Hi guys,
I have a problem for a long time and I'm really fed up with it because it makes it virtually impossible to use my PC for listening music, watching movies and of course...TG :(
Below is a straight copy/paste from another forumpost, thought it would be more suitable here:
I've been trying to render my updated scene 3 times now and my computer completely freezes during rendering. No button responds, the mouse doesn't respond. Simply NOTHING responds. These crashes occure more often and strangely enough it is in periods. So a couple of days with many freezes/crashes and then a couple of weeks without.
When it freezes when playing an mp3 or video for example the sound hangs.
Does anybody have an idea what might be the cause? Last time (about 3 weeks ago) I thought it were conflicting drivers from an old soundcard I used and also videocard-drivers. I then deleted all the drivers and codecs and reinstalled only the necessary ones. After that I had no computerfreezes anymore so I thought that was the definitive solution.
Apparently it is not :(
So anybody have a clue?
Thanks in advance,
Martin
Martin, have you checked to make sure there are no devices in the warning state...you know - yellow? If that is the case, I'd check my video drivers and then, beyond that, it could be related to:
- base drivers for your motherboard
- software running in the background, like AV-type
- a faulty device
Do a check for any loose cables and connections. If it only happens randomly every few weeks, this is certainly a possibility.
I just had a brain flash - could it be your CPU is getting too hot?
Temp too high? Had similar stuff happen once - turns out the fan on the GPU went out. I'd check what the sensors say and open up the case.
Hi Guys,
Thanks!
The temps are fine. Under full stress/load the temperature is ~50 degrees celcius.
Also, there are no loose cables.
@Calico: I read your other suggestion in the image thread and I hope it is not true, but I consider it to be very possible.
A couple of months ago my MBR was suddenly broken and my PC didn't start up at all. Fixed the MBR using the XP install CD and luckily no data was lost.
So this might be related???
I'm going to make a systemscan with SiSoft Sandra...not that I expect much, but you'll never know :)
Ok, did a check on the main HDD-drive and made a screenshot of the results.
I have absolutely no idea about HDD-drives etc. but I found the values in the S.M.A.R.T.-section to be a bit strange?
Could you guys take a look at it because it seems some values are way beyond their limits?
Thanks in advance :)
Martin
Do you have any contacts with the makers of your hard-drive to ask about those values? I almost don't want to guess, but it looks like the power and the seek properties are off. Hopefully, someone with some experience on this information will give us a hand. Too bad lightning isn't around. He did actually know a thing or two about a thing or two.
Hey, I do recommend a backup of all vital data, including email addresses, etc. The MBR thing sounds like a possible clue.
Wish I could be more assistance, but this is sort of a hunt.
Quote from: calico on January 23, 2009, 09:39:21 AM
Hey, I do recommend a backup of all vital data, including email addresses, etc. The MBR thing sounds like a possible clue.
Wish I could be more assistance, but this is sort of a hunt.
Yes I'm working on that now. Am also looking for a new drive which could possibly replace this one. I'm going to wait with buying a new one because I want to be sure if that's really the problem.
Your assistance is much appreciated :) Thanks!
Martin
damn !!!
that's too bad Martin :(
sorry to hear you have computer's problems
I've been having the exact same problem - mine seems to be restricted to nighttime. I can use the computer all day, then in the evening all of a sudden I'm freezing and spending more time doing reboots than I'm getting work done. Though I get daytime crashes, but it seems like a 10-1 ratio.
In my case, it appears to be restricted to using After Effects (cs3). My suspicion is that it is drive related, but I went through every drive I have in the Cache settings. I can run Photoshop or Itunes all day and night and never see a single freeze.
I also theorized its possibly a font issue, as when I was working in a type-animation comp (type only, no other elements) all of a sudden the crashes went through the roof - and Macs/OSX has the same problem - one corrupt font can cause all kinds of bad behavior in the system (and Macs seem particularly good at corrupting their fonts).
Of course, replacing the fonts in question didn't fix a damn thing.
So my last ideas - c: drive going bad (though its a brand new XP install, its a fairly old drive) or an Open-GL issue. The last thing I'm going to try is to replace the OpenGL drivers, then I'm going to drop the computer in the ocean. That will fix it once and for all.
Anyway, you might want to look into your OpenGL drivers, or whatever video drivers you happen to be using...
Quote from: scott8933 on January 24, 2009, 01:49:09 PM
So my last ideas - c: drive going bad (though its a brand new XP install, its a fairly old drive) or an Open-GL issue. The last thing I'm going to try is to replace the OpenGL drivers, then I'm going to drop the computer in the ocean. That will fix it once and for all.
Haha, brilliant :D
Annoying you have the same problems too :( I have uninstalled all the videocard-drivers and replaced them with the latest WHQL drivers from Nvidia. Guess that's also OpenGL?
I'm very very much afraid the c-drive is indeed going bad, but now the crashes seem to be over and I was able to render for >10hours without any hassle.
There's absolutely no pattern or any prediction possible.
Thanks for thinking along.
Martin
TU, that's another indication it could be a hardware problem - "There's absolutely no pattern or prediction possible." Sorry to hear it.
Quote from: calico on January 25, 2009, 10:40:15 PM
TU, that's another indication it could be a hardware problem - "There's absolutely no pattern or prediction possible." Sorry to hear it.
With every day and crash (though I haven't had any in the last couple of days) I'm starting to believe more you're right.
Do you have any advice how to deduce which component causes the crashes? Or are you more or less really sure it is the hard-drive?
Martin
There are free utilities to check the integrity of your drive to see if your MBR is failing or if there are such weaknesses.
Correct, OpenGL would be included in the Nvidia install. Bear in mind - especially in the case of video card drivers and Windows there are often good combinations and deadly combinations, and the newest driver may be the latter. Sometimes you need to install a particular older driver and the problems will magically go away.
Unfortunately, the Terragen community is too small for people to jump on this. Its more common in Maya or Max circles, where everyone knows to stay away from version x.xxx driver and only use x.xyyx instead.
However....given the more random nature of your condition I'd be inclined to narrow it down to a failing drive.
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on January 25, 2009, 06:36:00 AM
Quote from: scott8933 on January 24, 2009, 01:49:09 PM
So my last ideas - c: drive going bad (though its a brand new XP install, its a fairly old drive) or an Open-GL issue. The last thing I'm going to try is to replace the OpenGL drivers, then I'm going to drop the computer in the ocean. That will fix it once and for all.
Haha, brilliant :D
Annoying you have the same problems too :( I have uninstalled all the videocard-drivers and replaced them with the latest WHQL drivers from Nvidia. Guess that's also OpenGL?
I'm very very much afraid the c-drive is indeed going bad, but now the crashes seem to be over and I was able to render for >10hours without any hassle.
There's absolutely no pattern or any prediction possible.
Thanks for thinking along.
Martin
Thank you Scott, that really makes sense.
So, I already have pretty much decided to purchase a new HDD. The current one is, at least I think, a Samsung Spinpoint 320GB.
Which one do you guys recommend? Are Seagate drives more stable or WD? Are 15k rpm drives really that faster and also more reliable than standard 7,2k rpm drives?
I have two Western Digitals and a Seagate, the seagate always restarts itself and squeaks, but the western digital is fine. I used to have a maxtor (who now own seagate) but that kept restarting itself until it started screaming and then died. I'd say Western Digital because I've never had problems but I'm sure someone will jump in saying they wouldn't touch WD with a bargepole and all their stuff is crap. It's the way of things unfortunately. You have one bad experience and condemn them for life. Even when they stop doing the one you had.
I always check the most recent reviews on Newegg. This is a good place to get a general idea about a drive. Western Digital is doing pretty good, last I checked there.
I have Samsung drives, and I just bought a 1Tb SATA drive for only €99
About the rpm...
There used to be 10k drives, but those crashed more often. This was a good analogy for the reason of the crashes: it's the same as a fighter jet flying at top speed only a coin thick from the ground (that's about 2 millimeters). So 15k would be even more likely to crash and burn. It wouldn't be pretty.