I think Second Life ruins my computer, how can I change this?

[FunkySpunk]

Okay, to start this off, I've had SL on about six different computers over the course of seven years (2011). 

Any computer I've tried to play SL on goes through the same diagnosis:

1.  I download the game and enjoy it immensely over the course of several months. 
2.  While I'm playing, a black box with white text blinks into existence and then closes itself before I can read it. This usually happens several times over the course of a couple weeks. 
3.  My computer starts randomly turning off while SL is running. No bluescreen, just, *boop*, like someone flipped the off switch without my knowing. 
4.  Random shutoff extends to even when SL isn't running. First maybe once every six hours or so, but increases in frequency, worsening until it shuts off every ten minutes. 
5.  I have to wipe/replace my computer. 

 

For all these computers I used Windows. Some earlier computers were on Vista, but I now use Windows 7. My computers, save for my laptop which has since died, have always been a frankenstein of old and new parts. Is that the problem? Or am I getting a virus though SL somehow? What can I do to fix this and allow me to enjoy Second Life without putting my computer at risk. 

I don't know if it would be useful, but here is a screencap of my computer specs. This is a computer that I've had to wipe due to my latest SL endeavor. 

[Alwin Alcott]

it's never SL that distroys your machine, but the owner running SL on too high settings

And of course... at a old machine that hardly meets the requirements this will even be of more importance.

 

But to see what your machine really is, please copy/paste the info from the "help"menu in the viewer here, that contains a lot more info than your screenshot.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Alwin Alcott

[cykarushb]

This sounds like a heat or power issue. Especially if youre describing increasing frequency of shutdowns over time. Is your computer clean? Do you get good temperatures? Monitor your temps with something like Speccy to make sure your processor or GPU arent going full housefire mode.

When hardware overheats it usually causes a bluescreen after hardware failure but can also just straight up shut off the PC.

4gb of ram isnt going to cause this kind of issue, if you maxed out memory windows would just start using the pagefile instead, and that would give obvious slowdowns but not shutdowns.

 

[cykarushb]

1 hour ago, FunkySpunk said:

 

That's good to know!  I wanted to make absolutely sure that it wasn't a virus (The black boxes  I mentioned earlier looked like command prompts, not the usual bubbles that appear sometimes in game) or something so that I don't kill my next computer. I didn't want to spend alot of money on a nice computer just to ruin it. 

At the moment, I actually don't have SL on my computer, as I did a complete wipe of my pc after the last issue. Thanks!  

 

Oh, okay! Thanks. I do clean my computer semi-regularly, but my computer tends to run hot. The fact that I stubbornly played SL on Medium probably didn't help matters either.

Another sign that I should just save up my money and buy a whole new machine.

Thank you so much!  

Well you can get things to cool down for a lot cheaper than buying a new pc if this system performs decently for you.

But make sure its a temperature issue first. It could still be something else.

You CPU should operate within 30-50c and never get above 70c, 80-100c will eventually cause a shutdown.

Your GPU should operate within 40-60c and never get above 90c.

These parts were designed with coolers adequate for them, so if they're not maintaining proper temperatures it comes down to dust, airflow and thermal conductivity of the heatsinks.

This can also effect the power supply if its particularly dusty, when a PSU gets hotter it gets less efficient, and therefore even hotter, eventually it cant put out the wattage the system needs and can also cause a shutdown.

Go through a do a full cleaning, if it all possible blow the entire thing out with compressed air outside, or go over it all with a vacuum (some say this is a bad idea because of static, just do it on a hard floor and don't use a brush attachment).

 

[Jules Catlyn]

I run SL on a cheaper machine that i bought in 2012. It runs Windows 7, Intel onboard graphics with an I3 processor. I open it up at least once every 3 months to do a clean and check the fan and i monitor the temperatures. It still hasn't failed me. So it can't be the game that's ruining your computer.

[Coffee Pancake]

On 3/6/2018 at 8:48 PM, FunkySpunk said:

Oh, okay! Thanks. I do clean my computer semi-regularly, but my computer tends to run hot. The fact that I stubbornly played SL on Medium probably didn't help matters either.

Your CPU and GPU will render SL as fast as possible regardless of your settings. You're not saving anything by setting it to low.

Make sure your viewer of choice is on this page -> http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory

Clean out your PC case, dust bunnies, while cute, are not your friends.

Try running it with the case side off, that will have a huge impact on temps.

Quote

 While I'm playing, a black box with white text blinks into existence and then closes itself before I can read it.

This is not normal.

[Rolig Loon]

2 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

to see what your machine really is, please copy/paste the info from the "help"menu in the viewer here, that contains a lot more info than your screenshot.

I know that you are not likely to be able to do that, since you can't run an SL viewer on that computer, but it really would be helpful to have more information than is shown in that image. That doesn't tell us anything at all about your graphics card and power supply or how you are connected to the Internet. It doesn't tell us which SL viewer you are using either. I agree with Alwin that it sounds very much as if your machine is too old and wobbly to handle the stresses you are putting on it. Personally, I suspect that you are overheating the poor thing and burning out components.

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, Rolig Loon said:

I know that you are not likely to be able to do that, since you can't run an SL viewer on that compute

when the viewer is installed, the help menu is also available without logging in, if i understand what OP tells it happens while playing.

[Lillith Hapmouche]

With that little info provided, chances are high that you are in a constant circle of always buying crappy old parts to replace your even crappier parts, with potential mediocre crappy parts remain in your rig.

Those shutdowns scream "dying power supply" quite loudly.

[Nalates Urriah]

There is a huge number of people not experiencing the problems you report. So, it should be obvious it is NOT the SL system causing your problems. Buy this.

Alwin is right. Use the viewer's HELP->About... to capture the system specs we need to get an idea of what is going wrong. You don't have to log in, just launch the viewer.

I think a significant part of your problem is 4GB of RAM. Even with 8GB I had issues that disappeared when I added more memory.

The serious problem of your system powering off is likely the power supply. I agree with Lillith. You might try blowing out the PS to see if it is a heating issue from dust in it. If you sat the case on the floor, that is WAY likely. If you have set ALL your computers on the floor that would explain your consistent experience.

There are serious gamers that are constantly upgrading and selling their... less new... stuff on eBay. You can buy some good stuff to upgrade your computer way cheap.

[FunkySpunk]

 

13 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

it's never SL that distroys your machine, but the owner running SL on too high settings

And of course... at a old machine that hardly meets the requirements this will even be of more importance.

 

But to see what your machine really is, please copy/paste the info from the "help"menu in the viewer here, that contains a lot more info than your screenshot.

That's good to know!  I wanted to make absolutely sure that it wasn't a virus (The black boxes  I mentioned earlier looked like command prompts, not the usual bubbles that appear sometimes in game) or something so that I don't kill my next computer. I didn't want to spend alot of money on a nice computer just to ruin it. 

At the moment, I actually don't have SL on my computer, as I did a complete wipe of my pc after the last issue. Thanks!  

 

4 hours ago, cykarushb said:

This sounds like a heat or power issue. Especially if youre describing increasing frequency of shutdowns over time. Is your computer clean? Do you get good temperatures? Monitor your temps with something like Speccy to make sure your processor or GPU arent going full housefire mode.

When hardware overheats it usually causes a bluescreen after hardware failure but can also just straight up shut off the PC.

4gb of ram isnt going to cause this kind of issue, if you maxed out memory windows would just start using the pagefile instead, and that would give obvious slowdowns but not shutdowns.

 

Oh, okay! Thanks. I do clean my computer semi-regularly, but my computer tends to run hot. The fact that I stubbornly played SL on Medium probably didn't help matters either.

Another sign that I should just save up my money and buy a whole new machine.

Thank you so much!  

[Eldarus]

I had my old Graphics card GTX 680 gone less than a year ago after using SL, now my Samsung SSD for some reason gone also after launching SL, a hell of coincidence lol.

[Lindal Kidd]

It's probably not a coincidence, but it's also not SL's fault...or at least, not directly.  Did you pay attention to the comments in the thread about heat?

Second Life requires a lot of performance out of your computer.  A PC that has a marginal power supply, marginal cooling, marginal airflow, or a filthy, dust-filled interior can get really hot when asked for peak performance.  Heat causes component failure.

Key places to expect heat buildup are your CPU, the motherboard's chipset, your RAM sticks, your video card, and your SSD, especially if you have one of the newer NVME types that look like a little memory stick, instead of the older SATA ones that look sort of like a thick credit card.  My Resident Geek installed tiny aftermarket heat sinks on the ones he stuck in our computers.

Use temperature monitoring software to keep an eye on the critical temps in your machine, and the performance of your cooling fans.  There's plenty of free apps out there.

[animats]

As I've suggested before for hardware problems seen only running Second Life, run the Unreal Engine 4 benchmark, "The Valley". This is a program to demo the features of the Unreal Engine game engine and exercise the CPU and GPU hard. It displays a large peaceful valley with trees and grasses. It will give you a tour of the valley, and it will run until stopped, reporting frame rate and GPU temperature.

This will make your computer work much harder than SL does, and will run on most machines that can run SL. If The Valley will run for an hour, your machine should run SL without problems. If not, you have a hardware problem. 

 

[Ardy Lay]

" While I'm playing, a black box with white text blinks into existence and then closes itself before I can read it. This usually happens several times over the course of a couple weeks.  "

Is this a clue?  What is this?

[Alyona Su]

7 hours ago, Ardy Lay said:

" While I'm playing, a black box with white text blinks into existence and then closes itself before I can read it. This usually happens several times over the course of a couple weeks.  "

Is this a clue?  What is this?

Python script likely running a viewer update. It is normal.

[Ardy Lay]

"Several times a week" seems a bit excessive.  Do any of the Second Life Viewer cohorts update "several times a week"?

[Whirly Fizzle]

5 hours ago, Ardy Lay said:

"Several times a week" seems a bit excessive.  Do any of the Second Life Viewer cohorts update "several times a week"?

The LL viewer will check for updates each time it's launched.
If you look in the viewer install folder, you'll see a file called SLVersionChecker - this is the update checker.

I'm also not sure if this bug is fixed on the LL viewer yet.  That may explain what you are seeing: BUG-11349 - On CEF viewers, the console window that opens on top of the world view should be hidden
 

 

[Love Zhaoying]

*offers band-aids and duct tape*