SL constantly crashes

[Crissy Draper]

Every 4-5 minutes after starting SL it crashes. I've tried tweaking every single graphic setting to see what causes it.. disable VBO, anti-aliasing, lighting & shadows, depth of field. Setting the graphics to low/medium SEEMS to fix it but after 30-40 minutes it still finds a way to crash on me./

 

Specs:

i7-920 cpu

2x EVGA GTX560 TIs in SLI

6gb RAM

Windows 7

 

Drivers are up to date. I tried beta drivers/alternatives and no luck. Anyone having this problem or know of any fixes? I can post crash logs if it will help.

[Rolig Loon]

EVERY 4-5 minutes?  If it's doing that, your biggest worry is heat. A computer that crashes consistently after a few minutes in a high-demand environment like Second Life may be telling you that it's about to burn up its graphics card or worse. Open up the tower and use a can of air to blow out the accumulated dust bunnies and cat hair.  Check to be sure that all your fans are spinning freely and that there's nothing blocking the air flow through any vents.  You should be doing those things regularly, about once a month.  Also, go on line and look for temperature monitoring software.  There are several good, free routines out there.  They'll watch the temperature at key spots in your box and, usually, adjust the fan speeds to compensate if things are starting to get too hot.  A good program will at least give you a heads up before you lose expensive compnents.

If you are using a laptop instead of a desktop machine, you will have to get a professional to clean out its innards.  Do be sure that you always raise the machine above a flat work surface -- NOT your lap -- so that it gets good air flow beneath it.  You can buy a fancy board to do the job.  Some of them even have auxiliary fans.  If you want to save cash, you can also just use a few pop bottle caps to lift the laptop off the table.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

"...

2x EVGA GTX560 TIs in SLI

..."

---------------------------------------

Last I heard SLI and SL are enemies.  I think that's your problem.

But, I would still pay attention to what Rolig said..........heat is always a very big suspect when crashes occur after a few minutes under heavy load.  SL puts a pretty heavy load on your graphics.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Have you ever opened your tower and vacuumed it? I though about it the other day but I am worried about static electricity. The reason I ask is cause I was blowing mine out the other day and it seemed like some of the dust bunnies were being blown deeper into the machine, I mean, yes, I am blowing them, but where do they go? They must still be stuck in there, so I wonder, have you ever vacuumed yours or even heard of such an idea?

[Rolig Loon]

I haven't. I'm a little afraid of doing that, because my vacuum cleaner has pretty strong suction. I'm pretty confident that things are well glued down, but I'd rather not test that. A can of air does blow stuff around, but I have never had trouble blowing it all out of the tower. I suppose I might worry more if there weren't a lot of open space between components in my tower. There aren't any places where I can't see an errant dust bunny.

[Charolotte Caxton]

hmmm, i wonder if they make vacuums just for computers? i suppose i will look that up! I just dont like the canned air because after a few moments of using them they get col and also stop blowing hard, so i have to alternate between cans, and it just seems like i am just moving dust around instead of removing it. thanks though, i wondered if anyone had ever thought to do that.

[Rolig Loon]

Actually, they do make vacuums just for computers. You may not be able to buy one at Best Buy, but you ought to be able to find one on line. BTW, if your canned air is icing up, use short bursts instead of a long continuous blast.

[Charolotte Caxton]

oh, good tip! thanks

 

another silly question, have you ever heard of cleaning your keyboard under the tap? I would think this would ruin the keyboard, electricity + water = bad, but someone said that it is ok, i told them maybe if it is a waterproof keyboard, anyways, ever heard of that?

[Rolig Loon]

Ummm.... nooo. That doesn't sound too smart to me. The only tools I'll let near my keyboard are my soft bristle brush and my trusty can of air. She sounds like the old college roommate who was convinced that she could take burned-out light bulbs back to some repair shop and have new filaments put in them. Faintly logical but not thinking things all the way through.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Water and keyboards, water and mice, really water and anthing computer is a disaster looking for a place to happen. Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise........even those "water proof" hardware peripherals need to be protected for liquid (they are not water proof.....they are water resistant. There's a huge difference. Just because the ad says it will survive a cup of coffee spilled on it doesn't mean that's true.........it means, it MIGHT take a few seconds longer for the liquid to kill the keyboard. Might is a key word to pay attention to.

You can use a vacuum cleaner to clean your computer......even the high suction ones. Two things that are absolutely imparative to do. Touch a metal part of the computer tower chasis with both your hand and the vacuum hose (do not touch any an printed circuit board or hardware in the computer case) And when vacuuming make sure you do not bang anything in the computer with the hose wand...........a clean uphostry brush is good (just make sure it's clean with no kitty fur you sucked up while doing house cleaning). That can of compressed air you blow dust out with most likly has several times more air pressure blowing about the the components than your vacuum exerts sucking air around the same component. I've vacuumed my computers over the years without harm. And I've tried those Best Buy computer vacs.......they are junk.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Thanks, Peggy! Yeah, I didn't think water and keyboard equalled a good idea, but they sounded so sure of it. I think when I vacuum the tower, i wont actually touch the wand to anything, kinda just hover and let it suck up the dust bunnies kinda thing. The other day I dusted the inside with a swifer duster, ever used those? It was a new one, i didn't want to introduce any foreign dust. Seemed to pick up dust, rather than just push it around.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I wouldn't use a swiffer duster. It takes only a little bit of static electricity to zap a transistor or chipset. That's the reason to touching a metal part of the chasis before reaching inside your case........you really should touch the wand to the chasis to discharge any static build up. If you used the swiffer and got away with it, don't do that again.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Hmmm... static electricity is what scared me about using the vacuum, i hadn't thought about it with the swiffer when i swiffered i turned the computer all the way off, does that help?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

No turning off the electicity does not help.........in fact, I assumed you knew that not only to turn off the computer but also unplug it from the electrical source. Static electricity is like lightning.........it's independant from the electrical source. It's electricity that occurs due to static build up. Your body can obtain an electrical charge (as can other objects). Ever reach for the door knob after walking across the room and get "zapped" when you touch it?. How about when you were a kid and you would rub a balloon on a blanket or other such cloth and "stick" it to the wall? That's static electricity. You need to remove that build up before doing anything inside your computer case. What I do is make sure I touch the back metal plate on my tower before I unplug it or any of the other peripheral devices. I keep contact with that metal when I carry the tower to where ever it is that I want to place it for cleaning. Since my house does not have carpet (only area rugs) I try to stay off the rugs throughout the cleaning process......and I make sure I touch the metal chasis often as I clean (or do anything inside the computer).

 

You evidently got by with the swiffer use. Static electricity is not built up every time you to do anything..........you don't get zapped everytime you open your door. But it is a known "phonomenon" and since you know that, take simple precausions to avoid a head ache later. They actually make static "bracelets" for computer technician (a bracelet that has a electrical conductor that you clip to the chasis when working inside). I don't think it's necessary to go that far but discharging any static electricity build up is simple and, in my mind, a no brainer about being done every time you open your computer case. Please don't use a swiffer duster again.....those things utilize static electricity to "attract" dust. You're asking for trouble using anything that is prone to static build up.....and swiffer dusters certainly qualify in the area of static electricity build up.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Sound advice. I don't often go inside my computer, probably why I had dust bunnies, and I never thought about discharging my personal electricity. Thank you for the advice and explanations, makes sense now that I know.

 

My computer sits on the floor and my floor is carpeted, now I am wondering if that might not be such a good idea?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The computer sitting on the floor is not going to hurt it........only the case is touching the carpet and even if you have a static charge and touch the computer, a well designed computer case will protect the stuff inside. But sitting on the floor, on carpet will make it more prone to "dust bunnies". In my house it would be balls of kitty fur.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Oh good.