Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

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TheoSwartz
Posts: 72
Joined: March 8th, 2016, 3:24 am

Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

Post by TheoSwartz » March 29th, 2016, 8:00 pm

What the title said; Golly is wonderful, but it has caused my computer to bluescreen (crash completely) 3 times in the past 2 months. It always happens right when I run a really huge or complex pattern so I'm pretty sure it's Golly causing the crash. Also it's happened when I've had Golly open for quite a long time, so maybe there's a memory leak? In any case, I'm posting my case here in the chance that anyone can help me figure out what's going on so I can stop it from happening again.

Golly version 2.7

Computer specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (times two - 16gb total)
OS: Windows 7

Other Programs running at the time:
Google Chrome, iTunes, Discord, Notepad++, AVG

Side note: The last crash happened when I was in the middle of a VERY long forum post. I kept copying all with Ctrl-A in case I accidentally closed the tab, but I didn't anticipate a blue screen... ARGH!
My simple pleasure is naming patterns.

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calcyman
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Joined: June 1st, 2009, 4:32 pm

Re: Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

Post by calcyman » March 30th, 2016, 2:28 am

Some other questions which might help diagnosis:
  • Which algorithm is Golly running? (QuickLife / HashLife / RuleTable)
  • What's the maximum memory setting for your algorithm? (see Preferences)
  • Is your Golly 32- or 64-bit?
  • Have you done a memory check to verify your RAM integrity?
What do you do with ill crystallographers? Take them to the mono-clinic!

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TheoSwartz
Posts: 72
Joined: March 8th, 2016, 3:24 am

Re: Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

Post by TheoSwartz » March 31st, 2016, 6:59 pm

calcyman wrote:Some other questions which might help diagnosis:
  • Which algorithm is Golly running? (QuickLife / HashLife / RuleTable)
  • What's the maximum memory setting for your algorithm? (see Preferences)
  • Is your Golly 32- or 64-bit?
  • Have you done a memory check to verify your RAM integrity?
  • QuickLife
  • 0 (no limit) - maybe this is a problem; what should it be set to?
  • I believe 64 but the About Golly does not tell me.
  • I have not; I'm not familiar with the process.
My simple pleasure is naming patterns.

drc
Posts: 1664
Joined: December 3rd, 2015, 4:11 pm

Re: Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

Post by drc » March 31st, 2016, 7:13 pm

25 is a good place to have ram.

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vyznev
Posts: 27
Joined: April 23rd, 2016, 4:08 am

Re: Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

Post by vyznev » April 24th, 2016, 12:34 pm

This probably means that your CPU, motherboard or RAM is flaky, or is overclocked beyond its limits of stable operation. A CA simulator like Golly is an unusually CPU and memory intensive program, and will stress those components of your system far beyond what something like ordinary web browsing will.

Another possible cause might be simple heat stress, if your computer's cooling is inadequate. You may want to open the case (or the back panel, if it's a laptop) and check for dust accumulation, and make sure that all the fans are working. Or it might be that your power supply unit is inadequate, and is failing to provide a stable voltage under high load.

In any case, without a hardware (or OS) flaw of some kind, an ordinary unprivileged application like Golly should not be able to crash ("blue screen") your whole computer. So something is definitely wrong outside Golly itself.

ps. A useful tool for checking RAM issues is Memtest86 (or Memtest86+). You'll need to install it onto a USB stick (or CD/DVD) and boot your computer off the stick to run it. (It's a very small program, and free software, so a lot of Linux distributions also include it as a bonus on their bootable USB / DVD image.) You can leave it running overnight to make sure your RAM doesn't have any subtle hidden faults. It's not a general stress test, though, so it won't detect CPU, bus, heat or power issues (unless they're really egregious).

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lifeisawesome
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Joined: April 22nd, 2016, 1:55 pm
Location: poland

Re: Golly has bluescreened my computer 3 times.

Post by lifeisawesome » April 25th, 2016, 3:21 pm

I was having the same issue, but I haven't had a bluescreen in a lot of time.
My stats:
  • QuickLife
  • 500MB
  • 32-bit
  • Nope.
--Szymon Bartosiewicz
favorite pattern:

Code: Select all

x = 2, y = 2, rule = B25/S3a
2o$2o!

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