Hardware Sytem shuts down on 'launch'

[donfierro]

I a newbie here and I hope to learn to enjoy Orbiter.

The download, install, tutorial all went without a hitch then...when I executed the [Launch Orbiter button] the program aborted, screen went black, then two blue screens with random pieces of code flashed on and off and finally the system was restarted automatically.

I'am at a loss to explain this occurrence and I'm not about to give up on Orbiter, I'm intrigued by its concept and its challenges.

Any ideas/suggestions, I'm fairly adept around PC's and I learned long time ago that if you are not sure don't tinker, ask someone that knows more than you do, so here I am.

Please and thank,you

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Hmm...
All I can say is: That ain't right

If your PC shuts down, that sounds like a problem with your PC, not a problem with Orbiter itself. I never heard of this before.

Go to the Orbiter base folder, and find a text document called "orbiter". That is your log file - paste the contents of it here.

Thanks.

 

[Linguofreak]

A few questions:

What is your OS and what are your computer specs?

What options does it give you for "3D device" under the video tab on the Orbiter Launchpad? Is the "Always enumerate devices" box checked?

Have you tried updating your graphics drivers?

When we got this computer Orbiter bluescreened under T&L graphics modes and ran glitchy under HAL because the graphics drivers weren't updated. I'm not sure if that's your problem, but it's my best guess.

 

[donfierro]

PC shuts down on launch



Thank you for the feedback; I've a Pavillion a1640n running Winxp Service pack 3; 2Gb of memory; 250Gb of storage; dual Intel processors; 1.8Ghz; Bios for G965 with a GMA3000 graphics built-in adapter.

I've been seriously thinking of doing the following upgrade:

1) power supply from 300w to 400w
2) nVIDIA GeForce 8500GT PCI express with 1Gb of memory

According to my research this should improve my system's ability to run complex packages like Orbiter.

I'm on the right track before I spend my money?

Like I said before, I know enough to know that I should get a second opinion rather than flying solo.

Thank you,

 

[dbeachy1]

Welcome to the forum!

The problem is very likely the onboard video; onboard video is notorious for not handling Direct3D applications correctly (we have seen many instances of that reported by other users). Even a modest discrete video card should be fine for Orbiter.

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, a small upgrade should do it. Orbiter does not demand much, but still more than on-board delivers. Many drivers crash if you demand such basic stuff like "Billboards" (the exhaust streams you see in orbiter are technically speaking billboards, objects you see always from the same side).

Also make sure, you have good thermal control in your PC. If your PC is nearly overheating, your GPU will not stand back. Tools like GPUZ can help you find out, if your GPU has the tendency to overheat, just run GPUZ and a small GPU benchmark - for example Orbiter in windowed mode.

 

[Tommy]

A graphics card should help, but I'll also recommend upgrading the Power Supply. 300 watts isn't very much by todays standards, and weak power (low voltage caused by "overdrawing" current) can cause all sorts of problems. Anything from BSOD's to the "j" key not working on a keyboard.

The problem you had is most likely a result of the on-board graphics device, and it's drivers. I'd try that first, but also definitely upgrade the PS when you can. Don't go cheap there, quality counts a lot here. "Antec" and "P. C. Power and Cool" are good brands. When I built my seystem 8 years ago, I spent more on the Power Supply than I did on the processor or motherboard, and that's one of the reasons this system still runs so well today, even with 3 hard drives, a high end sound card, two optical drives, etc.

 

[donfierro]

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL



A very big thank you to all of you for your invaluable input.
I'll go with a 450w power supply just to be on the safeside.
Rest assured that I'm not going to nickel & dime myself, I'll be getting first class products.

Thank you for your help,