A game so good, the laptop can't handle it.

Jul 22, 2007 at 8:57 PM
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As many of you know, Harmony Forest is finished and I've moved on in the game. But yesterday, I was wandering the woods, taking in all my hard work and snapping screenshots, when the framerate seemed to get choppy. At first I assumed my antivirus software was running in the background, so I ignored it, but it got worse. Nothing else was open, but as I crossed into the deepest part of the forest, the laptop shut off! [insert power off noise] It was as if the thing had been unplugged with no battery inside. No warning, just -off-...

Now, this isn't the first time my laptop has shut down unexpectedly. There have been times where I'm running a Flash/javascript game or I'm rewinding in the emulator a lot, trying to test things over and over, when the laptop suddenly quit. But this is the first time it gave up simply from running ZSNES too long.

Now, I know this isn't the best way to ask for help -- I should probably research it online and read from the experts -- but I'd rather spend the time working on Zelda3C; I thought I'd start this thread and see if anyone could suggest anything. My theory is that, as the laptop works hard for an extended period, its temperature rises and the vents are too clogged with dust or debris. Another theory is that I have a slow or broken fan. I dread opening up this laptop and trying to fix it... It's so much more compact than a normal computer. Still, if that's what it takes... Any thoughts on this?
 
Jul 22, 2007 at 11:05 PM
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Well I'm no expert at fixing laptops, but I'll offer up an alternate suggestion. Maybe a different emulator wouldn't take up as many resources? Some incarnation of snes9x might work. I know that BSNES would take even *more* power than ZSNES.

It sounds to me that you're looking for a solution to the laptop problem itself, though. Wish I could be more helpful there...
 
Jul 23, 2007 at 2:49 AM
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are you sure the battery didnt just die, or did you also have it plugged in?

ive been having a similar problem with my psp. ill be on the net, when suddenly, the screen freezes, and then, POOF! it shuts off. ive had to retype the same message several times because of it. because of that a computer will be more than welcome(for several other reasons, found elsewhere in this forum.)

good luck figuring it out. just in case, you may want to backup all your files(prolly what i shoulda done b4 mine crashed.
 
Jul 25, 2007 at 1:06 PM
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sounds like cpu or video card overheating.

you should get something to monitor your cpu and video card temperature over long periods (just have it running in the background or something).

It's either that or you got some weirdo malware on the laptop which just happen to run into an infinite loop and crash your laptop.

In zelda3's case, having more than 16 sprites on a screen will cause the game to lag a bit, only lag. Emulators don't tend to bump up cpu/video card usage that much (esp. on old system like snes) they tend to use a constant amount of video card and cpu power all the time as they're refreshing your screen/running code all the time regardless of link swing his sword, walking or standing around doing nothing.
 
Jul 25, 2007 at 2:04 PM
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Same thing happened to my laptop for a while untill I fixed it.

Its caused by over heating, I took mine apart and found the fan was clogged up with dust so I cleaned it out and it hasnt overheated since.
 
Jul 25, 2007 at 8:00 PM
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Thanks for the advice, everyone. I plan to back everything up and open this laptop really soon...
 
Jul 25, 2007 at 10:57 PM
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When my laptop used to shutdown due to overheating issues, I invested in a Targus cooling station that the laptop basically sat on that was powered by the USB 2.0 slots. The Targus brand, I believe it is the one that is of a silver-plate coated color make. It worked like a charm over some of the other pads I tried out...er, that was until viruses eventually ate my laptop for breakfast one day...

Oh and I apologize for having not had an opportunity to respond to your email about the Ys series GameMakr. I've been extremely busy with college classes, which should end on Tuesday of next week for a period of 2 weeks before the next semester begins. I'm not really taking any breaks since I want to get finished with college as quick as humanly possible. Again, please excuse my tardiness with that reply.

Also it's nice to see this forum so active. I have much to read up on and much to comment on when I can grab some time. As always good luck with the Calatia project.
I've got three more projects due next week and I'll be free for at least a little while.

-SkyeWelse
 
Jul 25, 2007 at 11:50 PM
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GameMakr24 said:
Now, I know this isn't the best way to ask for help -- I should probably research it online and read from the experts -- but I'd rather spend the time working on Zelda3C; I thought I'd start this thread and see if anyone could suggest anything. My theory is that, as the laptop works hard for an extended period, its temperature rises and the vents are too clogged with dust or debris. Another theory is that I have a slow or broken fan. I dread opening up this laptop and trying to fix it... It's so much more compact than a normal computer. Still, if that's what it takes... Any thoughts on this?

well my laptop is a toshiba satalite p30 or a30 i forget anyway but mine shuts down because of the temperature but then i figured out if i blow into the hot air out vent the dust comes out the fans in the bottom and it fixed my temperature problem :D

but i have to do this methods since i cant take my lappy apart... i think lol

if this helps great if it doesnt sorry :D
 
Jul 26, 2007 at 5:25 PM
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Wow, I hope I never have to resort to a cooling station... that would make the machine even taller, and take up slots used by my controller, camera, and wireless mouse...

Don't worry about the Ys reply right away -- I actually meant to email you again and tell you how awesome the videos were on YouTube. If I weren't rewriting an entire game in my spare time, I would be getting swept away by these epic adventures.

Again, thanks for providing this forum. And thanks to everyone who posts here -- it's great to be more connected to readers.

As for the suggestion from xristosx, it sounds dangerous to blow at the dust which is likely clogging my fan, but then I guess the dust is already in there, anyway... I'm very tempted to try it. The vent used to have lots of hot air blowing out, but nowadays it's just a warm breeze...
 
Jul 27, 2007 at 12:34 AM
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Wow, I hope I never have to resort to a cooling station... that would make the machine even taller, and take up slots used by my controller, camera, and wireless mouse...

Don't worry about the Ys reply right away -- I actually meant to email you again and tell you how awesome the videos were on YouTube. If I weren't rewriting an entire game in my spare time, I would be getting swept away by these epic adventures.
lol Well "hopefully" being the key word, you won't have to resort to getting one of these either. But if you do, that one Targus brand I recommended earlier is around a half-inch thickness and provides four additional USB slots for the one that it occupies. So if you do end up going that route, it's not really all that much of a beast of burden and it's pretty moderately priced.

Yeah, I still want to get to that email though. Afterall you certainly asked some great questions about the Ys series. And being the crazed Ys/Action-RPG fan that I am, I'd feel rather obliged to get you into playing that series on your downtime or when the Calatia project ends. The Ys series really is a vintage treat that just keeps getting better with age.

-SkyeWelse
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 3:06 AM
Starbound sucked sadly
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GameMakr24 said:
Wow, I hope I never have to resort to a cooling station... that would make the machine even taller, and take up slots used by my controller, camera, and wireless mouse...

Don't worry about the Ys reply right away -- I actually meant to email you again and tell you how awesome the videos were on YouTube. If I weren't rewriting an entire game in my spare time, I would be getting swept away by these epic adventures.

Again, thanks for providing this forum. And thanks to everyone who posts here -- it's great to be more connected to readers.

As for the suggestion from xristosx, it sounds dangerous to blow at the dust which is likely clogging my fan, but then I guess the dust is already in there, anyway... I'm very tempted to try it. The vent used to have lots of hot air blowing out, but nowadays it's just a warm breeze...

worked for me lol because i was reluctant to open my laptop
and so i do the blow thing i have been doing that for over a year but as a matter of fact it does sound bad lol, i should upload a vid of the dust coming out- ill use my phone :p
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 4:39 AM
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Okay, I'm at home, and I tried it. Sure enough, some dust flew out and now there's a steady breeze of hot air flowing out! It made a loud clicking sound as it started, as though I had... er... breathed new life into it. :)

I'm glad I squinted my eyes as I blew... I felt a cloud of dust hit me in the face. Where does all this dust come from? No, don't answer that, lol... ugh...

Thanks again for the advice! Now I can play Zelda3C as long as I want! :)
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 6:33 AM
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GameMakr24 said:
Okay, I'm at home, and I tried it. Sure enough, some dust flew out and now there's a steady breeze of hot air flowing out! It made a loud clicking sound as it started, as though I had... er... breathed new life into it. :)

I'm glad I squinted my eyes as I blew... I felt a cloud of dust hit me in the face. Where does all this dust come from? No, don't answer that, lol... ugh...

Thanks again for the advice! Now I can play Zelda3C as long as I want! :)

glad it worked Just you might have to do that every month or 2, (pretty much i mean if it shuts down from the dust again lol )
 
Jul 28, 2007 at 6:33 PM
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glad to hear your computer is back to normal. it would have sucked big time it there had been a virus and you had lost all the game data. glad it was just dust.
 
Jul 29, 2007 at 3:38 AM
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Actually, I may have spoke too soon. This morning I was creating new graphics for Epoch Tower when the computer started running really slow and locking up. Ultimately, the screen went black; I tried to restart the computer, but it became impossible to reboot.

Long story short, I think my problem is bigger than just a laptop overheating. I think it was working too hard because of spyware. I've had a terrible Saturday, trying everything to get it to run again. There are file record segments that are unreadable; I'm going to have to bring it in to a shop and have it fixed professionally.

My last backup was on the 4th of July; the last eight sessions of the forest are not backed up. Even in the worst case scenario, it's not a tragic loss, but I accomplished a lot in those three weeks. If only I had thought to back it up again this morning.

I'll post again as news develops.
 
Jul 29, 2007 at 3:53 AM
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sorry to hear that. just try to be sure that, whatever they do in the shop, they dont do anything to the hard drive, which they might say they have to. if that's the case, theres prolly a way to take the hard drive out of the computer and put it in another computer to back up the files (if its impossible to start up). hope you dont have to start over(oh god please dont let him have to start over!!!!!!)

btw, ive sent you a few new graphics from my friends comp. hope you like them.i know i do. most of them are inside objects, but i did draw a new bush and a new small rock. im sending them to you right now.
 
Jul 29, 2007 at 8:42 AM
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soz about your computer thought what i said might of done something bad since
maybe your comp isnt the same as mine -_- but hope your computer starts working and gets fixed

also im interested about this game how does one aquire it.. that sounded funny
:D :D

how do you download it
im a little unsure about rom hacks
 
Jul 29, 2007 at 6:27 PM
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I think I would have been safer if I had turned the machine off before blowing in it, but I don't know for certain. It ran fine the next day, at least for a short while, before I started opening paint programs I hadn't used in a while.

As for acquisitions...

ZeldaC is available on the main site, at http://www.questforcalatia.net/ZeldaC/
It's a completely new Zelda game, using the Zelda 1 ROM.

Zelda3C will be a completely new Zelda 3, but it's a work in progress and is not yet available. You can check http://www.questforcalatia.net/Zelda3C/diary.html for periodic updates.
 
Jul 31, 2007 at 7:55 AM
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GameMakr24 said:
I think I would have been safer if I had turned the machine off before blowing in it, but I don't know for certain. It ran fine the next day, at least for a short while, before I started opening paint programs I hadn't used in a while.
i do it when its off lol doesnt sound like a good idea when its on

GameMakr24 said:
As for acquisitions...

ZeldaC is available on the main site, at http://www.questforcalatia.net/ZeldaC/
It's a completely new Zelda game, using the Zelda 1 ROM.

Zelda3C will be a completely new Zelda 3, but it's a work in progress and is not yet available. You can check http://www.questforcalatia.net/Zelda3C/diary.html for periodic updates.

i was never a fan of the nes zelda ( but i do like other nes games :D go archrivals )

but i did like the one on snes

so when the 3c one is released id like to try it :p
 
Aug 2, 2007 at 1:13 AM
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GameMakr, so you are having problems with Spyware eh? Before this week my computer was running horribly slow due to spyware problems and it had gotten so bad that I would get popups and error messages and warnings of trojan horses as soon as I booted the computer on each time. I ran programs like Ad-aware, which would remove some of the problems but not the big ones. Eventually even Ad-aware got some spyware problems that attacked it directly which would cause a blue-screen of death. I literally thought that for awhile it was only a matter of time before my computer would die or I would simply need to reformat altogether.

However, fortunately my girlfriend who seems to have a gift when it come to researching and fixing problems via information on the internet ended up finding some key programs that have pretty eliminated all of the threats and spyware my computer was dealing with. If you have some time, you might consider looking into these programs and see if they will help you.

First off we are cheap so we use a free, but fairly great Anti-virus software program called Avast that you can basically renew for free as long as you like. Avast seems to catch all sorts of stuff during the process that they are attempted to spread or download on the computer, so I'd highly recommend it.

Also, the combination of the programs Ad-Aware and Spybot: Search and Destroy works great for locating and eliminating the small fry. Sometimes however, a computer can get a specific spyware trojan that is hard to get rid of and simply mutates when you try to destroy it. The one I had was called Virtumonde which was identified by the Spybot, so we looked up a specific program called Vundofix that targeted that Virtumonde program and eliminated the last of the problems completely.

Also, since spyware messes up windows registry files, if you are using windows you might consider getting a program to help repair your registry files. I found that a program called Registryfix worked really well, but it's fairly cheap to buy. If you run that and defragment your drives, you should be able to get your computer pretty much back to normal.

-SkyeWelse
 
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