Hi,I thought I got rid of the crashes - but alas! they still plague me. At random intervals, sometimes FS crashes in the first 5 minutes, 5 times in a row, sometimes I am able to complete a flight and crash when switching off the engines. Lots of times I will leave FS running and it will crash after 20 minutes or an hour without me touching anything!! On the other side, I was working on a 738 NG panel the other day, had FS running, FS Panel studio, Paint Shop Pro and a few other things for three hours straight. Been jumping in and out FS, chaning A/C - in short, abusing it a lot. It never crashed. Then I went to test the panel and after 15 minutes into the flight - boom! :(FS either reports an error and exits, or the thing simply reboots(!), or gives the 'Device failure, reboot' message...Reports are funny, to say the least (My Computer/Manage/Events): Failed dll's that I noticed so far: Weather.dll, FSnav.dll, visualfx.dll. Or it tells me that it couldn't find out what was wrong.What I did so far:- disabled FastWrites- changed AGP aperture a zillion times- checked my 1GB PC3200 RAM and it's good- reconstructed fs9.cfg many times- removed ALL add-on DLL's- disabled Restore on my FS9 disk- swithced off unneeded processes in WinXP Pro- installed latest certified Detonators and lost 20% on my frame rates so went back to NATIVE ELSA drivers (geForce 3 here). They are the best - by far.- running SP1 and ALL updates- plugged the security hole(s) according to MS instructions- my WinXP runs clean, no unnecessary progs in systray or otherwise- No Norton antivirus running, just MS FirewallWhat on earth should I still do?? This is getting ridiculous, A MS title won't run on an MS operating system!? I'm sick and tired of getting each and every flight interrupted by a crash. By the way, I use an FS9 CD4 image to start FS, not the noCD crack. My System:Athlon XP 3000+ ASUS A7N8X Deluxe MoBo, Bios v. 1005, nVidia nForce2 (updated), 1GB PC3200 RAM, 2x 80Gb HD, ELSA GeForce 3WinXP Pro SP1 (updated)Saitek X45 + analog CH flight stick with CH analog peddals attachedAny help/hint/advice VERY appreciated. :)Regards,JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i

Have you tried putting the original disk back in? When you removed all the DLL's what did it blame it on? Any AI aircraft that FS might not like??

James,I tried the original CD too. Without the add-on dll's, it blames the crash(es) on the dll's that come as a part of FS itself, or it doesn't know what to blame the crash on. No AI aircraft, I am waiting for the UT update. Just default AI traffic for now. What frequency should RAM run at? I have a 333MHz FSB motherboard with Athlon XP 3000+ (333 FSB). RAM frequency is either shown as 166 or 200, depending how I set it in BIOS. Is that correct, shouldn't it show the RESULTING frequency - 333 or 400 upon booting? Could the 200(400) Mhz setting be causing problems? Should I stick to the 166(333)Mhz setting. That's what the 'Auto' setting suggests, BTW.Thanks! :)JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i

Hi Jure,When you say that you've checked the memory... what method did you use? I would remove one stick, and test with the second stick only. If the system crashes, remove the second stick and put the first back in. Do this testing while flying FS9.But before you do that, this is an even easier test. Heat could also be an issue. You can remove the left side cover of the computer and use a house fan to blow cool air into the case. Then go fly the sim.Finally, could you list how your BIOS is configured... most notably the "Advanced Chipset Features" and "Integrated Peripherals" pages? When you go to the BIOS to get this info, do so after you've run the computer for while. After the reboot go immediately to the "Hardware Monitor Menu" and check your CPU Temp, as well as the CPU Voltage, -3V, -5V, -12V (these latter three just need to be greater than 3, 5, and 12 V... they will be fluctuating).I know this seems a pain, but all that info would be very useful for properly setting-up the A7N8X. Finally, what version of the board do you have... 1.4 or 2.0?It's getting late here, and I'm off for some rest. I'll check this thread in 8-9 hrs.Regards,

Hi Greg,thank you very much for your assistance! :)Here goes: - First of all, I just noticed a BIOS upgrade! Don't know how I missed it the other day!? Anyway, BIOS now to revision 1006, MoBo revision 2.0. Crashes absent from that point, up to 4.5 hours with sim running. Fingers crossed! :)- Memory was tested with Mtinst, MS' dos program. It checked out OK. I have 1gb of Samsung PC3200 RAM, reccomended by ASUS.- I've been monitoring heat and it seems ok. In any case, CPU temp never exceeded 60 deg.C, according to ASUS Probe, even in the hottest days when room temp was around 30 and I was running FS and other stuff in the background. I have two additional fans installed in the housing (tall tower, lots of room). Replaced a dying GeForce 3 fan as well with a new, ball bearing fan. - Replaced power supply a few weeks ago, because +3.3v was giving me alerts all of a sudden - and quite frequently, too. Had an older 450W PS which obviously bit the dust. Now running a 350W PS. Crashes were present from the start, so it's not the PS. :)BIOS HARDWARE MONITOR:=======================MB temp............ 28C/82FCPUtemp............ 53C/127F fluctuating to 57CVcore voltage...... 1.68V+3.3V.............. 3.26 - 3.31V+5V................ 4.86V+12V............... 12.54VCPU fan............ 3970 RPMChassis fan........ 2556Power fan.......... 2596Q-fan control...... EnabledFan speed ration... Full SpeedSpeed up/Downresposne time...... 1sec/2secADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES:==========================CPU external freq.......... 166CPU freq.multiple setting.. AUTOCPU freq.multiple.......... 13.0xSystem performance......... OPTIMALCPU interface.............. OPTIMALMemory frequency........... AUTO, before I had By SPDResulting Frequency........ AUTO, with 'By SPD' it was 200Memory timings............. OPTIMALSDRAM active precharge del. 7SDRAM RAS to CAS delay..... 4SDRAM RAS precharge delay.. 4SDRAM CAS latency.......... 3TFSB Spread Spectrum........ DISABLEDAGP Spread Spectrum........ DISABLEDCPU Vcore Setting.......... AUTOCPU Vcore.................. 1.650VGraphics Aperture Size..... 128MbAGP frequency.............. AUTOSystem BIOS cacheable...... DISABLEDVideo RAM cacheable........ DISABLEDDDR reference voltage...... 2.6VAGP VDDQ voltage........... 1.5VAGP 8x support............. DISABLEDAGP fast write capability.. DISABLEDINTEGRATED PERIPHERALS:=======================Primary VGA BIOS........... AGP VGA cardUSB controllers............ V1.1 + V2.0USB keyboard............... DISABLEDUSB legacy Mouse Support... DISABLEDOnboard AC97 Audio Cont.... AUTOOnboard AC97 Modem Cont.... DISABLEDOnboard LAN (nVidia)....... AUTOOnboard LAN (3com)......... AUTOOnboard 1394 device........ AUTOFloppy disk access control. ENABLEDOnboard serial port 1 ..... 3F8/IRQ4Onboard serial port 2 ..... 2F8/IRQ3UART2 use as............... COM portOnboard parallel port...... 378/IRQ7Parallel port mode......... ECP+EPPECP DMA select............. 3Onboard game port.......... 201Onboard MIDI I/O........... 330Onboard MIDI IRQ........... 10I am not running anything else I can think off. As I said, systray is quite clean, not-needed processes disabled... Additional hardware: External Mitsumi CD burner (USB), but it's switched off usually. An old EPSON Stylus COlor IIs printer + iOmega 100Mb zip drive on parallel port. Ah, and an ISDN 3com Pro TA USB modem.Upon booting, I am notified that memory frequency is at 166Mhz, dual channel mode. BIOS revision 1006, dated 8/19/2003.Ok, that's about it, I guess. Greg, thanks again for looking at this mess. It is very appreciated! :)Regards,JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i

Hi Jure,Thanks for taking the time to collect all the BIOS data. In looking it all over, let's start with the HARRDWARE MONITOR:BIOS HARDWARE MONITOR:=======================MB temp............ 28C/82FCPUtemp............ 53C/127F fluctuating to 57CVcore voltage...... 1.68V+3.3V.............. 3.26 - 3.31V<--------+5V................ 4.86V<-------+12V............... 12.54VCPU fan............ 3970 RPMChassis fan........ 2556Power fan.......... 2596Q-fan control...... EnabledFan speed ration... Full SpeedSpeed up/Downresposne time...... 1sec/2secThe 3.3V and 5V rails seem a bit low. While I doubt these could be your problem, you might in the future consider upgrading to something like one of the top end Antec or Enermax PSU's. They offer great performance for the cost. This should NOT be a major concern right now with regard to your crashes.Seems you're running the stock CPU Heatsink and Fan? Might consider upgrading these, too. Your BIOS temps (ASUS Probe is useless for getting accurate readings... always reads low) are a bit high for may taste. I use a Coolermaster Heat Pipe, and I see BIOS temps in the 42-44 range with a room temp of 24-25.So... no serious problems there. With regard to your:ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES:==========================CPU external freq.......... 166CPU freq.multiple setting.. AUTOCPU freq.multiple.......... 13.0xSystem performance......... OPTIMALCPU interface.............. OPTIMALMemory frequency........... AUTO, before I had By SPDResulting Frequency........ AUTO, with 'By SPD' it was 200Memory timings............. OPTIMALSDRAM active precharge del. 7SDRAM RAS to CAS delay..... 4SDRAM RAS precharge delay.. 4SDRAM CAS latency.......... 3TFSB Spread Spectrum........ DISABLEDAGP Spread Spectrum........ DISABLEDCPU Vcore Setting.......... AUTOCPU Vcore.................. 1.650VGraphics Aperture Size..... 128MbAGP frequency.............. AUTOSystem BIOS cacheable...... DISABLEDVideo RAM cacheable........ DISABLEDDDR reference voltage...... 2.6VAGP VDDQ voltage........... 1.5VAGP 8x support............. DISABLEDAGP fast write capability.. DISABLEDEverything looks good here for setting up the system for stability. You might try running the "DDR reference voltage" at 2.7, but I don't believe 2.6V is causing your problems.All this brings us back to memory and heat. I would first do the house-fan-blowing-cool-air-into-the-open-left-side test. The CPU and MB temps may look OK, but what is happening to the other components? The Northbridge on the A7N8X runs hot (that's why it has a huge heatsink on it), and many people lap the top surface of the NB and then add a small chipset fan in place of the heatsink. Also, it can be difficult to know what temps your video card and memory are seeing while under load (like when we're flying the sim). So... the house fan test can tell you alot without requiring alot of work.Finally, we come to the memory. It's been my experience that memory can be rather cantankerous. I recently upgraded from Crucial PC2700 to Corsair XMS3200. Not that I needed the extra speed for my 2400XP (I'll be upgrading my CPU to a 3200 w/ 200 Ext. Freq. in a few weeks when the prices come down) but because Corsair has a strong reputation for making high quality gaming memory. After the house fan test, I strongly recommend that you pull a bank of memory and test your system with only the second bank. I've completely given up on software memory tests... like you I've used them in the past, but still had memory problems even after the tests indicated the memory was fine. The best way to test is to try one memory bank at a time.The upside of all this is that we can get the problems sorted. It may take a few days of testing, though. I don't believe there is anything wrong with your OS or sim install. The problems you are experiencing are the same that I've seen when overclocking my system too far. I believe your problem is hardware related.Test on... post here with results over the next few days. I'll be curious to learn your findings.Regards,

Hi Greg,seems like I got rid of the crashes at last. Been running FS for a few days now a lot without a single crash/reboot.After removing RAM and putting it back (both banks), updating BIOS and resetting Memory frequency to AUTO, the box runs without a glitch. I am curious, could the memory frequency setting "by SPD" be responsible for the crashes? Yes, I am using the default heatsink and fan plus I installed three additional fans (not two as I stated earlier). I will follow your advice and upgrade the heatsink & CPU fan. And the power supply too.As to the house fan test, yes, it produced lower temps! One more reason to upgrade the cooling system. I suspect that the graphics card is running a bit hot, because it has a new fan mounted which is a bit farther away from the surface of the card than the original one (it's too big to fit). I guess it's time to upgrade the card anyway. I would've installed Corsair RAM if I was able to get it. I'll see if I can get a deal with my local vendor to return my Samsung RAM. Sometimes they are a bit lazy and simply say that they are unable to get what a customer demands and offer an alternative without really knowing the details. Anyway, I am a happy camper now, finally I can fly a bit without having my flights interrupted all the time. Thank you very much for all your help and advice, Greg! It is very appreciated! :)Regards,JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i