FS9 keeps crashing

[matta757 0]

Hi all,So I have got a somewhat puzzling issue on my hands. The last few times I have flown on FS, it has crashed on me and I am not sure why. At first I thought maybe it was a one time glitch, but it has now happened 4 times. Here's my description of what happens:Playing FS as normal when all of a sudden the screen goes to a single color (like a mix of all the colors on the screen) and the audio makes a funny, repetitive noise. There is NOTHING I can do to resolve the glitch except to restart the computer. No keyboard commands work, it's like the computer has completely frozen.Now, the first time it happened I had just taken off from KSFO. Now I thought maybe it was an issue with San Francisco, but the second time it happened, I was on approach into KMSP, so I assumed it was an issue not just with SFO.The third and fourth times it happened, I was at KSFO again, taxiing to the runway and both times it happened as I was changing the view using my hat switch. I cannot remember if I was cycling views when it happened the first time.Extra background info would be that I am running Radar Contact v4 and AISmooth.Does anyone have any idea what is going on and how to resolve it? Obviously I am thinking a complete reinstall might help, but clearly I don't want to go through all that.Best regards,Matt

[N60JBravo 27]

Without knowing any of your system particulars, I would say this is a hardware issue and not an FS one.When was the last time you cleaned out your PC?This might be a heat issue, or possible the beginnings of a video card failure.What are your system specs, including OS?regards,Joe

[matta757 0]

Without knowing any of your system particulars, I would say this is a hardware issue and not an FS one.When was the last time you cleaned out your PC?This might be a heat issue, or possible the beginnings of a video card failure.What are your system specs, including OS?regards,Joe

Here are my system specs:Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition SP3 (32-Bit) Motherboard: Nvidia nForce 750i FTW SLI, PCEe X16 2.0, 1333MHz FSB Processor: 2.83GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB CacheCPU Cooling: Jetline Premium CPU Air Cooler System Memory: 4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair XMS Low-Latency DDR2, 800MHz Graphics Processor: 896MB Nvidia GeForce GTX 260, GDDR3, PCIe System Power: 950 Watt Jetline Approved Multi-GPU Power Supply Sound Card: 7.1 High Definition Integrated Audio Primary Hard Drive: 300GB VelociRaptor 10,000RPM SATA 16MB CacheSecondary Hard Drive: 500GB WD Black Edition 7200RPM SATA 32MB CacheMedia Drives: 20x DVD Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe (Primary)I clean the PC on a regular basis, including after the second time this happened. I bought the comp in December 2008, so I will be quite frustrated if the video card is giving out, but I might give a call to the company just to be safe.Matt

[N60JBravo 27]

I would say your system should be up for it.I would try disabling as many addons as you can and try testing with as close to default as you can painlessly get.Try different planes, areas, seasons, weather etc.I seem to remember someone else on here that had problems with a Jetline PC, but I do not remember the specifics.I would also recommend you contact them.regards,Joe

[Benjamin J 751]

Just to be sure: can you check on the temperature of your hardware? Most notably the CPU and graphics card. Last time I had these issues, my computer was running hot. When I moved to a cooler spot, it also stopped malfunctioning.

[Guest deltaflight]

Just to be sure: can you check on the temperature of your hardware? Most notably the CPU and graphics card. Last time I had these issues, my computer was running hot. When I moved to a cooler spot, it also stopped malfunctioning.

This sounds exactly like a heat issue. Curious. If your able, try taking off the side of your computer box and make sure it gets good ventilation. Try a couple of flights and see what happens.Observed a similar situation a few years back involving a Matrox Parhelia card. System would lock and the sound card would just make this loud "boop-boop-boop-boop-boop etc." Had to hard boot the system to recover.Once we installed a cooling fan directed at the video card the problems were eliminated.Mitch

[Swoop 0]

The guys are probably right and its a heat issue but did you, by any chance, check your application log and see if there is a crash entry in it? It should look like a little red circle with a white "X" in it. If there is one then check which .DLL abended and then take a look at John Hinson's Adventure Unlimited web site. He's got a bunch of reason's for .DLLs abending sorted by the .DLL. So it's a pretty good reference even if it may not be a .DLL issue.http://www.adventure-unlimited.org/faultfi...php#IdentifyingMark

[matta757 0]

The guys are probably right and its a heat issue but did you, by any chance, check your application log and see if there is a crash entry in it? It should look like a little red circle with a white "X" in it. If there is one then check which .DLL abended and then take a look at John Hinson's Adventure Unlimited web site. He's got a bunch of reason's for .DLLs abending sorted by the .DLL. So it's a pretty good reference even if it may not be a .DLL issue.http://www.adventure-unlimited.org/faultfi...php#IdentifyingMark

Hi Mark,How would I go about checking the log? Where do I find it?I called Jetline. They had me try a program called Passmark to check the performance. I didn't do it with them on the phone, but I just did it now and EVERYTHING passed with flying colors, including the video card and CPU. So I am hoping it is a heat issue. I know there is a switch for a cooling fan. I just check it, it was on Medium so I bumped it up for High and will try some flights and see what happens.Thank you everyone for your input, I hope to not have to come back for more answers!Matt