Orbiter Shuts down my PC

[JonHolly]

During the sim, usually after about 10 - 15 minutes my entire computer shuts down. I've tried to trouble shoot the best I know how, uninstall reinstall etc etc but i cant get it to stop. anyone have a solution?

 

[RisingFury]

Please post your computer specs (CPU, RAM, gfx card,... including your power supply) and operating system.

 

[TSPenguin]

Does it really shutdown, or does it crash into a BSOD, or does it simply hang, or does it directly restart?

 

[garyw]

Sounds to me like a heating problem. Orbiter uses as much CPU time as it can. If a system fan is not able to cope with the heat loading then the PC will automatically shut itself down to prevent damage.

 

[Woo482]

if you have a Intel cooler buy a new one they are Crap

 

[astrosammy]

Keep your reentry angle low to avoid overheating! :lol:

You could try out this: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
It shows you your computer's temperatures.

 

[RisingFury]

Another possibility is that the power supply cannot cope.

I had two friends who had to buy a more powerful power supply because the computer was shutting down.

 

[dbeachy1]

Sounds to me like a heating problem. Orbiter uses as much CPU time as it can. If a system fan is not able to cope with the heat loading then the PC will automatically shut itself down to prevent damage.

I second that -- if the CPU overheats the BIOS will automatically power off the system to prevent the CPU from being damaged. The first thing to do is check the CPU fan and heatsink. Make sure the CPU fan is still running. If the heatsink is dusty, blow out the dust with a can of compressed air. If the CPU fan and heatsink are fine and the system still powers off by itself, it is probably a power supply problem -- double-check the power supply's fan. It is also possible that the power supply is failing and not supplying the correct voltage anymore, or as RisingFury said it could be that the power supply is insufficient to handle the system's power requirements under full load. Can you post your full system specs as well as the make and model of your power supply?

 

[ar81]

Sounds like a mech without heat sinks to play Orbiter...

 

[JonHolly]

The Computer completely shuts down as if I shut it down. Heat may be the problem, I'll check into that. The Computer is pretty old like 2004 old so thats most likely the problem. i'll post my specs at a later time when i get back to my house. Hey thanks you guys for jumping on this so quickly

 

[Linguofreak]

Well, from my previous experience with the same problem, my advice is to open up the case and vacuum all the dust out. It's amazing what a vacuuming will do for an overheating computer.

 

[James.Denholm]

You say that it shuts down as if you yourself shut it down. Do you mean that it goes through the whole process of logging off ect, or does it simply go black? Or does it do some funny thing like stall for about 5 seconds, quit orbiter and display the background, then go black?

I agree with Lingo. Open up your computer, check and remove dust, make sure the fans and everything are all working, and try to maximise air flow (by tying cables together, ect). Be sure that you have heat sinks where they are needed.

 

[JonHolly]

Vacuuming seems to have done the trick. Can't believe how bad it looked. Good times, thanks guys