WTH? Image from the Scenario Editor

[arizonachris]

M, I'm still thinking a heat issue, especially with a laptop. Do you have a cooling pad for it? I bought one for my antique Alienware Area 51 lappy, helped it limp along until the power brick took it out. I think it cost me about $20 at Big Lots.

[fraserm]

Hi, Chris. I have a couple different versions of what Targus calls a "chill mat", I bought it for an old Dell D610 that ran really hot. I haven't used it with this laptop yet, but that's something I need to try. I recently disabled F@H on this machine as it caused TS to slow down as well as making the machine run hot. I would normally shut F@H off to run TS, but then just uninstalled it from the laptop. I still have it on the gamer.
Speaking of, I ran the "problem" scenario on the gamer last night and the editor had no issues with the AmFleet cars. I transitioned to Union Station and was able to move the camera around to all points with no problems (and no hash!).
Last night I ran MalwareBytes and Sophos rootkit detection to see if I had any infections. MB found two registry entries it got rid of, something called "Adware.GamePlayLab"; Sophos found nothing after that. Also ran Kaspersky TDSSKiller this morning and it found nothing, so I have some level of confidence that I do not have a rootkit.
I'm going to start running the chiller to see if that helps. If nothing else it will run several degrees cooler. Yesterday I renewed the warrantee on the laptop by another year, it ran out on 4/15. I didn't think I'd had this machine that long, but I have. At one year old it's a dinosaur by technological standards. If it doesn't resolve itself with cooling I'm going to contact Dell to see if they have any suggestions, once the protection kicks in.
Lots more stuff to try. Thanks for the suggestions!

Pam is right, it's just a problem that needs solving!

Best,
Marc

[fraserm]

OK, friends. Here's the latest. After renewing my warrantee on this laptop I called Dell Customer Service. We spent almost TWO HOURS on the phone with them taking control via Citrix. I explained everything I've done till now including updating the nVidia drivers from the Dell site. They told me that installing the video drivers without uninstalling the old one could lead to problems, so they uninstalled ALL video drivers, Intel and nVidia. Then they reinstalled both sets starting with the Intel HD drivers. As a final step they flashed the BIOS.
I actually called them for a symptom that I haven't mentioned here - when shutting the laptop down using the normal shutdown sequence (Start, Shut down) it would go through the normal screens, then after the power indicator light went out it would immediately (<1 second) come back on and the machine would restart itself. I could only shut it down by pressing the start button again. After all the machinations with Dell that problem has gone away. I suspect the BIOS was the clincher. I'm going to try TS now and see if I'm better.
Did you know that when you get a BSOD you can retrieve the code from the Event Viewer (in case you didn't write it down from the BSOD)? The code pointed to the video drivers so that prompted their actions.
I'm better, at least for now.
Thanks Chris, Doc, and Pam for all the suggestions. I'll LYK how it behaves in-sim.

Best,
Marc

[fraserm]

Temperature issues verified:

Temp Profile.jpg

For most of the graph I'm in-sim, the last 1/4 of it I'm actively running a scenario (or trying to). The temp keeps rising until it spikes all of a sudden to 95°C and then it shuts down. It went to black, then I was able to get to the Task Manager and semi-gracefully kill it. I retained the temp data from SpeedFan.

More work to do...

Marc

[PamBrooker]

I was able to resolve it a slightly different way.
See, I also recieved an MSVCR80.dll error from fsx and did some research on it. I quickly located information that described not only the ctd i experienced in fsx, but the weird graphics in railworks as well.. Accordingly, sometimes a company updates msvcr80.dll ( which is part of the .net framework ) with a version that is not backwardly compatible with other programs that require it. The graphics were caused by msvcr80.dll being corrupt, so i downloaded a different version and that fixed railworks but broke fsx. but when i restarted railworks, it installed its own version of the file again, and somehow that i dont understand totally, that fixed the ctd's i was experiencing in fsx.. Dont make sense to me either, but it worked for the moment..
OH, and, I found tons of information on the bios as well. If you have an older version of the bios, the newer versions of msvcr80.dll will cause ctd's and graphics weirdnesses such as we've seen.
no matter though. I'm glad we were able to resolve the issues :).. Now we can get back to some serious playtime :) :) :) ..

[Hawk]

Accordingly, sometimes a company updates msvcr80.dll ( which is part of the .net framework ) with a version that is not backwardly compatible with other programs that require it.

That's most likely the cause of a Windows Update updating the Net Framework installation with newer files that may not be compatible with a particular software install.

In most instances, the version of Net Framework installed by a software install is the version required by the software and newer files associated with Net Framework could break the software requirements (what the software was built on).

Net Framework is known for problematic updates. I never let Windows Update update Net Framework. I just run with the version the software installed.

[fraserm]

That makes a LOT of sense! I've heard of problems with .NET, but until now have not seen any ill effects. I'll roll back my system to a point before the last update, then hide .NET updates from now on.

TS installs its own anyway, so future updates look like they may be crashing the sim.

More stuff to try!
Thanks Pam and Hawk!

M.

[fraserm]

I uninstalled all the updates to .NET from the laptop (there were about 20 of them...) and I started running TS in a window so I could keep an eye on the temperature as I'm driving. I can't seem to get more than 1/2 hour into it before I get the hash. This is really frustrating! Here is the latest graph:

Temp Graph.jpg

The first third of the graph I'm in-sim but not in a senario. The second third I'm running my CSX Mainline scenario. The final third shows when I get hit with the video problems. Then I have to close TS and the temp goes down quickly.

Have to look for a deeper fix, methinks...

TTFN,
Marc

[Chacal]

Can you monitor the speed of your fans? In particular the one on the video card?

[PamBrooker]

Oh gods but i hate how the system manages those fans. it keeps them at 30% until you have a fried board. Set it to manual and push the fans up to 100% and it resets it back to 30% ( at least on my machine ).. I've gone to liquid cooling, but havent found a water block for my graphics card yet..

[arizonachris]

I run F@H on my video card in my desktop. (actually I have two other F@H dedicated rigs) It's an Nvidia card so I use the EVGA Precision Tool to ramp up the fan speed on the video card, as well as monitor temps.
http://majorgeeks.com/EVGA_Precision_d6209.html

The CPU fan is just full on all the time, I disabled the temp control in BIOS. But a laptop is different, you have a battery, so it will go into power saving mode if it's not plugged into the wall.

[fraserm]

Yeah, my desktop (with 12 fans...) runs no hotter than 70°C ever, so that one is OK. I clean out the dust regularly too. I looked at the instructions for tearing the laptop down to where the fan and its outlet are accessible and it's almost a complete teardown. Removing the SDRAM modules, the top cover, the display, the keyboard, an internal shield, and a partridge in a pear tree! Only then can you reach the fan. I probably need to clean the inside surface of the outlet screen.

A call to Dell may help. That's what warrantees are for!

Best,
Marc

[arizonachris]

I had to take my Alienware Area 51 apart once to replace the video card that burned up. Silly me, I was sitting it on my lap. Well, it's a laptop, right? That thing was a bear to get open. Like you say, this cover, that cover, this cover, that thing, this thing. Jeebus! Never did quite get all the outside parts back right. Sold the darn thing for a fraction of what it originally cost me. I did manage to get $400 out of it tho. Man that thing got hot! And it wouldn't even play Net Flix. You Tube or a DVD was the best I could get out of it. Was supposed to be a gaming laptop. Pfffffffttttttt. Not.

[Hawk]

I had to take my Alienware Area 51 apart once to replace the video card that burned up.

Was that an Alienware after Dell bought them out?

[arizonachris]

Was that an Alienware after Dell bought them out?

No, that was a real Alienware. Big sucker, too! Got it at a garage sale for $20. Guy told me up front, the video card was bad. Darn card cost me $80.