KSP crashes hard, shuts down computer

[tsaven]

The game crashes very hard and shuts off my computer. One second everything is fine, next second the computer is off, as if someone has unplugged the power cord.

• KSP Version: build id = 00705 2014-12-15_13-42-05 Branch: master
  
• Detailed Explanation: I'm trying to go through the tutorials, specifically "To the Mun: Part 1". It typically shuts down a few minutes in, usually sometime around the first burn to start the transfer orbit, or shortly after entering the Mun's SOI, or somewhere in between. Then my computer abruptly shuts down, a hard power off.
  
• output_log.txt: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx7P5dhGg6O4M1BMX1p3a0NMOFk/view?usp=sharing
  
• System Specifications:
  
  • Windows 7 64-bit
    
  • Intel Core2Duo T9300 CPU (2.5GHz, dual-core, 6mb L3)
    
  • 4gb RAM
    
  • nVidia Quadro NVS 140M 256mb (Basically a GeForce 8500M GT)
    
  • 500gb HD, ~300gb free
    

My computer is kinda old and pokey, so I played with the demo for a while to make sure that if I was going to buy the rest of the program, it would actually be playable. The demo ran pretty decently for the basic stuff I'm doing, I turned down the graphic options and it was useable. I went through all the tutorials in the Demo, and had no problems.

I do a lot of other fairly intensive activities on this system, lots of video rendering/editing, other gaming (older stuff obviously), and CAD work. And I've never had a program do this before, it's not a crash to desktop or hard lock, it's a complete power off. And now I'm really annoyed that I spent $30 on a game that might not even work, at all, for even the basics.

[sal_vager]

KSP isn't even getting time to write an error to the log, which suggests something more serious than a programming bug.

What you describe sounds like a heat induced shut-down of the PC, you mention it's old, so I'd check that air is able to enter and leave the case, that the fans are turning fast enough if at all, and look for dried flakes of thermal paste around the cpu and gpu.

[tsaven]

Thank you for the advice.

It's a laptop, I took it apart and cleaned it (and applied good thermal paste to everything) a few months ago. I've been keeping an eye on the CPU temps while playing, and they never go that high and the fan never really goes into dustbuster-mode like it does when I'm rendering video.

[sal_vager]

Hmmm, if it's not heat then this may be really hard to figure out, has it crashed at any other time?

[tsaven]

It seems very temperamental. It'll shut down sometimes after just a couple minutes, or sometimes after a solid half-hour of putzing around in the VAB.

[vixr]

I have some mods (KER, KAS Lazor docking cam and B9 parts) so I realize that this is the wrong forum... but my brand new computer is doing the same thing and it wipes out my quicksave and persistant files as well... My son installed the mod for clouds and lightning and it looked very cool but I believe that is what is causing my power off... He removed the appearance mod and it seems to be better now. The computer doesnt have a speck of dust in it and the cooling fan is blowing basically cold air out of the case.

My new system: Intel quad i7-3770k, AS Rock Z97 motherboard, intel 730SSHD, windows 7 pro OS, 2TB Western digital HDD, 16GB RAM, GEForce 750Ti video card, Razer deathstalker lighted keyboard and taipan mouse and a nice lighted case...

Mine crashes (totally powers the computer off) while in orbit, usually around a large station while docking.... or just rotating the camera on a large station can do it. Sometimes only a minute or two, sometimes an hour of playing... really random.

Edited March 3, 2015 by vixr

[Talavar]

The game crashes very hard and shuts off my computer. One second everything is fine, next second the computer is off, as if someone has unplugged the power cord.

• KSP Version: build id = 00705 2014-12-15_13-42-05 Branch: master
  
• Detailed Explanation: I'm trying to go through the tutorials, specifically "To the Mun: Part 1". It typically shuts down a few minutes in, usually sometime around the first burn to start the transfer orbit, or shortly after entering the Mun's SOI, or somewhere in between. Then my computer abruptly shuts down, a hard power off.
  
• output_log.txt: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx7P5dhGg6O4M1BMX1p3a0NMOFk/view?usp=sharing
  
• System Specifications:
  
  • Windows 7 64-bit
    
  • Intel Core2Duo T9300 CPU (2.5GHz, dual-core, 6mb L3)
    
  • 4gb RAM
    
  • nVidia Quadro NVS 140M 256mb (Basically a GeForce 8500M GT)
    
  • 500gb HD, ~300gb free
    

My computer is kinda old and pokey, so I played with the demo for a while to make sure that if I was going to buy the rest of the program, it would actually be playable. The demo ran pretty decently for the basic stuff I'm doing, I turned down the graphic options and it was useable. I went through all the tutorials in the Demo, and had no problems.

I do a lot of other fairly intensive activities on this system, lots of video rendering/editing, other gaming (older stuff obviously), and CAD work. And I've never had a program do this before, it's not a crash to desktop or hard lock, it's a complete power off. And now I'm really annoyed that I spent $30 on a game that might not even work, at all, for even the basics.

Had a similar problem.. turned out to be the power. Might wanna try swapping batteries if you have an extra laying around somewhere. If you are jacking straight from the wall, try using battery only and see if it changes. That would suggest a bad power feed before it gets to the battery. Just a few Ideas.

instant power offs are almost always cause by heat or weak power feed.

- - - Updated - - -

I have some mods (KER, KAS Lazor docking cam and B9 parts) so I realize that this is the wrong forum... but my brand new computer is doing the same thing and it wipes out my quicksave and persistant files as well... My son installed the mod for clouds and lightning and it looked very cool but I believe that is what is causing my power off... He removed the appearance mod and it seems to be better now. The computer doesnt have a speck of dust in it and the cooling fan is blowing basically cold air out of the case.

My new system: Intel quad i7-3770k, AS Rock Z97 motherboard, intel 730SSHD, windows 7 pro OS, 2TB Western digital HDD, 16GB RAM, GEForce 750Ti video card, Razer deathstalker lighted keyboard and taipan mouse and a nice lighted case...

Mine crashes (totally powers the computer off) while in orbit, usually around a large station while docking.... or just rotating the camera on a large station can do it. Sometimes only a minute or two, sometimes an hour of playing... really random.

ALso with yours... I had the EXACT same problem with the SAME mod!.. also on a brand new computer.... Turns out when I ordered the computer, they put a chief-max 650 Watt power source in it. They are notorious for putting out 1/2 wattage.. hence I didn't have enough juice to power my vid-card, and it would shut down instantly. Check what kind of PSU you have.

[vixr]

after reading the self help sticky, I found I set KSP to run on all 7 cores... I'm going to try setting KSP to run on just one, but leave the priority high for KSP.

[vixr]

ALso with yours... I had the EXACT same problem with the SAME mod!.. also on a brand new computer.... Turns out when I ordered the computer, they put a chief-max 650 Watt power source in it. They are notorious for putting out 1/2 wattage.. hence I didn't have enough juice to power my vid-card, and it would shut down instantly. Check what kind of PSU you have.

I think you are exactly right... I had the IT guy from work buy all the parts and assemble mine. I'm not sure what the PSU is, but my son did a fresh KSP install and my mods...He had to crank all the graphics settings down to minimum for it to stay running. I will be looking into a better PSU soon. KSP on minimum graphics is a sad place indeed. BTW, the core settings had no effect at all...

Edited March 5, 2015 by vixr

[tsaven]

It seems to be graphics related, I've found after more testing that it's basically as soon as I go into the actual launching or viewing craft in orbit. I can far around building rockets in the VAB all day with no problems, but now after I go to launch, it shuts off within ten seconds of launching.

I'm watching all the temperatures and they're not out of range, GPU is in the low 70s and CPU cores are in the high 50s.

I can't be sure about power, it's a very old laptop (Bought it new in early 2008) and the battery is in quite bad shape, probably can't get more than 20 minutes out of it if I tried. However, I've tried removing the battery and only using wall power, or using just the battery, and I still get the same result. Hard power-offs.

Oddly, no other intensive program does this, I can do plenty of other gaming and other intensive applications with no problems (aside from overall slowness that I expect from the system of it's age.)