CTD after an hour of flying

Gta this is all very interesting.

 

Here's the story as far as I can see; you have a maximum gamer's motherboard and a fast CPU, so they will support 3600mz (or in this case will almost support 3600mz). David is using a I7-6700 processor which can only keep up with 2133mz memory timing and his motherboard also would have limitations and probably won't support anything faster than 2133mz. So David is not out in the extremes as you are. And the problem remains with new memory modules.

 

I think the problem lies elsewhere.

Could be right, I did not make it to 4 hours, sigh :)

However, I did make it longer then I ever did, will continue

Two things:

1) Have you tried disconnecting your joystick and running without it? I know this isn't a long term cure, but if you eliminate CTDs, it would suggest a path to solution.

2) Do you have any bluetooth or wireless peripherals? If so, you might remove them from effective range and see if that does anything.

Since you seemed to get an improvement by swapping USB ports, I wonder if you might have a short or leak in you joystick??

Two things:

1) Have you tried disconnecting your joystick and running without it? I know this isn't a long term cure, but if you eliminate CTDs, it would suggest a path to solution.

2) Do you have any bluetooth or wireless peripherals? If so, you might remove them from effective range and see if that does anything.

Since you seemed to get an improvement by swapping USB ports, I wonder if you might have a short or leak in you joystick??

I do have a wireless mouse and keyboard.

I thought about removing the joystick, only use it for take offs and landings. Will try that.

Well, I replaced the wireless keyboard and mouse, unplugged the joystick after takeoff and was flying for over 5 hours.

It is crazy to think that it might have been the wireless keyboard and mouse???

Another 'quiet victory' for the Asobo team?

Glad you are up and running and can enjoy this wonderful sim.

Doing some more testing. I am still not 100% certain that my "wireless devices" are responsible.

However, I did remember reading on this forum about having controllers plugged in and different devices, so I started examining the Logitech software. It seems that the Unifying Software stores ALL of the old mice and keyboards that have been "unified" are stored (guessing as a profile??) Either way, I removed all of the old items, plugged my wireless keyboard and mouse BACK in, took off, unplugged the joystick after takeoff (I actually suspect it, it is OLD) and for the past 2.5 hours have been flying.

We shall see :)

Well folks, I am out of ideas.

I have changed to new RAM, it will not go beyond 2133 speed, however, I still get the CTD, sometimes 2-3 hours of flying, sometimes less.

Changed to a wired setup, thinking having too many profiles, or even the wireless setup, same deal as with the RAM, sometimes 2-3 hours before a CTD.

Tried it with my joystick plugged in, used a different USB port, no change, same deal as with the RAM, wired setup, 2-3 hours, perhaps.

It seems random, these CTD's

MSFS is a great stress tester for hardware. Your hardware fails.

It might be that one of the chips on your motherboard chipset is hiccuping every once in a while; or maybe your CPU is flaky. Unless it's your GTX 1660 that's failing.

If you never found a way to increase the cooling for the graphics card or CPU, you could go the opposite route and use a hair dryer to heat up one or the other to try to identify what is failing.

Interesting idea, however, I’ve had the cover off the past 3days so I can swap out the RAM. my you temps don’t go beyond 50, CPU at most is 78

Wonder if it could be the rolling cache?

I only have been testing flying around Florida, always leaving from KJAX or KHEG, same area, then taking the same route to either Arizona or New York

Flying from KDEN to KMCI, 500 miles

I see no reason to think it's rolling cache, I see a lot of reason to think it's hardware.

It could be hardware. Not dismissing that possibility.

The reason I brought up the cache is it is on a HDD (4-5 years old). Perhaps it got corrupted, using the same data over and over again??

Can it be moved to my SDD?

There is no reason to think a HD is scrambling data, that isn't the way they fail normally. And if it were scrambling data the problem would most likely show up as bad scenery or something like that. The cache only holds data, not instructions.

One other possibility that I recently thought of is EMP spikes affecting the MB or whatever, since you have the cover off the system isn't shielded anymore. Is there a possible source of EMF (motors or transformers turning on and off) where your system unit is?

There is no reason to think a HD is scrambling data, that isn't the way they fail normally. And if it were scrambling data the problem would most likely show up as bad scenery or something like that. The cache only holds data, not instructions.

 

One other possibility that I recently thought of is EMP spikes affecting the MB or whatever, since you have the cover off the system isn't shielded anymore. Is there a possible source of EMF (motors or transformers turning on and off) where your system unit is?

I see what you are thinking concerning the cache file. Here is my thinking as well (extremely unlikely though). What if it is reading a portion of cache that is bad, and it fails to make it past that part, repeatedly reads it, then CTD ?? Just throwing it out there, lol.

I actually believe it could be hardware, I just need to prove it for two reason, (1) to myself, I don't like having unsolved mysteries :) (2) if the hardware is indeed failing, I need to prove it to the wife so I can get a new machine, lol

Another thought David... could it be down to your firewall/antivirus program? Might be worth disabling it temporarily and seeing if MSFS crashes (if you haven’t done already)

Regards

Steve

Another thought David... could it be down to your firewall/antivirus program? Might be worth disabling it temporarily and seeing if MSFS crashes (if you haven’t done already)

 

Regards

Steve

Interesting thought. I could add an exception to the program ??

It’s worth a try.

I few weeks back I had a problem in that MSFS wouldn’t even launch without crashing. Turned out to be Microsoft’s own “Windows Defender”. I added the MSFS folder as an exception and the problem was solved.

I believe they fixed this shortly afterwards.. but you never know. Doesn’t harm to add an exception anyway.

Regards

Steve

You could add the MSFS folder rather than the actual exe file?

Thinking again... unlike my problem a few weeks ago... your copy of MSFS is still launching and working for an hour or two at least, so it’s unlikely that it’s being blocked. Is your antivirus set to do a scan at regular intervals? Also might be worth checking if something is updating every hour or two?

more thoughts... have you tried flying with the graphics on much lower settings? Possibly everything on minimum? The sim might not look as good but if you can keep it up without CTDs for a few hours then we can eliminate the above and it might show that it’s down to your hardware.

Regards

Steve

You could add the MSFS folder rather than the actual exe file?

Thinking again... unlike my problem a few weeks ago... your copy of MSFS is still launching and working for an hour or two at least, so it’s unlikely that it’s being blocked. Is your antivirus set to do a scan at regular intervals? Also might be worth checking if something is updating every hour or two?

 

more thoughts... have you tried flying with the graphics on much lower settings? Possibly everything on minimum? The sim might not look as good but if you can keep it up without CTDs for a few hours then we can eliminate the above and it might show that it’s down to your hardware.

 

Regards

Steve

Norton does not allow me the option of adding a folder, only programs (have looked).

Nothing, as far as I know is running a scan.

Graphics-that is a possibility, I will look into turning them down to the minimum.

David how is your Power Supply?

I had the same issue back in October on one of my machines, 9th gen I7, 48 gig ram and a radeon 580 8 gig. Drove me nuts. Changed CPU cooler, updated Bios swapped ram and checked temps.....nada. Changed out my Power Supply......Bingo!

Just my two cents (before taxes)

I see what you are thinking concerning the cache file. Here is my thinking as well (extremely unlikely though). What if it is reading a portion of cache that is bad, and it fails to make it past that part, repeatedly reads it, then CTD ?? Just throwing it out there, lol.

 

I actually believe it could be hardware, I just need to prove it for two reason, (1) to myself, I don't like having unsolved mysteries :) (2) if the hardware is indeed failing, I need to prove it to the wife so I can get a new machine, lol

Have you tried any other games or stress testing applications to see if they crash? The Unigine Heaven benchmark, or one of their other ones, running for a couple hours would be a good test. 3DMark would be another option, if you have it (not free).

David how is your Power Supply?

I had the same issue back in October on one of my machines, 9th gen I7, 48 gig ram and a radeon 580 8 gig. Drove me nuts. Changed CPU cooler, updated Bios swapped ram and checked temps.....nada. Changed out my Power Supply......Bingo!

Just my two cents (before taxes)

How would I test it out?

Have you tried any other games or stress testing applications to see if they crash? The Unigine Heaven benchmark, or one of their other ones, running for a couple hours would be a good test. 3DMark would be another option, if you have it (not free).

I was thinking about stress testing the hardware. Thanks for the suggestion on what to use :) I will report the findings.

As for something else to stress test, I don't have anything :(

I stress tested the GPU last night, it came through with flying colors (no pun intended, lol)

Did the same with the CPU, temps got up to 95 degs.

The interesting thing is, when I am flying, the temps on the CPU never get above 79