Month: June 2023

An example of using AI and a traditional method of troubleshooting an IT problem.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Problem
3. Enter the CompTIA Troubleshooting Method
4. Enter ChatGPT
5. Testing The Theories
6. Conclusion

Introduction

We are going to see how we can combine an AI chatbot, in this case ChatGPT, and a traditional method of troubleshooting, CompTIA Troubleshooting Method, to fix a problem. The idea is to improve our efficiency and efficacy by using AI.

The Problem

Fortnite crashes during the loading screen between games on Fortnite.

Additional Information:

• Fortnite crashes during the loading screen between games
• Recently installed 2nd hand graphics card – RX5500 XT
• AMD driver and software is up to date and AMD cleanup utility used
• Main suspect is the GPU, but the stress test doesn’t cause any problems
• System specs exceed game requirements
• Coincides with new chapter of Fortnite released
• Other games played without issue
• Never crashes in game when resources are most stressed
• Once the PC has crashed it is unreachable via ping or RDP which suggests that it’s not just a case of the GPU failing

Since this PC has just had its GPU replaced with a more powerful but used model this is the primary suspect for the problem but there could be many other issues such as the version of Fortnite just released and more. What is curious about this problem is that it occurs inbetween games and also when you enable the Task Switcher feature on Windows (alt-tab).

Enter the CompTIA Troubleshooting Method

1. Identify the Problem: Gather information from the user, perform an initial analysis, and duplicate the problem if possible. Identify symptoms and potential causes.
2. Establish a Theory of Probable Cause: Considering the information you have gathered, hypothesize a likely cause of the issue.
3. Test the Theory to Determine Cause: Once a theory is in place, test it to see if it’s the actual cause of the problem. If the theory is confirmed, identify the next steps to resolve the problem. If not, establish a new theory or escalate.
4. Establish a Plan of Action to Resolve the Problem and Implement the Solution: Implement the solution or plan of action and verify that it has resolved the problem. This might involve repairing a faulty component, updating software, or other actions.
5. Verify Full System Functionality and Implement Preventive Measures: After the issue is resolved, confirm that the entire system is working as expected. Also, implement any preventive measures if necessary to prevent the problem from happening again.
6. Document Findings, Actions, and Outcomes: Make a record of what you found, what you did, and what the result was. This can help in troubleshooting future problems and is a good practice for maintaining IT systems.

Enter ChatGPT

So, we can use ChatGPT to provide us with as many theories as possible on what the problem is. This is something that the chatbot excels at with it’s knowledge base on many other documented problems similar to ours:

Here are a few possible reasons why your PC might be crashing during the loading screen between games in Fortnite:

1. Graphics Card Driver Issues: The issue might be related to your graphics card drivers. It’s worth trying to update them to the latest version, or if the problem started after a recent update, you might consider rolling back to a previous version.
2. Game Files Corruption: Sometimes, game files can become corrupted, which can cause crashes. Try verifying the integrity of your game files. In Epic Games Launcher, you can do this by clicking on the gear icon next to the Fortnite thumbnail, and then clicking “Verify”.
3. Insufficient System Resources: If your system is running out of RAM or disk space, this could cause the game to crash. Close unnecessary applications running in the background to free up some system resources.
4. Overheating: Overheating can cause all sorts of problems, including game crashes. Monitor your system temperatures while you’re playing to see if overheating might be the issue. If so, you might need to clean out your system, reapply thermal paste, or improve your cooling setup.
5. Hardware Issues: Problems with your actual hardware (like your graphics card, RAM, etc.) can cause crashes. You might consider running some hardware diagnostic tools to check for issues.
6. Software Conflicts: Other software running on your computer (like antivirus programs) could potentially cause conflicts leading to crashes. Try temporarily disabling these types of programs to see if that fixes the issue.
7. Game Settings: Sometimes, in-game settings can cause crashes if they’re set too high for your system to handle, or if there’s a particular setting your system doesn’t handle well. Try lowering your settings or changing them to see if that resolves the crashes.
8. Outdated Game Version: If your game is not updated to the latest version, it might cause some instability issues such as crashes. Make sure Fortnite and the Epic Games Launcher are updated to the latest version.

In addition to these I prompted the AI to focus on the fact that these crashed occurred in during the loading screen in particular and give me more theories:

1. Disk I/O issues: The loading screen between games is usually where new game data is being loaded from your storage into memory. If there are issues with your hard drive or SSD, such as bad sectors, it could cause the game to crash during this process.
2. RAM issues: The data is loaded into RAM during this time, so if there are issues with your RAM (like bad memory modules), it could cause crashes. Try running a memory diagnostic tool to check for problems.

3. Game file corruption: If certain game files that are needed during the transition between games are corrupted, this could cause the game to crash when it tries to load these files. As previously mentioned, verifying the integrity of your game files might help.
4. Graphics Settings or Driver Issues: Even though the loading screen is less demanding overall, it might use certain graphical effects or functions that aren’t used elsewhere. If your GPU drivers have issues with these specific effects, it could cause a crash.
5. Resource Allocation Shift: When transitioning between games, the application is likely deallocating and reallocating resources (like memory). If there’s an issue with how this is handled, either due to a bug in the game or a problem with your system’s hardware, this could cause a crash.

6. File Loading Issues: During loading screens, the game is often loading assets from your hard drive. If there’s a problem with your hard drive or the game files themselves, this could cause a crash.
7. Graphics Rendering Change: The rendering during gameplay might be handled differently than the rendering during loading screens. If your graphics card has issues with the rendering mode used in loading screens, this could cause a crash.
8. Network Requests: Sometimes, during loading screens, games will make network requests (like loading player stats, matchmaking, etc.). If there’s a problem with your network connection or the game’s servers, this could potentially cause a crash.
9. Game Bugs: Sometimes games have specific bugs that cause crashes under certain conditions. It’s possible there’s a bug in the game that’s causing this issue.
10. Shader Compilation: Some games compile shaders during loading screens. If there’s an issue with the shaders, or if your GPU has problems compiling them, it could result in a crash.
11. Memory Leaks: If the game has a memory leak, it might not become apparent until you’ve played a few games in a row. The transition between games could be when the leak finally causes a crash.

ChatGPT

We have nearly 20 theories on what the problem might be so we can make our own list, making a judgement on what are the priority theories to test.

1. Drivers – try the 6/1/2023 release. Use Clean Up Utility first. If that fails, then try to roll back to previous version.
2. Game settings – experiment with low graphics settings. First try preset to Low. Then try DX11.
3. Run as Admin.
4. Verify games files – Use the EPIC games Verify feature.
5. Problematic software release – a new chapter for Fortnite has just been released and maybe the PC version is buggy?
6. Overheating – GPU does not appear to overheat during game or stress test. At the loading screen where the crash usually occurs, the resources are not under load and temperature consequently is not a problem. Check CPU temperatures. Buy thermal paste and redo CPU.
7. Hardware issues – find diagnostic tools to test all the hardware, particularly the RAM. GPU has been stress-tested multiple times now so presumably it is functioning as it should. Try removing RAM.
8. Software conflicts – disable all background applications in Task Manager > Start up.
9. Windows security – experiment with turning off the firewall and anything else that is possible to turn off and see if this helps. Not good to have these off for extended periods though.
10. Disk I/O – check the SSD for bad sectors.
11. Resource Allocation Shift – there does not seem to be anything in this which is not covered elsewhere in this list.

12. Network Requests: Sometimes, during loading screens, games will make network requests (like loading player stats, matchmaking, etc.). If there’s a problem with your network connection or the game’s servers, this could potentially cause a crash.
13. Shader Compilation: Some games compile shaders during loading screens. If there’s an issue with the shaders, or if your GPU has problems compiling them, it could result in a crash.
14. Visual C++ Distributables
15. Compatibility – set to Windows 8.
16. Packet loss – in terminal: -limitclientticks. Has potential drawbacks such as slower data transfer to and from the server.

Testing The Theories

Now we can try to test and resolve these theories in turn.

1. Drivers – In the Adrenalin app the driver is stated as up to date. To be sure the driver and software were uninstalled, and the AMD Cleanup Utility used prior to reinstalling.
2. Game settings – various experiments conducted with the settings turned down, DX11 vs DX 12 etc.
3. Run as Admin – done.
4. Verify game files – the feature in the EPIC games launcher was ran twice and appeared to download some data. No feedback is given at the end of the process
5. Problematic software release – unable to control this until EPIC release the first update.
6. Overheating – Temperatures were checked with various software and feature and the thermal paste was reapplied to the CPU. Fan settings were set to maximum in UEFI.
7. Hardware issues – the GPU was stress tested for 5 minutes using the AMD software. Different sets and configurations of RAM were tested.
8. Software Conflicts – everything has been disabled at Start Up.
9. Windows Security – due to security issues with turning off Windows Defender for extended periods of time needed to test an intermittent system crash, testing this theory was held back.
10. Disk I/O – checked the SSD for bad sectors using the feature in Windows 10.

It was at this stage in proceedings that EPIC released the first update for this chapter of Fortnite and since then there have been no crashes. Fortnite is primarily a console application and possibly the PC version gets fewer resources and consequently was buggy. In the end it was a factor that was out of our control, but we achieved the desired result. Web searches for Fortnite crashes did not produce information about this being a problem with other users and with so many other theories, most of them plausible, this one didn’t get the attention it maybe deserved. Hindsight is a great thing.

Conclusion

We have seen how we can use AI to enhance our workflow and efficiency. Within a few minutes the bot has produced nearly twenty theories and that means we can move on to the testing stage much quicker. Also, we can use the AI to suggest procedures for testing/resolving the theories. Game crashes may not be enterprise level issues, but the principle is sound.