SL causes whole system reboot/BSOD

Hey there,

I've been pulling my hair out over this problem for just over a year now. I left Second Life because it was getting me so frustrated. I've recently come back, downloaded the newest client and I am still having issues.

The time varies between crashes. But what happens is the whole thing will freeze and I won't be able to move my cursor or get onto my desktop or anything and have to force a reboot. Or, the more common one.. I get a blue screen of death - sometimes these vary too in what they are, but the one I get most of the time is IRQL_DRIVER_LESS_THAN_EQUAL.

I'm not very computer minded and don't understand how to troubleshoot these things. I searched on the internet for the problem and it wasn't particularly very helpful. A handful of people have the same problem and the solutions vary.

Some people say it's due to bad memory. I've considered ripping out the memory completely and putting in fresh. Some say it's due to overheating or not having the latest drivers (Which I do have, I'm sure) etc etc.. the thing is, it only happens with Second Life. I can be on sometimes for an hour, max, and it'll do it. But more often that not, I get in and within 10 minutes the blue screen comes up or the whole thing freezes and I have to reboot the entire system.

Anyone have any ideas how to solve this? If you need any specs, let me know where I can locate them and I will post them too. Many thanks in advance, it's getting me really frustrated now.

Not to be the harbinger of doom, but my system was doing that about a year ago, and my motherboard ended up dying shortly thereafter.

P2

Fear not, it happens to me all the time also. Either the IRQL message or memory pool error message. I have replaced powersupply, added more memory, upgraded CPU fan, updated to latest Nvidia drivers ,changed Video cards, and finally got temp relief by pulling out the memory sticks and reseating and switching to the other slots. Still get occasional blue screen, Second Life is the only game to make my computer puke like this.

I would appreciate any help on this?

I can't imagine that making me "fear not".

Run memtest for at least 5 passes.

http://www.memtest.org/

(It runs from a bootable CD, instructions are on the site)

The Help / About Second Life option will give you some system specs, which you can copy and paste here.

You could try this site http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest and see what it says.

If you are using WinXP you can find a bunch of info about your system by doing Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Info .

You might be able to do things like upgrade your bios and other such firmware upgrades.

What version of video driver are you using and where did you get it from?

What is the exact version of SL you are using?

You can also get some system info at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

If you are using the regular client, try the Release Candidate, and vice versa.

You might try using the Nicholaz viewer. You can read about that at http://nicholaz-beresford.blogspot.com/ .

You might try running SL with your computer cover off, with and without a fan blowing on it.

A BSOD or complete computer lock up almost always tells you that you have something seriously wrong with your computer, hardware, setup, and/or important software (operatiing system, drivers, system BIOS, etc.). Just because SL brings on the problem does not mean that the problem is SL..........SL is unique in what it requires from a computer. The IRQ message sort of points to an IRQ conflict (two or more devices trying to use the same communication port to the motherboard and CPU. That problem used to be common with Win 98 and below....sometimes an XP problem. I've not seen an IRQ conflict since 98 and I've forgotten how to check for conflicts........someone here, I'm sure can help you with that.

If that is all that is causing the problem the only danger you might have is corruption of your operating system files by shutting off the power to get your computer back. But, there are other things that commonly cause that problem. Heat, bad drivers (the latest driver can be bad), RAM chips, partially unseated hardware cards, a corrupted system file, and, of course a dying conponent in your computer (that includes hard drives).

First thing to check is the simple......heat. Clean your computer case out thoroughly. Check for fans spinning freely when you blow the dust out with a can of compressed air. While you're inside the case go ahead and check for each plug in hardware device being firmly seated.........go the extra inch and unplug them and replug them back in.

And, of course check for a newer driver for your video card (I only mention video cards since they are so important for a graphically intensive program as SL.......any driver could cause a problem like this). When you find the driver you want download it to your hard drive instead of running from the website. And uninstall the older driver before you install the new one. And always go to the manufacturer of your video card for drivers...not the manufacturer of of your computer or third party driver update sites.