Game blacks out after a few seconds of play

[timeformegaman]

Any help would be appreciated. I am stumped. Game used to run fine, but that was several months ago. Booted it back up a few days ago, and after a few seconds of play, screen goes black. Looks like the monitor turns off. I still get game music though; it continues playing through the track like it is supposed to. I ran the Blizzard repair tool, but that did nothing for this particular problem. I am running on an Athlon machine, with an ATI card. Anyone ever experience a problem like this before. I can't even get pass the login screen now. Games starts up, but before I can finish entering my password the game locks.

[Cthonctic]

I'd suggest measures in this order:
1. Update graphics driver. If you did this fairly recently and run the newest version, try downgrading to an older version instead. Happens rarely but not unheard of.
2. Check your RAM. Oftentimes such issues happen if your comp doesn't catch up RAM-wise. Try by disabling all unnecessary processes in the task manager before starting the game and if nothign changes then see if one your RAM bars has begun to get faulty.
3. Clean reinstall of the game. I don't give it too good a chance but it might have to do with some corrupted resource data.
4. Reinstall your windows. It is notorious ot become "dirtier" and more and more cumbersome and prone to weird behavior the longer it runs. Backing up all important data is a must of course.

Oh yeah, maybe try to contact Blizz' Tech Support to see if they have a simpler and cleverer solution. Doesn't hurt for sure.

Good luck there, mate.

[timeformegaman]

I got the drivers, and all unnecessary processes are shut down before I boot up the game. There is still more than enough RAM accessible when the game boots up. I will try a clean install of the game, but Blizzard's repair program was supposed to find any corrupt files and replace them. The reinstall of Windows is something I didn't think of. I will have to give it a try if I can find my disc. That is going to be the hard part. If none of that works, I will see what Bliz tech support says about it. Thanks for the advice.

[bushnellparty]

I was about to post something just like this. I have an e-machines that runs on the athleon (spelling?). It's a laptop and I will be playing and then the screen turns off but the game is still going on so I have to reboot. It's not a huge problem when I am soloing but joining a group or battle ground is out of the question. This is annoying me because it is sparatic at best and I have a pretty new computer (less than 2 yrs). Have you figured out the problem yet? I thought it might have something to do with screen resolution but I dont know anything about computers.

[rgirty]

It sounds like your gpu is crashing. Do you have another video card you could try?

[bushnellparty]

no i dont have another video card. I was planning on stopping by best buy after work and asking them but i figured their answer would be "you need *blank*, *blank* and *blank*". Of course they are always trying to sell something. However, the video card problem sounds right, I'll see what they have to say if I dont get a more clearer answer on here by the time i leave.

[rgirty]

I would buy a cheap PCI card... Like a $50 one and see if it fixes the problem. I think bestbuy charges like 10% to restock? So you would be out $5 if it didn't fix the problem. That is what I would do.

[bushnellparty]

sounds like a plan, I'll do that after work, I found a cheap one on the website for 50 bones, though it seems odd that a video card would start to act up after only like 2 years of use.

[Grendo]

It sounds like your gpu is crashing. Do you have another video card you could try?
I had a similar issue with EQ, and WOW. Both had horrible graphics issues, EQ would go all disco on me, WoW would blank out. All other games worked flawlessly, but none were as graphic intensive.

I bought a new graphics card and the problem was fixed. I tried all the problems originally suggested in this thread and nothing worked until the replacement.

Check your fans too. You could be overheating.

[rgirty]

seems odd that a video card would start to act up after only like 2 years of use.


I used to run a computer store that mainly functioned in custom computers and repair. If you get two years out of any computer part you are doing well. I know a lot of people will say ZOMG, however I have replaced literally thousands of different parts that were under warranty.

[bushnellparty]

sounds good all in all... i'll def go by best buy tonight. If i am sucessfully running warsong gulch tonight i'll sing a dirge in your honor over all the alliance corpses

[rgirty]

BAH! If i would have known you were a nasty hordie I wouldn't have helped you!

Joking of course, good luck with the repair. Post up here if it does not work and i'll try to assist.

[bushnellparty]

Went to bestbuy, their computer service area has some half bad news. It is either one of two things 1) the spyware, adware and viruses on my computer are causeing my video card to malfunction which can easily be fixed by them 2) My video card could be dying and since it is a laptop it would mean i would need a whole new mother board i.e. a good 900$.

I am going to take it in tomorrow and I should know what the status is within two hours. If the card is shot I am going to buy a brand new desktop.

[D.K.night]

Same thing happened to me. Yup, the screen would black out, but you could still hear the music and sound playing, as if the game did not notice something was amiss.

I had a spare hard drive and did a complete reinstall of Windows, Sound, and graphics drivers. Nope, didn't fix the problem.

I bought another graphics card and wham, problem solved. It is interesting to note that WoW seems to push the graphics in a way that other games never did - exposing the problem.

[rgirty]

It is either one of two things 1) the spyware, adware and viruses on my computer are causeing my video card to malfunction which can easily be fixed by them 2) My video card could be dying and since it is a laptop it would mean i would need a whole new mother board i.e. a good 900$


I apologize, i had no idea you were on a notebook i thought you were on a desktop style machine.

It will not be #1, the problem is your graphics chip most likely can't handle the game. It sounds like they are just trying to get you take it in and charge you. I hope they can get it going for you but I would be suprised.

On a side note, i had a similiar problem with my notebook, it would play.. just very slow. I had to buy a new machine a desktop.