PC hardlocking on game start-up

[gamester091]

Originally posted this in the Phantasy Star Online Episode 1&2 thread, but was asked to move

Original post:
I launched PSO for the first time, and everything went smooth, since I looked into the black screen issue, the setting the date issue, as well as the zoom in issue unless you use opengl. The one thing that did happen is that it said that my memory card was corrupt, but I just wrote it off as a issue through emulation, and just hit "format." Got to the main menu just fine. However, I had forgotten to set my controls, so I closed down PSO and went to handle it.

Got my controller configured, so I booted back up PSO, and my PC hardlocked nearly instantly. Not even a bluescreen, it just straight up hardlocked, resulting in me having to remove my power cable from my pc to solve it. So after rebooting my PC i thought I would give it another go. Again, instant hardlock. So i completely removed everything related to dolphin, even the folder created in my documents so I could have a fresh install of it to see if it would hardlock again. Booted up PSO, and the game ran just like it did the initial time I ran it before the hardlock. Then I went to options in PSO and backed out, and upon leaving options to the main menu, my PC hardlocked again before the main menu even loaded.


I can only think that it has something to do with my "memory card" as it only seemed to crash once the PSO data was made.

I also have screenshots of what my dolphin graphic settings were, in case that can some way help.
general settings
enhanced settings
hacks settings
advanced settings
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Garteal responded with:

It might take some time to troubleshoot what the exact cause is, but first things first; have you had any problems with your setup before?
Also what PSU do you have (including brand and model)?

This is my first time using Dolphin, so if that is what you mean by setup, then I cant really say ive had problems as this is a first time thing for me. If you mean just general problems with my PC setup, Ive had a few bluescreen crashes due to driver conflicts but those have been buffed out.

As for my psu, I have the stock one that game with my tower case. I made this pc back in 2011 and havent upgraded it, so things may be dated in the part department. The only brand I can find is just the name of the company that made my case, which is Logisys, but on my case's box it says the power supply is 480W SATA/IDE

[Garteal]

Yeah... if it's a Logisys 480W PSU then I would replace that asap as that PSU is garbage and potentially dangerous especially after 4 years.
It's likely also the reason for your hardlocks. I wouldn't run Dolphin or any demanding game or benchmark until you've replaced it at least.
If you have no idea what PSU to get, you can tell us what your budget is so we can recommend you a good PSU.

[gamester091]

Budgets been tight, hence why i havent upgraded in 4 years.

And this is the first issue of hardlocking ive suffered with this pc. No other games have had issues.

But I won't argue what you said, as im not savvy on actual PC hardware.

I just think its weird that it happens when dolphin trys to access the "memory card" after there is savedata for the game.