same old cakewalk problems only worse

G

Gag

New member
Any help would be appreciated. Here is my scenario: I have a NEC AMDK62 computer with at 500mhz. I have upgraded my sound card to an audiophile 2496. I also have 192 ram. Unfortunately the computer is being used for other purposes as well as recording. I regularly defragment the hard drive and do the other assorted tricks I have learnt from this page and other sources. I was told my hard drive speed should be upgraded to 7200rpm but my computer will only recognize it at 4200rpm because of something to do with my mother board. I have been recording at 24 bits with new card and have to go to 16 bit instead because of major drop out problems . Even at 16 bit I'm having problems more so than the original sound card. I can't seem to use any effects without drop outs. Desperately needing an answer. Thanks Gag
 
Well Gag, if the Mobo won't cooperate with your hard drive you do need to consider an upgrade. But, I would also say that you should still get a few tracks out of that puppy without trouble. What else have you done to the system to help out? Any tweaks? Any optimization at all? List what you have done.

I use 98Lite. It helps to clean out the system and make it lean. I also recommend a dual boot scenario if you want a cleaner system for just audio.

I have an article describing the process at Collaboration Central just click forums, then the Using 98 lite link on the lower left.

If you don't want to go that far then post what you have done and let's see what else can be done like, virtual memory, VCACHE settings, Cakewalk settings, and maybe even the mobo settings to get it to see the drive at the correct speed.
 
just read your reply DS thanks. I took your advice and checked into collaboration central in regards to 98 lite It looks and sounds like the way to go but unfortunately its a little to deep for me right now as i am not that together with computers yet. By the way whats my mobo? Anyways I wrote down everything I could remember and voila here we go My cakewalk settings go like this. Audio driver bit depth is 16 file bit depth is 16. Buffers in playback queue is 4 . Buffer size is100 msec I have played around with it and noticed a bit of difference but not much. I also do not know enough about the advanced tab settings to do anything with it.In options audio under the drivers tab my input driver "Pcm1/2delta AP" and my output driver "Wave out1/2delta AP" are hilighted. The ESS Audio are not and I have deselected all midi devices since I don't need them at this point. I also heard or read somewhere that if I have games installed on the system they may cause problems with direct X plugins which I currently don't use because of drop-outs yet when using them before with the built in Ess Solo card it seemed I got away with more use of the effects before drop-outs occurred I am not using any plugins now because for some reason drop-outs are even more frequent than before also I don't want to lose some of my recordings which if my memory serves me right also happened when using Direct X plugs with my old Ess card. Now,on to the computer settings. I always turn off the screen saver and wallpaper before opening cakewalk and usually have the computer defragged.My Irq setting for the audiophile 2496 is different than the integrated Ess-Solo-1 pci Audio Drive card.I have went to the DMA properties settings set the reserve DMA at 48k. My colour depth is set to high colour16bit. I have disabled the autohide. I also read that I should disable the auto insert notification via the device manager/cd/properties then uncheck it but with my NEC there is no uncheck box would you know of another way to disable it on my system?Or does it really make that much of a difference? For that matter does most of the above make that much difference? Anyways thats about all she wrote I really hope you or anybody else can help out tanx a mil I'm all typed out chow. Gag.
 
Just a few things I forgot there DS my VCache settings are as follows a checked box(with a picture of a pencil to the right of it) than> MinFileCache=2048 than below that line another box etc> MaxFileCache=2048.I'm not sure how to deal with my virtual memory. All I really need is 12 tracks of uninterrupted recording maybe 3 effects and I,d be a happy camper.Anyways thanks again. Also thanks DS for the quick reply for the first posting looking forward to your next. Gag
 
If I had to guess, I think the problem has something to do with something hogging the PCI bus. Possibly your video card. It also seems odd that your mobo (motherboard) won't support a 7200 RPM drive. It shouldn't be that old a mobo if it is running an AMD K-6 2 @500Mhz. Here's a question, is the processor overclocked, and if so, how exactly is it being overclocked? I'm no expert, but if you have the PCI buss speed set too high, it could be interfereing with your video card, or maybe your front side buss is too fast for your memory. Does the mobo have an AGP video card or PCI card? If it has an AGP slot available, you might want to pick up a cheap AGP video card and try that. What other devices do you have in the PC? What programs are running in the background? 24 bit is definately more system intensive than 16 bit. Also the AMD chips (pre Athlon and Duron and T'bird) were known for poor floating point processing ie: they were subpar for handling plug ins. DS may be right, if there is no way to get your mobo to run that HD faster than 4200, you may be shit out of luck with your setup. Find out what type of mobo you have (should say it on the board), and go find out on the web how to tweak the bios to get more out of it.
 
Hey,E-Money thanks for your input. I 'll probably be a newbie for life. Maybe you could explain a few things for me like for instance what is my PCI bus and does the PCI Buss speed you mentioned refer to the overclocking you mentioned also I don't know what the frontside bus is. I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me (chuckle). Sorry for so many questions thanks again,Gag.
 
Gag,

You can try changing the I/O buffer size which is, I believe, in the advanced tab of the audio properties.

I think the default is 64 but you can try 96, 128, 256 or even 1024. This has cured several dropout issues for me, especially if you change sample rates a lot. You just have to experiment to find the right size that works with your hardware.

---------------
Fishkid
 
Thanx Fishkid I've changed my v-cache setting and so far no major problems yet I still can't put to many effects on but I will try your suggestion. Also it looks like my mobo can not be upgraded as I would need another bus slot to install another card for another harddrive for another, you get the picture. I was hoping to get some serious quality sounds but at this point I'm willing to settle for less just to get some songs finished. Someone once told me I would end up doing more dicking around with pci recording than actual recording I see what they meant. But I had a choice to go this route rather than analog so I took it. I did what homework I could with what limited knowledge of computers I have. It's been an interesting path. If only I had known a couple of these tips earlier I would have bought the right rig first off, oh well. So to make this short if all you kind folk could try and give me any more anwsers that haven't been answered already in the above questions I will be forever in debt. Thanks to all for the info. Good luck see you at the top of the charts chow, Gag.
 
500mhz, 192m, slow drive are the problem

you can't squeeze blood from a turnip, and you can't squeeze tracks from a slow drive with low memory. up until yesterday, i was using an AMDk63 450mhz with 384m RAM; however, i has a program drive (used to house cake and other applications), and an audio drive (used to house my .wrk, wave data, picture data, etc.. files). i can push 16 mono tracks, 3-4 aux plugins (as long as only 1 is reverb), and a few track plugins (comp, lim, eq). after that point i have to start making sub-mixes.

you figure that windows (and it's various pieces) is taking up 32m on it's own.

then you figure in the fact that you are only using one HD running at 4200rpm.

question: are your 12 tracks mono or stereo tracks?

The thing to do is to:

1. do all the stuff mentioned on the forum to tweek your system (defrag, virtual mem., Vcache, etc...)

2. slide that latency doo-hicky all the way to the right when recording.

3. adjust your i/o buffer. i think mine is set for 512.

4. buy another HD. use your C drive for applications, and your shiny new D drive for storing your tracks.
 
I don't believe we are all listening to the issue here. You say the drive is only being recognised at 4200RPM but that it should be 7200 right. What is the model number and manufacturer of thje drive? We can look up the specs and see what the spinle speed should be. Then we can be sure what you have and what we are dealing with.

Gag, you should be able to record at least a few tracks with your system and I think we need to start at the beginning again.

What are the mobo and the HD specs. What tweaks have you done? And what are you willing to spend, both in time and money, to get it working?

Let me know if you would like one-on-one help with this. We can chat, as I stated in my previous post, if you want to get a handle on your system. Just let me know.

Take care.
 
.Hey guys , thanks again for your replies. First off I found out that my hardrive may be 5400 instead of 4200 rpm and the problem was that I could not upgrade to a faster drive because my mobo would only reconize it at 5400 rpm. However after chatting with my local computer store they said I could buy an "Am Promise Card" that would enable my mobo to reconize a newer hardrive at the speed it is at being 7200rpm.But get this my mobo(love that word reminds me of mojo) Does not have another buss slot for a Am Promise card.great eh? Needless to say I have not bought either hardrive or card. As far as upgrading goes its all relative to how fast I sell my used gear, want some? ha ha. Anyways DS here's a little more infor about my smokin unit,the hardive is a maxtor model 913 01v3 and I have a SiS chipset with either ata=33 or ata=66 rate. I think those last numbers refer to my transfer time, is that right? Most if any tweaking I've done is listed above and yes crosstudio I tried the latentcy slider and buffer adjustments but noticed only little difference but you mentioned using mono tracks which I am not and I know using stereo can be more taxing on the rig. I can probably get by with 8 to 10 tracks instead of the 12 I mentioned before hopefully in stereo for most of my songs but I'm hitting a wall at 4 to 6 tracs with assorted noises and such. Maybe I shouldn,t be so anal about having everthing in stereo. Anyways guys ever little bit helps.Looking forward to your reponse thanks, Gag.
 
I can't imagine the MB not seeing the drive speed. Sounds strange.
In any event, the BIOS would be what to update.
I'd suspect the Video Card...double check the BIOS settings.
Try setting the amount of disk space for TEMP files manually rather than letting Windows manage it.


Terry
 
.thanks for the input TC.As I "ve mentioned before thru out my postings I'm less than a newbie. So forgive if I ask you how to check my bios. From what I understand I have a PC video card with my rig which is of no use to me so if it can be any help to my recordings to disable or whatever then great. What do you think? ( TC,DS)
 
What IS your system anyway? I looked back through your posts and don't see specifics on the board itself, and of the entire system as a whole. I see that you have an ESS sound card listed, and you talked about the HD, but a little more about the system itself would do me some good to see. How old is it? Where did you get it? Who else has worked on it and may be able to help you get a grip on it's guts (so to speak)?

Newbie or not, you will learn how and what to do to your system. Is that understood young man! *teacher shakes finger in students face* And you will learn what your system is so that when we ask you a question, you can answer it intelligently. Got it mister! *drill Sergeant get's in privates face*

Sorry, I have been dealing with my families systems since I moved to South Dakota and they need to learn a little more so I can help them help themselves. Just thought I'd impart to you, and to anyone reading, that it is important to know your gear. Or at least try to understand the basics so you can ask and give informed information. Forgive me if I get a little off base everyone. It's how I am. (ask anyone! ..LOL)

Let me know if I can help in any way.
 
Well DS let me try a tad more here. the ess card came with the rig when I bought it and apparently is intergrated. I also installed an audiophile 2496 as well. The hardrive is a maxtor model#91301u3 or maybe #91301v3.the computer was bought in Jan2000 . I also bought more ram to bring up to 192. It's an Nec model M GT200c. Cpu is an AMD K6-2w/ multi media.NO one has been inside the rig except me to put in the extra soundcard and extra ram also I wrote down the hardrive model#.Now here is what I've been told about the mobo.IT,s apparently a Socket 7 with an Sis chipset. the transfer rate is either ata 33 or ata 66.I got to different stories on those numbers. It also came with a built in CD burner which I have yet to use but was a factor when buying it.Oh yeah I bought it at radioshack. THats about all I can think of except any previous postings info and the fact is the rig is being used for other things such as games, internet and assorted shite.please let me know if this helps, cheers Gag
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top