BroodWar Crashes To Desktop

[Citi.Zen]

I've been playing StarCraft (BW) forever. Currently I have a win xp system. Up to a few weeks ago the game ran fine. Suddenly it keeps crashing to the desktop - once it even restarted the computer on me.

I have looked at your FAQ section. The error message I get is about smackw32.dll. Here is the pasted error file:

TIME: 03/03/04 00:45:34.664
INFO:

Exception code: C0000005 ACCESS_VIOLATION
Fault address: 1000EE51 02:00000E51 C:\Program Files\Starcraft\smackw32.dll

Registers:
EAX:2B2B2B1E
EBX:0000000B
ECX:019EE71E
EDX:2B9D2B9D
ESI:29BE1650
EDI:026B02D0
CS:EIP:001B:1000EE51
SS:ESP:0023:0012FE08 EBP:2B2B2B2B
DS:0023 ES:0023 FS:0038 GS:0000
Flags:00010283
Call stack:
Address Frame Logical addr Module
1000EE51 2B2B2B2B 0002:00000E51 C:\Program Files\Starcraft\smackw32.dll

Stack bytes:
0x0012fe08: b4 16 01 10 ac 28 89 01 01 00 00 00 7c 00 59 02 .....(......|.Y.
0x0012fe18: 00 00 00 00 23 00 00 00 50 00 2e 0b a9 5d 00 10 ....#...P....]..
0x0012fe28: ac 28 89 01 50 00 9e 01 b0 06 89 01 b4 fe 12 00 .(..P...........
0x0012fe38: 7c 00 59 02 01 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 cc 56 03 15 |.Y..........V..
0x0012fe48: 50 00 2e 0b 32 7c 6d 02 00 00 00 00 84 01 6a 02 P...2|m.......j.
0x0012fe58: 00 00 00 00 c8 89 6d 02 9e dd 4a 00 02 00 00 00 ......m...J.....
0x0012fe68: c8 89 6d 02 b4 fe 12 00 3c 00 00 00 38 00 00 00 ..m.....<...8...
0x0012fe78: 92 cf 4a 00 94 00 6b 02 01 00 00 00 90 fe 12 00 ..J...k.........
0x0012fe88: 5c 01 6a 02 4c 39 f8 03 00 00 00 00 5e c0 4d 00 \.j.L9......^.M.
0x0012fe98: 04 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 36 6c 44 00 ............6lD.
0x0012fea8: 42 39 f8 03 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 bc fe 12 00 B9..............
0x0012feb8: bb 6b 44 00 0a 00 00 00 dc 81 46 00 00 00 00 00 .kD.......F.....
0x0012fec8: 24 80 46 00 29 1a a7 70 00 00 00 00 c0 ff 12 00 $.F.)..p........
0x0012fed8: 00 f0 fd 7f 08 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 89 2b 51 00 .............+Q.
0x0012fee8: 30 12 95 00 89 2b 51 00 00 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 0....+Q..... ...
0x0012fef8: 1b 00 00 00 00 c0 f7 2f 00 80 9d 22 00 c0 6b 42 ......./..."..kB
0x0012ff08: 00 30 5c 3a 00 00 fe 7f 00 f0 18 7e 00 00 00 00 .0\:.......~....
0x0012ff18: 00 10 00 00 00 00 01 00 ff ff fe 7f 01 00 00 00 ................
0x0012ff28: 01 00 00 00 4a 02 00 00 00 00 01 00 06 00 02 06 ....J...........
0x0012ff38: f6 a4 4c 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 a3 23 14 00 ..L...@......#..
0x0012ff48: 01 00 00 00 29 1a a7 70 02 00 00 80 00 f0 fd 7f ....)..p........
0x0012ff58: 05 00 00 c0 a3 23 14 00 00 00 00 00 44 00 00 00 .....#......D...
0x0012ff68: 80 3d 14 00 90 3d 14 00 a8 3d 14 00 00 00 00 00 .=...=...=......
0x0012ff78: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x0012ff88: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 ................
0x0012ff98: 00 00 00 00 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ................
0x0012ffa8: 4c ff 12 00 30 fa 12 00 e0 ff 12 00 54 d2 4c 00 L...0.......T.L.
0x0012ffb8: 18 82 4e 00 00 00 00 00 f0 ff 12 00 c7 14 e8 77 ..N............w
0x0012ffc8: 29 1a a7 70 02 00 00 80 00 f0 fd 7f f0 1c a3 b6 )..p............
0x0012ffd8: c8 ff 12 00 04 45 53 80 ff ff ff ff 09 48 e9 77 .....ES......H.w
0x0012ffe8: 10 12 e9 77 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ...w............
0x0012fff8: 16 a4 4c 00 00 00 00 00 41 63 74 78 20 00 00 00 ..L.....Actx ...
0x00130008: 01 00 00 00 4c 06 00 00 7c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....L...|.......
0x00130018: 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 14 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 ...............
0x00130028: 03 00 00 00 34 00 00 00 ac 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 ....4...........
0x00130038: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x00130048: 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x00130058: 00 00 00 00 64 01 00 00 90 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....d...........
0x00130068: 5b 49 59 2d f4 02 00 00 32 00 00 00 28 03 00 00 [IY-....2...(...
0x00130078: b4 02 00 00 10 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 8c 00 00 00 ................
0x00130088: 02 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 ac 00 00 00 30 05 00 00 ............0...
0x00130098: 01 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 dc 05 00 00 70 00 00 00 ............p...
0x001300a8: 01 00 00 00 53 73 48 64 2c 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 ....SsHd,.......
0x001300b8: 01 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 88 00 00 00 ................
0x001300c8: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2c 00 00 00 5a 00 00 00 ........,...Z...
0x001300d8: 5a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Z...............
0x001300e8: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x001300f8: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 24 00 00 00 ............$...

Code bytes:
0x1000ee51: 0f 6f 16 fe c9 83 c6 04 0f 6e c9 0f db cd 0f f3 .o.......n......


I have tried to reinstall, twice. It did not help. It puzzles me that this problem would start suddenly, as far as I can tell I have not changed anything on the computer. I certainly have not changed drivers, or added memory, or any hardware whatsoever.

I do not know what else to do, short of reformating, which seems too extreme.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[NoNameRequired]

Have you installed any codecs recently?

 

[Citi.Zen]

No, no new codecs, so far as I can tell. I always had windows media player, but that's about it.

What I didn't mention before is that this problem only affects starcraft, all other programs run fine, from graphics intensive games to stata or spss.

I have tried to check for damaged/corupt windows files (I reinstalled starcraft a few times so I thought maybe the problem is elsewhere) with the sfc /scannow command, and that didn't didn't help any. I ran a bunch of diagnostic programs but they didn't return much beyond an activex problem that I did fix.

Hardware tests have come back negative, all things work fine, the CPU is not overheating or anything like that, and the drivers are all fine (I didn't change them before the crashing started, but I checked for updates anyway).

I've tried most things I can think of, and so far I'm no closer to getting to the bottom of this - lol.

 

[BibiPhoque]

Hey,
I just had the exact same problem. In fact, it's the first time I play starcraft on windows xp (I was on windows 98 before), and it's the first time I see starcraft crashing like that...
But my error file gives me an error abou starcraft.exe...

 

[Citi.Zen]

If its starcraft.exe I suggest you first try the FAQ's on this site. They are the most common causes for crashing.

 

[NoNameRequired]

Post your system specs using Belarc. Make sure you take out the serial numbers. Here's what I'm thinking - I believe the file smackw32.dll has something to do with the in-game videos. That's why I asked if you had installed any codecs recently. Maybe some software installed on your computer is conflicting with it somehow. I remember that some people had issues with Warcraft III and certain codecs (divx was it?). I'm not too sure about what I'm saying though, it's been a while I've troubleshooted for any Blizzard game.

 

[The Helper]

smack32.dll is the Smacker Video file - which does the in game video - just as you suspect NNR.

 

[NoNameRequired]

Still got it

 

[The Helper]

The smacker error is covered in the faq for desktop crashes. Unfortunately, I have forgotten where those faqs are - i think at faqs.thehelper.net

 

[Citi.Zen]

I still cannot find the reference to smackw32 in "starcraft crashes to desktop."

I understand that its used to play movies compressed with the Smacker video codec... but this tells me nothing about how to fix it... Sorry if I am obtuse here, but I need more speciffic help!

Thanks...

 

[Citi.Zen]

Here are the system specs you asked for:


Operating System System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 1 (build 2600) ECS K7VMM+ 3.1
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.67 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: ECS K7VMM+ 3.1
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01
Drives Memory Modules c,d
40.01 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
22.41 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-252B [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

WDC [Hard drive] (40.02 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAAT7084232, rev 06.04G06, SMART Status: Healthy 768 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 512 MB
Slot '1' has 256 MB
Slot '2' is Empty
Slot '3' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive 0) 40.01 GB 22.41 GB free

Controllers Display
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller VISIONTEK XTASY RADEON 9100 [Display adapter]
ViewSonic A70f+ [Monitor] (15.7"vis, April 2003)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device
Vinyl AC'97 Codec Combo Driver (WDM)
Communications Other Devices
U.S. Robotics 56K Voice Host Int [Modem]
VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface


Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

Virus Protection
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition Version 7.60.926
Scan Engine Version 4.1.0.15
Virus Definitions Version 3/3/2004 Rev 38
Realtime File Scanning On