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PC seems to power down during game play

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Ok tonight I have had this issue for the third time in about two weeks.

I am playing STO on my new computer and I just start a space or ground battle and boom. My computer goes out. The screen goes dark the lights go off. The power button also goes dark.

At first I suspected that his was due to something in my computer. I scanned the disk. Checked my Windows 7 error logs. Even ran the major 3 hour diagnostic from Microsoft to find out that my machine just turned off because the power button was pushed. I didn't touch it.

Today I checked with my partner to see if his computer has simular problems. He has. He has also a new computer but different configuration then me. He however doesn't press the start button once his computer goes dead. He just waited and the computer and game come online after about two or three minutes.

It seems that my crashes are caused by me pressing the power button to restart my computer.

I am running a Acer Aspire 7738G Lap top with 4 gig DDR (Intel 2 Quad processor) Nvidiea Gefore GT 240 M Video card with Windows 7.

Please be aware that the specs of my partners computer are a little less them mine.

I am testing this critical issue. (AS a side note. I am not getting same effects from Champions Online, but I don't play it as much now -()

Please beaware and advice me if you have any input.

Thank you
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    if your computer overheats it will automaticaly shut down to prevent damage to your hardware. right now STO uses a bit more processing power than it should, causing some computers to overheat. try reducing your graphics settings for the game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    And turn off dynamic lighting under video options.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Ok I have adjusted the settings like you suggested. Will see if i have over heating issues.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Can tell you it's not going to help.

    Mine is doing the same identical thing and I KNOW mine is not overheating.

    Mine can run literally any other application out there of my choice and will not do this, meaning it has to be STO that's causing it to initiate this "phantom shutdown".

    This needs fixed in the client because quite frankly, cutting out like that in the middle of ground missions or space missions is not only frustrating as bloody screaming hell to me AND my partner, but over time this will slowly degrade windows and cause problems there.

    This needs to go from being a problem on "our side" to being a problem on "Cryptic's side" and get them to FIX it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Laserrangr wrote: »
    I am running a Acer Aspire 7738G Lap top with 4 gig DDR (Intel 2 Quad processor) Nvidiea Gefore GT 240 M Video card with Windows 7.

    That would be the key to me, laptop with GT 240 GPU and a demanding game creating the overheating shutdown.

    Check your BIOS for overheating or shutdown logs. Also see if there is a thermal protection threshold setting that tells the laptop to power down. I would not disable this BTW, you don't want to cause permanent damage to your laptop or cause a fire.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Culann wrote: »
    Can tell you it's not going to help.

    Mine is doing the same identical thing and I KNOW mine is not overheating.

    Mine can run literally any other application out there of my choice and will not do this, meaning it has to be STO that's causing it to initiate this "phantom shutdown".

    This needs fixed in the client because quite frankly, cutting out like that in the middle of ground missions or space missions is not only frustrating as bloody screaming hell to me AND my partner, but over time this will slowly degrade windows and cause problems there.

    This needs to go from being a problem on "our side" to being a problem on "Cryptic's side" and get them to FIX it.

    Do you have a Acer Aspire 7738G Laptop when you say "mine"?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    No..custom built rig. MSI Motherboard, Dual Core 2.75Ghz Intel Processor, Nvidia GTS 250 graphics card, 4GB Dual Channel RAM, SB Audigy Pro Platinum.

    Totally different system than his and he said he was running Windows 7.

    I'm running XP.

    I'm going to hedge a guess since his graphics card and mine are fairly close to being the same that it's something Cryptic needs to address there because the first thing that occurs is that the screen "drops" as if the rig were shut off. My LCD monitor usually pops up the built in window saying "No Connection." just before my rig shuts down.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Culann wrote: »
    No..custom built rig. MSI Motherboard, Dual Core 2.75Ghz Intel Processor, Nvidia GTS 250 graphics card, 4GB Dual Channel RAM, SB Audigy Pro Platinum.

    The OP has a laptop, they tend to overheat and have a power down protection. Please create a new thread for your desktop system issue.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    The OP has a laptop, they tend to overheat and have a power down protection. Please create a new thread for your desktop system issue.

    Laptops are not the only ones who have "power down protection." Neither are they the only type of machine that can overheat.

    Second there's no reason whatsoever to create a new thread when the OP has the same identical problem as mine on what is obviously two completely different configurations.

    Were it the same configuration, then I could see it being a issue with the configuration specifically, however this is not the case. Therefore it goes from being a simple issue of a particular machine configuration to something centric with the STO client. In what regards should be the question at this point. Graphics card? Soundcard?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Culann wrote: »
    Laptops are not the only ones who have "power down protection." Neither are they the only type of machine that can overheat.

    Second there's no reason whatsoever to create a new thread when the OP has the same identical problem as mine on what is obviously two completely different configurations.

    Were it the same configuration, then I could see it being a issue with the configuration specifically, however this is not the case. Therefore it goes from being a simple issue of a particular machine configuration to something centric with the STO client. In what regards should be the question at this point. Graphics card? Soundcard?

    If you feel this is a Cryptic STO client issue and not something peer support can address, please create a support ticket or create a new post in the feedback forums. We're here in this forum to help people with peer support, we don't work for Cryptic.
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Laserrangr wrote: »
    It seems that my crashes are caused by me pressing the power button to restart my computer.

    So this is the problem then, right? Is this a trick question?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Kineel wrote:
    So this is the problem then, right? Is this a trick question?

    does seem kinda obvious doesn't it?:D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I've had this happen to my HP laptop a few times. It has an integrated ATI card, and the screen will just go black. I just rebooted the computer and resumed the game. I've played Age of Conan and EvE online and experienced similar instances (so it's not just STO doing it).

    OP, its most certainly a over heating issue. I went and purchased a cooling pad and it seems to help out a lot.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I have been experiencing this problem for a week now. The Geek Squad is currently trying to figure out what is wrong with my computer. So is this a STO problem?????"
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I'm also experiencing this issue.... which is interesting, as its only been happening for the last week or so. Same system I played both closed and open Beta on, and didn't have this problem before.

    And, no, its not my computer overheating due to "dust contamination." I clean out the fans / filter screens on a regular basis.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    What Nvidia drivers are you running? Nvidia had released a bad set of drivers 2 weeks ago that messed up fan controls, and caused graphics cards to overheat and/or fry themselves. They actually had to warn people to revert off of those drivers after folks realized it was overheating cards.

    The 196.75 drivers they released 2 weeks ago are the bad ones in case you have them. At that time, Nvidia warned people to backlevel to 196.21, but now apparently they say the new 197.13 drivers fix the fan issue.

    As for the "it worked until a week or 2 ago", that was when the drivers came out so that's what makes me suspicious of the drivers.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    ambience wrote: »
    What Nvidia drivers are you running? Nvidia had released a bad set of drivers 2 weeks ago that messed up fan controls, and caused graphics cards to overheat and/or fry themselves. They actually had to warn people to revert off of those drivers after folks realized it was overheating cards.

    The 196.75 drivers they released 2 weeks ago are the bad ones in case you have them. At that time, Nvidia warned people to backlevel to 196.21, but now apparently they say the new 197.13 drivers fix the fan issue.

    As for the "it worked until a week or 2 ago", that was when the drivers came out so that's what makes me suspicious of the drivers.

    Its not just NVIDIA, I'm running Radeon 4600 HD 1 Gb onboard mem card and it does the same except it only happens to me during ground combat not during Space.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Poseidon67 wrote: »
    Its not just NVIDIA, I'm running Radeon 4600 HD 1 Gb onboard mem card and it does the same except it only happens to me during ground combat not during Space.

    Ah, my bad. Just figured I'd throw it out there just in case.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Yes, my system is running two Radeon HD 4050's in crossfire configuration. Also, ironically, I only updated my drivers AFTER the shutdowns started. :rolleyes:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I disabled dynamic lighting and post processing effects. Give it a try.

    No crash.

    No power down.

    I just got bored running around on tribble and shut off the game.
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