Computer reboots when playing games in Windows

[Hugbees]

I had this issue before and posted about it here, but no one seemed to really have an answer for me.

I'm asking again because maybe something new has come up?

I've been having an issue running games in Windows for some time now. They run fine, but then sometimes it will freeze up, then my whole computer reboots. I don't really know why it does this, and it happens randomly. I could be playing for hours or minutes before it does this.

Does anyone know why this happens and how to fix it?

[Rodus]

Erm, overheating? Try downloading SMC fan control on the Mac side, crank up the fans and reboot into windows, see if that helps.

[yellow]

Used to happen to me a lot on my MBP. Once it hit 60C, poof, reboot.

[Hugbees]

I can try, but wouldn't raising the fan speeds potentially damage my computer?

How did you fix your issue yellow, same method?

Also, I'm running on an imac if that matters

[yellow]

Didn't. At some unknown point it (mostly) stopped doing it. Of course, I don't game on the MBP quite as much as I used to. When I do, I make sure that there's plenty of airflow to keep it cool. My guess is that it's more changing how I use it than some magical software fix.

At home I have an aluminum lap-thingy that the MBP sits on to help with cooling. If not available, I have used 4 items of the same height (1"+ is better) at the 4 corners of the laptop. If to that you can add a fan blowing over the MBP, you should be golden.

[Hugbees]

Alright for SMC fan speeds, whats a good healthy number to boost my fans to? I don't want to run them so fast it breaks my computer.

[ayeying]

Alright for SMC fan speeds, whats a good healthy number to boost my fans to? I don't want to run them so fast it breaks my computer.

They only run in the range that they're designed to. You can't force the fans to go any faster then its designed to

[Hugbees]

They only run in the range that they're designed to. You can't force the fans to go any faster then its designed to

So I can set the RPM up to 3600 and it won't hurt anything then? Because thats the highest it lets me go

Also, my iMac is plugged into a power strip instead of an outlet, and I know my external harddrive runs faster/better if it's not plugged into my USB dongle, would plugging my iMac into a wall outlet give better results?

[Rodus]

^^I'm running mine on 2600 rpm across the board, x1600 heavily overclocked and no problems, late '06 17" iMac.
Doesn't matter if it's plugged into a strip or not, the reason your external drive is faster is because it's not sharing bandwidth with other devices on the hub.

[Hugbees]

Currently with default settings my comp's temp is 115 F, is that really high?

[Rodus]

No but I'm guessing your not pushing your system at the moment. When you boot into Windows and start gaming its a whole new ball game.

[Hugbees]

No but I'm guessing your not pushing your system at the moment. When you boot into Windows and start gaming its a whole new ball game.

Well no, how low is your temperature?

Also should I bump up the temp of the CPU, HDD, ODD, or all 3?

Some advice on how to set up for comp for good temps would be great :D

[Stridder44]

Something sounds wrong here, perhaps a hardware issue? I've gamed for HOURS on my MBP with the fans going full speed and never had any freezing/restart issues.

[Hugbees]

Something sounds wrong here, perhaps a hardware issue? I've gamed for HOURS on my MBP with the fans going full speed and never had any freezing/restart issues.

Mine aren't going at full speed, according to SMC its at the lowest possible setting.

I guess it doesn't matter how high I set them then?

[Bill Gates]

You don't need to worry about setting the fan speed. Anyone telling you to do so is masking the actual problem. If you are needing to set the fan speeds manually because they aren't kicking in quickly enough then the computer isn't situated properly and isn't being allowed to vent the heat that it's generating. With that said, heat may or may not be the issue. It could very well be a conflict between two devices, or a fault with the Windows installation. The first step I would take is to disable "automatic restart upon system failure." It's an option in the system properties window. Right-click on "My Computer" and choose "Properties." Then click on the "System" tab. There should be a checkbox for the restart option, which you should disable. I'm speaking from memory so it may not be identical to how I described it, but hopefully it's close enough. The next time the system throws a BSOD, write down the STOP code and any other information displayed. That will come in handy in diagnosing the actual cause of the instability.

[Hugbees]

I've actually tried that, and it doesn't work. I'm not getting a BSOD, it just freezes up for a few seconds then restarts.

And it isnt that the fans aren't kicking on fast enough, I just think they aren't running fast enough. in OSX my computer is running at 113F, I think Windows probably makes it run hotter, thus restarting.

I'm trying to ask what RPM I should set it to, but no one seems to want to answer that question. I run roughly 113F in OSX, so I'd like to be able to run about the same if not a little lower in Windows, but I don't want to set the SMC fan controls too high.

[Rodus]

SMC won't ket you crank up the fans to a damaging level so try starting at 2600 rpm and going from there, it it reboots then up it to 2800 and so on. If this doesn't make a difference then it aint overheating.

[Hugbees]

SMC won't ket you crank up the fans to a damaging level so try starting at 2600 rpm and going from there, it it reboots then up it to 2800 and so on. If this doesn't make a difference then it aint overheating.

Oh okay then, I'll try that, thanks

[uberamd]

People do say that running the fan at 6,000 RPM all the time can be bad so try to avoid that. While the fans are designed to go that fast, its not necessarily true that they are designed to remain spinning that fast for hours on end. I don't know if that is true or not, but it makes some sense to me.

[yellow]

Something sounds wrong here, perhaps a hardware issue? I've gamed for HOURS on my MBP with the fans going full speed and never had any freezing/restart issues.

Nah, it's a pretty common issue with the MBPs of a certain time frame. At least most of the MBP owners I interact with that play games in Windows have had it happen. All at ~60C, and all MBPs if a certain age (mine is a 2.4GHz C2D, 8600M GT).

[Hugbees]

I got mine in 2007. and other than it freezing in Windows, it works just fine with no other issues.

But I have an iMac, so I have to use those noisy fans to cool it :P

The reason why I think it's not a hardware issue is because it only does this when playing games in Windows. Using windows for anything else or using OSX for gaming has never come close to giving me crashing or rebooting issues.

It makes sense that Windows makes the mac run harder, and running games further increases its temperature. I tried with the fan speed at 2200 at first, and that didn't work, and I'm going to try 2600 soon. It's just so noisy x.x

[Infrared]

I got mine in 2007. and other than it freezing in Windows, it works just fine with no other issues.

But I have an iMac, so I have to use those noisy fans to cool it :P

The reason why I think it's not a hardware issue is because it only does this when playing games in Windows. Using windows for anything else or using OSX for gaming has never come close to giving me crashing or rebooting issues.

I think it probably is a hardware issue, in as much as the the thermal
design of the machine cannot cope when the machine is pushed hard.

So it's likely to do with airflow, materials used, etc.

Some games have frame limiter options (and there will be vsync options
for your Windows graphics card drivers). Using those can, in some cases,
reduce the load on a machine and help it to run cooler.

[Rodus]

Another possible factor is that Apple underclock most of the GPU's in their laptop/iMac lines to keep the heat down, when booting into Widows if the graphics card reverts to its' stock setting then it's going to get hotter quicker.

[Hugbees]

Another possible factor is that Apple underclock most of the GPU's in their laptop/iMac lines to keep the heat down, when booting into Widows if the graphics card reverts to its' stock setting then it's going to get hotter quicker.

Anyway to fix that?

[Rodus]

Yeah ATItool (http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/) works with both ATI and Nvidia cards and allows you to up/downclock your GPU.

[Gav Mack]

Lockups like that I've found on my MBP seem to come from not only the video and heat but from the sound which seems to freeze first, perhaps related to Apple's Kbdmgr.exe boot camp program messing up Pro Audio with latency.

What works for me is along with kicking the fans up with SMC when you restart run task manager, click processes and right click Kbdmgr.exe (Snow Leopard beta Bootcamp.exe) setting the CPU affinity to CPU1 and then run your game.

That works for me. Failing that try ending the process but you'll lose the Apple keyboard controls as a consequence.

[The Flashing Fi]

I've actually tried that, and it doesn't work. I'm not getting a BSOD, it just freezes up for a few seconds then restarts.

You actually could be having a BSOD. XP and Vista are set to automatically restart when a BSOD occurs.

If you're on XP, do the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/russel_02may13.mspx
(read under "Recovery Settings."

If you have Vista or Windows 7, do this:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windowsvista/ht/arestartvista.htm

If you are getting a BSOD after doing this, then please write down the actual error message (we don't need the, "your system has been shut down...").

We need what's pointed at by the arrows:
http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/images/bsod_a.jpg

[Hugbees]

I froze after setting the affinity of kbdmgr.exe so I'm turning it off and seeing how that goes.

Also, I did exactly what you said Fi, and I am not getting a BSOD.

UPDATE: Currently turning off kbdmgr.exe is working.

[Hugbees]

I have a theory. Back when I first got my mac, this never happened when I played Oblivion or Tabula Rasa, which both are pretty graphics intensive and have somewhat high requirements.

I haven't played them since I got Leopard, but maybe something in Leopard's bootcamp system is being somewhat incompatible with my mac? Turning off kbdmgr.exe is working so far, and that is something that bootcamp is responsible for.

Is it possible?

[Hugbees]

UPDATE: I have not had a single issue while having kbdmgr.exe turned off. I am currently going to label this as my culprit.

I can only assume the sound is being screwed up and causing my reboots. Whether it is overheating or just plain giving an error I do not know. However the reboots had been more consistent, only doing it to me while in towns in the game, but now it hasn't happened at all in 2 days.

So I don't want to say it's fixed for sure, but it's definitely improved.

UPDATE2: I froze up again, but I think it may be helping? Is there any other programs/sound issues I can toggle with?

[Hugbees]

If this persists, is there any way to run this through a virtual machine? I tried Crossover for it, and it is not compatible. I think Dungeon Runners is small enough to work well with any sort of VM software. I just want one that supports it.