OR crashes to menu while trying to load a certain route

[baldwin]

Using X2634 here and loading the Drive the Broadway activity on the PRR Eastern, I have no problems.

[crstagg]

No problems here with loading PRR with OR v2634.

System Gigabytes GA-870-UD3
Win 7 Pro
AMD Phenom 955
8GB RAM
NVIDA GT430
1GB VRAM
OR & MSTS Installs on a 240GB SSD

[erielackawanna]

Hi everyone,

I stand corrected.

Further investigation has led me to discover that running OR minimized to my taskbar while loading a route causes OR to crash. This is probably a separate issue than the aforementioned one. I like to run OR mimimized to the taskbar while the the program loads a route, as I get bored with looking at the route loading screen. I also like to multitask.

[baldwin]

Running minimised and multi tasking is the problem and is not the fault of OR. Operating in that way removes focus from OR onto whatever you are doing instead, so the OS reduces the cpu priority of OR to give prominence to the process you are working on.

[OTTODAD]

Further investigation has led me to discover that running OR minimized to my taskbar while loading a route causes OR to crash.

Which keyboard shortcut keys lets you do that when a large ORTS activity is loading slowly whether or not your keyboard has special Windows keys between the Ctrl and Alt keys, my WIN-XP SP3 computer's older special programmers keyboard has not and does not work with my WIN-7 computer which has them on its keyboard ?

[erielackawanna]

Which keyboard shortcut keys lets you do that when a large ORTS activity is loading slowly whether or not your keyboard has special Windows keys between the Ctrl and Alt keys, my WIN-XP SP3 computer's older special programmers keyboard has not and does not work with my WIN-7 computer which has them on its keyboard ?

Hi Otto,

I sometimes run OR in a minimized view by clicking on the minimize button in the upper left of the window.

Hi Mervyn,

In the past, I was able to run OR minimized while the program loaded a route.

[peaches461999]

The increased loading time you guys gave watchdog seems to be working for me now in my route I am building.

[baldwin]

Hi Mervyn,

In the past, I was able to run OR minimized while the program loaded a route.

The problem is with the new watchdog code. Prior to watchdog, when you minimised and multi tasked, the OS removed the priority from OR and applied it to whatever you decided to work with. OR was then in a state of suspended animation until the OS allocated some cpu cycles. This is still happening, but the watchdog code now assumes that the program is hanging and closes it. As OR is still in beta, and watchdog is in use to look for genuine app hangs during loading and running, you will just have to twiddle your thumbs while it loads. Go make a coffee or something, just don't multitask until it is loaded.

By the way, the longest I have waited for a route/activity to load so far is under a minute.

[eric]

Responsiveness like this from the development team is why I stick with ORTS....

[mikeebb]

I frequently multitask while using ORTS (also MSTS) now that I have a quad-core computer. Works fine; MSTS uses no more than 1 core's worth (25%) of processor; ORTS uses 60-70% (in my system) but is well-behaved in terms of multitasking. But I don't minimize ORTS or MSTS - I just go to the desktop and start another program (like Firefox or Pale Moon to look at the route in Google Maps, or to load up railroadradio.net in VLC Player for some route-appropriate chatter). Alt-Tab switches between windows fine. That said, I haven't tried to actually open another program while the route is loading - will try that. I suspect, though, that the crash problem has something to do with minimizing, not just multitasking.

[OTTODAD]

I frequently multitask while using ORTS (also MSTS) now that I have a quad-core computer. Works fine; MSTS uses no more than 1 core's worth (25%) of processor; ORTS uses 60-70% (in my system) but is well-behaved in terms of multitasking. But I don't minimize ORTS or MSTS - I just go to the desktop and start another program (like Firefox or Pale Moon to look at the route in Google Maps, or to load up railroadradio.net in VLC Player for some route-appropriate chatter). Alt-Tab switches between windows fine. That said, I haven't tried to actually open another program while the route is loading - will try that. I suspect, though, that the crash problem has something to do with minimizing, not just multitasking.

Messing around with this some more I can not interrupt a slow loading activity to drop ORTS to the Task Bar, but when it has finished loading, showing its full screen, I can move its window with Alt-Enter like shown below.

It can not be moved again but I can access all else that is shown on the desktop and forinstance connect to the Internet, usually closed down when I am running train simulators not requiring it.

Another Alt-Enter restores the reduced size ORTS window to full screen again.

But trying that with ORTS actually running the ICE-3 it crashed !

[peaches461999]

Is it the old memory problem. Maybe while OR is loading, and you running other tasks, OR is crashing because of a lack of resources because of all the programs that are running?