Mass Effect not Starting

Loosegangsta · 04-24-2011, 06:51 PM

Hi everyone, i bought mass effect and mass effect 2 about 3 days ago and after downloading mass effect and trying to start it and getting the 'preparing to launch mass effect...' i get the windows error message saying that mass effect has stopped working.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: MassEffect.exe
Application Version: 1.2.20608.0
Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.17514
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ce7ba58
Exception Code: c00000fd
Exception Offset: 0002e8d3
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 3081
Additional Information 1: e8ad
Additional Information 2: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863
Additional Information 3: e8ad
Additional Information 4: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863

now ive tried the start in system admin, in all ways possible, rolling back directX, pretty much everything.

Pc Specs

Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
Core2 Duo @ 3.00Ghz
4GB DDR2-800
Gigabyte GTX 460 SOC Edition 1GB
ASUS P5KPL-CM motherboard
1TB HDD @ 7200RPM

if anyone needs anything else just ask, this is my first time asking for help on a forum.
Thanks in Advance.

rad666a · 04-24-2011, 07:14 PM

First thing, you should probably verify the integrity of the game cache.

If you don't know how, do the following:

1) In your games Library, right click on the game.
2) Select "Properties".
3) Click on the "Local Files" tab.
4) Click on "Verify Integrity of Game Cache".

Wait for it to finish, and then retry running the game.

If that fails, I'm fairly certain Mass Effect 1 had issues when used on overclocked hardware, and your SOC (Super OverClocked) video card may be causing the problem. However, overclocking may only be an issue with Mass Effect 1, so it may not be it.

Loosegangsta · 04-24-2011, 07:30 PM

okay, done the verifying, no dice. still not working.

is there any way to under clock the SOC?

Loosegangsta · 04-24-2011, 09:18 PM

it did say that 1 file could not be validated adn would be reaquired though.

Loosegangsta · 04-24-2011, 11:42 PM

okay, ive done some snooping around on what you said on the overclocking and i managed to find a program (MSI AfterBurner) to under clock the SOC to the original speeds. (Core@675MHz, Shader@1350MHz, Memory@900Mhz Real) but still nothing. I also undervolted it to 825mV and still nothing. i am really at my wits end here

thatdude90210 · 04-25-2011, 12:10 AM

Something to try is both Steam and Mass effect "run as administrator", not just logged in as administrator.

Loosegangsta · 04-25-2011, 07:06 AM

done. as i said. ive run everything as admin. mass effect, steam, mass effect launcher, everything. no dice

arizonachris · 04-25-2011, 07:30 AM

It's not the game, it's Windows:

"Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll"

Go to Windows Update and make sure you are fully covered. Beyond that, you may need to do a repair of Windows. Make sure you have cleaned all the malware and virus's. Running CCleaner http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/ can fix a lot of Windows issues as well.

Loosegangsta · 04-25-2011, 08:08 AM

i had a feeling about that. i wanted confermation tho. not sure i trust ccleaner

EDIT: ran everything in CCleaner all options. still nothing

Loosegangsta · 04-26-2011, 08:14 PM

well i think i found the problem.

i did a format of my computer last night and installed steam and ME, ran in administrator, and it works.. i haven't 'activated' my computer though. i think that was the problem

EDIT: Scratch what i said, it's an update! one of windows updates causes the 'ntdll.dll' crash. now, to figure out what one it is...

04-28-2011, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loosegangsta

Hi everyone, i bought mass effect and mass effect 2 about 3 days ago and after downloading mass effect and trying to start it and getting the 'preparing to launch mass effect...' i get the windows error message saying that mass effect has stopped working.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: MassEffect.exe
Application Version: 1.2.20608.0
Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.17514
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ce7ba58
Exception Code: c00000fd
Exception Offset: 0002e8d3
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 3081
Additional Information 1: e8ad
Additional Information 2: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863
Additional Information 3: e8ad
Additional Information 4: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863

now ive tried the start in system admin, in all ways possible, rolling back directX, pretty much everything.

Pc Specs

Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
Core2 Duo @ 3.00Ghz
4GB DDR2-800
Gigabyte GTX 460 SOC Edition 1GB
ASUS P5KPL-CM motherboard
1TB HDD @ 7200RPM

if anyone needs anything else just ask, this is my first time asking for help on a forum.
Thanks in Advance.

hi..im having the exact same issue..any update on the findings yet? im not going to the windows reinstall option yet..

04-28-2011, 09:55 AM

Yea, I have a similar if not the same problem.

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: MassEffect.exe
Application Version: 1.2.20608.0
Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1
Fault Module Name: MassEffect.exe
Fault Module Version: 1.2.20608.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 4a55fea1
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 002b5c66
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 4105
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

I also get a message when I try to run Mass Effect in compatability mode XP Service Pack 3.

General protection fault!

History: GMatrix2D::Swap() Address = 0x10bb5c66 (filename not found) [in
c:\[rpgram files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\mass
effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe]
Address = 0x15b33ee4 (filename not found)

Diehr_Wolf · 05-07-2011, 09:23 PM

I also am having the same issue.

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: MassEffect.exe
Application Version: 1.2.20608.0
Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.17514
Fault Module Timestamp: 4ce7ba58
Exception Code: c00000fd
Exception Offset: 0002e8d3
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: e8ad
Additional Information 2: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863
Additional Information 3: e8ad
Additional Information 4: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863

Diehr_Wolf · 05-08-2011, 01:10 AM

Hello again! I've found a solution that has worked for me, and I hope it will help you all too!
Turns out there's something wrong with the steam install w/patches.
Background:
Windows 7Ult SP1
Intel Q9550 CPU
8GB RAM
nVidia GTX260(x2-SLI)
Striker II Extreme w/SupremeFX II

Here's what I did:

set MassEffect.exe, and MassEffectConfig.exe in "...\Steam\steamapps\common\mass effect\Binaries" to run as administrator.
I also manually downloaded and installed the patch for 1.02. Here's a link: Mass Effect 1.02 Patch

Credit is due to "Kelwing" from BioWare SocialNetwork, stating,
"Yes try loading the 1.02 patch. Had same issues with Win7 64 bit. Would start and just stop with no warning. I do run the Steam version and found manually installing patch made it work again."

THANKS KELWING!!!

Tower6 · 05-08-2011, 07:29 PM

Mine kept crashing, and the fix was to turn off my spyware blocker, it was seeing the data files as a threat and blocking the game from accessing them.

04-24-2011, 06:51 PM	#1
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	Mass Effect not Starting Hi everyone, i bought mass effect and mass effect 2 about 3 days ago and after downloading mass effect and trying to start it and getting the 'preparing to launch mass effect...' i get the windows error message saying that mass effect has stopped working. Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: MassEffect.exe Application Version: 1.2.20608.0 Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1 Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.17514 Fault Module Timestamp: 4ce7ba58 Exception Code: c00000fd Exception Offset: 0002e8d3 OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48 Locale ID: 3081 Additional Information 1: e8ad Additional Information 2: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863 Additional Information 3: e8ad Additional Information 4: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863 now ive tried the start in system admin, in all ways possible, rolling back directX, pretty much everything. Pc Specs Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 Core2 Duo @ 3.00Ghz 4GB DDR2-800 Gigabyte GTX 460 SOC Edition 1GB ASUS P5KPL-CM motherboard 1TB HDD @ 7200RPM if anyone needs anything else just ask, this is my first time asking for help on a forum. Thanks in Advance.

04-24-2011, 07:14 PM	#2
rad666a Join Date: Dec 2010 Reputation: 143 Posts: 1,360	First thing, you should probably verify the integrity of the game cache. If you don't know how, do the following: 1) In your games Library, right click on the game. 2) Select "Properties". 3) Click on the "Local Files" tab. 4) Click on "Verify Integrity of Game Cache". Wait for it to finish, and then retry running the game. If that fails, I'm fairly certain Mass Effect 1 had issues when used on overclocked hardware, and your SOC (Super OverClocked) video card may be causing the problem. However, overclocking may only be an issue with Mass Effect 1, so it may not be it. Last edited by rad666a: 04-24-2011 at 07:19 PM.

04-25-2011, 08:08 AM	#9
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	i had a feeling about that. i wanted confermation tho. not sure i trust ccleaner EDIT: ran everything in CCleaner all options. still nothing Last edited by Loosegangsta: 04-25-2011 at 08:15 AM.

04-26-2011, 08:14 PM	#10
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	well i think i found the problem. i did a format of my computer last night and installed steam and ME, ran in administrator, and it works.. i haven't 'activated' my computer though. i think that was the problem EDIT: Scratch what i said, it's an update! one of windows updates causes the 'ntdll.dll' crash. now, to figure out what one it is... Last edited by Loosegangsta: 04-27-2011 at 02:09 AM.

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04-24-2011, 07:30 PM	#3
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	okay, done the verifying, no dice. still not working. is there any way to under clock the SOC?

04-24-2011, 09:18 PM	#4
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	it did say that 1 file could not be validated adn would be reaquired though.

04-24-2011, 11:42 PM	#5
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	okay, ive done some snooping around on what you said on the overclocking and i managed to find a program (MSI AfterBurner) to under clock the SOC to the original speeds. (Core@675MHz, Shader@1350MHz, Memory@900Mhz Real) but still nothing. I also undervolted it to 825mV and still nothing. i am really at my wits end here

04-25-2011, 12:10 AM	#6
thatdude90210 Join Date: Aug 2004 Reputation: 28 Posts: 224	Something to try is both Steam and Mass effect "run as administrator", not just logged in as administrator.

04-25-2011, 07:06 AM	#7
Loosegangsta Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 7	done. as i said. ive run everything as admin. mass effect, steam, mass effect launcher, everything. no dice

04-25-2011, 07:30 AM	#8
arizonachris Join Date: Aug 2009 Reputation: 620 Posts: 6,438	It's not the game, it's Windows: "Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll" Go to Windows Update and make sure you are fully covered. Beyond that, you may need to do a repair of Windows. Make sure you have cleaned all the malware and virus's. Running CCleaner http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/ can fix a lot of Windows issues as well.

04-28-2011, 09:55 AM	#12
Nomnol2 Guest Posts: n/a	Yea, I have a similar if not the same problem. Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: MassEffect.exe Application Version: 1.2.20608.0 Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1 Fault Module Name: MassEffect.exe Fault Module Version: 1.2.20608.0 Fault Module Timestamp: 4a55fea1 Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 002b5c66 OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3 Locale ID: 4105 Additional Information 1: 0a9e Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789 Additional Information 3: 0a9e Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789 I also get a message when I try to run Mass Effect in compatability mode XP Service Pack 3. General protection fault! History: GMatrix2D::Swap() Address = 0x10bb5c66 (filename not found) [in c:\[rpgram files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\mass effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe] Address = 0x15b33ee4 (filename not found)

05-07-2011, 09:23 PM	#13
Diehr_Wolf Join Date: May 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 6	I also am having the same issue. Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: MassEffect.exe Application Version: 1.2.20608.0 Application Timestamp: 4a55fea1 Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.17514 Fault Module Timestamp: 4ce7ba58 Exception Code: c00000fd Exception Offset: 0002e8d3 OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: e8ad Additional Information 2: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863 Additional Information 3: e8ad Additional Information 4: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863

05-08-2011, 01:10 AM	#14
Diehr_Wolf Join Date: May 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 6	Hello again! I've found a solution that has worked for me, and I hope it will help you all too! Turns out there's something wrong with the steam install w/patches. Background: Windows 7Ult SP1 Intel Q9550 CPU 8GB RAM nVidia GTX260(x2-SLI) Striker II Extreme w/SupremeFX II Here's what I did: set MassEffect.exe, and MassEffectConfig.exe in "...\Steam\steamapps\common\mass effect\Binaries" to run as administrator. I also manually downloaded and installed the patch for 1.02. Here's a link: Mass Effect 1.02 Patch Credit is due to "Kelwing" from BioWare SocialNetwork, stating, "Yes try loading the 1.02 patch. Had same issues with Win7 64 bit. Would start and just stop with no warning. I do run the Steam version and found manually installing patch made it work again." THANKS KELWING!!!

05-08-2011, 07:29 PM	#15
Tower6 Join Date: Nov 2006 Reputation: 0 Posts: 174	Mine kept crashing, and the fix was to turn off my spyware blocker, it was seeing the data files as a threat and blocking the game from accessing them.