TRS19 has been crashing... a lot...

neilkitt

Long Live the Dash 8
Trainz 2019 has been just crashing to desktop for what seems like no reason at all pretty frequently, sometimes 4-5 times a day. It almost never actually happens after I do anything, just randomly when it seems like nothing is happening, ie. just sitting in the menu, and sometimes even with just the launch window or Content Manager open, not even the actual app.

If anyone could help explain this, I would really appreciate it.
My current Trainz build as of writing this is: 105170
I'm using a not especially powerful iMac running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 with:
3.4 GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
Radeon Pro 560 4 GB

I might also be able to put crash logs if I can import files into a forum post.

Thanks for any help.
 
Unfortunately, SP1 introduced several new issues. The only thing for it is to wait for the hotfix to be released.
 
There are many causes for crashes and not just in TRS19, which I also have no issues with as well.

- Did you run a database repair, or better an extended DBR? - press the CTRL-key at the same time while clicking on rebuild database for an extended repair. Repeated database crashes will cause further crashes. Anytime there's a crash, never cancel an automatic crash, and it's highly recommended you run a manual DBR if you are not prompted to run an automatic one. It's worth mentioning that canceling a DBR can cause crashes later on.

- You continued a crashed session or opened route. Revert the route or session instead of continuing. You may lose some work, but it's best to have the data integrity rather than lose everything later.

- You installed something recently from the DLS. Sometimes a corrupted asset can cause crashes due to a bad script not caught in Surveyor, but caught during Driver when the script runs in run-time since the scripts are not active in Surveyor. A bad mesh, or texture can cause this too. It may work fine, but became corrupted due to a crash. We've gone crazy with bad Speed Trees buried among working trees. Literally it's looking for a tree in a forest!

- Heat. Computer components are sensitive to heat. The initial symptom of a hot computer is performance will drop off dramatically from where it should be while running the program or others. Hardware once damaged by the heat will become more sensitive to higher temperatures as the components degrade, and then the system will crash as soon as any component is under stress. Check your system temperatures and implement cooling methods such as additional fans, cooling pads for laptops, and cleaning the inside of the computer. Clogged fans will kill a computer, and if you are not sure how to clean the fans, contact a computer hardware technician to assist you. Never, ever, ever, use a household vacuum cleaner to do this. Static electricity build-up in the hose and motor can cause irreversible damage to your computer.

- Bad or outdated drivers. AMD has had issues with some drivers lately causing black screens, poor performance, and even crashes. NVidia too hasn't been too spiffy in this regard either, but since you have an AMD card, this is worth investigating. My suggestion is to read the AMD support forums as well as other tech forums regarding this issue.

- Bad hardware. Run system diags on your hardware. Bad RAM (the DIMMs) can cause all kinds of crashes with some being very difficult to track down. Windows 10 and even Windows 7 (I think) has a rudimentary memory test built-in. I recommend running this cursory test and if it shows nothing, I then recommend using Memtest86 which is available on the web.

- Corrupted hard drive. Run chkdsk to look for corrupted data and bad sectors, or go one step further and run Hard Disk Sentinel for a more in depth picture.

- Low on disc space. Let's face it, Trainz, any version, is a disc hog. If you run out of space, you'll crash because the operating system needs space for swap files and temporary files in addition to the temporary files and opened program files that TRS19 uses.

- Your antivirus is stomping on the files. This can not only cause awful performance in it's most annoying case, but also this is the cause of crashing as well in some cases. The reason is the antivirus program see these files being opened and closed as Trainz operates, and it stomps on them and kills the program. Our recommendation is to exclude your Trainz data folder and TRS19 from real-time scanning.

- and more...
 
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Thanks, I'll try and put these into practice. It seems likely from that information that choosing 'use changes' is causing the frequent crashes.
 
Trainz crashed again today, and automatically ran a database rebuild afterwards, and once it finished that I decided to try an extended DBR. Is the window supposed to be labeled differently when you control/command click Run Database Rebuild (I tried both)? It took well over an hour, so I'm assuming it was extended . . . ?
 
G’day Neilkitt,

I am also getting random ctd’s lately.

Nothing seems to be obvious to me.

hoping the Trainz crew can work out what is happening.

To everyone out there please be safe in this current virus saturated world.

Russell
 
I WAS getting crashes. Now with 105100 version it seems stable. Program software failures are what prompted me to purchase Platinum. The Surveyor/Driver switcher was not my motivation. I never saw a pattern, nor a rationale for the crashes.
 
Just to add to John's likely problems:-

Both Game and TS19 push the GPU to its limits, thermally and owed consumptions. Do check out your power supply voltages. I had numerous crashes of the PC, but only when under load - the PSU couldn't keep the -5v line at -5v under load...

Colin
 
Try reducing ALL video enhancements to minimums. Then see what happens. The display may not be quite as "pretty" but it is quite sufficient to create or run routes. Visuals much worse than the those minimums, worked very well in 2004. A "form over function" equation.
 
Hello all,

I've also been experiencing issues with TRS19 crashing, it started happening whilst I was downloading stuff off the DLS and then continues to happen whilst TRS19 performs a DBR. Running an extended one doesn't change a thing, it happens specifically whilst the DBR is scanning for faulty assets so I'm assuming that something I've downloaded off the DLS is causing these issues.

Not sure if anyone has any suggestions of what I could do, I've already done stuff like running chkdsk, allowing Trainz through my firewall, running as administrator etc but this has done nothing to help at all...
 
I also have been experiencing a few crashes when reopening my route after saving and existing. I noticed after opening Manage Content and selecting Open For Edit, that my route was still open. Corrected this and restarted.
Also experiencing a few other unusual difficulties when running my Session. What worked yesterday does not always work today.
I am working through these problems slowly.
 
After a crash, your route and session will be open for edit. This allows you to choose whether to use the last manually saved version (Revert option) or the version from just before the crash (Use changes). Your decision depends upon how much work was done in between, and how corrupted things got by the crash occurring. You can load the route, select use changes, and look around to see that things look ok. If not, then exit without saving. It might also be a good time to use Save As so that you now have a new and an old copy of the route.

Any time you get a crash, if you're able to repeat the process, then please report the issue using our bug report form here: Trainz Bug Report
 
I make a habit of saving a cdp for both the route and session either when I have made lots of changes or at the end of each day.

After a crash, your route and session will be open for edit. This allows you to choose whether to use the last manually saved version (Revert option) or the version from just before the crash (Use changes). Your decision depends upon how much work was done in between, and how corrupted things got by the crash occurring. You can load the route, select use changes, and look around to see that things look ok. If not, then exit without saving. It might also be a good time to use Save As so that you now have a new and an old copy of the route.

Any time you get a crash, if you're able to repeat the process, then please report the issue using our bug report form here: Trainz Bug Report
 
Hello all,

I've also been experiencing issues with TRS19 crashing, it started happening whilst I was downloading stuff off the DLS and then continues to happen whilst TRS19 performs a DBR. Running an extended one doesn't change a thing, it happens specifically whilst the DBR is scanning for faulty assets so I'm assuming that something I've downloaded off the DLS is causing these issues.

Not sure if anyone has any suggestions of what I could do, I've already done stuff like running chkdsk, allowing Trainz through my firewall, running as administrator etc but this has done nothing to help at all...

If you had a crashing whilst downloading stuff, this can corrupt your data, and that will lead to more crashes including when running a DBR. I recommend running an Extended (deep) database repair. To do that, press the CTRL-key while selecting rebuild database. The interface looks the same, but the process takes a lot longer as it digs into the content.
 
You can add me to the list of those experiencing lots of crashes with TRS19 ever since I updated to SP1.
 
If you had a crashing whilst downloading stuff, this can corrupt your data, and that will lead to more crashes including when running a DBR. I recommend running an Extended (deep) database repair. To do that, press the CTRL-key while selecting rebuild database. The interface looks the same, but the process takes a lot longer as it digs into the content.

Hi John,

Thanks for the info. I have already tried doing an extended DBR but it still crashed. I'll give it another go just to see if I made a mistake first time.

Cheers,

Giac.
 
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Hi John,

Thanks for the info. I have already tried doing an extended DBR but it still crashed. I'll give it another go just to see if I made a mistake first time.

Cheers,

Giac.

This might be helpful too. How much RAM do you have in your system, meaning the DIMMs not total disk space?

Whatever amount you have, double your page file size. That will help with long DBRs since this is a very intensive memory and CPU-intensive process.

Good luck and let us know the progress.
 
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