Chessmaster 10th Edition

After ~ 6 mins running shuts down my comp, complete shutdown, no Windows(XP sp2) messages, nothing in Event Manager or any logs. Comp dies.

Nothing in hardware-> Device Manager

Happens all the time, system is fine except for some weird calls from IE7 (IEFrame) localized to dbPowerAmp & Process Manager. (Vista dll dwmapi.dll) Don't see how can be linked.
Running latest patches.

This has happened at least 6 times, have verified all

System is:

Case Casemall Atx Aten
PSU Atx Seventeam ST-550P-AG 550 Watts
Motherboard Asus P5N-E SLI NF6501 SLI 775
VGA EVGA GF 7600GT 256-P2-N554X-AX
Memory x 2 Crucial BL2KIT12864AA604 R (Ballistic)
Hard Drve 160 GB 7200RPM Seagate Barracuda SATA II
DVD +/-rw dual layer DRU-820 Sony
CD CRX230E CD-RW 52X32X52 INTERNAL Sony
CPU Intel Core 2 E6850 LGA 775PKg,
3 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 1333 MHz FSB

no sound card, for now, sound off


Problem with Core 2 or VGA?

There's no issues running Chessmaster 10th Edition on an Intel Core 2 Duo.

This definitely sounds like a hardware issue; perhaps with your video card (I assume you have the latest drivers?), or possibly faulty memory.

You mentioned you have dbPowerAmp -- if you have other virtual drive software, this could be the problem as well. If you look at the System Requirements on the box, you'll see the following caveat:

Note: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disc and virtual drives.

If you've just bought this, you can always contact Ubisoft Technical Support for help.

I don't think this has anything to do with Chessmaster.

I assume that your computer cuts out after running CMX for about 6 minutes, yes? If so, are you sure that you have adequate cooling for your processor, because CMX had a nasty habit of running at 100% processor the whole time which leats to CPU heat up and possibly an emergency cut-out when the processor gets too hot to prevent any damage to it.

To check if it's faulty memory, use the RAM checking utility memtest86+. You can get it from here. I suggest you read a bit of the documentation before you get started so you know what to do as if you've never used anything like this before it can be a bit daunting at first. If you get stuck, just reply to the thread or PM me and I'll talk you through it.

@KHollister: dbPowerAmp doesn't contain any virtual drive software, only a CD burner like nero or infrarecorder.

Edit reason: typo

This message has been edited. Last edited by: monstermunched,

I wasn't implying that dbPowerAmp was virtual drive/emulation software. However, there is an old post on the forum that mentions something about having problems with certain CD/DVD copy programs (such as Alcohol, Nero, and CloneCD).

That said, from the sounds of it, the problem is most likely due to bad memory, or (as you mentioned) an undercooled/overheating processor.

quote:

Originally posted by monstermunched:
I assume that your computer cuts out after running CMX for about 6 minutes, yes? If so, are you sure that you have adequate cooling for your processor...

I think that problem isn't CPU overheat. In case of emergency cut-out, you are not able to start you sistem for 5-10 minutes, while the CPU cools up to some "below crical level" temperature.

My opinon is that problem lies in bad memory. Unless you don't have some software problem.

Before purchasing new memory, you can try some other games, or try to re-install Vista.

He has Windows XP, but he gets message about Vista. Thats definatelly not from Chessmaster because 10th edition was released before Vista and thus can't give the error message about Vista.

This sudden shut-downs has nothing to do with Chessmaster. His computer has some serious issues unrelated to Chessmaster.

... message about Vista in xp!!

Try Nod32 then. There are a thousand od possibilities....

Do you have any software relative to Vista? (Trasformation pack,etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by stefanz:
... message about Vista in xp!!

Thats why I said his computer has some serious issues

Thanks for all your posts. I believe I have narrowed it down to either:

1) Overheating, thus shutdown, my case is Brazilian and WILL shut down comp (thermal sensors on cpu, vga, and northbridge) if temp too high - unfortunately little documentation on how this works, and I am still trying the forums in Brazil for any pointers. Especially fans & placement.

2) Memory - even though Crucial Ballistic, 2 x 1Gb, always a possibility. Though I may have another possibility, comp is NEW - just built 1 week ago, so may still be in burn-in phase.

For hardware diagnostics I use "The Ultimate Boot CD" - nice set of free utilities including memtest86+ - suggest stick with the Linux version, as I find the Windows version not to be as good. I run Debian Linux on my old comp.

This is the 8th comp I have built, and I have been "working" with comps since 1968 (Fortran programs running on IBM 360 mainframe) Punched cards, tape??

I thought I would post as I do not run ANY other games - I have been playing Chess since I was about 10 years old, and it is the only computer game I have on my comp. (This is a recommendation for ChessMaster.)

I will temporally install other games - to check them out for my grandkids, some games are hard to run in Brazil as we do not have the "best" hardware - either not availabel or too expensive.

Anyway, thanks for all your posts- the dwmapi.dll was just an afterthought, I am tracking that through ProcessManager, IBProcMan, Dependency Walker and other programs which delve down into the dll calls.

Please end this thread - and once more thanks, I guess I just wanted NOT to believe it could be memory related - the Crucial memory I bught in the states, not sold in Brazil.

Dennis Wright
B.A.Sc U of W - 1972
M.A.Sc U of T - 1976

Yes, I am Canadian

2 - ...Burn-in phase.... I'm not sure it works like this.. If hardware is broken or damaged, it will stay like this.

I had similar problem few years ago. I think game was NFS 5. And it's turn out to be memory problem. I replaced it, and everything was ok then.

My friend also encountered something like this. But, in his case, comp. was shutting down no matter which application he used ( after few minutes ). Again, it was memory issue.

TRY THIS !!!! - if I understood properly, you have 2 slots. Remove one of them and then start game. If it is ok then, you will have removed damaged memory slot. If it's still shutting down, try with removed mem... I assume you understand what I tend to tell...