Computer Recording Questions

E

Emeric

New member
Lockups can be caused by so many things.

Not sure all of which you have tried, but here are a few - test your audio app's after each one:

- Pull out all cards except the darla and video card.
- Try different combinations of the DIMM memory. Try 1 64MB, and eliminate any bad memory.

If you can't eliminate the problem through hardware (there is always the possiblity it is your motherboard, they can cause all sorts of nasty things), then it could quite possibly be software. When's the last time you reinstalled your OS (from scratch, i.e. format reinstall)? Is it Win98? This is something I do quite frequently, every 6 months or so.

Do you have other programs running that may be consuming resources? virus scanners, screensavers, microsoft office.. etc.

What recording software are you using and does it lock up in all of them? Does it lock up only in audio applications or in other programs? Could be something to do with the SBLive, Darla combo. Keep plugging away at it, you will resolve it eventually. Your system is well suited for recording, once you get by these problems.
 
Emeric gave the best suggestion in that you need to try to simplify your hardware as much as possible first in order to rule out some things. Also try just the Soundblaster and the video card.

Check on the web to make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound cards and video card.

Check in the Device Manager to see if you are having any IRQ or DMA conflicts. I don't usually trust Windows to tell me if there are any conflicts, I like to check each one and note the value.

What kind of video card do you have? Is it PCI or AGP? Some PCI video cards monopolize the PCI bus and can block the disk from working. Although, this should just cause the audio to skip, not cause the computer to freeze. Anyway, it's something to consider after you've tried anything else. If you can get your hands on a different video card temporarily, try it out.

Regarding hard drives…..I don't think it matters that much for relatively few tracks. I have roughly the same level of computer as you and I have a 13 GB 7200RPM EIDE drive partitioned as one single partition. I haven't done large number of tracks, like 24 or whatever. But for a few tracks like 8, I don’t come anywhere near the disk limit. (Cubase has a disk performance meter and it barely even registers in my case.)

Some people say that it's better to have two drives and that they should be on different IDE channels (different cable). Also, you should have one just for audio and the other for everything else. And of course, SCSI has been generally accepted to be better for performance. But to me, all these aspects don't really matter because my setup works fine as it is. (But if I were a pro studio, it would be a different story) So I just keep one drive and one big partition because it's more convenient that way.



[This message has been edited by JimH (edited 05-16-2000).]
 
I currently have a PentiumII 450 mhz with 160 meg of Ram. I have been using (or trying to use) an SBLiveValue with a Darla I/O card. I've been finding that my audio explorations often freeze bigtime, without any kind of pattern. I've lost countless hours and a bunch of work. Of course, I am way over my head and have tried several interventions but am still not sure if it's a software conflict, hardware conflict, bad card, etc. After switching slots, pulling cards, etc. I'm actually thinking about doing something drastic but wanted to get the advice of those with more experience. (No, I'm not going to hurt anybody)

One scenario is to buy a new computer. Will a celeron at 566 or Pentium III be able to handle all the loads of digital recording in a significantly improved fashion from the PentII 450 w/160mb RAM? Is there any reason to go with CeleronII rather than PentiumIII other than price? I know that overclocking may be a factor but Echo (the makers of Darla) strongly urge against it.

If I were to get a new computer, would it be wiser -for audio- to get two smaller harddrives rather than one large harddrive. If so, how should the harddrives be configured for programs, data storage, etc.

Finally, another option would be to use one machine as a "dedicated" soft synth or sampler machine. I am interested in how easy it is to set this up and/or where I can go to get more information about how to do it.

In sum, I would hate to give up my machine and am sure that it is adequate -if not more than adequate for the small scale stuff that I do. On the other hand, if another machine would make a significant performance difference, I'd be willing to try it. Any other suggestions? Advice? Admonitions?
Thanks so much. This is my first time posting...looks like a great site.
 
What exactly are you doing when your machine freezes up. I am using a 450, 128 and have no problems. What size HD do you have and how filled up is it? Have you defragged lately?
 
listen, DONT REPLACE YOUR COMPUTER FOR THIS!

It is absolutely not your motherboard or processor speed. (well, 99% absolutely). A well maintained 366 can do what youre trying to do.

First, though, what Softare are you using, cause it sounds like a software issue to me.

xoxo
cameron
 
First off...I really appreciate the responses. Let me see if I can answer some of the questions. My harddrive is an 11gig and its at least 1/2 empty (or 1/2 full... whatever). The freeze-ups have occurred during Cakewalk ProAud9 recording and while using demos of Reaktor and Vegas.

My problem is trying to isolate the cause of the problem. I've been told heat (nope); harddrive DMA (nope); SBLive conflict (interesting - the jury is still out). I've replaced all the pertinent drivers and defragged several times. I've also eliminated all the programs from the systray. Eventually to no avail. Although sometimes it takes longer to freeze than others (two minutes to an 1 1/2hour.)Since I reinstalled the Darla -with the SBLive out of the PCI slot- it seems as if things might be better. But I'm not sure.

I am going to -gasp- reformat my drive and hope for the best. Haven't done that yet.

While I am aware that replacing the computer for this is like swatting a fly with sledgehammer, I do need another harddrive at any rate and am not sure whether I can branch out to sequencing with Reaktor or GigaSampler with just one machine. While there are other things I would much prefer to buy with the the money I don't have, I am interested in knowing whether a bigger, better, faster, leaner machine would result in bigger better faster leaner processing. Plus, I gotta say that spending all my time in the guts of my machine is not as much fun as actually making the music. In fact, its damn frustrating. But, enough of that.
 
IF you're buying any new computer equipment, it should be a second HD. I would suggest having two for any computer just because it simplifies reinstallation of Windows. Simply put all files you want to keep on your secondary drive and format the primary and reinstall windows and your apps. For audio, you also get the benefit of having a dedicated drive that can take the read/write punishment while the OS/apps drive can do it's things in peace during recording. Get a medium sized IDE 7200rpm and hook it up to your system before formatting the other.

Also, do you have any soundchip or other built in crap on your motherboard? They can cause conflicts and in the abolutley worst case, you may have to get another motherboard. Keep that as the last resort though.

Could you list the brands/models on your HD, MD, graphics card and other PCI cards so it's easier to help you with any known conflicting hardware.

My bet however, as suggested already, it's probably a software problem or a bad memory.

/Ola
 
y'know, a faster macine will still crap out if its not set up right.

However, its sooo hard to guess what the problem might be. Some people have conflicts with the Windows Clock. My macine cannot function with RealPlayer installed... and theres a trillion other stories.

YOur best bet it to start with a Fresh install of windows and your recording programs... list your hardware here and take advantage of these guys' pile of firsthand experience

good luck
cameron
 
Ok, I'm coming in a bit late here, but what's your OS? Win95 is pretty unstable, 98 is better but still buggy. NT is reasonable, especially if you're running a dedicated audo system, but let's just say that it's not 100% perfect. I haven't tested Win2000 extensively, and not using audio software at all,but all reports I'm hearing is that it actually is very stable.

You might want to try changing OS's if you're using 95 or 98. It can make a huge difference all round - unless you want to run games, cos NT isn't too good at that (again, not testing Win2000 for games, so dont know)

Freezing, with the contents of the screen still displayed is usually a software prob. Complete crashing, the OS not starting correctly, random blue screens etc usually point towards hardware (but neither of these are 100% set in stone).

Sorry to confuse the issue further.

- gaffa
 
Well, at this point, I've reformatted the harddrive to ascertain if cleaning up Windows 98 will handle the problem.

The freezes were intermittent, without a discerible pattern (to these mortal's eyes, at least) and seem to be across platform...i.e. Cakewalk and some demos. The consensus seems to be that it is software rather than hardware. Well, we shall see. I really appreciate the response. This site appears to be a great fount of knowledge.
 
For whatever it is worth, there was a lot of good advise in the responses. But I was going to suggest exactly what you did. At my day job I support about 200 PCs and 20-30 laptops. I do see some hardware failures, such as CPU fans crapping out and the occasional dead hard drive. But 90% of the time when I see symptoms like you describe it is a software problem. I use the program Ghost (by Symantecs, available in their System Works Package) to make an "image" of the hard drive containing the OS and just those apps our employees need to do their jobs. When a system gets weird I almost always find that the user has installed a bunch of (unauthorised/illegal) crap on the computer. My usual response is to WIPE the drive clean and re-install the Ghost image. Almost always works.
I strongly recomend Windows 98 Second edition over any version of Windows 95, the file system enhancements alone are worth it. If you can install just the OS, your hardware drivers (always download the latest versions) and your Cakewalk, then do two things:
1. BACK UP YOUR HARDDRIVE
2. Play with it till it croaks

If you fail to make it die, you are set. Add more programs gradually, only one every few days if you can, until your mystery lockups come back. If they do chances are there is an incompatibility between the last program you loaded and something else. ALWAYS check for patches and updates online. If you stick with well known programs, someone else will nearly always be having the same problems as you, and hopefully a patch will show up that fixes the problem.
Good Luck...
 
I don't know if you have considered this, but I overcame a stability problem by installing win98 twice, once each on two HDs (but it's also possible to do it on one with a couple of partitions).

On one install I installed my sequencer (cakewalk) and all my music software but _nothing else_. I also disabled all the hardware that I didn't need in the windows devices roster thingy ie modem, printer port whatever. In the other OS, I put games, MSOffice and all the other crap that everyone has. Again I only turned on the hardware I need (ie not the multitrack soundcard).

To switch between the two all I have to do is change the boot HD in the bios.

Interestingly, I have had to reinstall the games-type os twice since, but not the music-type OS.

Interesting?

Anyone elso try this, or am I some kind of PC freak?

matt

[This message has been edited by Cakey2 (edited 05-19-2000).]
 
No Cakey2 you are not a freak. Another way to do the same thing is purchase a program called Partition Magic (current version 5). It lets you create multiple partitions on the same disk and switch between them in the same way you switch between your drives. You can even hide the partitions from each other if you want. This is also a good way to run different OSs on the same system, say if you wanted to use Windows NT for your music setup but also keep Windows 95/98 for games.
 
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