Trouble with SL... constant crashing out. Help please?

[Darena Bryant]

I was recently given a laptop with the following specs.

 

Vista 64-bit OS service pack 2

Intel Core2 Duo CPU p8400 @ 2.26 ghz 2.27 ghz

4 GB RAM

Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS.

 

AT first, it was running fine, then the latest updates were completed... since then, the thing crashes almost every time I log in, no matter what changes I make or what client I use. I had been using Singularity, but that started to crash as soon as it was opened, so I got the official client from LL. It worked once... then stopped working.

I've seen some people talking about heat dissapation, and about bigger, dedicated power supplies to the video card; could one of these be the problem? Or is it more likely that something changed in the base code of SL is interfering with how SL runs on this card? The laptop runs perfectly fine in all other respects.

If the problem is heat or power, can someone recommend to me how I would go about making the system run cooler, and where I would go for a more powerful power supply? I'm not familiar with laptops, and so I'm a little in the dark here... And if the problem lies with SL itself, what recommendations for fixing the issue can be made? Has anyone been having trouble of this kind with SL of late? How did you fix it?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The heat problem with any laptop can be helped by using a cooling pad to place under your laptop while running it.  Most have a USB connection to power the pad's fans.  For a larger power supply in a laptop, that, generally is not possible.  You got what you got when you purchased it.  What people may be referring to is to use the AC adapter/charger when you are running SL (or any other intense program).  That tethers you to a electrical outlet when it's connected to the adapter.  As you know you can run SL without the adapter connected but your battery life is going to be reduced substantually, and using a cooling pad will also use up your battery faster..........and I would not recommend ever using SL without a cooling pad.  Another side benefit of using your adapter while using your laptop is some of the heat generated by the battery heating while it's under load will be disapated to the charger which is heat not trapped inside the computer.

For the crashing I would suggest you update your video driver for your 98000GTS card.  Here is the latest driver for that card for a laptop:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-296.10-whql-driver.html

 

One note about drivers for laptops.  A lot of laptop computer require customized drivers for the computer to operate correctly.  You should check the manufacturer of your computer first to see if they have a new driver for you computer.  If they do then take that one over the driver I linked to.  The new driver should have the same version number......that number is 296.10

 

[Brandi Martinek]

Mine is doing the same thing and I'm on a PC and not a laptop.  I no longer get in and few minutes later I crash with a nidiva message has stopped working. 

[EPax]

I've got a very similar graphics card, the Nvidia 9800 GTX+, and I'm having the exact same problems.  Constant crashes.

Obviously something was very wrong with the most recent update.  Hopefully it gets taken care of as soon as possible.