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P3D freezing & buzzing noise


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Hello,

 

I have had my new computer for just a couple of months with P3D v4.1 installed and a few other common add-ons that ran completely fine for the first few weeks until recently.. 

 

Almost every time I use my sim after an amount of time my computer completely freezes with a loud buzzing noise coming through the speakers. While the buzzing noise stops after approximately 30 seconds, the screen remains completely frozen with no keyboard or mouse control and no further noise coming from P3D at all. No error message is ever displayed and the only way to get a response from the computer is to do a "hard restart" by holding down the off button on the actual computer. 

 

There is no pattern at all, the freezes can occur anywhere after 1 hr of use to 11hrs of use with any aircraft at any point within a flight.

 

As you can imagine, it is extremely frustrating especially after a long flight while on approach. I also cannot work out why this is happening with a relatively powerful system. 

 

All software and Windows updates are up-to-date. I'm wondering if it is a hardware problem... ?

 

My computer specs are:

 

Windows 10 64 bit
Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz

Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB

500GB SSD

1TB HDD

 

Any help at all would be really appreciated! 

 

Many many thanks in advance,

 

Aaron

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Hi Mathijs,

 

Many thanks for your response, 

 

Would this simply be the case of physically taking out all cards and memory strips and putting them back in while the computer is on or off? 

 

Apologies if this seems to be a simple question

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Hello Aaron,

Always power down the PC when installing/removing components.

Also ground yourself by touching metal such as a door-handle to avoid damaging your PC with static.

 

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14 hours ago, Aaron1 said:

Hello,

 

I have had my new computer for just a couple of months with P3D v4.1 installed and a few other common add-ons that ran completely fine for the first few weeks until recently.. 

 

Almost every time I use my sim after an amount of time my computer completely freezes with a loud buzzing noise coming through the speakers. While the buzzing noise stops after approximately 30 seconds, the screen remains completely frozen with no keyboard or mouse control and no further noise coming from P3D at all. No error message is ever displayed and the only way to get a response from the computer is to do a "hard restart" by holding down the off button on the actual computer. 

 

There is no pattern at all, the freezes can occur anywhere after 1 hr of use to 11hrs of use with any aircraft at any point within a flight.

 

As you can imagine, it is extremely frustrating especially after a long flight while on approach. I also cannot work out why this is happening with a relatively powerful system. 

 

All software and Windows updates are up-to-date. I'm wondering if it is a hardware problem... ?

 

My computer specs are:

 

Windows 10 64 bit
Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz

Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB

500GB SSD

1TB HDD

 

Any help at all would be really appreciated! 

 

Many many thanks in advance,

 

Aaron

 

 

I've had this same thing happen a few times and all my drivers are updated and hardware tests fine.  A dump file should be created when this happens and you can call Microsoft Support to have them help you with this. There may also be a two digit alpha numeric code on two LEDs on your motherboard. You can look up this code in your motherboard manual.

 

Please let us know what you find out.

 

Best wishes.

 

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Hi Dave and Jude, 

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

Would a dump file show the problem though? When the freeze happens I cannot do anything except for holding down the power button which then starts the computer again as normal with no problem presenting itself at this point.

 

I'm not totally familiar with how dump files work so apologies if I've misunderstood.

 

Aaron

 

Edit: I have scheduled a call with Microsoft Support tomorrow. I will report back with info.

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  • Aerosoft
23 hours ago, Aaron1 said:

Many thanks for your response, 

Would this simply be the case of physically taking out all cards and memory strips and putting them back in while the computer is on or off? 

 

Apologies if this seems to be a simple question

 

Off, and indeed just take them out, wipe the connector with a clean cloth and re-insert them.

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3 hours ago, Mathijs Kok said:

wipe the connector with a clean cloth and re-insert them.

 

Doing this could/will inject several hundred volts of static electricity. Recommend you avoid touching any connectors with anything, they fit tightly enough to prevent any lack of continuity.

 

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Unless there's some dirt on the connectors, then you have to wipe it off of course. But you're right, you should always be aware of possible static electricity. That's why I would use a clean and above all dry cotton cloth for it. Don't be too rough on the connectors since they're very fragile.

 

Also it never hurts to blow out the dust from the computer case, but in doing so keep hold of the fans in there. When they start turning they work as turbines, producing electricity that might damage the computer. Best way to remove the dust from the fans is with a soft brush.

 

Furthermore, as an advice for the future, make sure the computer is located somewhere it can "breathe". In other words, there should be plenty of space around it for ventilation. I've seen cases with completely built-in computers that got so hot they gave all kinds of strange errors, just because they didn't have enough air for their cooling systems. And last but not least, do you smoke? If so, don't do it at the computer! Cigarette smoke contains nicotine. If this ends up in the computer (and it likely does if you smoke near it) the nicotine attaches itself to the hardware and is likely to cause damage.

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Hi everyone, 

 

I spent a long time on the phone with Microsoft support who were very friendly but weren't overly helpful with anything further than doing basic checks on the computer. They weren't very familiar with P3D so I guess their knowledge was limited. The only thing they got me to do was to redo all the driver updates again.

 

So far the freeze hasn't happened and I have just completed a successful 13hr test flight. The one thing I did differently was I kept the view mode during cruise to the "outside spot" view and only going into the cockpit when I needed. I believe this may have been a key factor as the freeze has only previously occurred while in the cockpit of the PMDG 777. I don't know if by keeping it in the outside view it has prevented a kind of 'sleep mode' that the computer somehow goes into when in the cockpit where there isn't much movement or reqiured animation (lights, scenery etc). 

 

I will conduct another flight tomorrow only in the cockpit as i was doing before when the freezes were happening and report back. 

Let me know any thoughts you may have. 

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Ok, I have now done 4 long flights. 3/4 worked perfectly with no freezes at all. it was the 4th one where I chose to speed up the time by x2 half way into the flight which froze shortly after doing this. The two other successful flights were not sped up at all. 

 

Hmmm... 

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I remember a case many years ago, when i got the same issue with Battlefield2 lol. It think the cause was insufficient power delivery by the PC power adapter. I had to put in a 700W piece and all did run fine again...

 

As modern graphic cards will also be extremly power thirsty maybe you give that a try! Which WATT numbers does your piece deliver?

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  • 1 year later...
On 10/26/2017 at 3:58 PM, Aaron1 said:

Hello,

 

I have had my new computer for just a couple of months with P3D v4.1 installed and a few other common add-ons that ran completely fine for the first few weeks until recently.. 

 

Almost every time I use my sim after an amount of time my computer completely freezes with a loud buzzing noise coming through the speakers. While the buzzing noise stops after approximately 30 seconds, the screen remains completely frozen with no keyboard or mouse control and no further noise coming from P3D at all. No error message is ever displayed and the only way to get a response from the computer is to do a "hard restart" by holding down the off button on the actual computer. 

 

There is no pattern at all, the freezes can occur anywhere after 1 hr of use to 11hrs of use with any aircraft at any point within a flight.

 

As you can imagine, it is extremely frustrating especially after a long flight while on approach. I also cannot work out why this is happening with a relatively powerful system. 

 

All software and Windows updates are up-to-date. I'm wondering if it is a hardware problem... ?

 

My computer specs are:

 

Windows 10 64 bit
Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz

Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB

500GB SSD

1TB HDD

 

Any help at all would be really appreciated! 

 

Many many thanks in advance,

 

Aaron

 

Hi Aaron,

 

I know this thread is quite old now, but just wanted to ask if you ever resolved this issue, and how?

 

Several weeks ago I began having this issue, and I haven't been able to specify the issue because in between the issue happening and not happening, I did quite a few updates to the software and hardware (new HDD). Since then, I think that I've only been able to do one successful flight. Also, this ONLY happens when I am using my PC for Prepar3d.

 

I have removed the HDD to still end up with a crash, updated all the drivers, did a deep clean of nearly all the hardware, and much more. Hopefully your experience could help me solve this, I am suspecting maybe the PSU to be the culprit? Thanks!

 

One last thing, several years ago in 2016 when I first got my computer (similar to your situation), I began having this issue. I solved it after reading somewhere to restrict the CPU power usage to a max of around 85%. That worked then but I'm unsure if this is related, yet both had the exact same symptoms.

 

- Aku

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On 5/23/2019 at 7:35 PM, akuratsula said:

 

Hi Aaron,

 

I know this thread is quite old now, but just wanted to ask if you ever resolved this issue, and how?

 

I can't speak for him solving his issue, BUT I can say that I have had a bad monitor do that (buzz thru speakers and complete random lockups).

 

Your issue may be power supply related.  Power supplies are relatively cheap, too.

 

You might consider stress-testing your PC using a program like Prime95.  That will push your cpu to 100% and max its power demand, I would think -- this might help you narrow down the psu as the cause.

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11 hours ago, Mathijs Kok said:

There is no logical way a monitor can crash an application. 

 

Was that directed at me?

 

I misspoke.  I am not (quite) perfect and do make mistakes from time to time.  The faulty monitor did not CRASH any application.  Rather, it hummed and buzzed and bird chirped, and would occasionally flash to black, then flip on again.  It did however, effectively render my applications useless.   Since the person who resurrected this thread after two years likely experienced the same thing, I thought I would relay my own experience with a buzzing sound vis a vis a PC. 

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