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Computer Rebooting When Zoning

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Greetings everyone :) I thought i would run this by the gurus and experts of this community since i am kind of stumped.

Occasionally whenever i zone, my computer completely reboots. Only happens occasionally and only while zoning, for example like zoning into ESD or when zoning to beam down for a planetary mission. It doesn't happen everytime, maybe once or twice in say a few hours. Otherwise the game runs fine and has never rebooted or locked up during any missions or STF's.

In case it is of any help I am aware of the nvidia shadow bug and have shadows completely off and most settings are at medium.

My DXdiag is attached.

In addition here are the last few lines from Live/Logs/gameclient/crash

110602 22:17:39 268 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 02:02:32 122 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 09:45:21 187 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 20:58:07 167 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 22:01:52 11 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()

Here are the last few lines from Live/Logs/gameclient/shutdown

110603 02:02:32 123 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 09:45:21 188 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 20:58:07 168 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()
110603 22:01:52 12 Client[0]: GSM_Quit(). Reason: emEditorMain or utilitiesLibShouldQuit()

Not sure if those logs help, but i included them in case.

Again, my thanks in advance for taking the time for any help or insights :)
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Looking at your dxdiag, I don't see anything unusual. Your PC has pretty new drivers too.

    Just form a cursory standpoint, game problems should never cause the entire computer to reboot; at most, they'll cause the game to crash. Operating system problems rarely cause the system to crash; usually, for unhandled exceptions, they'll create a Blue Screen of Death or just plain lock up.

    However, since it appears that the problem happens whenever the hard disk or GPU are taxed, it may be more likely that it could be a power issue or thermal issue, problems that are harder to detect. Start be ensuring that there is no dust build-up inside the case. If your motherboard has a utility that allows you to monitor the temperature inside the case, use it, or try SpeedFan instead.

    Beyond that, do you know the wattage rating of your power supply? Running a single GeForce GT 430 and Intel i5 processor shouldn't break the bank, but I'd be curious to see what sort of PSU your computer has. If somebody low-balled the build, it might be an issue. You'd need at least 500 watts in order to avoid any problems, AFAICT.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Thank you kindly Obsidius for the quick reply!

    I am running a 550 watt power supply at the moment. I cleaned out the case with canned air a couple weeks ago, but i will definately run the sppedfan utility to check temperatures.

    Would ram that is going bad cause a completely reboot? i may try a memory tester if that is the case. I know Windows 7 has one included but I am running XP.

    Thanks again :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Downloaded Sppedfan..temps are as follows

    GPU: 31C
    Temp1: 29C
    Temp2: -128C
    Temp3: 30C
    HD0: 23C
    HD1: 36c
    Core 0: 30C
    Core 1: 27C
    Core 2: 27C
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Tsunaren wrote:
    Would ram that is going bad cause a completely reboot? i may try a memory tester if that is the case. I know Windows 7 has one included but I am running XP.
    Actually, it would, especially if the memory block were being used by an OS critical function.
    A good, thorough, comprehensive, and easy-to-use RAM test I've used before is MemTest. You can put it on a bootable CD and let it run through several iterations to ensure all your memory blocks are good. Just be warned that doing a thorough check of every block could take as long as a few hours, even for just 3.2GB.

    Also, your temps look good, but also check them while running the client. You can just let it run in the background and monitor the temp to see if the GPU or CPU spike - those are the most likely culprits in a thermal-related system reboot.

    And yes, 550 watts should be enough to power a single multi-core CPU, single GPU, and single HD. Unless you're running a RAID array or some exotic peripheral, you should have more than enough power AFAICT.

    Barring any hardware issues, we'll look at any unlikely software culprits next.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    *hands Obsidius a hot chocolate for being helpful*

    I'd give the hardware a very close look. Overheating of any components; a faulty memory stick, power block and similar.

    If your system reboots without even going to a blue or black screen first; I'd always hunt down hardware issues first. Last time my gaming laptop behaved like this, it was a RAM stick that only gave me problems if I ran several complex processes at once.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Will download and try memtest as soon as i can. Will post results.

    Speedfan results with client running:

    In sector space : During a Space battle:

    Gpu: 48C Gpu: 56C - 68C
    Core 0: 48C Core 0: 48C
    Core 1: 41C Core 1: 41C
    Core2: 43C Core 2: 49C

    Obviously this is a very small sample size but something to look at.

    As far as software is concerned i try to run as minimally as possible on startup. I run Avast antivirus ( i realize panda antivirus has some problems with STO), nvidia control panel, my 2wire network and just the basics.

    I've also force verified files on STO startup to ensure files aren't corrupted. I have read that .hogg files may get corrupted from time to time.

    Just a thought as well...could a bad onboard sound card be a possible cause? The reason i mention it is, that a few times it has locked up on the loading screen while zoning with the mouse pointer immobile and a steady high pitched squelch coming from the speakers..causing me to have to manually reboot.

    I apologize for not mentioning this earlier, but yes..sometimes it completely reboots by itself and sometimes the computer will lockup on the zoning screen (black backgroung with star trek logo) with a squelching tone causing me to have to manually reboot.

    My thanks again for the help :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    An update. After running MemTest, it turns out I have a bad stick of RAM.

    Many many thanks to both Obsidius and WishStone for your guidance!

    *Hands both Obsidius and WishStone a hot chocolate for being helpful*
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    you would just need to deactivate your sound card in the device manager and play that way to see if it still crashes... just to be sure.


    if it was an overheating issue then it would NOT only appear on a loading screen, i monitor my temps very closely and on the loading screen the GPU load goes down and the temperatures drop by at least 5°

    i also noticed that the GPU load rises by 20% (and the temps) every time i have one of these BOff Text Popups open (jeez that UI is so badly optimized it's a wonder so few people are complaining about it)...

    anyway if it was a heat problem it would not only occure on the loadscreen but anytime mid battle (or if you READ realy long, as stupid as that sounds).

    GPU 68° seems a little high at first glance but i know from first hand experience that those things can go up to 90° and still run stable (i had one from ASUS that had only a passive cooler and that thing was running at >90° for 3 weeks until i sold it on ebay ;P )... if it goes over 100 and crashes... you will need a few minutes to get your PC to do anything else than beeping -> means your GPU is not the cause if you can reboot directly without any problems.


    CPU can go up to 70° until i would start to worry.


    keep monitoring your temps while you play, deactivate your soundcard in the device manager and test your ram


    also Windows XP is much more likely to lock up the whole PC then Vista or Win 7 if a game crashes from my experience

    //edit: ninjad by bad ram stick :eek:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Tsunaren wrote:
    An update. After running MemTest, it turns out I have a bad stick of RAM.

    Many many thanks to both Obsidius and WishStone for your guidance!

    *Hands both Obsidius and WishStone a hot chocolate for being helpful*

    Just glad you were able to nail down the culprit with little trouble :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    Tsunaren wrote:
    An update. After running MemTest, it turns out I have a bad stick of RAM.

    Many many thanks to both Obsidius and WishStone for your guidance!

    *Hands both Obsidius and WishStone a hot chocolate for being helpful*
    Mmmm, coco. *sips*
    So glad the problem was easily trackable! Maybe you can use this as an excuse to upgrade your RAM. That's what i did when mine blew. ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I play STO on windows 7 with a intel pentium 4 3.04ghz CPU and .768mb of ram. yet both windows/STO call for 1 gig minumal. Even with all settings turn low as possible its makes zoning long. but playing the game is better so try that and u might have better luck.
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