Quitting Trainz until there's nothing like 09!

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jammydodger

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Hi all, I'm afraid that I'm quitting Trainz, until there is a version which isn't as 'bad' as TS09 and that my system is capable of without constantly crashing or not even opening. I will stay on the scene here and on the UKTrainz forum too though.
 
There should be a place on the forums specifically for deserters. There seems to be a few each week. Call it the "pink slip" or the "exit interview". Or maybe "AWOL" or "Elvis has left the building"...
 
Hey Jammy,
I understand your frustrations, so let me recomend using a lower version of Trainz, such as TRS04, TRS06 or Classics 1,2 or 3.
I do not recomend Ulitmate because that is before Auran "revamped" the Trainz franchise.

Hope this helps,
Woody
 
jammydodger said:
Hi all, I'm afraid that I'm quitting Trainz, until there is a version which isn't as 'bad' as TS09 and that my system is capable of without constantly crashing or not even opening. I will stay on the scene here and on the UKTrainz forum too though.
Click to expand...

Have you tried TC3? It's about the most stable at the moment.

Cheerio John
 
I would imagine he has tried earlier versions by looking at his join date. Trainz is the only series of train sims I have tried. But after researching, it still seems to be the best and most comprehensive. Warts and all. 06 works for me, I love it. There are some bugs, but I can deal with them. I think in my case I just need a better 'puter. I'm sure 09 will be great one day, it just might take a while. I'll try it then.
 
Yes all, I have used TC3, TC1&2, 06 and 04. I quit TC1&2 to use TC3. Then today, it crashed as soon as it loaded the menu, or a mode or a layout. So I copied the local folder, un-installed it, tried 06. It wouldn't start once. Every time, I left it for about 20 minutes, and nothing. It just had the Launcher menu frozen with the start button and it's bullet point in green forever. I don't want to go back as far as TRS2004 because I want to do iPortal and stuff with my friends. I've been through this before and I've had enough!
!"£$%^&*<>?@!~""!"£$%%**"^^!$"*"4^!!"(&*^*)("£$(*"&£%!&%^"!$^!"£^%!"$*&^!$@@L<?<?|!
 
SP2 for 09 is coming out soon; you sure you don't want to wait around and see if that fixes your problems??

peter
 
I would agree that your system needs some basic house keeping...

if it takes forever to load your layout, it is possible your hard disk drive is severly fragmented and your system needs have a disk defragmenter run several times to optimize the system.

Anytime someone says they have loaded and unloaded different versions of TRAINZ and those also crash, then the computer is the problem not the software.

If you defragment your had drive and then install your TRAINZ software, take another look at your hard disk drive by using the Disk Defragmenter Analyzer and see how it got fragmented again.

Run the Defrag at a minimum of 1 time per week or depending on how much stuff you get from the Download Station. If you upload and download tons of stuff your drive could be at or nearly full and you don't have enough free space on your hard disk drive to run any software application efficiently...

another note:
SYSTEM RAM MEMORY:::
Windows XP requires a minimum of 512 MB of System RAM. If you want to run TRAINZ 2009, which requires a minimum of 1GB of system RAM, then you need a minimum of 1.5 GB of System RAM Memory. If you add other programs that run in the background at the same time, you may not have enough RAM memory to run everything.

Use your Task Manager to see how many PROCESSES are currently running and you can also sort that list to see MEM USAGE and CPU percent. Kill off those programs you dont need before starting TRAINZ.
 
illinoiscentral said:
Jammy,
Given how all the versions refuse to work right, it may actually be your system.
Click to expand...

Have you ever done a little housekeeping? When was the last time you did any of these:

Run Chkdsk for damaged files that may be lurking?
Use CCleaner to get rid of unwanted junk?
Use CCleaner to clean out the registry and get Trainz back on the track?


All of the above (collectively) will take 15 minutes of your time.

Then you could do this:

DeFrag your hard disk.

Finally, is your system capable of running Trainz, or are you using a Mini minor to cart shipping containers?

Re david McGill's comment re Defrag. I've been repairing software issues since 1983 in the days of cp/m and before personal hard disks were even invented. (25 years) I reckon I've got 5,000 dead or terminally ill computers working again in that time. Yet, I defrag my hard disk every 6 months to a year if I remember and the results do little or nothing to improve the speed or operation of my computer. I do not recommend regular defragging because it just isn't worth it. Defragging does become an issue if you constantly delete lots of small files (say pics) and install huge ones (say movies).

In my humble opinion, backed up from years of experience, the following things in this order will optimise your machine:

Turn off all unwanted Quickstart items on the bottom right near the clock. Four or five should be the maximum there. Make sure you turn off all the updaters (Adobe, Quicktime etc.)
Run Chkdsk with the /F option and fix all damaged files.
Run CCleaner
Run CCleaner Registry fix (second item on menu), but here's the trick! Run it three (3) times. You may be amazed to see how many items the second and third passes pick up. Do it until you get No more issues, but three times is enough.

By now your machine should buzz!

If not,

Replace the video card drivers (Do it anyway)
Upgrade the memory to 1 gig or preferably more. The more memory you have the better.
Upgrade your 3D card.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Sometimes, as I found out, other programs that may have caught a bug or virus may be causing problems with Trainz.
I had Limewire Music Program and it caught a bug in a aosng and screwed my sound up.

Check these programs, I also recommend running a security scan.

Cheers,
Woody
 
illinoiscentral said:
Jammy,
Given how all the versions refuse to work right, it may actually be your system.
What are you using?

Cheers,
Woody
Click to expand...
Okay... full system specs:
Code: 
----------------------------
Auran Trainz Diagnostic Tool
----------------------------
    Version : 1.0
Compiled on : Jul  4 2005 14:59:50

------------------
System Information
------------------
       Time of this report : 27/05/2009, 19:55:14
          Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
               Screen Size : 1440 x 900
                 Ram Found : 2047 MB
                  Ram Free : 1332 MB
          Virtual Ram Free : 1972 MB
       Raw Cpu Clock Speed : ~3.00 GHZ
                    OEM ID : 0
      Number of processors : 2
                 Page size : 4096
            Processor type : 586
    Processor Architecture : 0
           Processor Level : 15
        Processor Revision : 17155
    Allocation Granularity : 65536
                    3D-Now : Available
             FP operations : Not Emulated
        FP precision error : Does not occur
                       MMX : Available
Physical Address Extension : Available
         RDTSC instruction : Available
           SSE instruction : Available
          SSE2 instruction : Available

------------
Test Results
------------
                      CPU Speed : ~3.00 GHZ : Passed (This is actually 2X 3.00Ghz Cores!)
                    System Memory : 2047 MB : Passed
            Hard Drive Space: 68.98 GB Free : Passed
                       OpenGL : Version 3.0 : Passed
            DirectX : Version 9.0c or later : Passed
               Desktop Mode : 32 bit colors : Passed
Card Type : GeForce 8800 GS/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW! : Passed
     Video Driver's Age : Less than 1 month : Passed
                    AGP Memory : 502MB Free : Passed
                      Video Memory : 384MB  : Passed
                    Stencil Buffer : 8 Bits : Passed
              Multi-Texturing : 8 Textures  : Passed
                    Texture Compression DXT : Passed
                          Texture Combiners : Passed
               Vertex Shaders : Version 3.0 : Passed
                Pixel Shaders : Version 3.0 : Passed
                               Bump Mapping : Passed
              Spherical Environment Mapping : Passed
                  Cubic Environment Mapping : Passed
                             Vertex Buffers : Passed

-------------------------------
Extra Details Return from Tests
-------------------------------
                 CPU Speed : ~3.00 GHZ : CPU Speed : ~3.00 GHZ (Yes, as above 2X3.00GHz Cores!)
               System Memory : 2047 MB : System Memory : 2047MB (1344MB free)
       Hard Drive Space: 68.98 GB Free : Drive C:\ : Total 232.88 GB Free 68.98 GB
                                         
                  OpenGL : Version 3.0 : OpenGL : Version : 3.0.0
                                         Vendor : NVIDIA Corporation 
                                         Card : GeForce 8800 GS/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!
       DirectX : Version 9.0c or later : Driver : nv4_disp.dll
                                         Description : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS 
                                         Product : 6 Version : 14 SubVersion : 11 Build : 8585 
                                         Driver not WHQL signed
          Desktop Mode : 32 bit colors : Desktop Mode : 1440x900 with 32 bit colors
Video Driver's Age : Less than 1 month : Contact your card manufacturer at www.nvidia.com for the latest drivers.
                                         Card's driver date is Thu Apr 30 22:02:00 2009
                                         File Version :6.14.11.8585
                                         File Description :NVIDIA Compatible Windows 2000 Display driver, Version 185.85 
                                         Product Version :6.14.11.8585
               AGP Memory : 502MB Free : Total AGP Mem : 502MB 
                                         Free AGP Mem : 502MB
                                         AGP Enabled = true,  AGP Exists = true,  AGP Status = Enabled
                 Video Memory : 384MB  : Total Video Mem : 384MB
               Stencil Buffer : 8 Bits : OpenGL stencil bits : 8 
                                         DirectX stencil bits : 8
         Multi-Texturing : 8 Textures  : OpenGL texture count : 32 
                                         DirectX texture count : 8
          Vertex Shaders : Version 3.0 : OpenGL vertex shader : Version 3.0 
                                         DirectX vertex shader : Version 3.0
           Pixel Shaders : Version 3.0 : OpenGL pixel shader : Version 3.0 
                                         DirectX pixel shader : Version 3.0
 
Johnk said:
Have you ever done a little housekeeping? When was the last time you did any of these:

Run Chkdsk for damaged files that may be lurking?
Use CCleaner to get rid of unwanted junk?
Use CCleaner to clean out the registry and get Trainz back on the track?


All of the above (collectively) will take 15 minutes of your time.

Then you could do this:

DeFrag your hard disk.

Finally, is your system capable of running Trainz, or are you using a Mini minor to cart shipping containers?
Click to expand...
See my specs in my above post. The last time I did all of those was only 2 days ago actually! :D
 
Very similar Spec PC to one of the ones I use here which has no problem running 2009 on XP and Vista 32 bit and Windows 7 64 bit which loads a lot quicker and has better frame rates. I do have 4 gig of Ram in it though.

If that GeForce 8800 doesn't have a fan fit one or arrange some coooling for it, you could fry eggs on mine until I butchered the heatsink a bit and added a fan.

Other things I have found that can cause unexplained crashes lockups or unreliability with memory / graphic intensive applications on an otherwise seemingly healthy PC are:

Disk drive developing bad sectors or other problems, check the smart readings.

Faulty Ram, can seem OK until an application tries to write to the defective part of the Ram, check it with one of the many ram diagnostic programs.

Under rated or poor quality power supply, voltage regulation can become unstable under heavy loading.

And the obvious ones overheating due to dust, dead or slow running fans, loose heatsinks, lose fitting ram Ram, loose fitting graphics card or any other card in a slot.

Also worth looking at Event Viewer for any errors or strange happenings occurring at the same times you are having problems with Trainz, disk errors delayed writes and such like can show up in there.
 
Clam1952 raises a good point. I recently placed 2 second-hand ram chips a friend had obtained for his computer. This made it 1 gig, up from a previous 256 meg. The computer ran like a rocket and everything looked and worked fine until he started playing a game - Return to Ravenhearst. About 20 to 30 minutes into each session, the game would hickup. I can't recall the exact problem, but I think it just froze. As I said, the RAM looked good, no beeps on startup and a full 1 gig reported by Windows. I downloaded and ran a little program I used in the past called Memtest. It installs on a floppy and runs a test without windows being loaded. Memtest reported that one of the two chips was faulty. We removed the chip and replaced it with the old 256 meg chip. With 760meg under the bonnet, his computer has a new lease of life and no more hickups. Memtest is a free program, maybe it's worth a try.

Memtest Just let it run for ten minutes. Don't worry about any of the options.
 
motorbreath said:
There should be a place on the forums specifically for deserters. There seems to be a few each week. Call it the "pink slip" or the "exit interview". Or maybe "AWOL" or "Elvis has left the building"...
Click to expand...

Be careful not to be sarcastic...:D
 
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