on my old PC and all but 32 meg of ram (a quater of what it had) and 1 drive (out of 3) was left read able. so you have to do a legit restart.

Yeah, I fixed em. My partition table was gone, but NTFS specifies that a backup is kept at a fixed location relative to the start of each partition. I was lucky.

Whats with thinking that its a download problem? The installer keeps a checksum of the file to verify its integrity, right? If the file was corrupt in some way, would it not say so? I used Flashget just like I've used for countless other programs. I have never downloaded anything that turned out to be corrupt with Flashget.

I've been disconnected from FTP servers, downloaded ****, etc but never downloaded a file that was corrupted as a result of the transfer, unless the file on the server itself was corrupt. And I'm talking about 100's of GB over like 5 years. Seriously, my service provider loses money on me every month (I am downloading almost constantly unless playing at 300KB/s).

BTW, I have a fixed IP and dedicated business line. Dedicated as far as my ISP is concerned means that they guarantee 99.99% uptime monthly (unless they have a power faliure) and that I get 1st in line for technical support etc.

Still, if its something you think is worth pursuing, here is my download log:

URL: http://65.77.169.78/mods/bf2/prm/client ... _setup.exe
Referrer: http://realitymod.com/forum/t11064-proj ... eased.html

Hitperson, this was not a power cut. Did I not mention I have a UPS? Oh, damn. I did not. Anyways, its a really nice one - ADVICE 1050VA. I highly recommend it. You need a UPS for a reliable system, especially when it is a (albeit lightly used) DB, WWW and email server.

'[-=IDSF=- wrote:SykloAG']

Whats with thinking that its a download problem? The installer keeps a checksum of the file to verify its integrity, right? If the file was corrupt in some way, would it not say so? I used Flashget just like I've used for countless other programs. I have never downloaded anything that turned out to be corrupt with Flashget.

I've been disconnected from FTP servers, downloaded ****, etc but never downloaded a file that was corrupted as a result of the transfer, unless the file on the server itself was corrupt. And I'm talking about 100's of GB over like 5 years. Seriously, my service provider loses money on me every month (I am downloading almost constantly unless playing at 300KB/s).

I'm not saying the DL was corrupted but perhaps the file itself was corrupted. Or had a virus attached.

I sure hope it was not a Virus - that means my NAV corporate edition sucks and that PR is linking to bad hosts ??:

For corruption, again, is there not a checksum??? MD5 hash, or equivalent?

Probably not enough ram and your hard drive was thrashing and caused it to be come corrupt.

Even though you have 2 gigs you seem to be running your PR client on a server. And you are running apache and mysql which take ram . Not sure what else is running.

Also you say "I've been overclocking since 1994" and as you know whenever you overclock it can make problems that wouldn't come up under normal circumstances appear. It puts more strain on your hardware and if there is a slight flaw it can be multiplied many times over.

Yo, dizzy, easy man With BF2 in a map, I can alt-tab and I see I still have like 400MB free physical RAM on even the largest crazy custom levels. MySQL only takes 4-12MB pyhsical RAM, same with Apache. I've stopped many other services. When my system boots, all the server software and Windows together take less than 400MB, and even less after unused components get moved over to the swap file.

My system is NOT overclocked. I said I've been overclocking since '94 to insinuate that I am not a noob PC user, before people start suggesting that I check settings in my BIOS, defrag or some other bull.

My computer does not thrash unless an app leaks its guts - which brings the question - could PR cause thrashing? As a result, say of mismanaging objects/lists of pointers, or something to that effect?

Maybe it was a one time fluke event that had to do with many variables coming together to produce this weird effect? Maybe some extra strain on the hard drives plus some extra heat plus whatever + whatever...

My vote is fire up PR again and see what happens!!!


Also, I dont think you are a noob PC user as most people that have taken the time to download a mod for a game are slightly above the average game user.

Damn, I sure hope it was a one time fluke event. Hell I know computers can be as sensitive as a 16 **** ***'s ***** (I'm censoring myself so I don't get banned), but its still kinda odd that it happened with a new mod. So, ok, I've played a bit since the event, and so far so good. If it happens again though, I'm gonna MAKE IT KNOWN that something weird is up.

Anyways, as I have no clue about BF modding, is the mod logic contained in compiled DLLs or is it text files with Python that gets interpreted at runtime? I ask cause I want to look into the source code to see what is cooking there (purely for educational purposes until I can really understand it).

'[-=IDSF=- wrote:SykloAG']Anyways, as I have no clue about BF modding, is the mod logic contained in compiled DLLs or is it text files with Python that gets interpreted at runtime? I ask cause I want to look into the source code to see what is cooking there (purely for educational purposes until I can really understand it).

The mod code is contained in zip files, using CON files and TWEAK files. BF2 uses a very simplistic scripting language that is all about filling in variables for the templates, there are no custom written functions or anything like that.

Python is more advanced and is more like actual code, but this only runs server side when playing online, and it doesn't have any lower level access to hard drives anyways.

Python is added on top of the core logic of BF2, and so its not really something you should focus on. It has very limited access to the BF2 engine and is only really used for gamemodes, and in our most recent build, kit limiting.

Thanks for the response KingofCamelot. It seems that based on your explanation, the MOD does not do any client-side scripting. If this is correct, then it aint the mod directly that caused the crash.

Unless it happens again this case is closed in the meantime. Still puzzling to me how this happened. Damn PCs. I miss DOS and booting from 360KB floppies - NOT!

Now in the meantime I am going to look at these CON and TWEAK files and the server-side python. I remember Quake had QuakeC that was quite powerful. It was possible to do anything with the engine. Is that not the case here?