The crashing is driving me nuts

[phl0w]

I hate to see a Wipeout fan having to give up, and wouldn`t deny what you say that, memory sticks apart, there are some major QA issues with Pulse.

Problem is, though, that it's the casual gamer rather than the fan who's giving up on the game. There are so many logical errors involved in the whole "make it accessible to the masses", I'm really sick of it. All those problems, bugs et cetera have tipped the scales for me: Playing has become more of thinking about all the things that are wrong with a game than actually concentrating on playing it. Which, usually isn't something that's happening to a good game.

Patapon is a good choice ^^ I also dug out Ultimate G'n'G again. Awesome game, not only due to its horrendous difficulty.

[lunar]

It`s a fair point, I`m probably too forgiving, though the shockingly low framerate at times makes me want to chuck the PSP out of the window. My Pulse crashes in the stats at the same place all the time, but is working better with a Sony memory stick, and I like the game enough that at the moment it just tips the balance in favour of continuing.

[Lance]

Unhappy customers are not good customers and I would have thought writing diffusing responses would have been the job of a customer service department.

Even though that's the case, I can tell you from several years experience in being the service part of 'customer service' that the nastier a customer is, the less likely they are to get a mollifying response. That isn't just me, but is also every other customer service person I've known. The customer service rep isn't the one who made the error that gets the customers mad, but iS the one who has to take the heat for something that isn't their fault. If only a customer could talk directly to the people who made the errors, eh? But the same happens there, because the people who made the mistakes weren't trying to screw up and weren't trying to do you damage, so it's better to be civilised toward them instead of letting anger do its counterproductive thing. We do have to let a company know they ****ed up, but antagonising individuals within the company probably isn't the way to do it.
Complaining accurately about their mistakes in a public place is probably the best way to get action. Get hold of a reporter on a slow news day, get them to do a piece on how the company is doing you and other customers wrong. If you can get widespread publicity about the problem, the offending company is way more likely to fix it, and maybe even try to make some compensation to the person who put them in the critical spotlight.

[Dogg Thang]

The customer service rep isn't the one who made the error that gets the customers mad, but iS the one who has to take the heat for something that isn't their fault.

Very true. That's the job. I can't imagine anyone who goes into customer service would be all that surprised by that.

[Lance]

They're surprised by the intensity of the heat, the lack of emotional control in adults. It used to surprise me, anyway, till I'd experienced it enough to realise how common it was.

[Asayyeah]

It's late here and i am really too nervously tired after spending more than 4 hours raging on solving my profile update issue into the ranking site. i still got those crashes ( black screen go to psp menu) everytime i am trying to upload my profile due to the DL packs...
I uninstalled them by formatting MS , same with the PSP downloader ( installed it again) , tested with no packs to see if i can upload my profile/records , and yes i can :O
Dl all the packs , tested them : playable no problem but ALWAYS that sudden crash ...
I thought ok , you may not DL them on the row , just pick the 1st one (Mirage) , test it into the game , and try to upload your profile... that's what i did but again CRASH


HELP & any suggestions will be much appreciated

[Vincent_VII]

****Disclaimer. This is not a post about custom firmware.****

I thought I would step in here and offer my two cents.

In 3.80 Sony changed the memory stick driver. The new driver in 3.80 and higher is slower. It causes problems with ALL content streamed from the stick. This includes MP3s, video clips and even PSN content that has been downloaded. Many running higher than 3.7x experience issues when playing downloaded content. This means using downloaded tracks, skins, ships and even streaming MP3s while playing Pulse could cause it to run very unstable.

I would assume that Killzone online and the Syphon Filter online add ons suffer the same instability. Some users have reported serious problems running PS1 games bought from the PSN store after updating to 3.80/3.90.

Not everyone runs into these problems (or possibly they just don't notice). Users with the older, fat PSPs seem to experience fewer issues with 3.80 or higher. I hope this sheds some light on some of the issues that people are having. Sadly, the issue was not resolved in 3.90. The same drivers remain and so does the instability.

[Frances_Penfold]

If this is indeed the source of the problem, it is soundling like the firmware-related problems folks were having with Wipeout Pure back a year or 18 months

So is EVERYBODY with DLC experiencing these kinds of problems? Maybe it's not so bad that it hasn't been released in North America after all...

[Vincent_VII]

I think just about everyone is. I honestly believe those who aren't having issues with 3.80/3.90 just haven't noticed it yet.

Anyone out there with 3.7x who can confirm fewer DLC issues? I'm 'merican and have no way to test.

I just know that my PSP slim with 3.90 gets VERY unhappy when I try to race with streaming MP3s. I finally got sick of it and deleted the Wipeout MP3 folder all together.

[stin]

 Anyone out there with 3.7x who can confirm fewer DLC issues?  I'm 'merican and have no way to test.

I`m on 3.73 atm.

Funnily enough, I has not tested the latest yet so I don`t know. But yes, there is alot less crashes on my slim psp than before.

Personally, I also have 2 fat ones (one is broken and hopefully other old broken psp comes and I will try to fix it), the other which I`m not touching it, because, it`s my son who uses it.

stevie

[lunar]

Asa, I have a mixed-results story. Wipeout-game.com used to crash my PSP on 3.71, but going to 3.8 certainly improved all online connections. So that could help.

But 3.8 also had bad effects on my Sandisk memory stick, with music and skins crashing the PSP, like Vincent said. However, then changing to a Sony 2gb memory stick solved almost all of these problems. I now have no problem uploading profile, very few crashes and I`m on 3.90 firmware, Slim PSP, and have all the packs.

[Asayyeah]

Thx everyone for all your infos.
I had 3.80 FW , i DLed 3.90 today following your advices but nothing has changed, i got the crash at the real last step of uploading profile process.
I have an original Sony 2gb MS
I don't have any other similar crashes while playing off or online...only when i want to upload.

Don't expect me to upload if i can't find the solution ( if there's one...)

[The Gracer]

Ive never had a crash in my whole Pulse career. Not once. Having said that, i have no DLC, one custom skin (for my Assegai) and i dont have any mp3s as my card is only 128MB (i use my 1gb card for music, video, downloadable demos and the like).

Im running FW 3.90, have been since before i started playing.

A lot can be said for using a clean card with only wipeout stuff on it, especially when the said card is very small - back all your files up, go and buy an 'el cheapo' card with the smallest capacity you can settle with, format it in your PSP and put all your Pulse data onto it.

Not saying it will definitely help you out, but its worth a shot.

On the other hand, you shouldnt have to go to those extremes to make the system work like it should - this isnt a problem with the game but with the system you are playing it on!

Im using a white fatty, by the way.

[Dogg Thang]

this isnt a problem with the game but with the system you are playing it on!

I disagree. Even if the system does affect it, it is a problem with the game. After all, I haven't had problems with any other PSP game except for Pure, and I've played and own a lot of them. And I tried Pulse on several memory sticks, different firmware and two PSPs, one slim and one fat. You're lucky not to have any problems that you've noticed. Wish I could say the same.

[Frances_Penfold]

For what it's worth, I am in a similar situation as Gracer, though I HAVE seen a handful of game crashes in my >150 hours playing Pulse.

Like Gracer, I have a bare-bones set up: no DLC, no mp3 folder, smallish memory card with NOTHING on it except for Wipeout Pulse ghosts and a single Wipeout Pulse save file, music turned off at the menu, with each song manually switched off in options.

NOT that it should be necessary to have such a streamlined system to play Wipeout! But it may be worth checking out for those of you experiencing the crashes

[lunar]

I now have no problem uploading profile, very few crashes and I`m on 3.90 firmware, Slim PSP, and have all the packs.

Well, Mr Smug (see above quote) finds reality comes back to bite him on the arse. I now have exactly the same problem as you, Asa. I mean exactly. It`s kind of funny, in a kind of way.

It`s quite easily fixed by cutting and pasting the packs to my desktop, then pasting them back in the Game folder again to play after succesful upload. But something makes me suspect your problem isn`t caused at your end, Arnaud.

[Asayyeah]

I feel sorry for you Stephen , that is absolutely a weird situation, a new contamination ( last night Stevie got more than 5 crashes on the row when he wanted to join us online ...)

Thx for the tip but when you are talking about the cut & paste , you mean to move the folder called UCES00465, right? not another one?

[lunar]

Yes, UCES00465 is the one.

[Lance]

I begin to think that I want to avoid EVer buying a console with an upgradable Operating System.

[mdhay]

Thx everyone for all your infos.
I had 3.80 FW , i DLed 3.90 today following your advices but nothing has changed, i got the crash at the real last step of uploading profile process.
I have an original Sony 2gb MS
I don't have any other similar crashes while playing off or online...only when i want to upload.

Don't expect me to upload if i can't find the solution ( if there's one...)

Maybe your holding the psp in a way where you are sliding the switch, but you don't notice?