Simviation Forums

Now that I've whined about FSX, here's the latest on FS9.

Have you added anything new to the sim recently?

If you have, remove them and see if you still have the same problem.

I have an old (out of service now) 1.3 Ghz Athlon machine that I used for the main FS computer for a long time, and later as a Wideview client.

It used to do the same thing. Scared the crap out of me every time it did it too when the volume was up. It would always go to blackscreen with no mouse or keyboard function after it occured.

It did it with no third party scenery or aircraft. I tried a new sound card, that did nothing except to make the machine gunning noise sound quite good right before it died. 

I took the case side off and sat a box fan directly in front of the case to help with heat, that did nothing either.

This computer was just a POS in my opinion. My son built it, and the components were nearly obsolete when he did.
It's now sitting on the bench in the shop while I decide what to do with it.

Sorry I can't really be of any help, but you aren't alone with the problem, and I never have figured out what was causing it.

olderndirt: Have you done any major hardware upgrades recently?  Ie: Video card, new disc drive, anything like that?

[quote]olderndirt: Have you done any major hardware upgrades recently?

Yup, I would probably check to see if there are any updated sound drivers for that audio device then.

There are a few other things that pop up in my head about this issue that you might want to look for if sound drivers don't work.  They may seem unrelated, but probably worthwhile to check:

-Double check to see that the cable connected to your new DVD/RW is secured properly.  I once replaced a a disc drive once on a laptop, and occasionally I would get that machine gun noise when the connection wiggled free.  This would often lock up my machine and force a restart. 

-Double check that your video card drivers are up to date.  This is not likely the issue, but it usually won't hurt to look into this.

-Ensure that your power supply unit is adequate for your video card power requirements.  Most computers you find on the store shelves do not have a PSU that is capable of running fast gaming cards (can be upgraded at least).  While it may not seem related to the blue screen message you are getting, insufficient power supplies usually result in the kind of restart you are getting: a freeze, a crash, and a restart some-time after you load the game. 

Hopefully this helps

[quote]Yup, I would probably check to see if there are any updated sound drivers for that audio device then.

There are a few other things that pop up in my head about this issue that you might want to look for if sound drivers don't work.

[quote][quote]olderndirt: Have you done any major hardware upgrades recently?

When I had this happen on the system I wrote about, there was never any warning (other than the machine gun sound on occasion), no error messages, or blue screen.

Since I downloaded and installed the latest VIA audio driver, we've flown a few times and managed to shut down in the normal way - which is nice