DST Computer Crash Issue

[PlannerAlex]

Hello forums,

I didn't know where else to post this as it's not a bug or anything, so I wanted to here.

I play DST sometime with my friend but we keep having a problem where after usually less than an hour of play his computer will crash. This only happens with Don't Starve Together, as we've played several other games together for over 6 hours together with no issue on his behalf. We are not playing with any mods at all, and it always shuts down his computer, not just the game or anything.

I was wondering if anyone had any idea what the issue could be, he has no problem running the game (No poor frame rate or stuttering), and the shut down occurs around an hour of game play, we've tried reinstalling to no avail, and his computer doesn't seem to over heat or anything.

Thank you for any help you can offer

[Captain_Rage]

Hello,

Is it a laptop or a desktop computer?

Please elaborate on the crash and random shutdowns. Does it immediately die or does a bluescreen flash by? Does it instantly restart, power off or simply shut down?

Long ago a group a friends were playing a game together. In general one player didn't have issues when playing games, but with this game in particular his computer would simply die after ~ 40 min of gameplay. A hard reset always occurred. After alot of troubleshooting he took out one RAM from its slot (his computer had two) and suddenly the problem was gone.

The problem you are describing doesn't sound related to overheating, but it's better to make sure (check the temperature of the CPU and GPU). Check if there are any spikes or anything out of the ordinary.

It could be a problem related to RAM. In the motherboard manual it should be written in which slots the RAM should be installed, which RAM timings are compatible with each other, etc, etc, as well as additional information. It might provide helpful information.

You can download a diagnostic tool to check the RAM, burn it on a CD / install it on a USB drive, boot up your computer from it and run it over the night. Refer to this guide: http://www.wikihow.com/Test-PC-Ram-with-MemTest86

It runs off the CD / USB and nothing is installed or altered on your computer. You simply run it from the CD or USB drive.

You can also try setting DST to use only one CPU core. Refer to http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/37272/set-a-programs-affinity-in-windows-7-for-better-performance/ (maybe it is crashing when using more than one core in your case, for some reason).

You can check the log.txt file in your Don't Starve Together settings folder for hints also, or upload it here.

[GentlemanFridge]

May sound stupid, but isn't his battery just empty?

[PlannerAlex]

13 hours ago, Captain_Rage said:

Hello,

Is it a laptop or a desktop computer?

Please elaborate on the crash and random shutdowns. Does it immediately die or does a bluescreen flash by? Does it instantly restart, power off or simply shut down?

Long ago a group a friends were playing a game together. In general one player didn't have issues when playing games, but with this game in particular his computer would simply die after ~ 40 min of gameplay. A hard reset always occurred. After alot of troubleshooting he took out one RAM from its slot (his computer had two) and suddenly the problem was gone.

The problem you are describing doesn't sound related to overheating, but it's better to make sure (check the temperature of the CPU and GPU). Check if there are any spikes or anything out of the ordinary.

It could be a problem related to RAM. In the motherboard manual it should be written in which slots the RAM should be installed, which RAM timings are compatible with each other, etc, etc, as well as additional information. It might provide helpful information.

You can download a diagnostic tool to check the RAM, burn it on a CD / install it on a USB drive, boot up your computer from it and run it over the night. Refer to this guide: http://www.wikihow.com/Test-PC-Ram-with-MemTest86

It runs off the CD / USB and nothing is installed or altered on your computer. You simply run it from the CD or USB drive.

You can also try setting DST to use only one CPU core. Refer to http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/37272/set-a-programs-affinity-in-windows-7-for-better-performance/ (maybe it is crashing when using more than one core in your case, for some reason).

You can check the log.txt file in your Don't Starve Together settings folder for hints also, or upload it here.

Thanks, he has a laptop and the computer doesn't shut down, it like restarts, as if you had selected the option from shut down menu.

I also attached his client_log.txt, Thank you for your help

client_log.txt

[Captain_Rage]

You mean as in "Windows is shutting down..."? That sounds peculiar. I have never used Windows 10, but you can try checking the Power Settings (since he's using a laptop) or refer to some guide on how to disable automatic restarts related to Windows Update. Those seem to be causing extreme inconvenience for many users.

It doesn't make too much, if any, sense that Windows would reboot by itself only when playing Don't Starve Together. Can you confirm this somehow? I mean, if I understand you correctly that it behaves as if you would click the Restart button in the Start menu, or if it restarts in some unorthodox way.

[PlannerAlex]

1 hour ago, Captain_Rage said:

You mean as in "Windows is shutting down..."? That sounds peculiar. I have never used Windows 10, but you can try checking the Power Settings (since he's using a laptop) or refer to some guide on how to disable automatic restarts related to Windows Update. Those seem to be causing extreme inconvenience for many users.

It doesn't make too much, if any, sense that Windows would reboot by itself only when playing Don't Starve Together. Can you confirm this somehow? I mean, if I understand you correctly that it behaves as if you would click the Restart button in the Start menu, or if it restarts in some unorthodox way.

It only happens in Don't Starve Together, we tested it recently and played Minecraft and Orcs Must Die over 10 hours this weekend and not a single shut down on his end. With DST it lasted maybe 45 minutes before his computer force restarted. Also it doesn't show the shutting down text, it just cuts to a black screen, then automatically reboots.

[Captain_Rage]

Thanks for the clarification. That makes more sense. The main suspect is faulty RAM, I would say. Burn a CD, or format a USB drive, with MemTest86+, boot it up and let it check the RAM.

UltimateBootCD is a collection of diagnostic tools which you can burn on a disc and boot from. Refer to  http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/. There you'll find one or both versions of Memtest86/Memtest86+.

You can also make a bootable media with only Memtest86+. Refer to http://www.memtest.org/. (I've never tried this option myself.)

If you have a live CD of some GNU/Linux distro chances are that Memtest86+ is already included on the disc.

EDIT:

It sounds like a general instability issue (even though it occurs under specific circumstances). Updating the motherboard BIOS might also be a good start. Refer to the laptop manual.

[PlannerAlex]

26 minutes ago, Captain_Rage said:

Thanks for the clarification. That makes more sense. The main suspect is faulty RAM, I would say. Burn a CD, or format a USB drive, with MemTest86+, boot it up and let it check the RAM.

UltimateBootCD is a collection of diagnostic tools which you can burn on a disc and boot from. Refer to  http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/. There you'll find one or both versions of Memtest86/Memtest86+.

You can also make a bootable media with only Memtest86+. Refer to http://www.memtest.org/. (I've never tried this option myself.)

If you have a live CD of some GNU/Linux distro chances are that Memtest86+ is already included on the disc.

EDIT:

It sounds like a general instability issue (even though it occurs under specific circumstances). Updating the motherboard BIOS might also be a good start. Refer to the laptop manual.

Alright, thank you for your help, also did the log tell you anything, my friend was curious

[Captain_Rage]

Nothing extraordinary from what I see. I am no expert, though. The log got filled in for 33 min 26 s, so that's about how long it took for the computer to restart. Not sure what 'Serializing user:' means or if it's relevant. It shows up on the last few lines.

The only thing that raises an eyebrow is:

Quote

  GPU                       
    name                      AMD Radeon(TM) R5 Graphics
    driverDate                20160308000000.000000-000
    megsOfRam                 384
    refreshRate               60
    videoModeDescription      1366 x 768 x 4294967296 colors
    driverVersion             16.101.1311.1001

Update the video card drivers. Does he have AMD Crimson installed? That's the name of the AMD graphics card drivers.

As mentioned, checking if there is any newer BIOS version available might also be a good idea (it can also be a bad idea, but generally trying a newer BIOS it is a go-to if you experience instability issues).

[PlannerAlex]

5 hours ago, Captain_Rage said:

Nothing extraordinary from what I see. I am no expert, though. The log got filled in for 33 min 26 s, so that's about how long it took for the computer to restart. Not sure what 'Serializing user:' means or if it's relevant. It shows up on the last few lines.

The only thing that raises an eyebrow is:

Update the video card drivers. Does he have AMD Crimson installed? That's the name of the AMD graphics card drivers.

As mentioned, checking if there is any newer BIOS version available might also be a good idea (it can also be a bad idea, but generally trying a newer BIOS it is a go-to if you experience instability issues).

I'll relay that over, thanks again for your help, I'll let ya know if we fix everything