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I got spikes coming outta my head!

Desdemona Young
Registered User
Join date: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 232
08-07-2008 06:58
Alrighty, it was funny at first, but now it's really annoying. I have these spikes flashing from my head. This just started a few days ago and only happens in SL. At times the screen starts flashing and I get severe rubber banding. Also, to note, I have been receiving error messages after closing SL. The msg "Netscapedispatchwnd: Secondlife".
and "928: SecondLife.exe - Application Error" both say "The memory could not be read".



I believe my new vid card is about to blow up. I had this problem a few months ago and was unable to find a cure, outside of replacing my vid card. From what I hear, SL just loves to eat video cards!

Anyhoo, this is my last hope to see if someone knows what on earth is going on here. Is this a video card going bye bye? Is this related to the memory leak issue?

What I have:
Second Life 1.20.15 (92456) Jul 18 2008 10:58:42 (Second Life Release)

Second Life Server 1.23.4.93100

CPU: AMD (Unknown model) (2000 MHz)
Memory: 2048 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce 8500 GT/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!
OpenGL Version: 2.1.2
LLMozLib Version: [LLMediaImplLLMozLib] - 2.01.17175 (Mozilla GRE version 1.8.1.13_0000000000)


What I have done:

* Updated vid drivers to 6.14.11.7779
* Defrag
* Uninstalled SL, deleted everything, reinstall etc...
* ScanDisk
* Virus checks (just incase)
* Turned down all graphics settings on SL
* Anisotropic filter is off
* Tinkered with VBO (on/off)
* Texture memory at 256
* Draw distance is at 128, tried lowered and no change
* Cleared cache
* Set affinity to single core

Any help would be appreciated!
Thx

*
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Atom Burma
Registered User
Join date: 30 May 2006
Posts: 685
08-07-2008 07:51
It sounds like your video card drivers just expired, try updating them. nVidia for the most part is stable and supported. They did force the new client update as well. It was pretty huge, I ran it on the test side for a few months. it was a very extensive client overhaul. You may have also been black listed, look on the main site for newly blacklisted cards.

I used to have the link, it's in the knowledge base somewhere. They list incompatable cards by model number. Once they stop supporting your card, it's so over, trust me it happened to me as well.
Ron Khondji
Entirely unlike.
Join date: 6 Jan 2007
Posts: 224
08-07-2008 07:56
Probably a videocard memory problem. I killed two NVidea 7900 GTX Go's shortly after eachother with about the same telltale signs.

If it's still under warranty, crank up the SL graphics to max and let the card blow.

Then if you get a new one, make sure the cooling is working perfectly.
Desdemona Young
Registered User
Join date: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 232
08-07-2008 08:53
From: Atom Burma
It sounds like your video card drivers just expired, try updating them. nVidia for the most part is stable and supported. They did force the new client update as well.



Yup, already did that! It was the first thing I did when the problem started happening.



From: Ron Khondji
Probably a videocard memory problem. I killed two NVidea 7900 GTX Go's shortly after eachother with about the same telltale signs.

If it's still under warranty, crank up the SL graphics to max and let the card blow.

Then if you get a new one, make sure the cooling is working perfectly.


Yeah, that's where I'm leaning towards that it is a vid card about to die. Since the card is only 4 months old, I might still be able to get it replaced.
_____________________
*~*~ S D W E A R S ~*~*~*
Classy Fashions for the Sassy Gal
&
Bold Styles for the laid-back guy
Main Store: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dubya%20City/109/157/26
SD Wears Blog: http://sdwears.wordpress.com/
Desdemona Young
Registered User
Join date: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 232
08-10-2008 13:58
Anyone have a solution?

The problem is getting really bad now. I crash constantly and the latest error is now "MS Visual C++ Runtime error "Abnormal Program Termination"
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*~*~ S D W E A R S ~*~*~*
Classy Fashions for the Sassy Gal
&
Bold Styles for the laid-back guy
Main Store: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dubya%20City/109/157/26
SD Wears Blog: http://sdwears.wordpress.com/
Klaus Demonia
Free Gorean Male
Join date: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 38
11-28-2008 18:08
I have a Nvidea 9700. I get similar when my system is hot. With the updated drivers you can also download software from nvidea to put a temp gauge on your monitor and control the fan speed through the device settings.

With my card its fine to 57degree's. Anything over and it starts to get small errors. At 60 it does what your saying. The issue to me seems to be an nvidea one and temp related. Try using a fan controller or getting a better fan.
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SuezanneC Baskerville
Forums Rock!
Join date: 22 Dec 2003
Posts: 14,229
11-28-2008 18:15
There's a 3 and half month gap between the preceding post and the one before it.

The current nVidia driver and the current SL version have changed in that time.
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Peggy Paperdoll
A Brat
Join date: 15 Apr 2006
Posts: 4,383
11-28-2008 19:02
From: Klaus Demonia
I have a Nvidea 9700. I get similar when my system is hot. With the updated drivers you can also download software from nvidea to put a temp gauge on your monitor and control the fan speed through the device settings.

With my card its fine to 57degree's. Anything over and it starts to get small errors. At 60 it does what your saying. The issue to me seems to be an nvidea one and temp related. Try using a fan controller or getting a better fan.


If your card won't run at 60 degrees celius I believe it time to do a very thourough case clean out. It's not abnormal for a high end card to run near 90 degrees and show no problems at all. I think you have something else going on.

My 8600GT runs pretty consistantly at 80 degrees with SL. Just sitting at my desktop it runs at 50 to 60 degrees on a warm day. Ambient temps do factor in.
Tangletwigs Fairymeadow
Registered User
Join date: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 57
11-29-2008 03:42
I had this a lot with my ATI card - keeping them clean (and i mean clean!), if you are up too it stripping the fan/heatsink assembly and reapplying a good heatsink paste can both help.

In the end the best 'solution' for me was to use Ray Adams ATI Tray Tools and underclock the GPU and DRAM on the card - this kept the flying triangles away much of the time, but it really does seem to be an early indicator of 'summat not right' (TM)

Just replaced the ATI with an NVidia and gone back to sub 50 degree temps under whatever load i put on it.
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Klaus Demonia
Free Gorean Male
Join date: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 38
12-02-2008 17:47
My case is clean as is the card. All fans and heat sinks are fine. Ambient can be high (Aussie summer) and I've moved the PC into an area where the airflow is better (EG - not under the desk trapping heat) and the issue is a lot better.

I cant speak about other models but the 7900GS doesn't like 60 degrees + in my PC......... and by improving the airflow, controlling the fan via the software, and keeping the temp in the mid 50's my issues are gone.
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