Possible WideFS Problem?

[arcticspinnaker]

Pete - Hope the eyes are doing better. Had PRK awhile ago and know how post-eye surgery feels....

I'm in the troubleshooting phase of a problem I've started to experience and am not sure if it's WideFS related or not. Thought I would post here for any ideas from folks out there...

I've run WideFS on another machine with no problems. I reformatted and did a clean Windows install on my non-FS machine. After re-installing everything, I'm starting to experience spontaneous reboots of my FS machine, only while flying. I've isolated it to whenever I'm running my FS utils (and it doesn't matter what combination of utils) through WideFS on my non-FS machine.

I don't think the issue is directly related to WideFS since I'm able to fly with no problems with all FS utils running on the FS machine, and with WideFS running (with the client connected, but no apps running). With a default install of WinXP Pro on the non-FS machine, could there be something triggering a system reboot on the FS machine (WinXP Pro as well) from the non-FS machine??

Again, in troubleshooting mode here, and wondering if there is something I'm missing. Only reason I'm posting this here is that it seems to only happen when I have apps running via WideFS. Just trying to isolate the problem... Any ideas for things to check? Thanks!

-Dan

System Specs:

P4 3.05 GHZ/1GB RAM, ATI RADEON 9700 Pro (FS Machine)

P3 1.00 GHZ/512MB RAM, ATI Mobility 4 (non-FS Machine)

Connected via a LinkSys Switch

Ran Virus Scan with latest defs (Norton and McAfee)

ran SpyWare scan with latest defs (Ad-Aware and SpySweeper)

Have ZoneAlarm Pro 5.0 installed on both machines, but shut down during testing.

[Pete Dowson]

spontaneous reboots of my FS machine, only while flying. I've isolated it to whenever I'm running my FS utils (and it doesn't matter what combination of utils) through WideFS on my non-FS machine.

Ouch. With WinXP there's nothing t normal application program level that can do that. It must be a low level problem.

Viruses are the first suspect, as there are certainly some which do this deliberately, but I see you've checked for those..

The only other problems I've ever had which do similar things are overheating (I still do with one PC in the Summer unless I leave its side cover off), and faulty RAM (fixed by removing one chip at a time, then replacing the one which when removed fixed the problem). But I suppose other things like a faulty card, hairline crack on a motherboard, faulty drivers, etc etc could all do the same sort of thing.

Only reason I'm posting this here is that it seems to only happen when I have apps running via WideFS.

Either you are loading more stuff into the PC then, so it is working harder or using more RAM, or it may be a problem with the Network card or driver. Try uninstalling it and re-installing it. If it's a separate board (i.e. not on the mobo) try swapping it with another. If it is on the mobo, try disabling it and adding a cheap netwrok card instead.

P3 1.00 GHZ/512MB RAM, ATI Mobility 4 (non-FS Machine)

Ahthe non-FS PC is a notebook? That makes it a bit more difficult to play around with changes to eliminate things then. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the network card anyway, but in the end you might need to get the machine checked over by a specialist.

Regards,

Pete

[arcticspinnaker]

Pete,

Thanks for the info. I was afraid you were going to bring up significant hardware issues. :( Like I said, this was just a troubleshooting step :)

However, went flying today without the non-FS machine, and put my system through the paces (flying with max display settings, as well as doing some video editing on the other monitor). Granted it turned my flight into a literal slide-show with respect to frame-rates, but the machine had quite a workout for over an hour.

I shut everything down and did the same thing (minus video editing) with WideFS running and no apps runnning on the non-FS machine. No problems, then did the same thing again, but this time running ActiveSky on the non-FS machine. The FS machine rebooted towards the end of the flight. I turned off Auto-Restart in my system settings and managed to get a blue screen of death this time.

Looks like the error was an IRQL problem associated with Symantec's Redirector (SYMTDI.SYS). Searched around seems to be a previous reported problem, so I'll disable it and fly again to see what happens. Glad it doesn't appear to be WideFS/FSUIPC related (though I was logging everything withing FSUIPC when it rebooted)!

Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it!

-Dan

[Pete Dowson]

Looks like the error was an IRQL problem associated with Symantec's Redirector (SYMTDI.SYS). Searched around seems to be a previous reported problem, so I'll disable it and fly again to see what happens.

What is Symantec's Redirector supposed to do? Is that part of the complete Norton SystemWorks installation?

I used to use SystemWorks until I changed to Windows XP -- I was 100% Win98SE for quite a while, only forced over to XP because Matrox don't support Win98 for the Parhelia. Since changing to XP (almost 2 years ago now) I had loads of odd problems with bits of Norton or Symantec stuff, but I don't remember the details I'm afraid. I uninstalled it all and just installed the separate free-standing Anti-Virus package (NAV).

Anyway, I hope you really have isolated the problem.

Regards,

Pete

[arcticspinnaker]

I say this with obvious fingers crossed:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/docid/2002020506493713?Open&src=&docid=2001082413371406&nsf=nav.nsf&view=docid&dtype=∏=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl=

That's what Symantec says on their site, and after a google search, seems it's been an issue before.

And here is what MS says about the error I was receiving:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prmd_stp_ottj.asp

I de-installed my Norton Suite, and SYMTDI.SYS was removed from the drivers folder. Rebooted and installed the base Norton Anti-Virus, which replaced SYMTDI.SYS and I had the same rebooting problem, with the exact same BSOD pointing to that driver. De-installed again and ran without Norton installed with no problems at all. Purchased McAfee Anti-Virus and installed, with no problems at all during multiple flights.

Of course now that I've said this, it'll start crashing again :lol:

At least it doesn't appear to be WideFS or FSUIPC related, which is a relief. Anyway, sorry for wasting forum space, but just troubleshooting. Thanks again Pete!