WEIRD ISSUE WITH UTILITIES

[eyein12]

Anyone else notice this: while packaging a large asset(~400mb), about 1/2 way thru my cpu just shuts down completely as if the power went out. It happened 2 times while packaging. I can package smaller ones without issue. Is this hardware? Thoughts?

[buzz456]

First thing I would do is monitor your heat. Most of the time if the computer shuts off it is because it overheated.

[PapaXpress]

Do you have another machine you can try it on? If it works there then we know is something on happening with the first machine. From there I am not sure what to say. We could get a stack trace (the old fashion way), but you know its a bit of hit-or-miss when trying to provide RSC with information.

[glenn68]

I say overheat issue. Every month or so I pull my computer down and blow all the dust out and always runs better.

[eyein12]

I say overheat issue. Every month or so I pull my computer down and blow all the dust out and always runs better.

yeah I thought that might be it. I will do that.

ian

[eyein12]

Do you have another machine you can try it on? If it works there then we know is something on happening with the first machine. From there I am not sure what to say. We could get a stack trace (the old fashion way), but you know its a bit of hit-or-miss when trying to provide RSC with information.

i do but im gonna clean it out and let it rest first and give it a try when I need to pack something big again.

ian

[buzz456]

Ian look over in geek speak there was quite a discussion about this issue.

[5292nate]

Though they're not the same issues Ian has, I've been having a few issues with utilities also. Rather than start a new thread about it, I figured I'd add to this one. I have mostly used package manager to install RWP. files. Whenever I open utilities, I have to refresh the asset list. (Is that normal?) Then, while it's refreshing, occasionally it will crash the .net framework, and it work again unless I restart.

[PolyesterMafia]

I say overheat issue. Every month or so I pull my computer down and blow all the dust out and always runs better.

I have Norton Utilities on my machine, and when I use Railworks i'm constantly getting nag pop-ups about high proc usage from the game. My bet would be on overheating as well, or the CPU just simply runs out of brain power to process whatever it is the Packager is doing. My current issue is the Asset Editor SBHH and crashing when I try to re-edit a lofted object after the initial load. I'm thinking it's a similar problem.

[Chacal]

Whenever I open utilities, I have to refresh the asset list. (Is that normal?)

No. Usually you can install an asset. The package manager starts refreshing after this.

I wish we could disable this refresh. I only use the package manager to add a new package, so the refresh is useless to me.

Then, while it's refreshing, occasionally it will crash the .net framework, and it work again unless I restart.

This refreshing operation opens and parses a lot of xml files. My guess is, if you have a badly formed xml file somewhere, it may cause a crash of the .net framework. Maybe you could run an xml syntax checker utility on your files. Not one that needs the xml schema or DTD, just one that checks for proper xml syntax.

[Chacal]

First thing I would do is monitor your heat. Most of the time if the computer shuts off it is because it overheated.

Next, I'd run a memory check utility.
Next, as a workaround I'd try to lower the priority on utilities.exe.

[5292nate]

Now you're talking a foreign language! I lost you after badly formed .XML. Utilities is running fin st the moment.

[PolyesterMafia]

Now you're talking a foreign language! I lost you after badly formed .XML. Utilities is running fin st the moment.

A badly formed xml file is one that is missing a required character somewhere. In my experience, it's usually the result of someone monkeying around in a .bin file (an encoded xml file that basically tells the game where to find the Asset Shape file) and accidentally deleting a bracket character or meta-tag. It can be caused by file corruption as well. Either way, when Railworks tries to read the corrupted information in the .bin file, it chokes and crashes or hangs up.

[CSX2057]

Get a dust blower can from Walmart. Get more than 1 because you're gonna need to blow your cpu and video card. Watch out on the fans. Hold the fan with your finger so you don't accidentally mess up the turbine inside that spins the fan. I clean out my pc every month or month in a half. Trust me it helps alot. DO NOT USE THE AIRHOSE! its too powerful for the pc. Hope that helps.

[BNSFdude]

If your PC didnt come with a temperature watching utility, get something like SpeedFan to watch the temps. I ended up putting liquid cooling on mine.