Strange System Lockup Due to Video Card, Athlon, or ...

[Guest Fly1]

I have been plagued by a system lockup in FS2K2 for the last year which I believe is somehow related to my video setup but I'm not sure. My system is an Athlon 1.4g on an ASUS A7V266 mb with 512m 2100 DDR ram. Graphics card is a Hercules 3D Prophet II Pro GTS with 64m ram.DX8.0 and Nvidia 28.32 drivers. FSAA 2X, fast writes and AGP VIA 4X.LOD bias 0.The lockup typically occurs about a half hour into a flight and during a screen change. For example, I am in the cockpit and change to a chase view. During the screen refresh, everything freezes. Sound is still running, but keyboard is dead and screen is frozen half through the refresh. Full shut down of system is required to recover.The graphic detail level of the aircraft I am using seems to play a major factor here. It seems as though the system runs out of memory.Would this be a symptom of a setting on the graphics card. I used this video card on a PIII Intel and did not have this problem. Could it be related to the Athlon somehow?Any comments from the system experts out there would be appreciated.Thanks in advance!!Bob C.

[Guest Max Cowgill]

>I have been plagued by a system lockup in FS2K2 for the last >year which I believe is somehow related to my video setup >but I'm not sure. >My system is an Athlon 1.4g on an ASUS A7V266 mb with 512m >2100 DDR ram. Graphics card is a Hercules 3D Prophet II Pro >GTS with 64m ram. >DX8.0 and Nvidia 28.32 drivers. FSAA 2X, fast writes and AGP >VIA 4X. >LOD bias 0. >The lockup typically occurs about a half hour into a flight >and during a screen change. For example, I am in the cockpit >and change to a chase view. During the screen refresh, >everything freezes. Sound is still running, but keyboard is >dead and screen is frozen half through the refresh. Full >shut down of system is required to recover. >The graphic detail level of the aircraft I am using seems to >play a major factor here. It seems as though the system runs >out of memory. >Would this be a symptom of a setting on the graphics card. I >used this video card on a PIII Intel and did not have this >problem. Could it be related to the Athlon somehow? >Any comments from the system experts out there would be >appreciated. >Thanks in advance!! >Bob C. Try VIA 4-in-1 drivers (4.37 or newer) and FOR GOD'S SAKE turn off the fast writes! BTW, the CPU has NOTHING to do with the problem, unless it's overheating but you'd probably see other signs of this in other apps (especially if you run any other cpu-intensive apps like games or design tools). It's a common misconception that AMD CPUs are somehow unstable... Look to the sh!tty VIA chipset before you look to your CPU...Max Cowgill

[Guest PaulL01]

>I have been plagued by a system lockup in FS2K2 for the last >year which I believe is somehow related to my video setup >but I'm not sure. >My system is an Athlon 1.4g on an ASUS A7V266 mb with 512m >2100 DDR ram. Graphics card is a Hercules 3D Prophet II Pro >GTS with 64m ram. >DX8.0 and Nvidia 28.32 drivers. FSAA 2X, fast writes and AGP >VIA 4X. >LOD bias 0. >The lockup typically occurs about a half hour into a flight >and during a screen change. For example, I am in the cockpit >and change to a chase view. During the screen refresh, >everything freezes. Sound is still running, but keyboard is >dead and screen is frozen half through the refresh. Full >shut down of system is required to recover. >The graphic detail level of the aircraft I am using seems to >play a major factor here. It seems as though the system runs >out of memory. >Would this be a symptom of a setting on the graphics card. I >used this video card on a PIII Intel and did not have this >problem. Could it be related to the Athlon somehow? >Any comments from the system experts out there would be >appreciated. >Thanks in advance!! >Bob C. Bob,Try a few things one at time so as to pin it down there are many things to start checking, heres a few:1.Do you feel temps are an issue here, did you check them emediatly after reboot?2.Fastwrights are an instabiltiy problem all there own but it is not likely that your system is really using this setting as it has to be enabled in the BIOS >And:)

[Guest PaulL01]

Just want to add here, (hope you don

[Guest SD Sim]

Hi Bob,I will approach this from a different angle than Max or Paul. Today I spent the day practicing my carrier landings with 3rd party A-6E and USS Stennis carrier. Every time I ran in spot view during an instant replay, my computer would freeze up solid about 30 seconds in (of course panning around for much of the time). I monitored my temp prior to one of these crashes, but it remained stable at 54C (which is it's normal temp under full load with FS2K2). I then noticed a very short passage noting that ArrestorCable needed to be disabled when debugging failed landings (I had many). I went ahead and disabled after my next failed landing and there were no lock ups, nor have there been for the rest of the day.For Paul and Max - I'm not implying that heat cannot be a problem. In fact, I had to install a Volcano 7+ on my "server" because it was overheating and crashing. I now run the fan at 6K rpm and I have a stable 49C without significant load, 54C with FS2K2. Under these conditions, I can fly all day long without a crash (the computer, that is). I can turn the fan up to 7K rpm and run cooler, but it's hard to hear the engine over the roar of the fan ;). I've settled on a slightly higher temp for less noise.So what is my conclusion? There are many ways to crash a computer. In my case, it was the use of a combination of 3rd party additions. You may very well be running a default installation, in which case my advice may not apply. But even then, it could be any other application running in the background which could cause your problem. Perhaps you would benefit from using the program EndItAll (I may not have the name correct, as I don't use it myself). I sincerely hope you figure out what causes your problem.

[Guest gasebah]

Well, this could be thousands of things but I had the same problem a while ago. FS2002 was running stable for some time, but after 15-60 minutes it suddenly crashed.Solution:The computer runs stable under the fastest mem settings including 1T and fast command with almost any game. Not so with FS2002. I disabled 1T and Fast command in my bios and did not have a problem ever since. Depending on bios the entries might have other names but the main line is the same. Try to go slow on fast mem settings. FS2002 is stressing memory to the max.Alex

[Guest Howard]

I had a similar problem which I put down to the 4 in 1 drivers. On the Via website there is a chipset driver called AGP410 and I think installing this cured the lock-ups. If you are using XP there is was also a problem with the installationprogramme for 4 in 1 drivers. Use the device manager to check whether the latest drivers have actually been installed when you run the programme. If not do it manually and check.I have not had a problem since installing 4.37/AGP410.Howard

[Guest Fly1]

Well, I do appreciate all the great comments. I do have the Via 4.38 4 in 1 update applied, and also have worked on making sure the CPU is as cool as I can get it. Currently CPU is running at 49C and the motherboard at 26C.I tried taking the Fast Write out. Loaded FS and the Falcon 50, which is a major load on the system. I am still testing, but could not get it freeze in the usual fasion. Flew roughly 25 minutes with many screen changes over dense scenery, and it seemed to hold up well. I will continue to test. As usual the crew around is always there to help in a bind.Thanks Again!!Bob C.