Happy to report stability and power in the cloth and hair room. I actually achieved a hair simulation with collision on! and with moderate durations.  Still jitter against the head and face, however. So the hair mod is improved.

Anyway, here is a link to a short animation. It is not rendered out: it is just the preview so you can see the hair guides and dress in motion as simulated. I did not have any crashing and only a few weird moments.

http://jrdonohue.com/dynamics.avi
55MB .avi

the image posted here is one rendered frame.

::::: Opera :::::