Computer stops responding

Alho · Post by **Alho** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:36 am

I haven't had time to look into this more now, except that there were no crashes yesterday for several hours with the pulsar removed, so I'm now more convinced that it's Pulsar-related.

Neil B: I checked the wmiprov.log logfile you mentioned, I also have it and there were lines for "Impersonation failed" and "WDM Call returned error 4200" etc, but the latest one was for today at the exact time I turned my computer on, and I don't even have my Pulsar installed at the moment nor has there been a crash, so I guess this is just something that happens during every bootup. I don't think it's related to the problem, imho. On the other hand, the IRQ sharing situation you have is very similar to mine, the only difference is that I have the newer ICH8 USB Universal Host Controller on my motherboard.

I definitely do have my motherboard audio enabled, since I use it for gaming etc (yes, I know I should have a dedicated DAW, and trust me, wouldn't like anything more, but a poor student can't afford two powerful computers). I'm going to re-install the Pulsar today and disable the built-in audio to see if it helps (I can always stick in my old SB Live for gaming

). If it doesn't, I'll start looking for a way to prevent the Pulsar from sharing an IRQ.

Cheers,
Timo

Post by **Neil B** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:26 am

Hi Timo
Thinking about it, if that log entry happens every time the pc is booted up, then obviously I've noticed it because I've had to reboot after a freeze, so I think you're probably right about that.

I'm sure we'll crack the problem but as I've said to Shay, I'm off on holiday in a few days time and probably won't have time to concentrate on things and get it sorted.
If you solve it, let us know

Thanks for your help

Alho · Post by **Alho** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:39 am

Ok, disabled the motherboard audio and put a project in cubase playing on a loop. About an hour later -> Freeze. So it didn't help.

Then I moved the Pulsar to another slot on the motherboard, and it now has an IRQ all for itself (thanks for the tip, Stardust, I would probably have gone into the BIOS to look for a way to change the IRQ). I'm now testing again and we'll see if there are any more crashes.

While switching the pulsar to another slot, I did notice though that one of the capacitors next to one of the SHARCs on the Pulsar has been torn off! I think this has been for a while, since I'm quite sure I didn't break it now. If it still crashes with the non-shared IRQ, this will be my next thing to look at. I'll have the capacitor re-soldered during the holidays anyway (the broken capacitor can't be a good thing) by a friend of mine who's a professional electric engineer working with embedded systems hardware, so I think he should be able to do the soldering without risking the card.

Just out of curiosity, Neil B, could you check that your Pulsar doesn't have any broken/disconnected capacitors? If you have that too, then that is probably the root of the problem...

Alho · Post by **Alho** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:55 am

Another crash! Now my main suspect is the capacitor. Unfortunately I can only have it re-soldered during the holidays, and I won't have a chance to test the Pulsar again until around new year. So until then I will just have to hope that this fixes it...

Post by **Neil B** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:26 am

Timo,
haven't got time to start opening up my pc and checking the card at the moment, but I have noticed that the Scope card wa s IRQ sharing with a usb port so I've disabled that.
I'll see if it freezes and come back to this thread.

Post by **Neil B** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:28 am

I forgot - I've listed my pc spec now - whether that gives any clues?

PC Fujitsu Siemens
Mainboard Gigabyte 8I9 15P Duo
Chipset Intel i9 15G
Processor Intel Pentium 4 660 @ 3600 MHz
Physical memory 2048 Mb ( 2x 1024 DDR-2-SDRAM)
Video card ATI Radeon X700 SE
Hard Disk STS3250823AS (250GB)
Hard Disk STS3250823AS (250GB)
OS XP home edition 5.01.2600 Service pack 2

balaftuna · Post by **balaftuna** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:35 am

the fact that both of us have ATI Radeon further supports my suggestion to disable all the graphic card startup services. (the card works great without them).
cheers.

Post by **Neil B** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:09 am

Hi Shay
You mentioned in one of your earlier posts that you graphics card has tons of things in the startup services.
Now, using MSconfig, my startup services show only the following

Jusched.exe - something to do with java
SFP
Nero check
Adobe reader MS findfast
MS office startup

PDVD serv (which I've disabled)
Soundman.exe, (which I've disabled)

I can't find these tons of graphics card startup bits you mention so perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place.

As I write though, my Cubase has been in a loop for 30 mins without hanging, so perhaps things are looking up ?
I'll run some more tests later before I start feeling confident though!

balaftuna · Post by **balaftuna** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:13 am

hi Neil, I would also disable:

Nero check
Adobe reader MS findfast
MS office startup

Good Luck.

Post by **Neil B** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:30 am

Will do

Have you disabled your coms ports or do you need them?

My music pc is standalone (not this one) so I guess I don't need them for anything.
Was thinking of disablling lpt1 but my Cubase dongle is in there!!!!!!

Time for a bike ride for a couple of hours - now, should I leave Cubase in this loop while I'm out?

balaftuna · Post by **balaftuna** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:35 am

don't really know anything about COM ports. I didn't touch them.
Hope you will have a pleasant surprise when you come back from the ride.
cheers.
Shay

Post by **Neil B** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:45 am

I didn't have the confidence to leave it running - just set it off again

Post by **Neil B** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:32 am

running a loop with VST & Scope synths plus Modular 2 in Cubase for 2 hours now. All 4 fans running at 35 degrees C

No problems

I'll give it another couple of hours

Post by **Neil B** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:30 am

Well, it seems good and probably the problem is solved.
I'll have to put it down to the Pulsar 2 card sharing an IRQ.
I've run it for more than 3 hours and over 2 hours on additional tests and no freezes at all.
Hope things work out okay for you Shay & Timo too.

balaftuna · Post by **balaftuna** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:03 am

this is GREAT news Neil!

Alho · Post by **Alho** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:26 am

Great news, Neil!

I'm getting the feeling that I might be having a double problem, one with IRQ sharing (which should now be fixed), and another with the broken capacitor. Let's hope that once that's fixed my system will be working perfectly, too

Post by **Neil B** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:10 am

Yes it is great news but until I've had no freezes for prolonged periods over a few days I won't be raising a glass of whisky.
It IS a relief to think it's finally sorted. Not only is it frustrating it sort of inhibits you from being creative. Taking the worry away will make the hobby more relaxing.

Anyway Alho, I notice you've only got 5 posts here on "Z" so I hope you can resolve the problem and get to enjoy using your Pulsar stuff properly soon.

And thanks for all YOUR help too Shay.

H-Rave · Post by **H-Rave** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:42 am

It sounds very much as if your pulsar's on the same irq as the Graphics card.I've got a radeon with a firewire card I don't have any problems at all ?

Post by **Neil B** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:52 am

Guess what - after 4 hours in a hot room

H-Rave · Post by **H-Rave** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:56 am

Yeah right, "hot room", and "stoke on Trent" are two phrase which are never said in the same sentence, as are " Manchester" ,"Nottingham" and Oop North .I had a broken capacitor on a luna 2 card and obviously it wouldn't work mainly because it couldn't synchronise to anything, so the samplerate speed kept on flashing.That was really bloody annoying,

Good luck, keep your spirits up

Richard