Computer shutting Down in P3D

[falcon409]

This is a recent problem that has me stumped (doesn't take much really). It seems to only show itself when I'm flying in V4 and only going back a few weeks (it doesn't happen, that I've noticed, if I'm just doing browsing and the Sim isn't loaded). Anyway, If I setup a flightplan, take off and get setup on AP within no more than 20 minutes the computer shuts down. . . .but not totally because any peripherals connected via USB ports remain active (lights are illuminated), even a small fan that runs off a USB port continues to work. The only way I can get things going again is to unplug. . .let the fan shutdown (takes a few seconds) and then plug the computer back in, hit the on button and let it restart.

I have two apps that monitor CPU temp and GPU temp and neither indicates any overheating. . .nowhere close. I've visually monitored the power supply fan and it runs fine and even at the point of shutdown, the power supply is almost cool to the touch. The interior of the tower gets plenty of circulation as the side cover is off and open to circulation. I have checked the "Power" options for the OS and those are set to high performance settings, no "sleep", no "hibernation" and so on.

I'm not sure why this would only happen in P3D, it seems unlikely that something within the Sim is triggering a power outage, but that is when the system shuts down. Anyone have any suggestions on what this might be?

 

[Butcherbird17]

Do you have any other Sims or games installed that you can try to see if it does the same thing? Is the rig still running when it happens,
like your monitor goes black and you can still hear the sim running? If it shut down completely then none of your peripherals would still
be on.

Joe

 

[falcon409]

Do you have any other Sims or games installed that you can try to see if it does the same thing? Is the rig still running when it happens,
like your monitor goes black and you can still hear the sim running? If it shut down completely then none of your peripherals would still
be on.
Joe

P3D_V4 is the only Sim installed. When the computer shuts down I am in the process of flying a flightplan. . .the computer shows all the signs of having turned off. . .both monitors go black, the power supply isn't running, the CPU and GPU fans are off but the CH Throttle light goes to "amber" instead of green, the fan plugged into a USB port continues to run and if my Logitech 3D joystick had a light on it, that would probably show "amber" as well. I have two buttons on the front of my tower. . .one to turn it on and the other I've never used, but in this situation it has no effect. So, as mentioned, I must pull the plug. . .after a few seconds the fan shuts off, I plug the power cord back in and restart the computer.

 

[paiken]

Sudden power shut downs sound suspiciously like your PSU is on the way out...even if it isn't hot to the touch, there is probably a bad component in there that creates the shut down. I had similar problems many years ago, and replacing the power supply fixed the issue. Just a guess on my part, but worth looking into.

 

[Butcherbird17]

OK, This could be heat related. (maybe) Can you do a test and set the sim up the way you normally do and run your
temp monitoring app and watch what the temps are when it happens. The one I like to use for this is HWiNFO64.
This one gives the temps for everything in your system. (CPU, GPU, motherboard, hard drives and much more)
Especially keep and eye on the CPU temp if that is getting too hot that can shut your system down to basically save
it's self.
I would also check and make sure everything is seated properly, and that all fans are spinning. And as paiken posted
it could be PSU. If you have a spare one you could try that and see if the problem persists. No need to take your system
apart just unplug the 24 pin, cpu, gpu and hard drives and plug in the spare psu to those parts and then test your
system under load.

Joe

 

[Daube]

Falcon, just for info, just two weeks ago I was suffering from computer freezes when flying P3D or any other sim.
I have an Asus motherboard with that monitoring tool (Asus AI Suite) which checks the CPU temps.
The CPU was around 55 degrees C when idle, which is a bit high, and I set some alarm @ 70 degrees C or something like that... I never heard the alarm.

I opened the computer and found there was a big carpet of dirt between the CPU fan and the CPU heat sink. Once I removed that, the computer didn't freeze anymore.
So the temperature monitoring is not always precise or reliable.

Aside from temperatures, it could be a PSU problem indeed, or a memory problem too (but PSU is the most probable one).
And finally, instead of unplugging the computer, you might want to keep the ON/OFF button pressed down for several seconds (more than 5). This forces a power down.

 

[falcon409]

. . . . .I opened the computer and found there was a big carpet of dirt between the CPU fan and the CPU heat sink. Once I removed that, the computer didn't freeze anymore.
So the temperature monitoring is not always precise or reliable.

I'll take a look at that this evening just to be sure.

Aside from temperatures, it could be a PSU problem indeed, or a memory problem too (but PSU is the most probable one).
And finally, instead of unplugging the computer, you might want to keep the ON/OFF button pressed down for several seconds (more than 5). This forces a power down.

Not in my case Daube, I've held the on/off switch much longer than that waiting to see how long it would take to go completely off....never does. Unplugging is all that works.

I also installed "HWiNFO64" and had that running when I tried a very simple flight from Eglin. . .up to 5000', hdg east, AP on and let it go. . .within 5 mins I got a warning for "Core0" (which only showed 38C) and a second or two later. . .shutdown.

 

[Butcherbird17]

No need to unplug the power cord, just flip the power switch on the PSU. Then hold down the power switch on the case to make
sure all power is drained out, then you can turn the PSU back on and start the rig. I'm leaning towards a heat issue and not PSU.
If it was PSU it would do this even under lite load (browsing the net) which it isn't doing. Are you using the stock cooler that
came with the CPU? I would check and make sure it hasn't come loose. I would take it off and completely clean it including thermal
paste, (CPU too) then reapply thermal paste to it and reinstall.

On another note.. You say you run the rig with the side cover off. It might also be that you need to blow the whole system out
including PSU with some air. It could be the PSU is dusty and this is what is causing your problem.

I wish I lived near you as I like to solve problems like this, it gets the juices flowing.

Joe

 

[Naismith]

Unconnected probably but recently I had an issue if I pressed the PrntScn key the PC would switch off. Never did get to the bottom of it though it only appeared after one of MS Tuesday updates with W10, so it was a Godsend when my Windows lost its header file for no reason at all and I had to reinstall from scratch. How small companies are supposed to cope with such an unstable thing beggars belief. My wife's small Realty Company are consistently calling in their tech guy to sort out W10.

 

[falcon409]

. . . . .Are you using the stock cooler that came with the CPU? I would check and make sure it hasn't come loose. I would take it off and completely clean it including thermal
paste, (CPU too) then reapply thermal paste to it and reinstall.

Yep, did that a while ago because as I was removing the screws to remove the fan the sink released from the cpu. . .good indicator that it probably wasn't sealed well.

On another note.. You say you run the rig with the side cover off. It might also be that you need to blow the whole system out
including PSU with some air. It could be the PSU is dusty and this is what is causing your problem.

That's something I do quite often actually so the interior stays relatively dust free.

Below is a readout from the program you suggested. This is after the above maintenance was performed and restarting the PC. There are 2 CPU sections. . .one showing the AMD FX-4300. . .the other related to the Motherboard. Which temp readings are correct? Quite a spread between the two.

 

[falcon409]

None of that made any difference. Another test flight had it in the air for no more than 10 minutes tops and everything shut down. No warning from the monitoring program, just one minute flying along, next. . .POOF! The area of the tower near the heatsink was pretty warm, but the temps showed no higher than 112F. . .we hit that as normal temps in Texas, so I don't see that as anything that would shut down a PC. The CPU is rated to 198F. I'm gonna go watch some TV, lol. . .

 

[Butcherbird17]

When you have HWinfo64 open the temps are the 3rd info string down from the top. It will look like this.

This is scrolled down a little, as you can see it is showing my CPU's 4 cores and what temp each is running at.

Joe

 

[falcon409]

I have a different version (more recent), but what my pic shows is all I get for Core#0. . .I don't see any way to break it out to show each of the 4. Regardless, the temps that showed for the CPU were nowhere near enough to cause a shutdown of the system.

 

[Butcherbird17]

I just installed the latest version of HWiNFO64. (I need to keep up with these things) I don't know why
yours is not showing all 4 cores. It should come up automatically. From the looks of it your only running
on 1 core. Have you changed anything in the BIOS? I'm wondering if this is the cause of the problem.

Joe

 

[falcon409]

Well, This just gets better and better. In my attempt to access the BIOS Menu I somehow screwed up the boot data, now I can't boot the PC. Since I went to win10, the installation was done off a USB thumb drive which apparently does not have the data necessary to repair. My only option at this point appears to be to install windows again. Just great!!!

Update: Well, I'm back but everything has been moved to "Windows_old", the drives have been changed and I'm basically starting over from scratch. How much you wanna bet the only thing that will remain the same is that the Sim will cause the PC to shutdown after a few minutes of flight!!! what a PITA!

 

[Daube]

This is strange...
Your changes in the BIOS shouldn't have prevented the computer from booting, unless you modified anything regarding the list of hardrives and bootsequence.
In any case, there is nothing you can do in there that would require reinstalling Windows at all.
I'm guessing your computer is trying to boot from the wrong drive, where Win10 is not.

 

[wombat666]

Bite the bullet and bow to the inevitable.
I know it's easier said than done but you're apparently between a rock and and a hard place.
If it were me I'd disconnect all drives but your system drive (but I'm still on W7/64) and do the deed.
I'm assuming your original W10 files (or most of them) should be retained under 'Windows Old', so IIRC your config files should be available .......
Very strange that you can't access the bios, but that's a matter for later action.
Of course, I'd say that W7 is the better option but I'm cynical.

And a PS: How about the old but useful 'remove' the battery trick? And does you Mobo have a bios reset button? Worth checking IMHO.

 

[falcon409]

This is strange...
Your changes in the BIOS shouldn't have prevented the computer from booting, unless you modified anything regarding the list of hardrives and boot sequence.
In any case, there is nothing you can do in there that would require reinstalling Windows at all.
I'm guessing your computer is trying to boot from the wrong drive, where Win10 is not.

Daube, I never got to the BIOS Menu. . .I was following directions I googled on how to enter the BIOS for Win10. . .Once I got into the various steps I got to a pointn where it didn't show me what the instructions had told me to look for. By that time I was well into the screens noted in the original steps and couldn't backtrack. I got to a screen that simply said. . ."Please Wait".........................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. After about 10 minutes of that I decided it was locked up and turned the system off. That's where the problem started. After that it said I had lost my boot data and I had to have the correct media (DVD or USB) to effect a repair, All I had was the thumb drive I had for the Win10 Installation and apparently it was not in a form that would allow a "Repair". At that point my options were, unplug the PC and put it out on the curb for the trash. . .or Reinstall Win10.

 

[falcon409]

Bite the bullet and bow to the inevitable.
I know it's easier said than done but you're apparently between a rock and and a hard place.
If it were me I'd disconnect all drives but your system drive (but I'm still on W7/64) and do the deed.
I'm assuming your original W10 files (or most of them) should be retained under 'Windows Old', so IIRC your config files should be available .......
Very strange that you can't access the bios, but that's a matter for later action.
Of course, I'd say that W7 is the better option but I'm cynical.

And a PS: How about the old but useful 'remove' the battery trick? And does you Mobo have a bios reset button? Worth checking IMHO.

Win7 was my favorite to be honest, however P3D_V4 was a slide show in Win7 and so I went back to Win10 where it performs perfectly (or at least it did until yesterday).

My plan is to move some of my original programs back into the new installation from what was saved (Windows_Old) and try to reconstruct what I had before this debacle.

 

[Butcherbird17]

Damn Falcon, when it rains it pours. I sure hope that doing a fresh install of your OS fixes the issue you were having.
I still think it's a heat issue that was causing the crash, but I hope I'm wrong.

Joe