CTDT!!! DBHELP errors...

[Guest swathdiver]

I've been getting quite a few errors and CTDT or complete freeze. Sometimes I get the dreaded video card sound that locks the whole system up. I did discover that my video card's fan had failed and replaced it with a monster one and while the sound hasn't happened again, I do get dbhelp errors, almost always when nearing my destination airport with and without C4TO. Any ideas?JamesAnyone running a similar or slower system then mine without problems?Pentium 3, Slot 1, 1000mhz with 512mb sdram, 32mb ddr video card, 3 hard drives, 12 of 37 gigs free on drive where FLY! is installed.Hmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!

[RandallR 444]

James,It would be helpful to have more ingormation:--Is this a fairly recent occurance? I don't recall you saying much about such a problem before--Did the CDTs appear after any of the following: installed or created new scenery; installed 3D scenery; installed aircraft; installed all of the above; installed part of the above?--Using 1 aircraft? Using any aircraft?--You mention that the CDT occurs when approaching the destination airport - a particular airport? All airports?--Did all of this start when you got the original video card warnings? Even though you've brought cooling back into the picture, it's possible that a portion of your video card was permanently damaged by the fan failure.

[Guest swathdiver]

It's been going on for a while now, maybe a year or so. Also happened in Jane's F/A-18 and WW2 Fighters (which I've since unloaded) and rarely with Ghost Recon but would get crashes if too much going on at once. I'm thinking my system is just too slow but wanted to hear if anyone else was having problems. As for Fly!, it doesn't matter which airports, almost always any one I want to land at, it'll blow up, kinda like Murphy hanging around, watching me go through all the work prepping the flight, flight plan, radio frequencies written down, plane set up, metar loaded and all the attention paid to to the whole flight and she CTDT on or near final.JamesHmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!

[RandallR 444]

OK - there's no doubt that you're pushing the envelope with the vidcard and Fly!II, but I flew it for a year with a 500 PIII and a 32MB card with few crashes. It would certainly require not using high-res textures. Here are a few more questions:--What are your scenery settings?--OS 98 or other version?--AGP Aperture setting?--Render.ini settings?--Video driver?--Do you have any background programs of any kind running while using Fly!2 (antivirus, disk monitors, IM, monitor controls, etc.)?--Ad-ware scanned?--Viral scanned?--Disk scanned and defragged?--Virtual Memory settings?

[Guest swathdiver]

I was still waking up when I replied this morning! The squeal of death seems to have been solved by the fan. Scenery is at the max settings for best graphics, remember those first screenshots I sent you way back when? The ground looked awful! Win98SE, latest and greatest video drivers, AGP 2x, there are 16 background programs running, including norton and the firewall. Most of the rest are required for windows. defragged, scanned for viruses and I do have ad-aware and use it weekly. Maybe I should dumb down my settings and see how she works. I was just slewing around checking out Wayne's new airports and she crashed with the DBHELP error when I went to teleport from one airport to another, neither of which I'd ever landed at but will now! Wayne's making some great scenery!Thanks for taking the time RandyJames Hmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!

[RandallR 444]

James,There was no way I could run max settings w/32MB card and not bring the performance down - not even close. I would raise them on occasion for a screenshot, but not to fly.Some recommendations:--Dump all running background programs except the two programs needed by Windows (Explorer & Systray). A great fast way to do this is install End-it-All. I kept it on the desktop when I used 98 - double-click it, and a second later all of the background programs are gone! You should also be running no screen savers or power-saving--Graphics should be set with no high detail textures and to the 32MB or less setting--Scenery items: Max. vis to 20-30; High-res to 4 or less; medium res to 11-12; You may need to drop the Detail Level from Complex to Normal for some 3D sceneries; dumping shadows can also make a big difference--By AGP settings, I was asking about your AGP Aperture setting in the BIOS--For AA, I would run no higher than 2X--The Render.ini should be the original TRI version, or one you may have altered slightly

[Guest swathdiver]

Yes, I do have End-It-All and have been using it for years, since '98! Funny we make use of the same utilities. I know, I know I should be lowering the settings but Fly! looks so good! :( I've made no major changes to the fly.ini save for the add-ons and the distance the runway lights and taxiways show up, that kind of stuff, nothing with the video card. Tax return is on its way, maybe a new video card is in my future??? I did plan on replacing this system at the end of this year, but my wife and I recently learned that later this year it'll be time to break out the formula, bottles and crib for another rugrat...JamesHmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!

[Guest swathdiver]

That's odd, I could've swore I purchased a 32mb video card, all the current literature says 64mb! I had drivers/bios from November '03 and MSI released a new set in 01-04 that I updated last night. PCPitstop results were impressive will FLY! tonight and let you know.JamesHmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!

[RandallR 444]

Well, if you have 64, you can use the high res textures and shadows, etc. - again, be careful with your AGP Aperture and dump all those background programs. Even with my 128 I can't run the sliders at max or I would lose flying performance - I'm balancing the extra memory btwn flight performance and getting good rendering in the 30-40 mile area.From what I've seen of the various systems people are using, I'm betting that a 256 card, 3GHz Processor, and a gig of RAM will allow Fly!2 to be used maxed out and still attain great flight response.

[Guest swathdiver]

Hi Randall, that's the machine I'm about to build for my father! I'll have to wait. I flew tonight and she froze again with the squeal of death. I did a Google and my Creative soundcard is the culprit. Seems there's no cure other then replacement. TurtleBeach from newegg.com looks nice. Squeal of death once and a plane ole freeze with the sound repeating itself. I'll replace the card and then report.JamesHmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!

[Guest swathdiver]

Swapped out the cards and installed new drivers. Sounds almost as nice and best of all, no "squeal of death" or freezes in Fly! and F/A-18! Computer and games run faster too.JamesHmmm... Tastes Like Chicken!