problems with SH4 crashing on XP

[chrishyde]

Hi Everybody,

Just bought SH4 and installed it without any problem. The trouble is that after running game fine for 3 mins, the screen goes blank, I get a message saying no signal being received and in order to light the screen up again I have to turn the computer off and on. I have tried two SH4discs and the same thing happens. I have windows xp home version 5.1 with 2gb of ram, and an Athlone 64*2 processor. I have also downloaded patch 1.4. All help appreciated

Chris

[Herr-Berbunch]

Check with another fairly graphic intensive game, sounds like a graphic card fault to me. Check cable too. Check fans running, and inside system is clean and dust free!

[Jan Kyster]

Sounds like overheating... :hmmm:

Have a look in XP log-files from before shutdown. There should be a message... Your cpu is protected by overheating and automatically shuts down the system when too hot.

Check if coolers and vents are clean from dust.

[irish1958]

Did you install outside of the program files? Could you get two more GBs of RAM to fit on your computer? What kind of video card do you have, and how much dedicated RAM (not shared RAM) does it have? I suspect your problem is RAM.
And welcome aboard!

[Herr-Berbunch]

Oops, yes, sorry how rude of me.

Welcome aboard :salute:

[Armistead]

I agree, it's overheating, probably your video card going bad. Check and clean all your fans...I'm going through this right now and the same thing is happening. Think my fan is going bad, so I have another fan blowing on my card and it runs fine, unhook it, only takes a few minutes for it to go black. The "no signal" is the give away and I'm sure it boots up fine until you place a load on it.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Welcome to the Pacific Chris.:up:
I'm inclined to agree that it sounds very much like an overheating of your graphics card. Still, it would help to know a little more about your system in order to make sure.
First, are you talking about a desktop or a laptop system?
Do you have a dedicated graphics card or is it an integrated system?
Lastly, how old is this PC you are talking about?

[MaddogK]

Concur- temperature problem, check your fans and clean em out. Shut down any un-necessary external apps.
Ensure DX9C is installed, and you may want to pull down the video settings in the game to 'med' or below. A cheap video card is better than onboard video.
2 gigs of ram should run SHIV without issue (I used to run it on 1 gig). I would think a RAM problem will give you a BSOD but it doesn't always. You could also have a failing power supply.
Do you still have sound when you lose video ?

[chrishyde]

Many thanks to all who replied with suggestions about what might be causing the problem. Overheating would seem a logical cause but other graphic intensive games i.e. flightsim work perfectly. Also the fan seems to be working fine. I have decided the problem needs to be sorted out in computer dry dock by someone who enjoys playing with computers rather than computer games.
Hope they fix it quickly before I'm forced to start talking to the wife again....
Nice to be part of the community

Chris

[Herr-Berbunch]

Hope they fix it quickly before I'm forced to start talking to the wife again...

:rotfl2: Keep us informed as to what exactly was causing it, it's good to share for other people. Hope this dry dock doesn't cost too much!

[irish1958]

Many thanks to all who replied with suggestions about what might be causing the problem. Overheating would seem a logical cause but other graphic intensive games i.e. flightsim work perfectly. Also the fan seems to be working fine. I have decided the problem needs to be sorted out in computer dry dock by someone who enjoys playing with computers rather than computer games.
Hope they fix it quickly before I'm forced to start talking to the wife again....
Nice to be part of the community

Chris
I would get 4GB of RAM and use the 4GB patch first and either Game Booster or AlacrityPC.
My rig overheated and crashed because it overheated; the problem was RAM causing it to overheat. A poor video card with insufficient RAM will do the same thing.
Still don't know what your video card is; this could be the problem.

[Matt86]

Top on the list is overheat, download a program called speedfan, it'l show you how hot things are getting. Ram wont be the cause of the heat but it is possible you have some weird incompatibility, worry about temp before going down that road.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Flight Sim uses processing power over graphics card and so may not show a fault as readily as other games that do use the GPU more. :cry:

[tomoose]

....I had that issue and my BIOS was specifically telling me is was heat related.

I will jump on the majority bandwagon and concur it's heat-related particularly as it's only happening with SH4. Adding a couple more Gigs of RAM wouldn't hurt but also upgrading your video card is a suggestion.

If this becomes a recurrent problem and happens to other programs/games, check to ensure all your fans are working especially the one sitting on top of your CPU.

[chrishyde]

My grahics card is the GeForce 210 which I was advised was the more than adequate for playing all pc games. Of course I could have been mis-advised,
computer technology is not my strong point.

On a more interesting note, has anyone got any info on the "fruit machine" fire control system used on British subs or other devices for finding firing angles used before the computer TDC on American fleet boats.

Regards

Chris

[WernherVonTrapp]

Your GeForce 210 graphics card is more than enough to run SHIV. I would venture to say that, if the issue is not one of overheating, you might want to check how many watts your power supply is putting out. Also, 2GB of RAM is a bare minimum. You may just want to consider adding another 1GB or more. I don't think XP can handle more than 4GB.

[ConteBlecio]

Hi guys,
I would like to take up the subject,hope it is not a problem.

I have the same problem...after 10 minutes the pc goes in shutdown and never reboot. I need to startup the pc again.
I run sh4 in 1680x1050 (I try low graphics details configuration too)
You suggest a lower resolution?

Now i try to clean fans & c.
The game it's original with 1.4 patch

I have
3 gb of ram
Intel Core 2 E7200 @ 2.53 Ghz
Asus P5Q Pro
Ati HD 4850 (512mb)
Driver Packaging Version 8.791-101026a-107884C-ATI
Catalyst™ Version 10.11
Fresh Win XP with SP2

What the hell happens?
Thanks for your time and sorry my english

EDIT : I removed all the dust from fans and boards (WTF) and follow the SUGGESTED screen resolution (1240) [!!!!] ...the med setting seems to work very well..i try the first mission in the submarine school...i shoot down everything I saw..about 20 min..all ok.
No graphic glitches...nothing.
I do not like turn all the graphics options...everything seems so unreal.
Now try with some mod...........Sperèm!!
I await clarification, however, if deemed appropriate.

RE-EDIT : I noticed that poor installation of sh4 (and I believe the mods) may also affect the proper screen resolution. Now works perfectly in 1680.

Bless!