Tomb Raider: Legend NextGen Crash Fix

It has been ages since Tomb Raider: Legend was released and basically since day one we had to deal with random game crashes because of NextGen content that never got fixed by original developers. One moment you’re playing the game, next moment game crashes to desktop without any warnings. NextGen content enables quite neat graphics that still impress me even today, 12 years after game release, but these crashes were super annoying.

Until I found a fix for it. Decided to complete all “modern” Tomb Raider games, so naturally I had to start with Tomb Raider: Legend. And crashes annoyed me so hard I started digging. And found a fix by total chance which was apparently released in 2014 by user “if(TickRate==64){shot.Miss();} ” (yeah, stupid name lol).

But it seems to work perfectly. I was getting crashes in Nepal almost every few minutes, but after replacing the binary, no crashes in exact same spots.

Just download the EXE file below and replace the original in game folder. Patch is meant for Steam version of the game. I’ve checked it with Kaspersky and it seems clean.

DOWNLOAD:

Tomb Raider Legend NextGen Crash Fix

Windows Update Cache Cleaner

I had my laptop running in circles re-downloading same update over and over again and failing at 95% every single time. Restarting Windows Update only caused download to start at 95% every time and again, failing as well. The solution was easy, cleaning the Windows Update download cache. Update was re-downloaded and installed successfully. But since casual users aren’t in the mood of messing up with files inside Windows folder, I’ve made this simple tool that does that for you, 100% risk free.

The instructions are pretty self explanatory. Just follow them and Windows Update should work again.

Works on Windows XP/Vista/7/8.x/10 and probably future Windows versions since Windows Update cache has the same folder location for years.

DOWNLOAD

AMD resolved PCIe power draw issue on RX480 with new driver

I’ve posted initial findings about the excessive PCIe power draw issue here. AMD promised a fix for it and today they’ve delivered it in a form of a new driver.

Like I’ve predicted, modern graphic cards have very flexible power delivery system and Polaris is no different. What AMD did here was rearrange the power delivery between PCIe slot and 6pin power connector. Now, Radeon RX480 draws power from PCIe slot within specified limits and draws a bit more from 6pin. Officially 6pin is rated at 75W, but can realistically deliver up to 150W. So, redirecting power like this solves the initial problem while doesn’t impair performance at all.

AMD did provide additional “Compatibility Mode” which restricts power usage even further. I frankly don’t think anyone should ever enable this, but if you feel like saving some extra watts, you can enable it in Radeon Settings.

To verify the fix, TechPowerUp ran a test and everything is in order just like AMD promised.

You can read the TechPowerUp re-test here.

The PCIe power draw fix is included in AMD Radeon Crimson Edition version 16.7.1, so make sure you upgrade the drivers asap. Btw, AMD dropped a small 3% performance boost for popular games in this driver so even if you use Compatibility Mode, you shouldn’t see any performance difference.

I really like the way things turned out here. Firstly, for reviewers to point out the issue and secondly for AMD to professionally fix it. An the ones who benefit from all this the most are us, the customers. Yay 🙂

Fix ACER Iconia W4 820 not starting after sleep

I often use ACER Iconia W4 820 tablet to watch series in bed. I have it placed on a tablet stand so even when I fall a sleep in don’t break it. It’s great, when video stops playing, it goes into sleep automatically after a bit of time and that’s that.

Problem is, when I want to turn it on again in the morning, it’s just dead. Not even power on LED responds. First I thought battery was flat, but it still had around 50% charge after I managed to force wake it up…

I could wake it up using recessed RESET button to get it running or by holding POWER button for 10 seconds, releasing it and then pressing it again once. But that’s actually reset and that sucks.

After some digging, issue seems to be related to Broadcom’s wireless module “Broadcom 802.11abgn Wireless SDIO Adapter”. Fix was promised by ACER, but they of course never delivered it…

Apparently, in many cases, installing newer wireless driver helps. I managed to dig the latest driver from May 2015, provided by TOSHIBA. From the looks of it, it fixed the issue for me. It might happen again, but so far so good. It might also work with other devices that are experiencing the same wake from sleep problem and are using the same wireless module.

Download:

Broadcom Wireless Driver for Windows 10

 

Fix DisplayPort not working (No Signal)

I keep on randomly experiencing this, either after changes I do to system or just when restarting the system and it all of a sudden decides to fuck itself up for no real reason and based on Google, it seems to be a very common thing with NVIDIA graphic cards and high end ASUS monitors like my ASUS VG248QE (144Hz gaming monitor). Though I’ve seen reports with other brands as well.

It’s a really annoying one because you often don’t think it’s “just this” and you try to exclude countless other things, wasting time when solution for the issue takes just 1 minute of sitting still. Yeah…

When I was experiencing this issue, I’ve disassembled half of my system, tested with backup graphic card (which only happens to have HDMI output, not DisplayPort so I was basically just testing if the rest of the system is working), reinstalled my ASUS Strix GTX 980 and the damn thing wouldn’t output image through DisplayPort to my ASUS VG248QE. When it was connected through HDMI, image was there. Connected through DisplayPort, “No Signal”. I was going mad WTF is going on. Was testing different DisplayPort ports on graphic card, turning monitor on and off using Power button, changing input on monitor, nothing. But nothing changed because one variable in the problem wasn’t really getting changed or “reset”…

Then I figured out yet another dumbest solution to seemingly complex issue…

Unplug monitor from power for 1 minute and then plug it in again. Voila, DisplayPort magically starts working again! How retarded is that eh?

It seems like there is some electronic in monitor that goes haywire here and there and only way to get it unstuck is to cut power to the monitor till all capacitors in it fully discharge. This apparently resets the “problematic” state and it then manages to sync with a graphic card correctly and starts outputting the image again through DisplayPort.

Hope this helps. Just try to remember this as the first “go to” solution when it happens again so you won’t waste time testing everything else… Try this first since it only takes a minute.