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STO causes spontaneous system shut down (closed, necro)
nswootie
Member Posts: 27 Arc User
OK, I searched the forums for this issue and see that it's occurred several times over the past few years. Typically everyone wants to blame the user's PC for thermal issues. I'm convinced the pattern is real aside from thermal problems...here's my deal:
My machine played STO perfectly for a long time before the Romulan patch. As it does with a *lot* of other similar games. Just in case you want to know, here's my system specs:
AMD FX-6200 6-core CPU
16Gb DDR3-1600 RAM
Radeon HD 7850 2Gb GDDR5
120Gb SSD boot disk with 9Gb free (MS Office installed on there too)
2Tb SATA2 hard drive for games and stuff (with like 1.5Tb free)
On-board Realtek audio
Windows 7
As noted, the arrival of the problem is exactly correlated to the new Romulan patch. The machine was 100% stable for a very long time before that. I can monitor my temps and I can see, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the issue is not thermal. I also religiously clean my fans and heatsinks so the dust level is essentially zero.
In addition, here's the list of all the other games on this machine that continue to work flawlessly:
Age of Conan
DC Universe
DDO
WoW
LOTRO
Diablo 3
Heroes VI
BattleForge
...and a few other "lesser" games
STO will cause the machine to simply turn off...usually on the character selection screen, and often even before the "Charlie's Angels" image is rendered. Although sometimes it will go ahead and let me log in and play for a bit, a few minutes maybe, and then just shut off.
If it was a thermal issue, I'd see it via the monitoring. Also, if it was a thermal issue, the other games would cause the same problem. Likewise, if it was a problem with the PSU getting stressed, it would also crash on other games. And for both of those potential issues, if they were problems then STO would *never* work, but sometimes it's gracious enough to let me play as long as I want without issue.
Sandra also shows no problems. And I've tested a LOT with the other games, some of which have significantly more advanced rendering engines than STO (Age of Conan particularly...that engine is amazing). As noted, if the problem was anything to do with heat or power, the other games would all blow up too.
This issue is categorically an STO problem. Would be nice if someone could fix it.
My machine played STO perfectly for a long time before the Romulan patch. As it does with a *lot* of other similar games. Just in case you want to know, here's my system specs:
AMD FX-6200 6-core CPU
16Gb DDR3-1600 RAM
Radeon HD 7850 2Gb GDDR5
120Gb SSD boot disk with 9Gb free (MS Office installed on there too)
2Tb SATA2 hard drive for games and stuff (with like 1.5Tb free)
On-board Realtek audio
Windows 7
As noted, the arrival of the problem is exactly correlated to the new Romulan patch. The machine was 100% stable for a very long time before that. I can monitor my temps and I can see, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the issue is not thermal. I also religiously clean my fans and heatsinks so the dust level is essentially zero.
In addition, here's the list of all the other games on this machine that continue to work flawlessly:
Age of Conan
DC Universe
DDO
WoW
LOTRO
Diablo 3
Heroes VI
BattleForge
...and a few other "lesser" games
STO will cause the machine to simply turn off...usually on the character selection screen, and often even before the "Charlie's Angels" image is rendered. Although sometimes it will go ahead and let me log in and play for a bit, a few minutes maybe, and then just shut off.
If it was a thermal issue, I'd see it via the monitoring. Also, if it was a thermal issue, the other games would cause the same problem. Likewise, if it was a problem with the PSU getting stressed, it would also crash on other games. And for both of those potential issues, if they were problems then STO would *never* work, but sometimes it's gracious enough to let me play as long as I want without issue.
Sandra also shows no problems. And I've tested a LOT with the other games, some of which have significantly more advanced rendering engines than STO (Age of Conan particularly...that engine is amazing). As noted, if the problem was anything to do with heat or power, the other games would all blow up too.
This issue is categorically an STO problem. Would be nice if someone could fix it.
Post edited by nswootie on
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Comments
Did you try fresh install of STO?
unistall, delete all files in Program files/Cryptic Studios folder, run CCleaner, restart, install STO to diferent folder, turn down graphics options in game.
I hope ths help:)
I too have 3 sistem froze problems, but bfr LoR, and i fix it with new ATI drivers.
off topic: for SSD its recomendet to have 10% free space.
As for anything having to do with a blue screen - there is no blue screen. The PC just shuts off like you pulled the plug out of the wall. It's truly bizarre.
I do run CCleaner on a regular basis. It is OT, but I did open up the free space on my boot SSD to 10.5Gb.
For giggles I'll try downloading the latest video driver. I'm on 13.1 right now...13.4 is available. But that didn't change between STO working and STO not working...
Anyway I've solved it by changing the power supply cable.
That might not be your problem however your symptoms remind me a little of those computers I've had to look at.
I run sto on an nvidia 560ti card with an old AMD 2ghz dualcore no problem. My motherboard should be ready for last rites, but she just keeps running!
If you ask me It's the game. I run a i7 processor with AMD radeon HD6850M and 8GB ram.
The second time I tried to go in, though, it blew up.
Also updated to latest Radeon driver...still blows up.
All the while, all those other games I listed work just fine. STO must be doing something remarkably strange to cause the machine to crash when none of those other games do any such thing.
I play GW2, PWI, WoW, and SWOR without any issues. I can leave PWI, and SWOR logged in overnight without any crashes, or game issues the next day. I can play STO, but for no longer than an hour at the most before it just completely shuts down.
Posting my rig won't help, as I do not believe the issue is with our PC/rigs. A friend of mine who works as a game programmer for World of Tanks has installed the game, and has come up with the same issue. He has told me that it's all about the game programming pulling too much juice on our system, hence causing the spontaneous shutdown. His conclusion comes from testing the game on several rigs, from the minimum requirements listed, to top of the line setups. All yield the same result. Overheating, and game shutdown.
Before the Romulan patch, both my wife, and I played daily. My wife can't even stay logged in for 5 minutes, since the update, before she shuts down.
right click on my Computer, then menage (2nd row, 1st is open)
Look for red icons - usualy say "error"
I got this my self a couple of times on Wednesdays patch game would just auto task it self off with out warning.I had this happen during CSE once.And i do agree there is nothing wrong with my rig it is cleaned and scanned every night and defraged regularly.There was a couple of others that reported the same thing i think i was the first.I looked through the game logs and found nothing.
BluescreenView would help is system gave a BSOD but it did not.
BlueScreenView 1.50
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/bluescreenview.html
This does not need to be installed just double click on the icon in the folder.
On the other hand, if the problem were with your hardware, the system would be likely to get a BSOD or simply shut down. Now, you claim that your hardware is within thermal limits, but faulty hardware can be within thermal limits and still malfunction.
The problem, in decending order of liklihood is:
1) Your GPU: Try temporarily replacing it and seeing if that stops the system halts.
2) Your PSU: A dying or overheated PSU often causes the GPU, CPU, or motherboard to behave erratically as they try to draw more power than can be supplied.
3) Your motherboard: Motherboard malfunctions can be difficult to detect but something as simple as a bad capacitor or slightly damaged IC can cause the system to halt unexpectedly with no explanation.
4) Some other peripheral such as a RAID controller: These usually are connected directly to the bus and cause BSOD rather than resets, but they can also cause system halts.
5) Your CPU: CPU's rarely fail but occasionally they do and unlike the other components, you can test them out without removing them.
You have to start replacing these items one at a time to test to see if they are at fault. If you do not have spares, try to borrow someone else's. Occasionally, more than one may be faulty.
Case in point, I unwisely restricted air flow around my PSU, causing it to start failing. This ended up damaging all three GPU's as well as the motherboard. Luckily, the GPU and PSU had lifetime warranties (always try to buy something with a lifetime warranty) and the MB was under a 5 year warranty.
But tracking down the failure was difficult, since there are no simple tests for a faulty GPU, PSU, or motherboard.
If that is indeed the issue, then the problem is with your hardware. You need a PSU with enough power to supply all the components in your system and you need a setup that can cool your components so they remain in the manufacturer's thermal limits. Unless a game actually overclocks your hardware (which as far as I know, no modern PC game has ever done), it is impossible for them to cause crashes on a properly functioning machine simply by "pulling too much juice".
As i have said and so did others it is not hardware issue i build my own pc i know when some thing is not right with my rig.And every thing is running perfectly fine it is the game it self that is auto tasking it self out.Every thing else is running fine on my OS system.
I was responding to the original poster. You have not provided enough information.
If your system is halting and giving an error (BSOD in Windows), then you need to post the information. It could be anything from a malfunctioning driver to a corrupted Windows system file.
If your system is simply halting and freezing, turning off, or resting without a BSOD, then it is almost certainly a low level hardware problem. The correct way to diagnose this is to run software-based tests on the components you can and if that fails to find the problem, remove all peripherals from the main motherboard bus and try every permutation of replacing the GPU, RAM, PSU supply, motherboard, and CPU in that order. Until you have done that, you cannot legitimately claim that you are not suffering from a failing hardware component.
I'm sorry, but that would be a rig configuration problem and not the game itself. I have run the LoR on top spec pc to under minimum requirements pc and the only issues I have come across are the PSU.
With LoR you need to understand it will pull a little more resources (though on my pc it's only minor to what it pulled from previous versions). That extra power ends up in drawing even more power from your PSU. Two of my computers shut down like you're telling. That was the higher specced pc's running on top resolution.
If you run LoR on high graphic solution on a overspecced pc and your PSU cant follow. This will happen.
I have yet to see the OH people complain about. My CPU runs at 35-45 Degrees Celsius, GPU gets to a stable 60-65 Degrees Celsius on peak performance.
A lot of people put in peripherals without thinking about the power supply. Even at full speed, my computer rarely draws over 400 watts, but I have a 1200 W power supply so I can upgrade in the future and to ensure I have clean power.
If your drawing nearly 400 Watts a generic 400W power supply won't cut it and a top end 400 W power supply probably will not either. I would suggest the following:
1) Use brand name, high quality, aftermarket power supplies.
2) Ensure they have good air flow.
3) Give yourself 20% overhead for your current system and 50% overhead if you expect that you might add significant new components, especially multiple high end GPU's.
4) If you build your own PC's or are a hard-core power user, buy an 800W+ power supply with a lifetime warranty and you should be able to use it at least for the next 10 years. It is cheaper than replacing burned out cheaper units or damaged hardware.
5) You can often estimate your power usage by using an UPS or watt meter to determine how much power you draw from AC. Now remember, some of this is lost as heat, but you need overhead anyway. Take this number while running at full throttle (~100% CPU and GPU usage) to determine your needs, or use an online calculator. Always give yourself wiggle room since, even though your computer may only draw 350 Watts, a 400 Watt power supply might not be able to deliver enough power on the rail a high end GPU uses and it could cause problems.
When playing STO (and sometimes World of Tanks) my computer will just switch off, there is no error screen, no BSoD. It just turns off as if someone pulled out the plug. I have recently updated the graphics drivers, so its not that.
I stress tested my GPU for over 30 minutes under 99% load and the system stayed stable, yet the next day after being in the game for a few minutes the system turned off. If it was a heating or power issue surely it would of turned off during the stress test the day before.
I just can't find any credible information on how to resolve this as everyone just jumps to the conclusion that its a heating or power issue which isn't helping. Does anyone have any other insight into what this could be?
I can play Battlefield 3 for a full day without any problems, and that game is WAY more demanding that STO... I also play Civ 5, SWTOR, etc, etc. No problems.
I have done the usual memtest86+, replaced GPU and PSU, ran FurMark for 6 hours, as well as checked all my drivers. But the problem is still there. And its only in STO.
Its driving me crazy...
Its not even a BSOD, it just turns the computer off. Like pulling the cord.
Absolutely weird.
How long before STO breaks my harddrive/MBT and causes data loss? Is it safe to play this game at all?