Guild Wars 2

So ever since I got a new PC I’ve regularly gotten client freezes which also happens to freeze the computer for around 1-2 minutes.

Some info:

1. Normally begins with UI elements missing. e.g. Might be missing the Return to Game, Logout, Support and Edit Account options in the Game Menu, labels are missing (e.g. Hovering over a resource node on minimap only displays distance to node, rather than distance and node name). 99% sure that icons and images etc. are NEVER missing, however, the World Map is missing its background texture (black screen with Waypoints and Hearts).
2. In game audio stops working. No FX sound from GW2 (there is default music), but if I had a YouTube video playing, I could still hear it, followed by …
3. GW2 and the computer freezing. This occurs around 50% of the time after issues (1) and (2) occur, but is not definite. Mouse still works, I can still get hover effects from Windows 10, but everything is unresponsive. GW2 does not indicate that it is unresponsive either.
4. After 1-2 minutes it corrects itself – everything is 100% operational.

This normally occurs semi-regularly, that is, I’ve observed it to happen normally when I enter a new instance/map around 10% of the time, but enough for it to be an annoyance.

I’m hesitant to submit a bug report in case it may be a hardware or compatibility with issue.

I am using the 32-bit client, but it also occurs with the 64-bit client.

This issue does NOT seem to arise if I use the default Best Performance graphical setting.

Additional Info:

I kept Task Manager open and I’m getting some very interesting numbers.

• When GW2 is working properly, it uses around 60-70% of the CPU, 60% RAM and less than 1% Disk.
• Prior to a freeze, the disk usage jumps to exactly 50% (100% of my SSD) in around half a second, before freezing. Even though the SSD is at 100% activity, it has pretty much 0 read/write activity.
• During the freeze, the CPU is operating as if GW2 did not exist (<<10%). I’m guessing that this means my SSD is crapping itself?
• When the freeze corrects itself, the CPU spikes to 90%+ for around 0.5 secs before settling down, but I’m guessing that’s due to the root issue.

Stuff that I’ve tried:

• Disabling Windows 10 Notifications
• Changing Virtual Memory to be min = System RAM, max = System RAM x 2
• Updating Kingston SSD firmware
• Changing Google Chrome interaction with Win10 (in case Chrome was the issue)

THE FOLLOWING MAY BE THE ISSUE: So I went into the Event Viewer to see if it logged some information about the system freezes. They seem to directly correspond with an error with Event ID 129, iaStorA – “Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.” I tried the following fix https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083595, however it did not work. Currently trying to figure out what iaStorA is, as the fix is for StorAHCI (is there a difference?).

What I have NOT done

• Tried changing OS (last resort, I’m really enjoying Windows 10, surprisingly). This issue was still prevalent when I was running Windows 8.1 however – it would mean that I would have to downgrade to Windows 7 if there are no other solutions, and I’d prefer it if I could avoid that.

When I first got the PC, I only had drivers and the OS installed along with GW2. It was still freezing.

The attached image is the SSD’s activity when it no longer freezes. As you can see, even though it has 100% activity, it has basically no read/write activity. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

I’m having the same Issue, after a crashed my whole GW2 didn’t show up already even though it is still running on my task manager . Weird

roXine.2413:

I’m having the same Issue, after a crashed my whole GW2 didn’t show up already even though it is still running on my task manager . Weird

Ah mine’s slightly different. It freezes instead of crashing, and it resumes back to normal (GW2 is still up) after the freeze.

well there is you problem your ssd is documented garbage.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand

just to tell you. your ssd might be slower than a hdd.

I have a similar problem. I thought it was overheating, but the temperature doesn’t go that high, about 65 C.

What mine does: First the game will freeze, and it does not recover. Alt-tab doesn’t work. I hit ctrl-alt-del, and start task manager. GW2 is listed as “not responding”, and I have to kill it, then restart the game. This will happen maybe three times, about 45 min apart or so. Teamspeak still works fine.

Eventually, the game and sound will both freeze, the sound being a continuous buzz of whatever was happening at that moment. Can’t ctrl-alt-del or anything else, so have to hard-restart using the power switch.

Looks like I do have a Kingston ssd as my C drive, but my game is installed on D drive, so it doesn’t seem like that would cause the problem.

As the main mesmer on tag, it’s pretty awful to dc in the middle of a battle. Not only do I get pulled rudely from the game, the tag can’t rely on me for support.

Glimmer.8632:

I have a similar problem. I thought it was overheating, but the temperature doesn’t go that high, about 65 C.

What mine does: First the game will freeze, and it does not recover. Alt-tab doesn’t work. I hit ctrl-alt-del, and start task manager. GW2 is listed as “not responding”, and I have to kill it, then restart the game. This will happen maybe three times, about 45 min apart or so. Teamspeak still works fine.

Eventually, the game and sound will both freeze, the sound being a continuous buzz of whatever was happening at that moment. Can’t ctrl-alt-del or anything else, so have to hard-restart using the power switch.

Looks like I do have a Kingston ssd as my C drive, but my game is installed on D drive, so it doesn’t seem like that would cause the problem.

As the main mesmer on tag, it’s pretty awful to dc in the middle of a battle. Not only do I get pulled rudely from the game, the tag can’t rely on me for support.

its really not helpful if you do not post your full specs. Perhaps your swap partitions is on your kingston ssd and it is slowing you down

Glimmer.8632:

I have a similar problem. I thought it was overheating, but the temperature doesn’t go that high, about 65 C.

What mine does: First the game will freeze, and it does not recover. Alt-tab doesn’t work. I hit ctrl-alt-del, and start task manager. GW2 is listed as “not responding”, and I have to kill it, then restart the game. This will happen maybe three times, about 45 min apart or so. Teamspeak still works fine.

Eventually, the game and sound will both freeze, the sound being a continuous buzz of whatever was happening at that moment. Can’t ctrl-alt-del or anything else, so have to hard-restart using the power switch.

Looks like I do have a Kingston ssd as my C drive, but my game is installed on D drive, so it doesn’t seem like that would cause the problem.

As the main mesmer on tag, it’s pretty awful to dc in the middle of a battle. Not only do I get pulled rudely from the game, the tag can’t rely on me for support.

Yeah could you post your DxDiag file please? I’d like to see if there’s anything which we have in common which might be causing this. Also, details about how you run your game (e.g. 64-bit or 32-bit client, max settings or min settings, etc.) would be helpful as well.

It could very well be the SSD, but what’s described here (GW2 freeze, alt-tab out to a barely responsive system…) is what I experienced when I moved to the x64 client. Downclocking my video card fixed the issue. I have not had a single crash since and am running graphics higher than I ever could in the past. Besides the dxdiag, it would be helpful to post the GW2 crash.dmp file.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Crash-to-blank-screen-with-sound-SOLVED/5755714

Here’s my DxDiag

Here’s my dump from two days ago, but it crashed several times yesterday. I added the “txt” extension so I could attach it. Maybe it will help? Oh, and I am using the 64 bit exe.

And finally, here are my graphics settings in-game. I think it crashes less when the settings are on “best performance”, but I hate playing that way.

Glimmer.8632 -

I looked at your memory dump file. Try uninstalling Overwolf – it may have a compatibility issue with GW2.

abomally.2694:

Glimmer.8632 -

I looked at your memory dump file. Try uninstalling Overwolf – it may have a compatibility issue with GW2.

Thanks! There was a patch tonight, and also I didn’t run Overwolf. No crashes. I may try using Overwolf again tomorrow to test, because I like seeing the names, but it is not worth all the crashing.

You’re welcome. Good luck!