Help requested: Guidance for troubleshooting FS2002 crashing

[Rudi 0]

My copy of FS2002 keeps crashing - sometimes to desktop, sometimes bringing the entire system down. Generally happens after 3-5 minutes into a flight. Can anyone point me to a set of procedures for troubleshooting.I have Dell Inspiron 7000 PIII 650 Mhz running at 500Mhz, 398 RAM pc100, windows xp directx 8.1Many thanks, Rudi

[Guest N73GX]

Most of the time, Flight Simulator will start to crash for a number of reasons. If you installed new Scenery, Aircraft, or modified any part of flight simulator files. Try to track down what the last one or two things you have modified or added to the Sim. Then post what you can remember and that will give everyone a bit more of an idea of what is going on. Personally I am having trouble as well, but I know what

[John_Cillis 2,406]

You also might want to study this topic I posted yesterday. Although it was specific to FS2004, it also applies to FS2002 when a bad bgl could be the culprit....http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&mesg_id=158254Since you are able to fly for a few moments, and you haven't posted what type of graphics card/chip you have, you may also want to check your drivers and make sure they are the latest and greatest. Some older sets of Nvidia drivers caused this to happen, for example. I'm also curious--you mention a P3/650 running at 500MHZ? Did you mean 700 or 800MHZ? IOTW, are you overclocking? If so, you have to stop the overclocking before you try any basic troubleshooting. Overclocking can cause things to get too hot, memory to become unstable (and even permanently fail). Hopefully I just misread your post. If you are overclocking, the first rule of thumb is always stop overclocking before digging into any other causes...Other questions:Is your RAM all the same brand? Did you add any to the original setup?And what type of graphics card do you have, and what's your driver version?-John

[Rudi 0]

No, you read correctly. I have a Dell Inspiron 7000 that originally came with with a PII 300 mhz cpu. FS2002 ran fine, no crashes with that setup. I read on Dell Website about folks who put in PIII 600 and 800 mhz chips, upgraded their memory to pc100.That's what I did. I got a PIII 600 mhz mmx cpu, 3 SDRAM pc100 128 mb modules and replaced the original components, upgraded to windows xp. Because the motherboard does not support speedstep, the cpu runs at 500 mhz, not 600.My current configuration: Dell Inspiron 7000CPU: PIII 600 running at 500 mhz398 mb pc100 ram30 gb hard drivewindows xpati rage lt pro 8 mb video cardDX 9.1I run ms office, statistical software, GIS software (ArcView) even Terminal Reality's Fly! without crashing. The system is really incredibly stable even with the new components in. The only problem is FS2002. So I'm hoping that I can find some tool to identify where the crash is occuring - I don't want to rip out and replace the components that I've worked hard to install already. Thanks again for your time and interest.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"I run ms office, statistical software, GIS software (ArcView) even Terminal Reality's Fly! without crashing. The system is really incredibly stable even with the new components in. The only problem is FS2002. So I'm hoping that I can find some tool to identify where the crash is occuring - I don't want to rip out and replace the components that I've worked hard to install already. Thanks again for your time and interest."As I run regional Network support and application Q/A for a medioum size company, your experience sounds very familiar. However, you simply can't compare software as if it's apples to apples. On my WAN I run CAD software, financial software, MSOffice, digital imaging, digital voice recording etc.... Since I inherited a mix of systems, I have a very good grasp of how these apps tasks systems and O/S's.At home, I run FS2002 and FS2004, I still have Fly! lurking around, and FU-II and FU-III.... Simming is my escape from my day job--I'm a network admin meant to be an airline pilot--so goes the joke around my office. What I have learned about FS2002 is that it has one of the largest system footprints of any software suite I've installed. FS2004, even larger. FS2002 demands the newest in terms of video hardware, and I suspect that's where your issue is. Your video hardware is very weak--too much so to throw at FS2002. It may work perfectly with the other applications you mention, but none of them, including Fly!, task the system as much as FS2002 does. FS2002 demands heavy duty 3-d h/w, and can get bogged down or simply unstable when it sees anything less.Is it hopeless? I'm running FS2002 and FS2004 on a four year old MB, with a P3/800. I am concerned your cpu isn't being recognized at full speed. Just for kicks, check out this site: www.wimsbios.com They keep tabs on all the most current BIOS's out there. Your MB sounds pretty close to mine in age judging from the cpu's it supports.Next, does your MB have an open AGP slot, and/or a way of disabling the onboard video? For $50-70 you can get an OEM GeForce 4200 and that may help even more....Sorry if I sound discouraging.... I really hope you can get FS2002 running--it's a great sim.....-John