GSDx Frequently Crashing (Final Fantasy 12)

[Sherri]

I'm a newbie to PCSX2 so sorry for not being up with the emulator terminology. All my plugins, configurations etc. are shown as attachments at the bottom of this thread.

I got Final Fantasy 12 up and running on the emulator (first time I've played a game on PCSX2). It ran perfectly for 15 minutes the first time time or two but then after this it started freezing up say 70% of the time I go to run the game (ISO). Sometimes I can load it up and run for a short period of time but then the program freezes (see attachments below for screen captures of the crash). Most of the time however the program crashes the moment I start up the game.

   
   

According to the error report the fault module name is "gsdx-sse4-r4600.dll". When trying to configure the GSDx plugin I am not given renderer options for Direct X 10 or 11(see attachment below).

   

My system definitely has Direct X 11:

   

Looking up relevant threads on this forum indicates that perhaps my graphics card does not support Direct X 10 or 11? Either way I am unsure if this is even the problem causing the crash. I have looked up as many threads as possible relating to this same crash but I can't seem to find the exact solution - I don't know if it's something really obvious I'm not doing right (quite likely) but if anyone could help me out it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks.

P.s

Here is a copy of my log report (before the game crashes) in case this may help identify any problems.



Host Machine Init:
Operating System = Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
Physical RAM = 6027 MB
CPU name = Intel® Core™ i7-2600S CPU @ 2.80GHz
Vendor/Model = GenuineIntel (stepping 07)
CPU speed = 2.744 ghz (2 logical threads)
x86PType = Standard OEM
x86Flags = 1febfbff 9e982203
x86EFlags = 28100000

x86 Features Detected:
MMX.. SSE.. SSE2.. SSE3.. SSSE3.. SSE4.1.. SSE4.2.. AVX

Reserving memory for recompilers...

Loading plugins...
Binding GS : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\gsdx-sse4-r4600.dll
Windows 6.1.7601 (Service Pack 1 1.0)
VMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (7.14.1.1131)
Binding PAD : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\PadSSSPSX.dll
Binding SPU2 : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\spu2-x-r4600.dll
Binding CDVD : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\cdvdiso-r4600.dll
Binding USB : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\USBnull.dll
Binding FW : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\FWnull.dll
Binding DEV9 : C:\Program Files (x86)\PCSX2 0.9.8\Plugins\DEV9null.dll
Plugins loaded successfully.

(GameDB) 9082 games on record (loaded in 205ms)
HLE Notice: ELF does not have a path.


Initializing plugins...
Init GS
Windows 6.1.7601 (Service Pack 1 1.0)
VMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (7.14.1.1131)
Init PAD
Init SPU2
Init CDVD
Init USB
Init FW
Init DEV9
Plugins initialized successfully.

Opening plugins...
Opening GS
Opening PAD
Opening SPU2
Opening CDVD
isoFile open ok: C:\Program Files\New Programs (created by Sherri)\PS2 Emulator\Playstation 2 Emulator\Games (PS2)
\Final Fantasy 12!\Final Fantasy 12.iso
Image type = DVD
Fileparts = 1
* CDVD Disk Open: DVD, Single layer or unknown:
* * Track 1: Data (Mode 1) (1984928 sectors)
Opening USB
Opening FW
Opening DEV9
McdSlot 0: C:\Users\Daniel\Documents\PCSX2\memcards\Mcd001.ps2
McdSlot 1: C:\Users\Daniel\Documents\PCSX2\memcards\Mcd002.ps2
Plugins opened successfully.
EE/iR5900-32 Recompiler Reset
Bios Found: USA v02.20(10/02/2006) Console
BIOS rom1 module not found, skipping...
BIOS rom2 module not found, skipping...
BIOS erom module not found, skipping...
(UpdateVSyncRate) Mode Changed to NTSC.
(UpdateVSyncRate) FPS Limit Changed : 59.94 fps
GIFTAG warning, size exceeded VU memory size 400
GIFTAG warning, size exceeded VU memory size 400
(SYSTEM.CNF) Detected PS2 Disc = cdrom0:\SLUS_209.63;1
(SYSTEM.CNF) Software version = 1.00
(SYSTEM.CNF) Disc region type = NTSC
ELF (cdrom0:\SLUS_209.63;1) Game CRC = 0x0779FBDB, EntryPoint = 0x00180008
(SYSTEM.CNF) Detected PS2 Disc = cdrom0:\SLUS_209.63;1
(SYSTEM.CNF) Software version = 1.00
(SYSTEM.CNF) Disc region type = NTSC
(SYSTEM.CNF) Detected PS2 Disc = cdrom0:\SLUS_209.63;1
(SYSTEM.CNF) Software version = 1.00
(SYSTEM.CNF) Disc region type = NTSC

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[Bositman]

Something is very wrong there, your graphics card shows up as a VMware device??
[quoteVMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (7.14.1.1131)[/quote]

This is definitely your problem.

[jesalvein]

better use bootcamp instead of vmware.
your hardware recognition will be more accurate

[Sherri]

Thanks so much Bositman and jesalvein. I never would have pin pointed the problem myself (though I always wondered how running an emulator on a virtual machine could be problematic...).

Read up on Bootcamp (sounds perfect to fix the problem) but unfortunately I can't consider using it as it involves partitioning my iMac hard drive which is something I can't risk doing.

I've checked out other virtual machines and the only other possibility is Parallels Desktop - I'm guessing I will run into similar problems but apparently for gaming, graphics and direct x support it is considerably better than vmware. Otherwise (last resort) there appears to be minimal support for PCSX2 through Crossover (here's a link: http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility...;msg=98569).

Please share any opinions or if anyone knows either of these options to be pointless then let me know and I probably won't bother.

Sorry if this is getting off topic, let me know if I should post somewhere else - only partially similar thread I could find was this: http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Virtual-desktop

Thanks

[hyakki]

The only thing I can suggest is bootcamp like mentioned above (yeah you will have to partition and install windows) but that's really the only way to get full access to your hardware and get the quality and speed needed for most games.
(and hopefully you don't have an i mac pro notebook since it has a ton of problems with bootcamp)

[Sherri]

Thanks hyakki & jesalvein - Sorry for the long delay in a reply, waited till I had something worthwhile to post. Took on board your advice about Boot Camp - Wasn't going to use it on the iMac (too risky) so I've got it fully running on my MacBook Pro. The GSDx plugin is now configurable to recognize DirectX 10. FFX and FFXII are working with a hell of an increase in graphics and no crashes at all after 1 - 2 hours of game-play. Also the The only thing now is that the fps is dropping to around 40 (sometimes under) when there is a lot going on in the game (otherwise it runs near perfect) - it's making things a bit difficult and not totally playable, this issue however is covered in over threads so I will post elsewhere for that as my initial question has already been answered.

For anyone in the future who happens to visit this thread and is considering running PCSX2 on a Mac (debating between using a virtual machine or Boot Camp) - Even with a 2.5K + iMac, the virtual machine ran on it ran no where near as good as with Boot Camp on a MacBook Pro (the MacBook pro being less than half as powerful as the iMac). So in other words; your far better off with Boot Camp no matter what Mac you've got.

Thanks again for everyone's help.
__________________________________

MacBook Pro (Snow Leopard 10.6.8), running Bootcamp

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P8800 @2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
4.00 GB RAM (3.72 GB Usable)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1 Build 7600)

NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, 256 MBytes
DirectX 10.0

PCSX2 0.9.8