Anyone have this weird PC problem?

[Tranquility]

I started getting this error recently, when I was trying to play Prince of Persia: Sands of Time on my PC again. It comes in different disguises. Sometimes the game just freezes for a while with the sound going on, and then the sound is replaced by static and I have to do a hard reboot. Sometimes the computer screen turns off and the power button glows orange as if I just turned off the PC, and the sound turns into static.

Two formats didn't fix the problem. It also doesn't happen with all games. It happens A LOT with Sands of Time and Painkiller (by A LOT I mean something in the vicinity of every 10-15 minutes), but it never happened with Half-life 2. It happens occasionally with San Andreas or Vice City, but the ATI VPU recovery fixes it before it crashes completely. But when it does happen while I'm playing Vice City or San Andreas, it recurs 2 or 3 times during the same play session and it's usually fixed by VPU recover every time.

Before formatting the first time, I used to get an error in event log which had something about RAID drivers. I don't use a RAID configuration, so I disabled it in Device Manager. The RAID error stopped appearing, but the crashing continued. After the second format, the error produced was as follows:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: PerfNet
Event Category: None
Event ID: 2002
Date: 3/16/2005
Time: 11:19:52 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HAL9000
Description:
Unable to open the Redirector service. Redirector performance data will not be returned. Error code returned is in data DWORD 0.

I googled around for this PerfNet error for solutions, but didn't come up with anything concrete. I reformatted again recently because I really wanted to play Painkiller, but I started getting the same problem again. And this is without running any background programs, not even an antivirus, just ZoneAlarm.

My hardware config is: Athlon XP 2500+, MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR, 512 MB TwinMOS DDR400 RAM, Seagate Barracuda 160 GB 7200 rpm with 8 mb buffer, Radeon 9700 Pro.

Any help with this would be very much appreciated. It's a very frustrating problem.

[Moose]

If you're using the "Microsoft signed" version of your ATI drivers, I strongly recommend switching to ATI's "latest", directly from their site. The "signed" ones are junk.

You may also have problems with games running OpenGL, apparently there's a problem in the library unique to ATI cards.

Noting your computer's name is HAL9000, I'd suggest closing the bay doors (or maybe that'll just make things worse? Hmm.)

[Arena]

Have you checked the fan on the radeon card for functionallity or a lot of dust? A possibility is that you're GPU is getting to hot. If you have the overclocking feature enabled, try and disable it in the Catalyst Control Center.

[Davros]

Have you checked the fan on the radeon card for functionallity or a lot of dust? A possibility is that you're GPU is getting to hot. If you have the overclocking feature enabled, try and disable it in the Catalyst Control Center.

I'll second that, especially as it's only happening during games. I smell cooking hardware ;)

A good going over with a can of air should do the trick. Failing that, you might want to look into some extra cooling fans for your case.

I had a similar problem with one of my pc's a few months back, only that time it was my cpu fan. It was not really up to the job and a lot of hot air hanging around in the case wasn't helping. I stuck an extra case fan in to help shift it and didn't have a problem after that.

[Tranquility]

If you're using the "Microsoft signed" version of your ATI drivers, I strongly recommend switching to ATI's "latest", directly from their site. The "signed" ones are junk.

You may also have problems with games running OpenGL, apparently there's a problem in the library unique to ATI cards.

Noting your computer's name is HAL9000, I'd suggest closing the bay doors (or maybe that'll just make things worse? Hmm.)

The pod bay doors have been closed :)
I heard of the OpenGL problems with ATI cards. But I don't think there's much of a difference between the signed and the beta ATI drivers. The beta ones, from what I've heard, are basically the same as the signed ones, but without the certification.

Have you checked the fan on the radeon card for functionallity or a lot of dust? A possibility is that you're GPU is getting to hot. If you have the overclocking feature enabled, try and disable it in the Catalyst Control Center.

Nope no overclocking.

I'm gonna try cleaning the GPU fan, and if that doesn't work I'll try reverting to old ATI drivers that didn't cause problems.

Thanks for the responses so far.

[Maksutov]

If things "cooking" is a concern, there are numerous free programs out there for monitoring temperatures, not just for the CPU, but also for your hard drive(s), general environment, etc. They use minimal resources and are very informative.

However, if you find some heat and tell your computer to "cool it", to which it responds, "I'm afraid I can't do that.", well, time for a new name.

[farmerjumperdon]

Your computer is trying to tell you something about the games you're playing.

Just giving you the business. Couldn't resist.

:lol:

[Lianachan]

Hmmm......... those sound almost exactly like problems you don't get with console gaming!

:D

I have similar problems with some games on my PC, but have never been sufficiently bothered to do anything about it.

[Tranquility]

Latest update: I checked the video card, and I felt the heatsink was quite hot, though the actual card wasn't very hot. So I cleaned the heatsink fans by blowing at them :D , for a long time. Anyway this didn't really fix the problem. Painkiller crashed after about half an hour, although this time the ATI VPU recover managed to prevent it from completely crashing and I played on for a couple of minutes then saved and closed.

I'll try switching back to the 4.12 drivers which never gave me any problems, though I doubt that's the reason.

If things "cooking" is a concern, there are numerous free programs out there for monitoring temperatures, not just for the CPU, but also for your hard drive(s), general environment, etc. They use minimal resources and are very informative.

However, if you find some heat and tell your computer to "cool it", to which it responds, "I'm afraid I can't do that.", well, time for a new name.

CPU temperature is usually fine. I have a Coolermaster Aero 7+ heatsink/fan combo installed on it so that keeps it pretty cool, and I just recently installed a wheel that lets you control the fan speed and I usually keep that pretty high.
Didn't know there was a utility to check the VPU temperature though, any links?

I'm afraid if I try to change its name, it won't let me, because it would not be in the interest of the long-term program :oops:

Your computer is trying to tell you something about the games you're playing.

Just giving you the business. Couldn't resist.

C'mon now, in Painkiller I'm just blasting the heck out of demons and zombies. I cannot think of a holier endeavour :D

[The Supreme Canuck]

I had a similar problem coupled with massive heating. We threw in a case fan, but that didn't do any good. Eventually we brought it in to the shop and they replaced the power source. Apparently it wasn't powerful enough and was heating up... or something like that. Either way my computer is fine now. :)

[Tranquility]

I had a similar problem coupled with massive heating. We threw in a case fan, but that didn't do any good. Eventually we brought it in to the shop and they replaced the power source. Apparently it wasn't powerful enough and was heating up... or something like that. Either way my computer is fine now. :)

I just recently replaced the crappy power supply I had with a much better Thermaltek 480W power supply, so I don't think that's the issue :)

[mid]

I'm pointing the finger at the graphics card, possibly poor conductivity between the GPU and the heatsink. It's what caused my GeForce2 to do the same thing with some titles before it packed in completely.

The fact that the ATI emergency recovery thing keeps firing is a dead giveaway that it's in that area.

[Maksutov]

[edit]CPU temperature is usually fine. I have a Coolermaster Aero 7+ heatsink/fan combo installed on it so that keeps it pretty cool, and I just recently installed a wheel that lets you control the fan speed and I usually keep that pretty high.
Didn't know there was a utility to check the VPU temperature though, any links? Try this link. (http://mbm.livewiredev.com/) It's configurable so that if you have a thermocouple and extra connection on the MB, you can set it up to monitor the VPU. Freeware.

Plus there's freeware out there for VPU monitoring based on the specific card you have. Google search your video card along with "freeware" and "monitor".

Then most current MBs have built-in hardware and software utilities to check VPU temp and fan speed. Check your MB manual. You know, that booklet that's covered with dust? ;)

[Taks]

i've got a buddy that's an expert in PCs... he's built hundreds over the years and typically has heard of every problem imaginable... i've asked him if he's heard of the error and will report back when he replies. i have heard of it myself, but do not know what the resolution/cause is.

taks

[Taks]

chris' reply:

That is the performance monitor I believe, trying to access a service that isn't running. Did he disable a bunch of services? I'm not sure what the redirector service does, but I remember there were a few overflow vulnerabilities for it a while back. I would be he is not patched to at least SP2.

my guess would be you need to search the event log for services that failed to start, and then figure out why. there may be a hardware problem, but it doesn't seem like it to me. some process got corrupted and won't start, which is what is happening. the problem, however, may not be the redirector service, but some other process or service that it requires first. things can get ugly when you poke around in the service trees.

taks

[dvb]

I'll try switching back to the 4.12 drivers which never gave me any problems, though I doubt that's the reason.

If the 4.12 drivers never gave you any problems, then I would assume that the drivers you're currently using are indeed the problem. At least, that would seem to be the most logical conclusion. :)

Also make sure that you're updated to the latest directx version if you aren't already, along with SP2.

[taurus26]

I believe my new logical computer would fix all those problems!

[Taks]

yes, it would... but it wouldn't do anything at all, so i guess that's no problems.

taks