Arch Linux

z0phi3l

Member

From: Waterbury CT

Registered: 2007-11-26

Posts: 278

Random hardlocks while gaming

It's happening again, one reason I moved from *buntu was the random hardlocks, well I'm getting them again, 3 times last night while playing, and only happens when I'm playing, mainly WoW

So any clue as to what is causing this? The locks are so bad all I can do is force power off and restart, what logs should I be checking etc,?

Gilneas

Member

From: Netherlands

Registered: 2006-10-22

Posts: 320

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

Are you able to monitor your graphics card's temperature?

synorgy

Member

From: $HOME

Registered: 2005-07-11

Posts: 272

Website

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

What video card are you using? I have recently gotten a couple of these and I  now suspect it has something to do with the new Catalyst drivers. Before I thought  it was the game, as I got an error about a 'failure to load texture' or some such thing. I'm doubting that it has to do with heat, as on both occasions the crash came about 2 minutes into the game and I have been able to play for much longer on other occasions.

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"Unix is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity." (Dennis Ritchie)

z0phi3l

Member

From: Waterbury CT

Registered: 2007-11-26

Posts: 278

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

I can check the temp through nVidia settings, might lower my warning threshold and see, but I've never gotten a warning

jacko

Member

Registered: 2007-11-23

Posts: 840

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

I doubt it's the video card, more likely then not its the CPU or Memory that is overheating because there is too much dirt caked on the heat sinks.

When was the last time u cleaned the inside of the case out?

go into your bios right after a restart and check the temps.

Last edited by jacko (2008-01-11 20:57:33)

z0phi3l

Member

From: Waterbury CT

Registered: 2007-11-26

Posts: 278

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

I'm hoping it's what jacko said, I ripped it open and vacuumed out a ton of dust

I had forgotten how long it had been since I'd cleaned it out

z0phi3l

Member

From: Waterbury CT

Registered: 2007-11-26

Posts: 278

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

Nope, cleaning out my system did no good

I'm going to try turning off Compiz and seeing if that helps any like I've heard

jacko

Member

Registered: 2007-11-23

Posts: 840

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

Nope, cleaning out my system did no good

I'm going to try turning off Compiz and seeing if that helps any like I've heard

hmm, well what was the last thing u changed before u started having lock-ups. Did u do a system upgrade? check the logs around the time it started and u will have a good lead to follow.

z0phi3l

Member

From: Waterbury CT

Registered: 2007-11-26

Posts: 278

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

Problem is, I have no clue when it started, so used to Windows crashing, forgot it wasn't supposed to be happening

japetto

Member

From: Chicago, IL US

Registered: 2006-07-02

Posts: 183

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

What video card?  I had that issue with an ATI card (9800XT) and I solved it by underclocking the card 10Mhz.  Seems to be that model overheats quite easily.

jacko

Member

Registered: 2007-11-23

Posts: 840

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

What video card?  I had that issue with an ATI card (9800XT) and I solved it by underclocking the card 10Mhz.  Seems to be that model overheats quite easily.

he said nvidia.

jacko

Member

Registered: 2007-11-23

Posts: 840

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

I would run memtest86 on the memory and see if it holds up overnight. I still suspect hardware failure.

double check all the connections, re-seat the cards. once u can eliminate hardware completely as a problem source then u can start looking more at specific software.

Last edited by jacko (2008-01-12 01:17:37)

schivmeister

Developer/TU

From: Singapore

Registered: 2007-05-17

Posts: 971

Website

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

1) Hardware - we still have no idea which nVidia GPU, we also need the model of the mobo and CPU
2) Device driver - only way to troubleshoot this is to try and reproduce in a non-Linux environment

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I need real, proper pen and paper for this.

Zer0

Member

From: Windsor, ON, Canada

Registered: 2006-08-25

Posts: 299

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

Install stress from community repo and put full load on the CPU, RAM, and HDD too see if it crashes.  Also run a memtest as mentioned earlier.
It sounds like a hardware issue..  What's the temps for your CPU run at?

z0phi3l

Member

From: Waterbury CT

Registered: 2007-11-26

Posts: 278

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

I'm going to try a stress test or two

So far, turning Compiz off seems to have worked

jacko

Member

Registered: 2007-11-23

Posts: 840

Re: Random hardlocks while gaming

Install stress from community repo and put full load on the CPU, RAM, and HDD too see if it crashes.  Also run a memtest as mentioned earlier.
It sounds like a hardware issue..  What's the temps for your CPU run at?

oh nice, I didn't know about this program.