comptuer constantly crashes

I have a few more thoughts, Joker.

Are you overclocking at all? If so, try lowering to stock speed and running OFF again. If it runs stable, reduce your overclock a bit.

Have you tested each of your memory sticks? Assuming you have more than one, remove all sticks except one and see if OFF runs without crashing. Check each stick. OR, use a memory testing program to stress your memory to make sure it runs without errors.

Before you do any of that, do you use a program like EndItAll2 or AlacrityPC to end background programs that may be hogging system resources before starting OFF? If not, I recommend using one. EndItAll2 is simple to use, while AlacrityPC has more features but is somewhat more complex. Both programs are free. You can find EndItAll2 here: http://www.docsdownloads.com/enditall-1.htm You can find AlacrityPC here: http://alacritypc.kensalter.com/
 
Joker said:
Hi All. Tonight I ran a new nVida driver and was able to fly/die for about 10 minutes, then locked up. This was the application even log abbreviated of course. Wow, it was great while flying though. I have to get this to work.

My system is XP sp3
E8400 Dual Intel, 3.0GHz
2GB Ram
Dual evga nVidia GeForce 7800GT running SLI
Audigy2 ZS Soundcard
19 inch CRT Viewsonic monitor able to run 1600x1200 only at 60hertz though, little tough on eyes at that refresh.
Most time I run 1280x1024 at 75 hertz

My Audigy driver appears older and I will now go look for a newer one of those to install. First though, I am going to try running with nothing running in background as suggested here.

Thanks all for enduring through all this. :faint:
Click to expand...

Will ask again: Did you try running the game with one 7800 GT installed to see if the crash problem ceases? And if the crash still occurs, then trying the game with the other card alone? Point being, this is a sure way to eliminate both of your video cards as the crash problem as well as a SLI/driver issue with the game.
 
I had the same problem at the beginning and then i realized that the resolution in the OFF-csf.config didn´t matched my screen resolution. Since i switched that so that they are equal i had no problems with OFF running at all.
 
still crashing

Hi folks..Thanks for the continued tips. First off:
James. Thanks. I am not overclocked at all. Memory checks out in diagnostic programs. Runs fine in all my other sims.

Over 50. Thanks. Trying it on one card is my next try. I just ran with all startup items off and I was able to fly for 15 minutes and then it locked up. Rebooted and got in game again, still with non essential items off and I only could get into the sim for 5 seconds before it locked. sigh.

Karma: Thanks I have also found amongst other things that if the resolution does not match my monitor, wacky stuff happens like the titles of OFF to be shifted to the right and stuff. This is a definite problem. My monitor will take 1600x1200 but only at 60 hertz..That is too much flicker for my eyes..1280x1024 at 75hertz works best and I have both monitor and sim set for that.

Oh and I upgraded my graphics Nvidia drivers and Audigy2 ZS drivers. All working well in other sims. I am going to re-check all the Nvidia recommendations from the OFF website, set them to that and then try again. If I crash, I will then do OVER50's suggestion of yanking one card and trying it alone, even though they both work fine in other sims. But, at this point, I will try anything.

......to be coninued. Thanks again.
Steve
 
Sli

Is anyone here running SLI dual cards?

I have a Logitech desktop camera hooked up. I notice their software is a little funky..Ever hear of one of those causing problems?
Steve
 
Joker said:
Oh and I upgraded my graphics Nvidia drivers
Click to expand...

Bit of a long shot...

Sometimes the newest drivers are not the best, particularly if you have an older vid card. I have heard of cases where problems were fixed by going back to an earlier, but possibly more stable, driver version.
 
Maybe insufficient graphics memory? From what I see, you're running two 7800GT 256Mb cards right? If so, when running in SLI, you only have 256Mb of usable graphics memory. Therefore, you're on the low end as far as graphics memory is concern. Just a suggestion.

CJ
 
older drivers

You make a doggone good point here about the older drivers. I am going to make my final test before pulling my hair out. Running one card at a time only. If that doesn't help, I will install the original drivers for my sound card and graphics card that came with the setup. Weird that I seem to be the only one having this much problem. My setup is not all that unique.
Steve
 
Joker said:
Is anyone here running SLI dual cards?

I have a Logitech desktop camera hooked up. I notice their software is a little funky..Ever hear of one of those causing problems?
Steve
Click to expand...

yep only problem I have is poor fps but am still playing [with the configurations] and its getting better but still not great 8600gs
 
continuing saga

I must say again that you folks are very helpful and I really appreciate you hanging in here with me on this:

I think I have exhausted all of the suggestions that you have made. My most recent experiment was to unplug one of the graphics cards and run that. Got a warning on bootup about low power on the card. So I thought,hmmm, maybe unplugging it is not the ideal method, so I shut down and removed the card. I tried this with both cards each alone.

I was able to fly although a little choppier with less of a frame rate for EXACTLY 15 minutes. And I mean EXACTLY. I have been noticing that I can run for 10 minutes, 12 minutes, 15 minutes and sometimes just for 10 seconds. Now I know what you are all thinking.....something checking in the background...but, I booted with just the basic stuff running. I mean I am willing to buy a better SINGLE graphics card to get this running but I am not certain or convinced that this is the problem. Remember I am running DCS Black Shark with zero problems and several other graphic intensive sims without a hitch. What can be so different with OFF that does not like my system. I guess I am wits end at this point.
 
Don't give up just yet, Joker. Try one more thing for me if you would. Go into Windows Services (You can do that by clicking Start/Run and typing in "services.msc" without the quotations). That brings you to the Winblows Services interface. Now.....scroll down through that list of services and find the one that says "Security Center". Right-click on it and select "Properties". In the "Startup Type" dropdown menu, select "Disable". Then click on "Apply" and "Ok". Reboot the machine, go fly....and see if it still crashes on you. If it does, might as well go back in and re-enable the Security Center...'cause that ain't the source of your problem either.

Cheers,

Parky
 
James "Taffy"

I have my fingers crossed but you may have put this issue to rest. I was just able to play 23 minutes with no crash...ummmm, computer crash that is..There were plenty of other crashes.

Here is what I did. I downloaded the free applet ENDITALL2 so I could see what was running in the background. I started "closing" items and then went into the sim. Running from 30 to 74 FPS with SLI ON. No lockup. Think it was something running and checking every now and then? I would love to post a screenshot of exactly what I closed but the file is too large. Any way to get a screenshot smaller and then posting it? Thanks James and all the others too.
Steve
 
experimentation with security center

Ok Parky....I will reboot with all normal things running in background to get to where I was. Then I will do your suggestion and report..TKS
Steve
 
back to NO JOY

Welp, I shut service center off, did not help, turned it back on. Then went back to where I was pretty good with that enditall2 program shutting off a ton of stuff. Repeated that, got in sim and exactly 15 minutes later it froze. ARGHHHHHHH! I think I need to take couple of days off from this or I'll go nuts! Another valid point made however that I only have 256mb on the graphics card(s) but I keep coming back to the point where I am able to jump in all my other graphic intensive sims and absolutely no hitches. Perhaps there is a bug in the program (no offense please) that doesn't like the particular hardware I have....or the lower Ram in the graphics card, or the background items running, or the craters on the moon..I dunno. I will monitor back after a break and try again. Maybe I need a new graphics card.
 
Glad to see you can maintain a sense of humour through all this. I know how frustrating it can be.....trust me. Can't say we didn't try some of the more obvious approaches. By the way.....the term "bug" isn't considered to be a four letter word here. Just depends on how loudly one shouts it and in what context.....lol.


Thanks for trying the suggested routines......pity they did nothing to help. Based on your success with enditall, it may verywell be one of those items you shut down earlier, now all you have to do is figure out which one it was...*ouch*.

I did notice something associated with AVG throwing you an error. You might wanna' look there as well....particularly any relevant process....not just exe's.


Cheers Mate....and keep the chin up!


Parky
 
Roger That Parky

Yep, need a little break then will attack it again with more time. Will look closer at the AVG thing. Take care folks...
p.s. Most of you folks are from the UK eh? I was on assignment once to photograph the Farnborough Air show..Left on Friday, Back home on Monday..hahaha. My present project is filming a documentary about the US POW/MIA flag and it's designer. Also interviewed a 6 year "guest" of the Hanoi Hilton. Makes these computer problems seem insignificant. Later friends.
Steve
 
keep coming back to other sims however.......

Once again though....If AVG is doing something bad or checking in the background, why is OFF the only sim I play that dislikes it? And would a reinstall of OFF be of any help? or just complicate the issue? It plays pretty well for the 10-15 minutes that I am able to play.
 
Sorry to hear you are still having problems. I have another idea with EndItAll. You can configure it so that it will only shut down the programs you want it to shut down. So, my suggestion is to close or kill half of the running programs with EndItAll and then try running OFF. If OFF does not crash, it is likely that one of the programs you shut down is causing the problem. (If it does crash, one of the programs you did not shut down is probably causing the problem).

If OFF did not crash in the previous step, reboot your computer, run EndItAll again, except protect half of the programs you shut down in the previous step so that they are still running. Play OFF again. If it runs without crashing again, the problem program was one of the programs you did not protect and was shut down again by EndItAll. If it crashes, one of the programs you protected is causing the problem. Repeat until you have isolated the problem program.

If all that does not work or you are too tired to attempt this (I don't blame you), my suggestion is to uninstall/reinstall OFF. Make sure to get rid of any references to OFF or OBD in your Registry before reinstalling. Good luck.
 
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