Ren'Py Constantly Crashing (Freezing) In Tutorial

[aira]

I just downloaded Ren'Py to create a game I've been working on for ages in my spare time. The first thing I did was try to open the tutorial. It opened okay, but when I tried to turn the music off, it crashed. This happened several times in a row. Then I just turned my speakers off and started the tutorial. After about a minute, it crashed again (when I clicked). This happened another 3 times, in different places each time, before I gave up.

I'm using my writing computer for this, which is about 5 years old, so it's not exactly a new machine, but it's also not old and doesn't really have any other problems. I have Windows Vista, an Intel Pentium 1.87 GHz dual core processor, and 2 GB of RAM. I can't imagine that a program like this needs any more than that to run, but I also can't imagine what's causing it to crash randomly. I haven't even been able to get through the first section of the tutorial.

Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong here? Am I missing something? I really want to use this software, but if I can't run it on this computer, I might not be able to. (My newer computer has a horrendous keyboard, no good for lots of typing.)

Thanks in advance.

[AxemRed]

Upload/post your log.txt, the most likely culprit is an outdated graphics driver.

[powerofvoid]

What kind of crash is this?

1. CTD (Crash-to-Desktop): The whole thing crashes, launcher and all, and you're left staring at your Desktop.
2. Just your game crashes, but it crashes completely, and you're left with the Ren'Py launcher.
3. A blue screen comes up inside your game window with an error message.

[aira]

Apologies, I think I used the wrong word. The game doesn't crash, actually, it freezes. The tutorial window freezes (gives a "not responding" error), and the launcher freezes as well. This seems to happen randomly and not in response to any particular action. It's always when I'm clicking something, but it's a different thing each time.

Here's the log.txt.

Code: Select all

Tue Apr 08 21:57:02 2014
Windows-Vista-6.0.6002-SP2
Ren'Py 6.17.3.327
Ren'Py Tutorial 6.17 "In This Decade..."


Windowed mode.
Screen sizes: virtual=(800, 600) physical=(800, 600)
Vendor: 'Intel'
Renderer: 'Intel 965/963 Graphics Media Accelerator'
Version: '1.5.0 - Build 7.14.10.1409'
Display Info: <VideoInfo(hw = 0, wm = 1,video_mem = 0
	     blit_hw = 0, blit_hw_CC = 0, blit_hw_A = 0,
	     blit_sw = 0, blit_sw_CC = 0, blit_sw_A = 0,
	     bitsize  = 32, bytesize = 4,
	     masks =  (16711680, 65280, 255, 0),
	     shifts = (16, 8, 0, 0),
	     losses =  (0, 0, 0, 8),
	     current_w = 1280, current_h = 800
>

Fixed-function is blacklisted.
Extensions:
    
    GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1
    GL_ARB_depth_texture
    GL_ARB_fragment_program
    GL_ARB_multitexture
    GL_ARB_occlusion_query
    GL_ARB_point_parameters
    GL_ARB_shadow
    GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp
    GL_ARB_texture_compression
    GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
    GL_ARB_texture_env_add
    GL_ARB_texture_env_combine
    GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar
    GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
    GL_ARB_texture_rectangle
    GL_ARB_transpose_matrix
    GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
    GL_ARB_vertex_program
    GL_ARB_window_pos
    GL_EXT_abgr
    GL_EXT_bgra
    GL_EXT_blend_color
    GL_EXT_blend_func_separate
    GL_EXT_blend_minmax
    GL_EXT_blend_subtract
    GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint
    GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
    GL_EXT_draw_range_elements
    GL_EXT_fog_coord
    GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
    GL_EXT_packed_pixels
    GL_EXT_rescale_normal
    GL_EXT_secondary_color
    GL_EXT_separate_specular_color
    GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
    GL_EXT_stencil_two_side
    GL_EXT_stencil_wrap
    GL_EXT_texture3D
    GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc
    GL_EXT_texture_env_add
    GL_EXT_texture_env_combine
    GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
    GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias
    GL_EXT_texture_rectangle
    GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat
    GL_NV_blend_square
    GL_NV_texgen_reflection
    GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
    GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp
    GL_SGIS_texture_lod
    GL_WIN_swap_hint
Number of texture units: 8
Can't find a workable environment.

Windowed mode.
Screen sizes: virtual=(800, 600) physical=(800, 600)
Vendor: 'Google Inc.'
Renderer: 'ANGLE (Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family)'
Version: 'OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 1.0.0.1166)'
Display Info: <VideoInfo(hw = 0, wm = 1,video_mem = 0
	     blit_hw = 0, blit_hw_CC = 0, blit_hw_A = 0,
	     blit_sw = 0, blit_sw_CC = 0, blit_sw_A = 0,
	     bitsize  = 32, bytesize = 4,
	     masks =  (16711680, 65280, 255, 0),
	     shifts = (16, 8, 0, 0),
	     losses =  (0, 0, 0, 8),
	     current_w = 1280, current_h = 800
>

Extensions:
    GL_ANGLE_framebuffer_blit
    GL_ANGLE_instanced_arrays
    GL_ANGLE_pack_reverse_row_order
    GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt3
    GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt5
    GL_ANGLE_texture_usage
    GL_ANGLE_translated_shader_source
    GL_EXT_occlusion_query_boolean
    GL_EXT_read_format_bgra
    GL_EXT_robustness
    GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1
    GL_EXT_texture_format_BGRA8888
    GL_EXT_texture_storage
    GL_NV_fence
    GL_OES_element_index_uint
    GL_OES_packed_depth_stencil
    GL_OES_rgb8_rgba8
    GL_OES_standard_derivatives
    GL_OES_texture_float
    GL_OES_texture_half_float
    GL_OES_texture_half_float_linear
Number of texture units: 16
Using shader environment.
Using copy RTT.
Using angle renderer.
Texture testing:
- Hardware max texture size: 4096
- 64px textures work.
- 128px textures work.
- 256px textures work.
- 512px textures work.
- 1024px textures work.
- 2048px textures work.
Performance test:
- Target is 5 frames in 0.333333333333 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.000000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.162000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.212000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.228000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.245000 seconds.
- 0.245000 seconds to render 5 frames.

[AxemRed]

Updating the driver of your graphics chip should fix your problem.

[aira]

I've just visited the Intel web site and used their automated tool for detecting current graphics drivers and selecting the correct updates. There's a problem. It says:

A customized computer manufacturer driver is installed on your computer. The Intel Driver Update Utility is not able to update the driver. Installing a generic Intel driver instead of the customized computer manufacturer driver may cause technical issues. Contact your computer manufacturer for the latest driver for your computer.

This computer is five years old and I'm pretty sure Dell isn't going to have a specialized driver for it anymore. Does anyone have any advice on this? Is there anything I can do?

To be honest, I'm pretty amazed that a program like Ren'Py needs any shiny new drivers to function. It's not exactly a complicated, flashy piece of software... ? And this computer might not be new, but it's also not exactly ancient, either. Up until two years ago, when I got a second computer for newer games, it could run most programs and games without error. (I would run Ren'Py on the newer computer, but as I mentioned before, the keyboard on it is atrocious and I can't type on it for any length of time without pain in my wrists and fingers.)

EDIT: I managed to find the "latest" drivers from the Dell web site, and installed them. Everything should now be completely up to date. I started the Ren'Py tutorial again. Turned off the sound without crashing, but as soon as I started the tutorial it froze almost immediately. Problem is still not solved, sadly. Here's the log file now, if it's helpful:

Code: Select all

Wed Apr 09 20:18:56 2014
Windows-Vista-6.0.6002-SP2
Ren'Py 6.17.3.327
Ren'Py Tutorial 6.17 "In This Decade..."


Windowed mode.
Screen sizes: virtual=(800, 600) physical=(800, 600)
Vendor: 'Intel'
Renderer: 'Intel 965/963 Graphics Media Accelerator'
Version: '1.5.0 - Build 7.14.10.1409'
Display Info: <VideoInfo(hw = 0, wm = 1,video_mem = 0
	     blit_hw = 0, blit_hw_CC = 0, blit_hw_A = 0,
	     blit_sw = 0, blit_sw_CC = 0, blit_sw_A = 0,
	     bitsize  = 32, bytesize = 4,
	     masks =  (16711680, 65280, 255, 0),
	     shifts = (16, 8, 0, 0),
	     losses =  (0, 0, 0, 8),
	     current_w = 1280, current_h = 800
>

Fixed-function is blacklisted.
Extensions:
    
    GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1
    GL_ARB_depth_texture
    GL_ARB_fragment_program
    GL_ARB_multitexture
    GL_ARB_occlusion_query
    GL_ARB_point_parameters
    GL_ARB_shadow
    GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp
    GL_ARB_texture_compression
    GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
    GL_ARB_texture_env_add
    GL_ARB_texture_env_combine
    GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar
    GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
    GL_ARB_texture_rectangle
    GL_ARB_transpose_matrix
    GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
    GL_ARB_vertex_program
    GL_ARB_window_pos
    GL_EXT_abgr
    GL_EXT_bgra
    GL_EXT_blend_color
    GL_EXT_blend_func_separate
    GL_EXT_blend_minmax
    GL_EXT_blend_subtract
    GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint
    GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
    GL_EXT_draw_range_elements
    GL_EXT_fog_coord
    GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
    GL_EXT_packed_pixels
    GL_EXT_rescale_normal
    GL_EXT_secondary_color
    GL_EXT_separate_specular_color
    GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
    GL_EXT_stencil_two_side
    GL_EXT_stencil_wrap
    GL_EXT_texture3D
    GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc
    GL_EXT_texture_env_add
    GL_EXT_texture_env_combine
    GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
    GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias
    GL_EXT_texture_rectangle
    GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat
    GL_NV_blend_square
    GL_NV_texgen_reflection
    GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
    GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp
    GL_SGIS_texture_lod
    GL_WIN_swap_hint
Number of texture units: 8
Can't find a workable environment.

Windowed mode.
Screen sizes: virtual=(800, 600) physical=(800, 600)
Vendor: 'Google Inc.'
Renderer: 'ANGLE (Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family)'
Version: 'OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 1.0.0.1166)'
Display Info: <VideoInfo(hw = 0, wm = 1,video_mem = 0
	     blit_hw = 0, blit_hw_CC = 0, blit_hw_A = 0,
	     blit_sw = 0, blit_sw_CC = 0, blit_sw_A = 0,
	     bitsize  = 32, bytesize = 4,
	     masks =  (16711680, 65280, 255, 0),
	     shifts = (16, 8, 0, 0),
	     losses =  (0, 0, 0, 8),
	     current_w = 1280, current_h = 800
>

Extensions:
    GL_ANGLE_framebuffer_blit
    GL_ANGLE_instanced_arrays
    GL_ANGLE_pack_reverse_row_order
    GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt3
    GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt5
    GL_ANGLE_texture_usage
    GL_ANGLE_translated_shader_source
    GL_EXT_occlusion_query_boolean
    GL_EXT_read_format_bgra
    GL_EXT_robustness
    GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1
    GL_EXT_texture_format_BGRA8888
    GL_EXT_texture_storage
    GL_NV_fence
    GL_OES_element_index_uint
    GL_OES_packed_depth_stencil
    GL_OES_rgb8_rgba8
    GL_OES_standard_derivatives
    GL_OES_texture_float
    GL_OES_texture_half_float
    GL_OES_texture_half_float_linear
Number of texture units: 16
Using shader environment.
Using copy RTT.
Using angle renderer.
Texture testing:
- Hardware max texture size: 4096
- 64px textures work.
- 128px textures work.
- 256px textures work.
- 512px textures work.
- 1024px textures work.
- 2048px textures work.
Performance test:
- Target is 5 frames in 0.333333333333 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.000000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.095000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.146000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.159000 seconds.
- Frame drawn at 0.176000 seconds.
- 0.176000 seconds to render 5 frames.

[AxemRed]

This computer is five years old and I'm pretty sure Dell isn't going to have a specialized driver for it anymore. Does anyone have any advice on this? Is there anything I can do?

Uninstalling the current driver, then reinstalling with the generic Intel driver has worked for me in the past. You could also try to force the OpenGL or software renderer instead of ANGLE.

[Asceai]

Software renderer would probably work. I don't know if OpenGL will work if the driver is blacklisted.
You can set those preferences in the launcher. I also think you can hold down a key when starting up a ren'py game to force software, but I can't remember what key it is.

[aira]

I'm afraid I don't know what most of that means. I know that I've used software that uses OpenGL before on this computer and it worked fine. No idea about the other two. I wouldn't know how to go about uninstalling and reinstalling the driver though. And I'm worried about messing up this computer, trying to fix what never seemed to be broken until I tried to use Ren'Py... I guess I'll try setting video preferences in the launcher and see if that works.