Allrite lads. Basically im using Oblivion GOTY with all expansions on Windows 7.

I have an ATI Radeon 4850, with an AMD 3ghz duo core and 4gb of ddr2 (667mhz) ram.

Basically i just reinstalled it (first time since upgrading to windows 7) and installed new mods. The problem is that I keep getting constant freezes (not CTDS but the game fully freezes, requiring ctrl/alt/del to end the game) in certain situations. So far most are either when i attack a monster or just after loading/entering a new room (seems to be happening since I entered the Oblivion gate, although the latest crash occurred as soon as I left the gate and attacked a scamp).

I've absolutely no idea why this is the case =/

These are my mods and their load orders:

oblivion.esm
kvatch rebuilt.esm
unofficial oblivion patch.esp
uop vampire aging & face fix.esp
oblivion citadel door fix.esp
dlchorsearmor.esp
dlcorrery.esp
dlcfrostcrag.esp
dlcthievesden.esp
dlcmehrunesrazor.esp
dlcvilelair.esp
knights.esp
dlcshiveringisles.esp
capucines character expansion.esp
alternative start by robert evrae.esp
elsweyranequina.esp
kvatch rebuilt.esp
vhbloodlines 1.2.esp
the lost spires.esp
castle_seaview.esp
arcanebankofcyrodiil.esp
impereal empire - unique forts.esp
lostspiresimperealfortspatch2.esp
reaper's esmeralda's desert manor.esp
crowded roads.esp
capesandcloaks.esp
reznod_mannequin.esp
dragonbone armor set.esp
doomshard bow.espj
blakeley's lachrymal bow.esp
elytramount.esp
imperialdragonheavyshield - greater.esp
borderless_cyrodiil-3578.esp

and DARNified UI.


If anyone has any idea or advice, please let me know. I find it unfortunate that after sometime I decide to try this great game again, only for it to crash constantly =/

Try using http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1074965 to sort the load order. Also, IIRC it's not recommended to use a mod to remove the borders - and it's easy enough to get via the Oblivion.ini (the one in My Documents/My Games/Oblivion): bBorderRegionsEnabled=0

Once you have sorted out the load order on the mods you have listed, which should not be too hard as it a relatively short list, I would recommend that you also install the Unofficial SI Patch and the "UOMP" Knights of the Nine patch. It is inside the "Unofficial Official Mods Patch", just choose the Knights of the Nine option when installing it.

Ok, so ive run BOSS, have arranged the load order accordingly and am currently downloading both the SI and UMOP unofficial patches.

Wish me luck ^_^

I had a similar problem recently and eventually came to the conclusion that my Sound Card was screwy, it would randomly, almost predicatively, freeze, I would mute the computer and it would start working again. That was just for me, it is a potential solution though and might be something to look at.

hmm. tested it there. managed to get from the collapse of the oblivion gate to the destroyed arena in kvatch. after killing several scamps, i turned round to face one of the 3 legionaries with me, whereupon it froze halfway through turning round.

could this be a RAM issue or related? I'm seriously at a loss as to what the problem is.

Use Oblivion Stutter Remover, and try - that might help prevent some if this.

Regarding Nord's suggestion, I discovered that audio codecs could have been causing an issue, instead of the audio card itself. So basically I just did a thorough uninstall of all audio codecs on my system (except windows ones of course).

Since doing so, I have now reached Baurus and the infiltration of the Mythic Dawn without a crash. Fingers crossed it stays that way eh? =P

Nope. Just got to the waterworks under the sewers with Baurus - sword charged a goblin, and game froze as soon as my sword struck it.

Basically, from what iv gathered the crash rate has dropped significantly, although i shouldnt count my chickens before theyve hatched eh.

Seems that it only freezes when i strike a monster now....

EDIT - nope, after installing steamline to keep an eye on it, it just crashed again (i mean, at a completely random moment).

Whats wrong with this? my rig? windows 7? ?_?

find and run a memory diagnostic. It sounds like you may have a bad ram card. That's my best guess. Your load order isn't rocket science or anything and the video card should be more than enough.

Hi there

I would download new drivers for all of your components.
Windows7 finds and installs drivers for you, but you should never
trust an OS to install correct drivers. Never know if it has
an improper read out of your computer specs.

If new drivers don't fix it, then I would download Memtest+86
and test your ram.

It doesnt happen on any of my other games though, including COD MW2 and Empire TW at full settings.

Would a full re-install, testing mods bit by bit possibly solve it? or is it mod related.....

You may want to try a re-install process as you described. One thing caught my eye:

doomshard bow.espj

Is that a typo? If not that's suspect. If you reinstall, go by this:

http://www.tesnexus.com/articles/article.php?id=124

Well, it's hard to say. Testing mod by mod is always the best way to test. But
I have one other question... Are you turning up extra eyecandy with your ATI
Catalyst driver? If so, try turning off all additional eyecand such as AA, AF
and others. Try that, and see if your freezes persist.

I'm curious: why is that, exactly? I've always seen the recommendation in BOSS that if I want to disable borders (which I've always done anyway), a border mod is not recommended, and wondered why.

Border mods do their job by editing the region data which in turn spreads a bunch of useless edits all over the mod file. This can lead to conflicts such as water tearing and incorrect cell names/lighting data/etc.

Disabling the borders via the ini file simply turns off the game's built-in invisible wall and doesn't require a mod file at all. So it also benefits by not wasting an ESP slot.

If I may, how did you uninstall all audio codecs from your system except for the default Windows 7 ones. I have been having some problems with Oblivion in regards to codecs but have found nowhere, not even on some hardcoe tech forums a way to uninstall all codecs and just keep the default Win7 codecs. If you could enlighten me it would be much appreciated.

As far as freezing goes, I am/was having the same issue. I installed Oblivion Stutter Remover and turned on heap replacement (heap replacement is the key here) and it seems to have vanished *knock on wood*



My frequency in freezing on my last install, on the same computer, running Windows 7 x64 has been eliminated/greatly, greatly reduced by re-installing and being extra careful the mods and order of the mods I add. I don't recognize many of the mods you are running, it is possible they have a lot of unnecessary edits that could be causing these issues. Personally, not to deter the post above about the load order page suggested, but I recently re-installed my game and I have never seen it so stable before *knock on wood* (always gotta do that, I feel Oblivion likes to turn on me at random times and start acting up.) This is the page I used, and went by the posts mentioned #165 and #166 here: http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1004123&st=160

That is most definitely worth a try. Since you have a relatively small load list at this point, it will not take you very long. I also suggest you post your current mod list again. You earlier said you did some BOSSing of it.

When you decide to do a re-install, I recommend that you also pyffi-optimize the meshes from the \Data\meshes.BSA file (which you need to unpack first to a separate folder for the purpose with OBMM). It's another piece in the optimization puzzle that is worth going after. Start reading the official thread from here as the version and the way it works has recently changed:
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?s=&showtopic=1061938&view=findpost&p=15650607
Best would be to read everything till the end of the thread. It looks a bit intimidating and arcane doing it the first time, but it is actually really easy. If you have any questions about the process, post them in the pyffi thread, I am following it. If in doubt, you can do pyffification also at a later point, it does not matter. Just do it eventually.

2 more suggestions / staple ideas:

- always play Oblivion with as little as possible background apps and stuff running. I run it with only Fraps and the Nvidia Control center running in the background. Disable all virus scanners, browsers, Adobe Reader pre-starter etc. etc.

- Can you make sure that your video card is properly connected to the power supply. Just check the extra feed cable there once. Most likely it must be ok though since you say other games are running fine. But a quick check won't hurt especially if you havent opened the PC in a long time.

kk im reinstalling now, using the recommended settings.

Ok I re-installed the game, this time to my D drive instead of C. Installed all the expansions, the mod manager and the OBSE (and all its addons).

Started game, and so far i've got to the goblins in the sewers without a crash. In fact it seems a whole lot more stable.........

Seriously, could this be a mod conflicting? Anyone see any mods in my list making problems?

It would be easier to say anything if you posted your current modlist again so we could see how it looks now versus the first version from post #1. Use Wrye Bash for it if you are already familiar with it. Otherwise copy-paste as you did at the beginning.

Generally though, if it's running well it's fine I would say (if the mods are doing as what they intend to do) .

oh no crashing again. although its only in the sewers so far for some incredibly odd reason.

EDIT - this is with all my mod addons removed too. Must be either a game or rig issue.

How can it be a RAM issue if its not affecting my other, more taxing games like Fallout 3 (with mods!) and such?

Same applies for Graphics Card.

Could it be a windows 7 issue? Although iv installed oblivion in the secondary (D) drive this odd crash still persists. But aye, seems to come only from the sewers, and either:

a - random crash upon movement

b - as soon as my weapon (sword or bow etc) physically strikes a monster

NOTE - its not a CTD. the game freezes completely, requiring a ctrl/alt/del to get out. Just to confirm =(

Well, you don't have to answer this, but sometimes a modified executable file can cause strange issues as you described.

EDIT - If you haven't tried my previous suggestion, it may still be worth looking at.

Also, be sure the Oblivion.ini file from your last installation isn't still sitting in the My Games folder.
If so, delete it and relaunch Oblivion so that a new one is automatically created.

The Oblivion uninstaller doesn't delete that My Games folder

what about *blendsettings* and *rendererinfo* ?

I would delete those too. Just keep your save folder. Oblivion will recreate all the others after you launch it.
The only thing that will happen after you delete them is Oblivion might attempt
to find the correct graphics settings for you hardware just like it did the very first time you launched the game.