I already started a thread about this in the TOR forums, I was wondering if anybody here wanted to take a crack at it. I get no error messages when it crashes, so I'm totally befuddled.
The two graphic chip thing is the new trend in higher end laptops at the moment aimed at increasing battery runtime. It does have the side effect of making the driver structure a bit more complex and prone to issues in regards to gaming, since sometimes the game doesn't know which GPU to call for resources.
What specific model laptop is this, and have you already updated both the intel and nvidia drivers, along with the chipset driver and sound driver? Also under power management in control panel, do you have the power scheme set on "high performance" it will be balanced by default, high performance will be hidden under "other options"
That and also check event manager also under control panel: administrative tools and see if there are any crashing modules recorded. it would be useful to know if the nvidia driver is tanking or the intel one. If nothign else, if you can get an exact timestamp, whatever the last thing that did anything before the crash might be your faulting module.
Both sets of drivers have been updated, and the power scheme is on high performance.
System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. System Model: U43Jc
Full dxdiag: ------------------ System Information ------------------ Time of this report: 2/20/2012, 03:08:51 Machine name: JOSHUA-PC Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.110622-1503) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. System Model: U43Jc BIOS: BIOS Date: 02/05/10 19:13:52 Ver: 08.00.10 Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 450 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz Memory: 4096MB RAM Available OS Memory: 3894MB RAM Page File: 1827MB used, 5956MB available Windows Dir: C:\Windows DirectX Version: DirectX 11 DX Setup Parameters: Not found User DPI Setting: Using System DPI System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent) DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode
------------ DxDiag Notes ------------ Display Tab 1: No problems found. Sound Tab 1: No problems found. Input Tab: No problems found.
Video Compressors: Ligos MPEG-2 Encoder (Intel) v1.9-MT,0x00000000,1,1,LigosDMOVid.dll,1.02.0020.0000 WMVideo8 Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvxencd.dll,6.01.7600.16385 WMVideo9 Encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvencod.dll,6.01.7600.16385 MSScreen 9 encoder DMO,0x00600800,1,1,wmvsencd.dll,6.01.7600.16385 DV Video Encoder,0x00200000,0,0,qdv.dll,6.06.7600.16385 MJPEG Compressor,0x00200000,0,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905 Cinepak Codec by Radius,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7600.16385 Intel IYUV codec,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7600.16385 Intel IYUV codec,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7600.16385 Microsoft RLE,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7600.16385 Microsoft Video 1,0x00200000,1,1,qcap.dll,6.06.7600.16385
Midi Renderers: Default MidiOut Device,0x00800000,1,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905 Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth,0x00200000,1,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905
WDM Streaming Capture Devices: Realtek HD Audio Mic input,0x00200000,1,1,ksproxy.ax,6.01.7600.16385 Realtek HD Audio Stereo input,0x00200000,1,1,ksproxy.ax,6.01.7600.16385 USB2.0 UVC 2M WebCam,0x00200000,0,2,ksproxy.ax,6.01.7600.16385
WDM Streaming Rendering Devices: Realtek HD Audio output,0x00200000,1,1,ksproxy.ax,6.01.7600.16385
BDA Network Providers: Microsoft ATSC Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7600.16867 Microsoft DVBC Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7600.16867 Microsoft DVBS Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7600.16867 Microsoft DVBT Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSDvbNP.ax,6.06.7600.16867 Microsoft Network Provider,0x00200000,0,1,MSNP.ax,6.06.7600.16867
Video Capture Sources: USB2.0 UVC 2M WebCam,0x00200000,0,2,ksproxy.ax,6.01.7600.16385 ASUS Virtual Camera,0x00200000,0,1,virtualCamera.ax,
BDA Transport Information Renderers: BDA MPEG2 Transport Information Filter,0x00600000,2,0,psisrndr.ax,6.06.7600.16867 MPEG-2 Sections and Tables,0x00600000,1,0,Mpeg2Data.ax,6.06.7600.16867
WDM Streaming Communication Transforms: Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter,0x00200000,1,1,ksproxy.ax,6.01.7600.16385
Audio Renderers: Speakers (Realtek High Definiti,0x00200000,1,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905 Default DirectSound Device,0x00800000,1,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905 Default WaveOut Device,0x00200000,1,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905 DirectSound: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio),0x00200000,1,0,quartz.dll,6.06.7600.16905
--------------- EVR Power Information --------------- Current Setting: {5C67A112-A4C9-483F-B4A7-1D473BECAFDC} (Quality) Quality Flags: 2576 Enabled: Force throttling Allow half deinterlace Allow scaling Decode Power Usage: 100 Balanced Flags: 1424 Enabled: Force throttling Allow batching Force half deinterlace Force scaling Decode Power Usage: 50 PowerFlags: 1424 Enabled: Force throttling Allow batching Force half deinterlace Force scaling Decode Power Usage: 0
Doing a quick search, it looks like quite a few people are having issues with games and that particular laptop. Most of the problem ones seem to be diretX 11 rendering issues though. No fixes at this time. Basically it looks to me like they botched the GPU integration. You might try a bios update on the laptop, as a few people reported that helped, but none specific to SWTOR. There is at least one other person having issues with TOR and that exact same model laptop though, so you are probably screwed.
What's the easiest way to update the bios? Even if it doesn't work now, what are the odds that some software/hardware manufacturer will clear this up in a month or two?
Asus bios updates are actually really easy. you go to the asus website, download the correct bios, put the zip file on a hard drive in the laptop or on a flash drive or a DVD or cd, extract it from the zip file, then go into the existing bios and run asus ezflash. it reads the file, if it is good, it applies the file, if it is a bad file, it won't apply, and if something goes wrong in the middle of the update, it reverts back to the old one. As long as you have a full battery charge and don't experiance a catestrophic power surge that melts the laptop during bios flash, there is very little that can go wrong.
Your odds that the manufacturer will clear it up are about 50/50.
The bios update did nothing. This thing is only about a week old, would I just be wasting my time contacting Newegg about the issue and seeing about getting something else?
I guess if nothing else, I can probably dump this off on a friend for a few hundred and get something that I will verify ahead of time compatibility with swtor.
I tried googling this with swtor and couldn't find much. Any advice as to whether it will run tor or not? I don't really plan on actually playing on it much, just casual crafting and gathering and such while I watch TV or read.
The first link has a much more robust video card. The second one is slower, and is also refurbished, which means it had a problem, was sent back, and they theoretically fixed it. Sometimes refurbished is good, because that means someone went trhough it in detail to find and fix a problem, sometimes it means that they got it back, couldn't find a problem, and stuck it back in the box to sell again.
On the one in the first link, the hard drive is a 5400 RPM drive, which means it is slow. You will want to swap that out for a faster drive as funds permit. Especially for games where zoning or loading is occuring constantly. the hardware itself should all work fine though, and i know of no particular issues with that one other than ATI video cards can be finicky sometimes.