http://www.opentechsupport.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1387
EDIT: here is a link to a patch for the game that seemed to help people with this problem. Try it before anything else.
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20758
easy as google.
1. Update your chipset drivers depending on what type of chipset you have. The common ones are VIA, ALi, SiS, and AMD. This step doesn't apply to Intel chipset users.
2. Update to the latest DirectX. After that, install all the latest video and sound card drivers. A link to the latest DirectX can be found here.
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if that doesn't work
1. Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and shut down everything on your computer before playing Diablo 2 except systray, explorer, and any other application that may be critical such as a mouse driver like point32. Rnaap should remain if you are online. You might even want to try and create a hardware profile just for playing Diablo2. Make the new hardware profile with nothing loaded but just what you need to play Diablo2. After a clean boot with all your system resources free, you just might be able to avoid this error. Or at least postpone it hopefully.
2. Diablo 2 uses all the memory it can get a hold of. Including the virtual kind. If your hard drive is getting low on space, it can cause this error to trigger. Here's what Blizzard recommends for swapfile settings and what steps to take before setting your swapfile.
- Blizzard swapfile size recommendations
A program that may help with freeing memory resources is a program like MemTurbo or some other memory defrag utility. This has proven to be helpful. Especially if you have memory leaks from poorly written drivers and other applications.
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if that doesn't work
Try removing the lid to your case and playing. This won't hurt anything. Just be careful you don't dump something in it while it's exposed. With the lid off, it will keep heat from building up inside your case. If the error stops showing up, then overheating probably is your problem. An extra case fan or something like this is a good purchase to help with excess system heat.
2. Underclocking the CPU - I personally don't like the idea of underclocking anything in my system but a lot of users have found this to be a successful solution to this error. I recommend you try this step before buying extra cooling while your case lid is off however. Although heat seems to be a major factor, there seems to be evidence that indicates underclocking is successful in removing this error for other reasons besides heat in some cases. In either case, give this step a try if step 1 didn't help you.
Check your motherboard manual on how to do this. If one is not available, check your motherboard manufacturer's website. Or check your computer brand names website for any possible motherboard manuals in PDF format. If you still can't find any info, post in our forums and one of our techs will assist you.
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2. Try copying the D2CHAR.MPQ and the D2MUSIC.MPQ files from the Diablo II Play Disk into your Diablo II directory on your hard drive. This should help lower CD access and read time and also might help keep this error from being triggered. Or at least less often. The less stress you put on your CD-ROM the better.
3. If you have somekind of DVD software installed such as WinDVD or PowerDVD, uninstall them and try re-installing. These types of programs have been known to cause Diablo 2 installation problems. Uninstall them and then try re-installing Diablo 2.
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1. Overclocking can be a cause for this error. Diablo 2 stresses the CPU and everything else a lot more than most applications do. Whether the crash is from heat, cache errors, or memory errors, try running at default clockspeed to see if the error halts. If so, you might need better cooling.
Overclocking can create a lot of other hard to see problems such as cache and memory errors too which have nothing to do with heat. If the game runs ok at default clock, try upping system settings a little at a time until you find the sweet spot.
2. Memory problems can vary quite a bit and what causes them as well. Here's some ways to check if memory is your problem.
- Try slower memory timings in your CMOS setup. Check your motherboard manual about different memory settings. Also,I recommend you take a look at Speed_Demonz BIOS Optimization guide if you want to read up more on different settings in BIOS.
- Corrupted memory or incompatability problems between memory modules and motherboards has been a cause for this error. I highly recommend the memory test program available from here.
- If you have less 64 megs or less of memory, then that can also cause problems and also poor performance. Check the Low Resources Section of this guide for help on this. The MemTurbo program there is also a good idea.
4. CPU problems are usually not a problem, but if you're overclocked or have some cache on your motherboard or processor going bad, CPU errors can occur. Assuming you have tried the default clockspeed, try running some CPU tests to see if your CPU might be the problem. One found here should work.
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If you run through all of that and still get the error, let us know.
I take no credit for the copy/paste job posted above. All ideas are not my own but those of people contributing to the Open Tech Support forum.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND REMOVING THE CASING FROM YOUR NOTEBOOK. Don't try that step. I'd try all of the software stuff first, such as freeing up hard drive space. Also, you may want to try running in different compatibility modes such as xp, 98, 95, etc. Finally, make sure what you're running in compatibility mode is the .exe file and not the game icon. Hope one of the above steps helps.
Last edited by a moderator:
May 5, 2015
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
