my PC just gets stuck, help please

[Grecan]

[UPDATES on posts #6, #7, #10]

Hello,

my PC just keeps on getting stuck, and only a cold-reboot "works". What i mean is: my mouse and keyboard become unresponsive, and my screen and sound freeze.


The 1st time i encountered this problem was 10 days ago, and i reported it here: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...60#post5192260

Since then, i've been trying to solve it, but it's getting worse and worse.


What i've done/checked is:

* Checked for viruses - none found
* Checked for malware - found one infected file, don't remember details, but seemed to be unimportant
* Checked the status of my HDD (NTFS) - no need for defragmentation, and it has about 58 free GBs (2 partitions, 25 and 33 free space)
* Opened up the PC-case and cleaned it up - it had gathered lots of dust, especially on and around the fans - cleaned the main cooler (on top of the processors) better a 2nd time.
* Installed updated drivers to everything a free program i used found to have outdated drivers.


It's gotten to the point where (today) it got stuck after 8 hours of it being turned off, and i only browsed the DDO forums briefly (only Chrome running on my PC apart from various start-up programs). It got stuck twice while i was trying to respond to a personal message.
* After the above happened the first time, i removed the side and front covers of my tower-case in order to be better cooled (in case this was caused by overheating) and it got stuck again shorty afterwards.
It's been running for much more time now, and i've opened more Chrome pages, and it hasn't gotten stuck yet, so i don't think overheating is the problem.


I spend most of my pc-time on DDO these days, and it's also happened while in-DDO, but not on the char selection screen, and the majority of these times i was on the guild-ship when it happened.

It's also happened one time when i was just listening to an album on Youtube and doing some house-work.


I've got an old Dual Core PC, 6400 (just a bit over-clocked) @ 2.13GHz, running Windows XP SP3, and 2GB RAM. I also have the Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT with 512 MBs.

I'll add more info if needed.


Thanks in advance for any help/tips/advice.

[kanordog]

Hello,

I got the same issues, noone could give me usable advice so far.
My experience is that it occurs less often by using the "very low" grafic settings and disable sounds.
I also kill the awesomium process exe (all of them) after the character enters the game. Beware, the game crashes if You try to use ddo store in-game without awesomium. For that You'd have to log out to character selection screen.

Sometimes after a reboot the client gets stuck at loading screen, so I usually uninstall and reinstall NET framework 1.1 and its patch. That solves the stuck-at-loading-screen issue.
Also good to reinstall the whole game from time to time.

I hope that helped!

[Steven]

If you have a spare power supply I would try swapping it out. I have noticed those kind of problems when i had power system going out. Normally if it is an over heating cpu it won't freeze so much as it will reboot due to over heating. Also might trying running a memory checker to see if your having bit errors in the memory sticks. Several freeware and even some vendor ones out there. Finally you may also need to run a disk check to make sure the hard drive isn't failing.

Hope this helps

[HungarianRhapsody]

I used to have this problem and I did have a problem with my hard drive. I got a new computer and a new hard drive (spinning platter, not a solid state drive) with a new motherboard and 3 gigabytes of RAM. Brand new installation of windows and DDO. I still have this problem. DDO leaks memory like a sieve, so it doesn't surprise me that it crashes, but it does surprise me that it crashes so hard that I don't even have mouse or keyboard response and I have to power off to fix the freeze - other programs at least have the decency to allow ctrl-alt-delete to kill the program. Kanordog's suggestions are what I'm currently doing to mitigate the problem, but it still happens.

[Furbitor]

If you have a spare power supply I would try swapping it out. I have noticed those kind of problems when i had power system going out. Normally if it is an over heating cpu it won't freeze so much as it will reboot due to over heating. Also might trying running a memory checker to see if your having bit errors in the memory sticks. Several freeware and even some vendor ones out there. Finally you may also need to run a disk check to make sure the hard drive isn't failing.

Hope this helps

I also agree. Try to borrow a known good PSU from another comp. if part of your supply is failing, it can give issues just like yours.

[Grecan]

Thanks to everyone who chimed in

I have no idea yet if any of your advice will help me, i'm pretty confused



I wanted to add this bit of info:

Yesterday i was logging in the game and my PC froze after a few seconds
This morning it froze just by browsing these forums some minutes
And later on, i managed to play the game for hours and hours doing quests, going through different maps, switching various characters... and the only problem i faced was some lag

o.O

[Grecan]

Yesterday i played again just fine. And i have a feling i won't have any issues with DDO today.

The only weird thing i noticed (and i've noticed this other times, too) was some sound coming from my router (which is only a few months old) which i could barely hear, but was like something is frying inside
But it's hard to believe that my router could cause these issues i have described... correct me if i'm wrong.

Yesterday i was logging in the game and my PC froze after a few seconds
This morning it froze just by browsing these forums some minutes
And later on, i managed to play the game for hours and hours doing quests, going through different maps, switching various characters... and the only problem i faced was some lag

o.O

The only thing i remember tempering with between my PC freezing even by merely browsing the forums and being able to play DDO just fine is my firewall settings... But i don't think those could cause the problems i had, could they?

[Phoenix-daBard]

Here is a handy tool to check your memory just in case: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/m...spotlight.aspx

Another test is to borrow another video card and see if that makes a difference. Testing/swapping out the power supply is a good idea too.

[Grecan]

Here is a handy tool to check your memory just in case: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/m...spotlight.aspx

Another test is to borrow another video card and see if that makes a difference. Testing/swapping out the power supply is a good idea too.

I'll try the memory diagnostic, but the other tips sound like too much trouble to me now that i'm not facing this problem (i'm still confused about it)

thanks!

[Grecan]

power supply

if part of your supply is failing, it can give issues just like yours.

Testing/swapping out the power supply is a good idea too.

The only weird thing i noticed (and i've noticed this other times, too) was some sound coming from my router (which is only a few months old) which i could barely hear, but was like something is frying inside

You know what? Maybe my problem was caused by power-supply issues, and the low sound "like something frying" wasn't coming from the router, but by a plug not making a good connection with the socket (and which is located close to my router).

I'm not certain, but this seems the most plausible explanation to me.

[Furbitor]

You know what? Maybe my problem was caused by power-supply issues, and the low sound "like something frying" wasn't coming from the router, but by a plug not making a good connection with the socket (and which is located close to my router).

I'm not certain, but this seems the most plausible explanation to me.

Ok. first, as an electrician, Frying noises from your wall/floor outlet is not normal, and needs addressing. If you aren't experienced with changing out wall receptacles, or making sure your wiring connections are tight, call an electrician. the $50 dollar service call and the 2 dollar receptacle isn't worth losing your HOUSE, or your gaming comp.

As to ddo freezing, if your router is losing power, ( the poor connection) can reboot your router, making all the lights go out and the power light to flash, as it tests itself and and reconnects. (which can take a minute or so)

DDO will freeze up if it loses your internet connection, and it will start a timeout countdown. After so many secs if the connection is still lost ddo will close.

Please get that outlet looked at.

furb

[JOTMON]

When you opened up the case did you check your capacitors.

Bad capacitors could cause this type of issue.
Tends only to be an issue when expected power is needed from the capacitor and it cant deliver.

If you are unsure how a capacitor should look you can google image it.. pretty easy to tell.
A normal capacitor is flat on the top , if it is bulged or showing any residue/acid fluid then you have bad caps.

[Grecan]

Ok. first, as an electrician, Frying noises from your wall/floor outlet is not normal, and needs addressing.

If you aren't experienced with changing out wall receptacles, or making sure your wiring connections are tight, call an electrician. the $50 dollar service call and the 2 dollar receptacle isn't worth losing your HOUSE, or your gaming comp.

Please get that outlet looked at.

(keep in mind that i'm not an electrician, and also not fluent with the technical terms)

Frying noises are not normal if everything "works" as it should, but i think they're "normal" if some electrical connection isn't very good - which is not ok of course, and should be addresed, but i haven't noticed anything similar lately and my freezing(stuck) problem has disappeared as well.*

The thing is, it's not exactly a wall/floor outlet, but an outlet "extended" from the wall on a bookself, and on this i have put another extension with 4 outlets, and on one of those four outlets i've put a T-shaped(3-way) extension/outlet, so that i can have 5 cables plugged together (1 outlet of the T-shape is free atm). PC-screen, PC-tower, and PC-speakers on the 4-way extension, PC-router and an extra light on the T-shape extension. So it's a bit messy as you can see :/ But i tried to make those connections tighter.

As to ddo freezing, if your router is losing power, ( the poor connection) can reboot your router, making all the lights go out and the power light to flash, as it tests itself and and reconnects. (which can take a minute or so)

DDO will freeze up if it loses your internet connection, and it will start a timeout countdown. After so many secs if the connection is still lost ddo will close.

My problem was nothing like that, you are describing something entirely different here.

When you opened up the case did you check your capacitors.

Bad capacitors could cause this type of issue.
Tends only to be an issue when expected power is needed from the capacitor and it cant deliver.

If you are unsure how a capacitor should look you can google image it.. pretty easy to tell.
A normal capacitor is flat on the top , if it is bulged or showing any residue/acid fluid then you have bad caps.

Didn't check those, thanks for the tip.







(*) I'm facing a different kind of problem lately
Sometimes my PC shuts down and reboots itself out of the blue.
Sometimes this "process" begins with a blue screen with giberish white text all over.

I might make another thread about it if it persists.

[Phoenix-daBard]

(*) I'm facing a different kind of problem lately
Sometimes my PC shuts down and reboots itself out of the blue.
Sometimes this "process" begins with a blue screen with giberish white text all over.

I might make another thread about it if it persists.

Sounds like a hardware failure in the power supply, memory or video card. Sadly it is not worth fixing until you fix the power to your computer first because that sounds like it is damaging your computer.

[Furbitor]

(keep in mind that i'm not an electrician, and also not fluent with the technical terms)

Frying noises are not normal if everything "works" as it should, but i think they're "normal" if some electrical connection isn't very good - which is not ok of course, and should be addresed, but i haven't noticed anything similar lately and my freezing(stuck) problem has disappeared as well.*

The thing is, it's not exactly a wall/floor outlet, but an outlet "extended" from the wall on a bookself, and on this i have put another extension with 4 outlets, and on one of those four outlets i've put a T-shaped(3-way) extension/outlet, so that i can have 5 cables plugged together (1 outlet of the T-shape is free atm). PC-screen, PC-tower, and PC-speakers on the 4-way extension, PC-router and an extra light on the T-shape extension. So it's a bit messy as you can see :/ But i tried to make those connections tighter.

Ok. First. Any frying noises aren't good. that a poor connection. And poor connection generate heat. Which burns down houses. Its not worth getting scared. its worth getting smart. If you need 5 outlets for your rig, I suggest an inexpensive power strip. Cheap, these units will offer some protection for your equipment fom power surges, and are wired adequately for handling the demands of your system. those t adapters and extension cords and whatnot introduce extra risk for fire/ overloading.

[dredre9987]

You also say you are slightly overclocked...That may be an issue...Your OC may have become unstable over time ( had this happen a couple times myself )...Turn your overclock all back to default and see if these issues go away....Also how old is the comp? As OC'ing severely lowers the time the computer parts will run.

And seriously for safety get rid of all those cords hooked together buy an $11 power strip and get someone to look at that outlet for you.

[Grecan]

Ok. First. Any frying noises aren't good. that a poor connection. And poor connection generate heat. Which burns down houses. Its not worth getting scared. its worth getting smart. If you need 5 outlets for your rig, I suggest an inexpensive power strip. Cheap, these units will offer some protection for your equipment fom power surges, and are wired adequately for handling the demands of your system. those t adapters and extension cords and whatnot introduce extra risk for fire/ overloading.

And seriously for safety get rid of all those cords hooked together buy an $11 power strip and get someone to look at that outlet for you.

What i refered to as an extension with 4 outlets is actually a Belkin Surge Master power strip with lifetime 40000 euros connected equipment warranty, i guess it's good enough, no?

You also say you are slightly overclocked...That may be an issue...Your OC may have become unstable over time ( had this happen a couple times myself )...Turn your overclock all back to default and see if these issues go away....Also how old is the comp? As OC'ing severely lowers the time the computer parts will run.

Don't remember exactly, more than 5 years old, and oced all this time, maybe you're right and this overclocking is really causing problems now... The last time i faced any issue was about 2 days ago, but i should probably turn it back to default. I just hope i figure how to do that easily.

[cjgoddard]

[UPDATES on posts #6, #7, #10]

Hello,

my PC just keeps on getting stuck, and only a cold-reboot "works". What i mean is: my mouse and keyboard become unresponsive, and my screen and sound freeze.


The 1st time i encountered this problem was 10 days ago, and i reported it here: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...60#post5192260

Since then, i've been trying to solve it, but it's getting worse and worse.


What i've done/checked is:

* Checked for viruses - none found
* Checked for malware - found one infected file, don't remember details, but seemed to be unimportant
* Checked the status of my HDD (NTFS) - no need for defragmentation, and it has about 58 free GBs (2 partitions, 25 and 33 free space)
* Opened up the PC-case and cleaned it up - it had gathered lots of dust, especially on and around the fans - cleaned the main cooler (on top of the processors) better a 2nd time.
* Installed updated drivers to everything a free program i used found to have outdated drivers.


It's gotten to the point where (today) it got stuck after 8 hours of it being turned off, and i only browsed the DDO forums briefly (only Chrome running on my PC apart from various start-up programs). It got stuck twice while i was trying to respond to a personal message.
* After the above happened the first time, i removed the side and front covers of my tower-case in order to be better cooled (in case this was caused by overheating) and it got stuck again shorty afterwards.
It's been running for much more time now, and i've opened more Chrome pages, and it hasn't gotten stuck yet, so i don't think overheating is the problem.


I spend most of my pc-time on DDO these days, and it's also happened while in-DDO, but not on the char selection screen, and the majority of these times i was on the guild-ship when it happened.

It's also happened one time when i was just listening to an album on Youtube and doing some house-work.


I've got an old Dual Core PC, 6400 (just a bit over-clocked) @ 2.13GHz, running Windows XP SP3, and 2GB RAM. I also have the Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT with 512 MBs.

I'll add more info if needed.


Thanks in advance for any help/tips/advice.

i have the same problem with one of my ddo installed.
(to start, i have two op systems running. 1). the op sys is win xp\sp1 and the other, win xp/sp2...
they are both with the latest updates,, (sp/3 now)

the sp1 install allways locks up on me, it seems like mostly with ddo, it does it with other programs also, but not as much.(i think it's due to mem usage).
the sp/2 install has never locked up my computer yet,,,

it's not the power supply, i replaced and upgraded it to power my video, card.

i hope this helps you, myself, i'm replacing my xp/sp1 operating sys before microsoft stops the updating in april for win xp,