TRS Plus - Performance issues with Build 123794

[schweitzerdude]

Several weeks ago I installed TRS Plus Build 123794 (from scratch, not as an upgrade). Since then, I have noticed performance issues in driver. A save, exit, and restart Trainz always solves the problem.

Today I was working on a large route in Surveyor Classic and even very simple things in surveyor started to take time to complete. Example - moving a road spline: The spline point moves but the road takes 1 or 2 seconds to follow. So I did a save, exit, and restart Trainz and the problem was solved.

I have been a Trainz user since the days of TRS2006 and never have seen this happen until now. My PC and GPU are plenty adequate and a restart always results in very good performance both in surveyor and driver.

This suggests there may be an issue in Build 123794 that N3V needs to look at. Anyone else experiencing this as well?

 

[pware]

I have several installs of that build on 3 different computers and, apart from expected performance differences between the computers themselves, I have not experienced that issue.

 

[JCitron]

I suspect disk issues.
If you are running on an SSD, back up your data immediately! Poor loading is a sign of a failing SSD. If this is a regular drive, try defragging the drive even if Windows says it doesn't have to be done.

Low drive space can cause this too. Ensure you have plenty of space.

Run a malware scan to ensure that there's nothing running in the background.

Video card and drivers. Update the drivers and ensure the fans are clean. If the video card is overheating, this can cause a big slowdown.

Ditto on the dust and dirt. Ensure your fans are clean including your CPU fan.

 

[HPL]

A useful utility to see how reliable are your HDDs/SSDs: CrystalDiskInfo (there is a portable version).

 

[schweitzerdude]

Thanks to all who replied. My computer is about 8 years old so I wouldn't be surprised if the drives are getting sketchy.

 

[schweitzerdude]

I am reviving this thread because I might have a reason why Build 123794 of TRS Plus has performance issues for me. Before Build 123794, I would always leave Trainz running in the background (minimized) in surveyor mode and the only time I would exit and restart Trainz is if I had to do a computer restart for a Windows update or power failure. Trainz performance did not suffer doing this in previous builds.

Regarding possible drive performance and malware as some have suggested, I brought my PC to a well-known electronics retailer in the USA and had the "squad" perform all the diagnostics and they did remove some malware and now my PC has a clean bill of health, but my Trainz issues remain.

Is it possible that my performance issues with Build 123794, both in surveyor and driver, is caused by the cache/memory not clearing out completely as I move around the (large) route, so over time things bog down?

 

[JCitron]

I am reviving this thread because I might have a reason why Build 123794 of TRS Plus has performance issues for me. Before Build 123794, I would always leave Trainz running in the background (minimized) in surveyor mode and the only time I would exit and restart Trainz is if I had to do a computer restart for a Windows update or power failure. Trainz performance did not suffer doing this in previous builds.

Regarding possible drive performance and malware as some have suggested, I brought my PC to a well-known electronics retailer in the USA and had the "squad" perform all the diagnostics and they did remove some malware and now my PC has a clean bill of health, but my Trainz issues remain.

Is it possible that my performance issues with Build 123794, both in surveyor and driver, is caused by the cache/memory not clearing out completely as I move around the (large) route, so over time things bog down?

That's a very big possibility. The program may also have what's called a memory leak. These occur as code opens and closes and does not clear itself completely from memory leaving behind a small stub. These small stubs end up eating up memory space and eventually can cause performance issues. The way to determine this is to load up Task Manager and switch to the performance tab and check the memory. It'll show how much RAM is installed plus how much is free. Run the program for as long as you normally do and check the free memory. Barring any other programs running at the time, the memory should remain stable. If it's running down as if it's air in a leaky tire, then there's a memory leak. This issue is not uncommon and affects many programs including some really, really expensive business applications.

I'm glad to hear your machine checked out okay and they removed some malware. Did they tell you what it was, or was it the usual cookies and stuff?

 

[HPL]

The program may also have what's called a memory leak. These occur as code opens and closes and does not clear itself completely from memory leaving behind a small stub. These small stubs end up eating up memory space and eventually can cause performance issues.

An example: I am in Driver and TRS22 uses 4GB RAM, I complety exit (not using UDS) Driver and go to Surveyor (even doing nothing), close it and return to Driver (on the same route), now the game uses 5GB. Memory usage increases each time this operation is repeated (on same or another route, up to 17GB on my system). The only way to go back to the initial 4GB is to exit and restart the game.

 

[pware]

Memory usage increases each time this operation is repeated (on same or another route, up to 17GB on my system). The only way to go back to the initial 4GB is to exit and restart the game.

I just performed your experiment in TRS22PE exactly as described and I cannot say that I observed any significant increase in memory usage (according to Task Manager) each time I entered Driver.

I did wait a minute or two each time for the Task Manager stats to stabilize but the differences between each run was minimal and could be easily explained by Trainz preloading and caching data, or performing other tasks.

I have no explanation for the large increase in memory usage that you are reporting.

My observations.

 

[JCitron]

I just performed your experiment in TRS22PE exactly as described and I cannot say that I observed any significant increase in memory usage (according to Task Manager) each time I entered Driver.

I did wait a minute or two each time for the Task Manager stats to stabilize but the differences between each run was minimal and could be easily explained by Trainz preloading and caching data, or performing other tasks.

I have no explanation for the large increase in memory usage that you are reporting.

My observations.

This could be related to the scripts and assets being used. Some scripts, as we know, are better than others.

 

[schweitzerdude]

Thanks to all who responded. I restarted Trainz and started Task Manager, now running minimized. TM now shows 10.7GB memory in use and 5.1GB available. With the route loaded, I went to drive session. I'll let the session run minimized overnight and will check TM tomorrow and will post the results.

To JCitron's question about malware I had, it was PC App Store with ad popups for McAfee antivirus. Windows Defender failed to prevent or even detect it. Thanks to the Geek Squad, it's gone.

 

[JCitron]

Thanks to all who responded. I restarted Trainz and started Task Manager, now running minimized. TM now shows 10.7GB memory in use and 5.1GB available. With the route loaded, I went to drive session. I'll let the session run minimized overnight and will check TM tomorrow and will post the results.

To JCitron's question about malware I had, it was PC App Store with ad popups for McAfee antivirus. Windows Defender failed to prevent or even detect it. Thanks to the Geek Squad, it's gone.

The ads could be legit - McAfee IS a virus. ;-)
I'm glad they found it.