This is Trainz 2004, but maybe better discussed here?

[AnalogOldguy]

Falcus, I'm thinking exactly the same way as you. This is going to be a long term situation. Yesterday, I ran the Memtest86+ for four hours or so, it had gotten through (I guess they call them 2 patterns using test #9), errors were zero.

Last night I worked with a route placing locos and rolling stock and running them in driver, then often back to Surveyor, not one crash (room temp was 71F).

Well, I have had a lot of good ideas from you guys! I'll keep checking around the computer for possibilities. I think the best answer is to start saving money for some new components. The program runs well enough to still enjoy Trainz 2004. It saves changes made in Surveyor. And these will run all night with no crashes in Driver.

Best wishes to you guys, and Thanks! Bob P.

 

[clam1952]

Could be looking at a voltage regulation issue? or perhaps a component on the motherboard or PSU on the way out, components do sometimes develop dry joints, where the solder isn't connecting properly, probably activated when things warm up under load, electrolytic capacitors start leaking, legacy of substandard components being passed off as good quality a few years back and both can cause random crashes.

 

[JCitron]

Well that's good-bad news, Bob. Good that the memory passed and in particular Test #9 which really stresses the memory. The bad news means we move on to other components. The next one to go for is the power supply. For your machine, they go for about $50 or less. When replacing components, it's best to go for the inexpensive, possible culprits, first instead of the more expensive things such as video cards and motherboards.

As Clam1952 (Malc) says, the components themselves maybe failing elsewhere, or perhaps there is what we call over here cold solder joints either inside or on the boards where the leads connect to the solder pads. These can cause really intermittent problems as components heat up and move slightly off the surface with thermal expansion.

Leaky capacitors can be extremely troublesome, and this issue actually put a couple of motherboard manufacturers out of business a number of years ago. You can actually check for this by looking at your motherboard and even inside your power supply where there are plenty of these can-type electrolytic caps. On the top of these small to medium-sized cans is a slit to allow for expansion rather than an explosion if they short out or are put in backwards. If they're leaking these will appear to be a bit rounded on the top instead of flat like a soda can. Also look on the top and around the device on the circuit board its self for a brownish goopy stuff that looks like someone spilt a cola drink on the board. The thing is this isn't cola, but is a very conductive electrolytic material that causes shorts across these places.

Here's something that might help..

http://www.thegeekpub.com/49/how-to-spot-a-leaky-capacitor/

http://www.overclockers.com/how-anyone-can-replace-leaking-capacitors/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

http://softsolder.com/2009/07/03/cold-fractured-solder-joints/ - Shows what they look like. Yes, these can be fixed by heating them with an iron. Others, such as those for the small chips on the motherboard, that are surface mounted are impossible to fix.



Sadly, if this is the case with your motherboard, you'll have to replace the board. For a power supply, you can easily replace that as I said above for $50 or less. Yes, there are kits available to replace leaky caps on motherboards, but I'm not sure if you are up to replacing them as that can be quite a chore, and given the age of the board wonder if it is worth it anyway.

John

 

[AnalogOldguy]

Hello people,

I have decided that I am just going to lay back and live with the problem. The program might be still useful through the winter months, or until some hardware completely breaks. It has not crashed in two days with the room temperature at 71F. (with routes running five or six trains in motion) and coming back to Surveyor and then back the Surveyor Sessions screen.

There are still things I can try, like for instance, I finally deleted those two J94 locomotives. In my mind, the problems began when I made a couple of accidental quick clicks on them in Railyard and the program crashed to desktop. After that, the first route I experienced a crash in was Yorkshire Plains. I think it was the same night. I also might try the memory sticks one at a time. Or spreading some new Arctic Silver on the CPU and GPU. If there are capacitors etc. going, I am not going to work on that. Some of you may be handy on this kind of repair, but I am chicken-hearted on this stuff!!

With my tight budget, getting new hardware will be a few months into the future, and maybe one component at a time. I also have a Pentium 4, HP 3.0 Ghz computer 1 Gig memory, I seldom use that I could try using as a game machine. I know that the power supply could prove inadequate!

John, I will still check your links, but will probably be too chicken-hearted to do repairs.

I want to thank all you guys who came up with ideas, and will go back and try some of them again.. like turning the firewall off might still be helpful.
My request ... let us call an end this thread ??? :'( people might be getting fairly well sick of it!

Hey, I just read something I can do.. JCitron said ...You can actually check for this by looking at your motherboard and even inside your power supply where there are plenty of these can-type electrolytic caps. On the top of these small to medium-sized cans is a slit to allow for expansion rather than an explosion if they short out or are put in backwards. If they're leaking these will appear to be a bit rounded on the top instead of flat like a soda can. Also look on the top and around the device on the circuit board its self for a brownish goopy stuff that looks like someone spilt a cola drink on the board.

:udrool: Rounded things and brownish goopy stuff I can understand!!!
Best wishes to everybody!!! Bob P.