Since I installed the latest update for Poser 7, half way through a render my computer switches off. Has anyone else experienced this problem and/or know how to fix it?

Before the update, my Poser 7 seemed very stable. Is it possible to go back to an earlier update or does it mean I have to reinstall Poser to get rid of the last update?

Quote - Since I installed the latest update for Poser 7, half way through a render my computer switches off. Has anyone else experienced this problem and/or know how to fix it?

Before the update, my Poser 7 seemed very stable. Is it possible to go back to an earlier update or does it mean I have to reinstall Poser to get rid of the last update?

If your computer is actually turning off (it happened to me earlier this week) it's an overheating issue, almost certainly. Hot summer days, plus a heck of a load put on the CPU during rendering and your CPU temps may be triggering an automatic power down (which most motherboards do as a safety to prevent your CPU from being fried).

These threads are discussing the same/similar issues:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2702905
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2702153

:)

Switching off on it's own can also sometimes be down to a driver, have you installed any new drivers lately?
Microsoft have an item on it in their knowledge base!

Quote - Switching off on it's own can also sometimes be down to a driver, have you installed any new drivers lately?
Microsoft have an item on it in their knowledge base!

I've recently updated my graphics driver but this was after the problem with Poser switching off my computer as I too thought it may be a driver problem. Thank you for the suggestion, thefixer. I'll take a look at the Microsoft site.

Quote - If your computer is actually turning off (it happened to me earlier this week) it's an overheating issue, almost certainly. Hot summer days, plus a heck of a load put on the CPU during rendering and your CPU temps may be triggering an automatic power down (which most motherboards do as a safety to prevent your CPU from being fried).

These threads are discussing the same/similar issues:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2702905
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2702153

Thank you for the links, fiontar. It's interesting the turning off has happened to you too. As it's not that hot in the UK at the moment, I didn't think of overheating being the cause. Recently I've been using Poser at the end of the day after my computer has been on all day so maybe it is getting too hot. I will check this out.

Cleaning the inside of the computer might help if it's an overheating issue. Every few months I open the case and remove the dust using a vacuum cleaner. Careful, you should stop the fans from rotating, they can act as power generators which isn't healthy for your mainboard!

When I had problems with P7 on release, I put it aside and used P6, waiting for them to get a couple service releases in place. SR2 is what brought me into P7 a lot more fully. I mention this because I'm not sure that this is a P7 issue or an SR2 specific issue, Firefly Renders at high settings seems to be heating my CPU more than any other application (or game) I've used. Of course, having a dual core CPU, it's worse with 2 cores rendering than just one, but it's really amazing the heat load it can produce.

For me, the warm days were the tipping point, but I can easily imagine that some people using the stock coolers for their CPUs may be experiencing heating problems even in normal temps. and even if overheating has not been an issue for them in the past.

Cleaning out dust in the case is definitely a good thing to do routinely, it insulates heat a lot more than people realize. Thanks for mentioning it, because I haven't done mine recently. Time to buy some canned air :)

I am a fanatic about keeping the inside of my machine clean. Once a month it is taken down and cleaned. I have not had an overheating issue yet and I run a dual core box WITH a stock cooler. I have mixed feelings about going out and paying an arm a leg for a turboprop for you box. I guess it depends in your set up and what you're using it for. All my machines have used stock coolers and I have never has an issue. Keeping your box clean, dust free and not packing it to the hilt with junk is a plus.

People don't realize just how important it is to keep their machines clean. I do some computer repair on the side from my home and you should see some of the machines I get that have never been cleaned since the were purchased. Dust is the enemy!

Quote - People don't realize just how important it is to keep their machines clean. I do some computer repair on the side from my home and you should see some of the machines I get that have never been cleaned since the were purchased. Dust is the enemy!

Ooops, mine hasn't been cleaned since I got it either. It's a quad core so maybe it is overheating now.

Good thread. I've never had over heating issues to the level it ever crashed a system with past versions of Poser but then I'm mostly avoiding the use of my copy of Poser 7 untll things are squared away with it's service packs. If cleaning the dust out of the PC solves it please let us know.

  If this is a over heating issue I'm liquid cooling my system with beer... Hehehe.

There are definitely some application crashes that are not heat related, everytime I change render settings or hit the render button, I have my fingers crossed. :)

It's not a constant thing, but often enough that I'm back in the habit of saving before renders or after I've made changes to a scene.

Definitely not as stable as I would have hoped from an SR2. :(

Quote - I am a fanatic about keeping the inside of my machine clean. Once a month it is taken down and cleaned. I have not had an overheating issue yet and I run a dual core box WITH a stock cooler. I have mixed feelings about going out and paying an arm a leg for a turboprop for you box. I guess it depends in your set up and what you're using it for. All my machines have used stock coolers and I have never has an issue. Keeping your box clean, dust free and not packing it to the hilt with junk is a plus.

People don't realize just how important it is to keep their machines clean. I do some computer repair on the side from my home and you should see some of the machines I get that have never been cleaned since the were purchased. Dust is the enemy!

Definitely good advice. :)

As far as a "turboprop for your box", (hehe) this is the cooler I'm using, which is why I figured if I was having heat issues with Poser 7 on a hot day, some people with stock coolers may have problems even if their ambient temps aren't too high:

http://www.pureoverclock.com/article26-2.html

About $25 to $30. It can be a little scary to install one of these things though, I think that is a bigger factor for a lot of people than the cost. :)

Actually, I'm into case fans again, you can spend money on a great CPU fan but if that hot discharged air from your CPU can't get out then it's null. Also I think people don't realize that other harware inside your PC also generates heat besides just the CPU and all this needs to be factored in when you select the type of cooling to fit your system. But keeping the inside of your system free from dust and blockage is the best and easiest thing to do.

"There are definitely some application crashes that are not heat related, everytime I change render settings or hit the render button, I have my fingers crossed. :) It's not a constant thing, but often enough that I'm back in the habit of saving before renders or after I've made changes to a scene. Definitely not as stable as I would have hoped from an SR2. :(" i am on a mac and i too have had some seemingly random crashes in the middle of renders especially when i change settings then start render at hi qual settings. i'm in australia in winter. i never saw this problem before sr2 but i never rendered all that much in poser until 2 weeks ago either so it's hard to be sure love esther

**Thanks, I will not install this SR2 fix, people just keep saying how it does weird things.

Yes clean inside of your computer. I blew out my power source box, and just had it fixed. My fans were full of dust. I have a full size case.**

Ok, to the heat issues and the importance of cleaning the dust from inside your PC:

It's been too long since I cleaned mine last, picked up some canned air today and went to to town. PC off, of course, also was careful, as suggested, to prevent any fans being sprayed from rotating with my finger or a pen (rotating the fan with no current coming to it can produce a current back into the system).

I wish I had tested the temp right after the dusting and before touching anything else, so I could have seen just the difference from dusting. However, I did also adjust my fan speeds on the case, increasing the speed on the fan that pulls air out of the case directly behind the heat sink and slightly lowering the fan that exhausts out the top blow hole. I also suspected that over time the thermal compound between the Heatsink and the CPU may have developed air pockets, so I gently pressed down on the heatsink and wiggled it a tad. (I probably should have removed it completely, cleaned off the old compound, applied some new and re-installed the heatsink, but it seems to be working great now so I'll watch my temps for any increases in the coming days/weeks).

Rendered the same scene at high render settings on both cores, ambient temp in the room is about the same.

CPU temp went from 59C (under full load) before cleaning and adjusting to 44C under full load after!

The change was so significant I'm sure it has to have been from more than just removing the dust, but it definitely illustrates the value of cleaning the inside of the case on a regular basis. Temp at idle decreased a lot as well, from 41C to 31C.

Sounds like it's about time for Poser 8.