Second Life Forums Archive - Video Problems/Crashes

Carnildo Greenacre

Flight Engineer

Join date: 15 Nov 2003

Posts: 1,044

01-24-2004 00:23

I'm having serious problems playing SecondLife with my computer. After playing for a while, my computer will crash, with the video switching to what looks like 320x200 resolution, displaying a pattern of cyan and/or red pixels on a white background. This happens at random intervals: sometimes I'll go an entire day without trouble; on the other hand, a few days back, I crashed five times in a row within a minute of logging on near the welcome area. This problem shows up most often in SecondLife, however, it's also happened once while running another 3D game, and once while scrolling a very large document in nEdit.

Is this likely to be caused by a faulty video card, and if so, is RMAing the card for replacement likely to solve it? I don't want to RMA the card unless it's likely to solve the problem, since that means I'll have to use a five-year-old computer for a week or two.

Hardware specs:

Gainward GeForce4 Ti 4200 "Golden Sample" with 128MB memory
Asus A7V333 mainboard
AMD AthlonXP 2000+, currently running as an XP1900+.
2 512MB sticks of Corsair memory
Generic network card
SoundBlaster 16 PCI sound card
2 60GB hard drives

_____________________

perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'

Garoad Kuroda

Prophet of Muppetry

Join date: 5 Sep 2003

Posts: 2,989

01-24-2004 22:39

When you have no clue...blame it on overheating!

_____________________

BTW

WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!

Dusty Rhodes

sick up and fed

Join date: 3 Aug 2003

Posts: 147

01-24-2004 22:57

Another thought to make your life more complicated. In the course of upgrading hardware I have found that the power supply can be a problem. A lot of computers have power supplies that are just enough to power it as is. Adding a new drive is something that could obviously exceed the power supply's capacity. Adding a new video card is not so obvious - how much power can a new card use? But when I upgraded my computer, I needed to upgrade the power supply in order to get my new AGP video card to work.

P.S. I was adding a new card to override on-board video; probably wouldn't have needed the new ps if I could have taken an old video out.

Carnildo Greenacre

Flight Engineer

Join date: 15 Nov 2003

Posts: 1,044

01-25-2004 23:11

It isn't a power supply problem. I've got a 400 watt Antec power supply; when I built the computer, that was the largest power supply regularly available.

I don't think it's overheating, but I can't be certain about that. I've tried ducting an 80mm fan to the GPU, but with the profusion of cards I've got, I can't be certain how much of the air is actually making it.

_____________________

perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'

Garoad Kuroda

Prophet of Muppetry

Join date: 5 Sep 2003

Posts: 2,989

01-25-2004 23:37

So run with the cover off, point a full-blown HOUSE FAN on it. lol...

Okay, might be overdoing it a little.

But it might help figure out if it's heat. Wouldn't doubt that it's something totally different though.

_____________________

BTW

WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!

Eggy Lippmann

Wiktator

Join date: 1 May 2003

Posts: 7,939

01-25-2004 23:41

Or just underclock it. I managed to extend the life of a dying graphics card by six months after reducing its speed to the minimum. My CPU fan has been screwing up lately so I underclocked my 1333 athlon to 1000 and to be honest i cant notice any speed difference.

Carnildo Greenacre

Flight Engineer

Join date: 15 Nov 2003

Posts: 1,044

01-25-2004 23:41

Where should I place the fan? On top of the router and cable modem, blocking the vents for both? On top of the mousepad? Or on top of the monitor, where it can blow hot air? My computer area is a little cramped for space.

Edit: Eggy, can you suggest a utility for underclocking my video card? The one that came with the card won't let me lower speeds below the stock speed.

_____________________

perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'

Eggy Lippmann

Wiktator

Join date: 1 May 2003

Posts: 7,939

01-25-2004 23:49

Being "cramped for space" is begging for heat issues

My PC has its box open on both sides and the front, plus two fans at the back of the box... and about a foot of free space on all sides. Of course nothing of this matters when your fan is crapping out...
I vaguely remember a friend of mine with a 4200 having heat problems, and claiming that the 4200s were notorious for them.
If your card didnt come with a speed control (it should be on the advanced display properties or in a separate app), then get Powerstrip and take the speed down to the minimum for a while, see if it helps.
If it doesnt you may have a bad ram chip (which can be caused by excess heat).

Carnildo Greenacre

Flight Engineer

Join date: 15 Nov 2003

Posts: 1,044

01-26-2004 23:24

It's only side-to-side space that's cramped. I've got a good two feet of clearance behind the computer, and plenty in front.

Thanks for the suggestion of using Powerstrip for underclocking. I underclocked the card as far as possible, and it hasn't crashed yet today.

_____________________

perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'

Garoad Kuroda

Prophet of Muppetry

Join date: 5 Sep 2003

Posts: 2,989

01-27-2004 02:55

Wow, so it was heat afterall eh?

Btw, the fan comment... I was joking.. lol

But it would be funny if someone used a huge house fan to cool their computer, and it worked....hehe.

_____________________

BTW

WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!

Starwaster Peregrine

Registered User

Join date: 14 Nov 2003

Posts: 26

01-27-2004 03:45

Uh, no. No it wouldn't. Going over to your friend's house and seeing a large fan pointed into the open case is not funny. There's this moment of ackward silence.

You have to remember all kinds of rules when using his computer. I.e. not sitting with legs between fan and PC, not turning fan around to cool off the house when his AC craps out and there's about 6-8 people in the living room heating it up with their very presence.

From: someone

Originally posted by Garoad Kuroda
Wow, so it was heat afterall eh?

Btw, the fan comment... I was joking.. lol

But it would be funny if someone used a huge house fan to cool their computer, and it worked....hehe.

_____________________

"I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto upon learning of the success of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor which killed 2,400 Americans.

Garoad Kuroda

Prophet of Muppetry

Join date: 5 Sep 2003

Posts: 2,989

01-27-2004 18:01

hahahaha

_____________________

BTW

WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!

Video Problems/Crashes
Carnildo Greenacre Flight Engineer Join date: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 1,044	01-24-2004 00:23 I'm having serious problems playing SecondLife with my computer. After playing for a while, my computer will crash, with the video switching to what looks like 320x200 resolution, displaying a pattern of cyan and/or red pixels on a white background. This happens at random intervals: sometimes I'll go an entire day without trouble; on the other hand, a few days back, I crashed five times in a row within a minute of logging on near the welcome area. This problem shows up most often in SecondLife, however, it's also happened once while running another 3D game, and once while scrolling a very large document in nEdit. Is this likely to be caused by a faulty video card, and if so, is RMAing the card for replacement likely to solve it? I don't want to RMA the card unless it's likely to solve the problem, since that means I'll have to use a five-year-old computer for a week or two. Hardware specs: Gainward GeForce4 Ti 4200 "Golden Sample" with 128MB memory Asus A7V333 mainboard AMD AthlonXP 2000+, currently running as an XP1900+. 2 512MB sticks of Corsair memory Generic network card SoundBlaster 16 PCI sound card 2 60GB hard drives _____________________ perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'
Garoad Kuroda Prophet of Muppetry Join date: 5 Sep 2003 Posts: 2,989	01-24-2004 22:39 When you have no clue...blame it on overheating! _____________________ BTW WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!
Dusty Rhodes sick up and fed Join date: 3 Aug 2003 Posts: 147	01-24-2004 22:57 Another thought to make your life more complicated. In the course of upgrading hardware I have found that the power supply can be a problem. A lot of computers have power supplies that are just enough to power it as is. Adding a new drive is something that could obviously exceed the power supply's capacity. Adding a new video card is not so obvious - how much power can a new card use? But when I upgraded my computer, I needed to upgrade the power supply in order to get my new AGP video card to work. P.S. I was adding a new card to override on-board video; probably wouldn't have needed the new ps if I could have taken an old video out.
Carnildo Greenacre Flight Engineer Join date: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 1,044	01-25-2004 23:11 It isn't a power supply problem. I've got a 400 watt Antec power supply; when I built the computer, that was the largest power supply regularly available. I don't think it's overheating, but I can't be certain about that. I've tried ducting an 80mm fan to the GPU, but with the profusion of cards I've got, I can't be certain how much of the air is actually making it. _____________________ perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'
Garoad Kuroda Prophet of Muppetry Join date: 5 Sep 2003 Posts: 2,989	01-25-2004 23:37 So run with the cover off, point a full-blown HOUSE FAN on it. lol... Okay, might be overdoing it a little. But it might help figure out if it's heat. Wouldn't doubt that it's something totally different though. _____________________ BTW WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!
Eggy Lippmann Wiktator Join date: 1 May 2003 Posts: 7,939	01-25-2004 23:41 Or just underclock it. I managed to extend the life of a dying graphics card by six months after reducing its speed to the minimum. My CPU fan has been screwing up lately so I underclocked my 1333 athlon to 1000 and to be honest i cant notice any speed difference.
Carnildo Greenacre Flight Engineer Join date: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 1,044	01-25-2004 23:41 Where should I place the fan? On top of the router and cable modem, blocking the vents for both? On top of the mousepad? Or on top of the monitor, where it can blow hot air? My computer area is a little cramped for space. Edit: Eggy, can you suggest a utility for underclocking my video card? The one that came with the card won't let me lower speeds below the stock speed. _____________________ perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'
Eggy Lippmann Wiktator Join date: 1 May 2003 Posts: 7,939	01-25-2004 23:49 Being "cramped for space" is begging for heat issues My PC has its box open on both sides and the front, plus two fans at the back of the box... and about a foot of free space on all sides. Of course nothing of this matters when your fan is crapping out... I vaguely remember a friend of mine with a 4200 having heat problems, and claiming that the 4200s were notorious for them. If your card didnt come with a speed control (it should be on the advanced display properties or in a separate app), then get Powerstrip and take the speed down to the minimum for a while, see if it helps. If it doesnt you may have a bad ram chip (which can be caused by excess heat).
Carnildo Greenacre Flight Engineer Join date: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 1,044	01-26-2004 23:24 It's only side-to-side space that's cramped. I've got a good two feet of clearance behind the computer, and plenty in front. Thanks for the suggestion of using Powerstrip for underclocking. I underclocked the card as far as possible, and it hasn't crashed yet today. _____________________ perl -le '$_ = 1; (1 x $_) !~ /^(11+)\1+$/ && print while $_++;'
Garoad Kuroda Prophet of Muppetry Join date: 5 Sep 2003 Posts: 2,989	01-27-2004 02:55 Wow, so it was heat afterall eh? Btw, the fan comment... I was joking.. lol But it would be funny if someone used a huge house fan to cool their computer, and it worked....hehe. _____________________ BTW WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!
Starwaster Peregrine Registered User Join date: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 26	01-27-2004 03:45 Uh, no. No it wouldn't. Going over to your friend's house and seeing a large fan pointed into the open case is not funny. There's this moment of ackward silence. You have to remember all kinds of rules when using his computer. I.e. not sitting with legs between fan and PC, not turning fan around to cool off the house when his AC craps out and there's about 6-8 people in the living room heating it up with their very presence. From: someone Originally posted by Garoad Kuroda Wow, so it was heat afterall eh? Btw, the fan comment... I was joking.. lol But it would be funny if someone used a huge house fan to cool their computer, and it worked....hehe. _____________________ "I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto upon learning of the success of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor which killed 2,400 Americans.
Garoad Kuroda Prophet of Muppetry Join date: 5 Sep 2003 Posts: 2,989	01-27-2004 18:01 hahahaha _____________________ BTW WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS!

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