Saved session crashes

[khenson]

I have a problem as follows:

I have a fairly large layout and if I start a brand new session everything works fine. At the end of "play", I save the session. When this session is re-opened, everything works fine for about 10 minutes and then crashes. The computer has to be unplugged and on start up I get 4 beeps (Dell XPS Windows 7). I believe this is to do with the RAM. The only way to start the machine is to open the computer box and push on the RAM modules. Then it re-boots normally. It just seems to happen on this saved session and nothing else. Otherwise the computer is fine with other things. What is causing this? Could be something to do with the RAM modules rather than the Trainz software--TS12 original build.

Any suggestions gratefully received as not a techo re computers

 

[JCitron]

This is definitely a memory issue. This may or may not be your particular model, but the beep code is the same.

http://commweb-ps3.us.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19510440

The memory could be flaky, or perhaps heat sensitive. I suggest you run memtst86 for several loops. This will indicate exactly if it is a memory failure, which will require replacing the faulty DIMM.

http://www.memtest.org/

A memory problem can cause all kinds of weird problems. Keep in mind that some programs may not push the system, or may not access the RAM in a particular fashion or even certain locations. This will mean that the computer will work until that memory is touched. RAM will get quite warm as it's being used, however, graphics and CPU-intensive programs make use of memory in a much more intense fashion. This causes the chips to get very warm. Some components as they begin to fail, become either heat or cold sensitive. If they are heat sensitive, they will fail and cause the computer to crash over time.

There are also other causes of heat sensitivity. The individual memory chips are surface mounted on to the circuit board which makes up a DIMM. The small legs that stick out from the chip are barely touching the surface, and are only hold on with a tiny dab of solder. If the joint is loose, there maybe contact when the system is first turned on, but due to thermal expansion the legs moves a tiny bit and loses connection. This would explain the RAM working after reseating it. When you squish the RAM DIMMs back into the motherboard, your are flexing the boards a tiny bit and the legs are now making contact. Be careful doing this as this can cause a problem with your motherboard, possibly cracking the PCB from too much pressure, or causing broken connections with the DIMM sockets.


In the past, I have had some odd problems due to memory issues. I had a route that I could drive for exactly 1/2 hour. At first I thought it was content in a particular area and deleted stuff. This didn't work, and then one day I drove in another direction - there were two branches, and exactly 1/2 hour into the drive, the system crashed. Eventually other programs gave me problem. The problem turned out to be a bad DIMM which I was able to replace under warranty.

John

 

[khenson]

This is definitely a memory issue. This may or may not be your particular model, but the beep code is the same.

http://commweb-ps3.us.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19510440

The memory could be flaky, or perhaps heat sensitive. I suggest you run memtst86 for several loops. This will indicate exactly if it is a memory failure, which will require replacing the faulty DIMM.

http://www.memtest.org/

A memory problem can cause all kinds of weird problems. Keep in mind that some programs may not push the system, or may not access the RAM in a particular fashion or even certain locations. This will mean that the computer will work until that memory is touched. RAM will get quite warm as it's being used, however, graphics and CPU-intensive programs make use of memory in a much more intense fashion. This causes the chips to get very warm. Some components as they begin to fail, become either heat or cold sensitive. If they are heat sensitive, they will fail and cause the computer to crash over time.

There are also other causes of heat sensitivity. The individual memory chips are surface mounted on to the circuit board which makes up a DIMM. The small legs that stick out from the chip are barely touching the surface, and are only hold on with a tiny dab of solder. If the joint is loose, there maybe contact when the system is first turned on, but due to thermal expansion the legs moves a tiny bit and loses connection. This would explain the RAM working after reseating it. When you squish the RAM DIMMs back into the motherboard, your are flexing the boards a tiny bit and the legs are now making contact. Be careful doing this as this can cause a problem with your motherboard, possibly cracking the PCB from too much pressure, or causing broken connections with the DIMM sockets.


In the past, I have had some odd problems due to memory issues. I had a route that I could drive for exactly 1/2 hour. At first I thought it was content in a particular area and deleted stuff. This didn't work, and then one day I drove in another direction - there were two branches, and exactly 1/2 hour into the drive, the system crashed. Eventually other programs gave me problem. The problem turned out to be a bad DIMM which I was able to replace under warranty.

John

Thanks for your advice