Age of empires 3 black screen

[youpey]

i have been playing age of empires 3, the asian dynasties. all has been well since i got the game about 1 month ago. i typically use the skirmish sioux tribe and i had no issues. i recently decided to try the iroquious tribe and it seems every 3rd or 4th match, the screen will turn all black and i have to power off the computer because i cant do anything. i read there was a problem with the music, so i turned the music off.

it seems to happen randomly, but it occurs more often after about 5 or 10 minutes of game play. i reboot and i am good for a while again.

i had the same issues with the aztecs too, but i dont play them enough to know if it happens with them.

its weird because i never had any issues with the sioux tribe. is this a common occurence and does anyone know how to fix it.

BTW, it is asian dynasties i load with, even though i am using warchiefs tribes. i like having all the maps and enemies. i just wanted state that

 

[jakeguy99]

What are the specs of the computer you are using. I was having the same issue and it may be due to defective graphics card-faulty GPU. If you have the 2.4 GHZ MBP Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT then that may be the problem you are experiencing. It only leads to more problems if you dont have it repaired. post more about your issue. Also check computer logs right when the black screen happens if you can, look for kernal panics etc. post back.

 

[youpey]

i have the base unibody macbook pro with 9400M and 9600M GT (256mb)
it happens when i am running on both the 9400M and 9600M GT.

i have to power off the computer, so i am not sure if i can check the logs. next time i will try to exit it

where would i go to check the logs

 

[youpey]

i found the log. from reading it, it more looks like just a bug in the game or maybe the drive, but not in the gpu itself

Mon Mar 2 06:35:10 2009
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x00405DEB): "NVRM: Read Error: GPU 0, PCI 0x00000200, BAR0 0xa4000000 0x307dc000"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228.9.59/iokit/Kernel/IOLib.cpp:724
Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x579531a8 : 0x12b4f3 (0x45b13c 0x579531dc 0x1335e4 0x0)
0x579531f8 : 0x405deb (0x49da40 0xe6c280 0x5795323c 0x5795322c)
0x57953218 : 0xc3d4f7 (0xe6c280 0xe6c280 0xe30c88 0x0)
0x57953258 : 0xef4d1a (0x4e60c04 0x4ffb804 0x9410 0xc7b774)
0x57953298 : 0xf1f738 (0x4ffb804 0x9410 0xfda8000 0x9)
0x579532d8 : 0xd3eddb (0x4ffb804 0x4637004 0x0 0x0)
0x579532f8 : 0xc7f1fe (0x4637004 0x5795336c 0x0 0x0)
0x57953338 : 0xe90f6e (0x4ffb804 0x3d0900 0x5795336c 0x0)
0x57953398 : 0xec6015 (0x4ffb804 0x5000004 0x0 0x1)
0x57953538 : 0xeca3d2 (0x4ffb804 0x5004204 0x4811004 0x0)
0x57953698 : 0xc89088 (0x4ffb804 0x5004204 0x50cb904 0x0)
0x57953748 : 0xc4a86e (0xc1d00041 0xbeef0003 0xbeef0202 0x761b700)
0x579537b8 : 0xc3b74b (0x57953948 0x6 0x0 0x0)
0x57953918 : 0xc2d2b4 (0x0 0x600d600d 0x7057 0x57953948)
0x579539d8 : 0x113051b (0xc1d00041 0xbeef0003 0xbeef0202 0x761b700)
0x57953a58 : 0x1130643 (0x20338000 0x761b700 0x203490cc 0x0)
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.GeForce(5.3.6)@0x10dd000->0x1174fff
dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(5.3.6)@0xc24000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.1)@0xc16000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.5)@0x5f8000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.1)@0x77f000
com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal(5.3.6)@0xe81000->0x10d5fff
dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(5.3.6)@0xc24000
com.apple.NVDAResman(5.3.6)@0xc24000->0xe80fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.1)@0xc16000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.5)@0x5f8000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.1)@0x77f000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Age of Empires I

Mac OS version:
9G55

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.6.0: Mon Nov 24 17:37:00 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.9.59~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBookPro5,1 (Mac-F42D86C8)

 

[jakeguy99]

Hmm, it is possible that your computer may be overheating. A simple fix for this to reduce heat is to put a cd case as a wedge in the back of your laptop to lift the back end off of the table or where ever you are using it. I dont believe it is your GPU since those were not the effected cards. I would double check the hardware regardless using your install disc just to make sure. Also check this link for more information. Try googling your panic ID. Goodluck.

EDIT: also maybe just try a reinstall of the game.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1832945&tstart=0