PC Freezes occurring only in TOA.

[Novamir]

i have read through as many posts now as i can bear and have still not got to the bottom of this problem. your help is greatly appreciated.


PC SPec:
P4 2.4ghz
512 mb ram
ati 9800 pro with 5.2 drivers (also tried 2 other versions, 1 was the latest, other i wasnt sure)


problem:

whole PC locks up after a sound like a *clunk*. sometimes its a suspended lockup where i can browse other programs and i go LD. mostly it is just a complete PC freeze and i have to hit reset.
this problem happens regularly (every 5-10min) in TOA and SI but NEVER in NF. i dont have DR/catas.
note that previously on this setup TOA had worked for months without a problem. that was about a year ago.


things i have tried which haven't worked:

-moving TOA to my other hdd
-trying different ATI Catalyst drivers
-ive run MEMtest and it has found no errors
-turned off fast writing


things i plan to try:

-defrag the HDD


possible ideas:

-overheating?
-HDD fault in windows?


thanks. nova

 

[rampant]

look at your memory utilisation (right click task bar, then clikc task manager - look a the total and peak commit charge - they should NEVER be greater than the total physical memory amount- as this woul dmean that your computer is running out of memory...

 

[Novamir]

look at your memory utilisation (right click task bar, then clikc task manager - look a the total and peak commit charge - they should NEVER be greater than the total physical memory amount- as this woul dmean that your computer is running out of memory...

interesting result..

peak = 561k .. therefore i need more memory?

 

[Raven]

yeah you should have at least 1 gig for DAOC, it eats memory, i run on 2 gig and dont have a problem.

 

[Novamir]

yeah you should have at least 1 gig for DAOC, it eats memory, i run on 2 gig and dont have a problem.

yea only strange thing is it used to run fine on 512mb in toa. oh well.

 

[Konah]

try a defrag and make sure your swap file is contiguous (1 solid unbroken track on the hd) 512mb makes ALOT of swapping.

not certain itll fix the problem but it'll smooth things out anyways

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html

 

[Novamir]

try a defrag and make sure your swap file is contiguous (1 solid unbroken track on the hd) 512mb makes ALOT of swapping.

not certain itll fix the problem but it'll smooth things out anyways

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html

did a standard defrag then used that PageDefrag and it hasnt helped. now whenever i login to green glades it pretty much instantly locks up. (whole computer)

 

[Darzil]

Have you set Windows not to manage the Page file, but instead given it your own Min/Max ?

Reason I ask is that it's possible that (due to the low memory) your PC is writing a lot to the Page file, then finding it can't expand it, and locking up.

Darzil

 

[Novamir]

Have you set Windows not to manage the Page file, but instead given it your own Min/Max ?

Reason I ask is that it's possible that (due to the low memory) your PC is writing a lot to the Page file, then finding it can't expand it, and locking up.

Darzil

i dont know how to do that. mind enlightening me? ta

 

[Naffets]

right click my computer, left click properties > advanced > settings > advanced > change

 

[Novamir]

768mb..what should i increase to?

 

[Naffets]

already discussed on irc with nova xD

 

[Novamir]

so i increased my Page file to max/min 1024/1024

it seems to have fixed the problem

thanks all

 

[Naffets]

np duuude! well, np for the part i helped with at least.

 

[Novamir]

np duuude! well, np for the part i helped with at least.

hmm consider this case reopened :| the crashes have come back with the same type. it follow this pattern:

1. Clunk (noise)
2. Wait 5 sec (of death!)
3. Game window freezes
4. Can still alt+tab
5. Whole PC freezes a few sec after game freeze
6. Have to restart at button.

so far this has happened in TOA, SI, Capital cities and normal zones. but never in NF? why..... could some files be corrupt? maybe i should do a total reinstall?

i was previously on 5.2 catalyst. now i am trying 5.6

i could increase RAM to 1gb but i don tthink this is the problem as this never happened before in TOA.

one other option of course is overheating. but again this would crash in NF too.

 

[cjkace]

The clunk sounds like the hard drive shutting itself down.

Have you air-blasted the inside of your PC?

Could still be heat related - but on the graphics card rather than the processor.

Have you tried looping 3dMark to see if it can crash the machine?

 

[Naffets]

I still think its a hdd problem aswell, do what i said on irc the other night pal. See if that helps.

 

[xxManiacxx]

it´s a hdd problem but perhaps not a direct hdd problem.

It can be that you power agg is starting to fail or that power contact from power agg to hdd is poor which leads to powerfailures and forces your hdd to go into sleep mode and bootup again which leads to crashes.

 

[Calvin]

Wierdly enough Im having the same problems. Started yesterday.

 

[Novamir]

it´s a hdd problem but perhaps not a direct hdd problem.

It can be that you power agg is starting to fail or that power contact from power agg to hdd is poor which leads to powerfailures and forces your hdd to go into sleep mode and bootup again which leads to crashes.

what is power agg?

 

[Novamir]

I still think its a hdd problem aswell, do what i said on irc the other night pal. See if that helps.

cheers. will get hold of an xp cd..

 

[Novamir]

I still think its a hdd problem aswell, do what i said on irc the other night pal. See if that helps.

k so

ive reformatted and reinstalled xp on other hdd. same problem occurring. ive removed 2 pci network cards and that didnt help.

i dont really know what else to try

 

[Healer McHeal]

lo nova ya gimp , try borrowing a PSU from some one for a little bit and trying that, it may be its failing and not giving a contant flow of power, hence the instant shut off of HDD, other than that, try putting in another 512 stick, i doubt its that but its worth a shot.

 

[Novamir]

ok i solved it!

i unplugged the power to my second hdd. seems to have done the trick. i spose either it was coz they were both on the same IDE or both on the same power part or what ever. i dunno. works anyway.

 

[cjkace]

ok i solved it!

i unplugged the power to my second hdd. seems to have done the trick. i spose either it was coz they were both on the same IDE or both on the same power part or what ever. i dunno. works anyway.

TIP:

With any hardware problem -

Step One - unplug everything from PSU
Step Two - remove every card (gfx/memory etc)
Step Three - plug power into motherboard, switch on, listen for beeps (http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm)
Step Four - add parts piece by piece

example

add memory - power up - listen for beeps - power down
add gfx - power up - look at screen/listen for beeps - power down
add HD - etc etc etc

Lots of PSU shout about what their max wattage is (450W, 550W) but a good 350W with constant voltage on the rails, is far better than a mediocre 550W with fluctuating rails.

 

[Ingafgrinn Macabre]

ok i solved it!

i unplugged the power to my second hdd. seems to have done the trick. i spose either it was coz they were both on the same IDE or both on the same power part or what ever. i dunno. works anyway.

What's your Power supply's brand and model?