Topic: MJ & CPU prob's/clicks - I am stuck and lost (Read 2706 times)

Xstatic · « **on:** June 20, 2002, 10:58:32 am »

After installing the version prior to 8.300 I experienced some phenomena I havent seen before:

1) When opening MJ it takes a longer time to load and actually open

2) I get very very often clicks and pops (like the ones you get when playing an old lp)

In the settings in MJ I have set it at being the most "skip resistant".

My system should be powerful enough not to be dizzy when MJ opens and plays files I should think.

Since I am not an expert in checking the my win xp for any faults or bad settings, I am quite lost, as I right now
experience a loss everytime I use MJ, because of the clicks and pops, long loading time of the program.

Will be very grateful if someone could point a finger somewhere for me.

Jesper
Media Jukebox PLUS 8.0.300
Install Path: C:\Programmer\J River\Media Jukebox\

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 1789 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 329 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 (Build 2600)

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
wnaspi32.dll: 4.70 , ASPI for Win32 DLL, Copyright © 1989-2001 Adaptec, Inc.
Aspi32.sys: 4.7

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** June 20, 2002, 11:06:30 am »

Hi Jesper,
Make sure your wav level is set high. Do you have a creative sound card? There was a thread here you may find with a search on the issues with these cards.

Did you try a reinstall?

Jim

jimmy · « **Reply #2 on:** June 20, 2002, 11:35:38 am »

I too have been getting pops and clicks during playback. This has happened for many builds. What "skip resistant" settings? Also, what is the "wav level" option?

KingSparta · « **Reply #3 on:** June 20, 2002, 11:41:30 am »

Xstatic

I had this problem about 4 months ago, WinXP & creative sound card.

I had to reinstall Windows XP

JimH · « **Reply #4 on:** June 20, 2002, 11:47:43 am »

Here is the thread:

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/interact/NeoBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=inter&Post=10149&BoardIdle=7&SortingBy=0&BoardOrder=Descend&Page=0

Xstatic · « **Reply #5 on:** June 20, 2002, 11:51:48 am »

Jim,

the wav level is set high. sound card is a Terratec DMX Fire - I dumped my sb card long time ago

Just did the reinstall after your post - stupid me, should have done that - will test now and see if there
are any positive changes.

As a sidenote it _could_ be a plugin problem, re. the mpc plugin. I am in dialoque now with Trelane about that.

Jimmy,
the "skip resistant" level you can find if you go to "setting", then "options", then "playback" and in the "output" field you choose "settings". There you can adjust the "performance" slider.

Wav-level refers to the outlevel from the sound card. Depending on your sound card, choose the settings (maybe the loudspeaker icon in the bottom of the screen) and check the wav-level there.

King,
yeah I know about that issue back then. I relied on the fact that I dont have a sb card.
And I also find it funny that it is since v.293 that I encountered these prob's.

Xstatic · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2002, 01:47:42 pm »

It wasnt a plugin issue.

The clicks occur both with mpc's and mp3's.

Sometimes the occasional clicks explode into massive clicks and slowing down of the speed of the music,
for instance when I choose "control panel" in XP and from there chooses something else.

When doing a ctrl-alt-delete and I monitor the performance, sometimes the cpu usage goes all the way up to 100 %.
Most of the time it is at 5-10 % but then it suddenly rises to 80-100 %. Is that normal? Could that be causing it?

In MJ playback settings I have wave-out and 16-bit as default. Also tried with source bitdepth, but that didnt change anything.

there are no conflicts with my Terratec DMX Fire soundcard according to xp. No other hardware conflicts either.

Jesper.

system info is in the first post above.

Matt · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2002, 02:03:40 pm »

What is MJ doing when the CPU usage spikes? Normally, visualizations are the only really CPU hungry thing...

My only idea would be to try switcing between WaveOut and DirectSound output. (Options -> Playback) (make stop and restart playback after changing playback settings)

However, what you're describing really sounds like a hardware issue. I fought with these same problems with my M-Audio Audiophile card all the time, until I finally gave up and went back to a cheapie Sound Blaster. (which pretty much just works)

Let us know what you find out...

-Matt
JRiver, Inc.

Xstatic · « **Reply #8 on:** July 21, 2002, 07:19:15 am »

Re. the cpu spikes - I cannot really tell specifically what MJ does other than just playing when the spikes are there.

Normally I have vis switched off.

After switching to direct out, I have noticed a slight improvement (maybe imagination - as the clicks are often there)

Prior to the radical change of perfect playback to clicky playback,
I haven't performed any changes, software- og hardwarewise, except for the frequent MJ updates.

Another thing I have noticed, is that my programs, including MJ and for instance Outlook, have a longer startuptime than before.

Now when I doubleclick on MJ at my desktop is usually takes up to 7 seconds before MJ is open and running. Seems too long, especially because earlier the startuptime was 1-3 seconds.

I have done frequent defrag's and have done all the updates to my winXP as well.

This really puzzles and frustrates me. Earlier I always had that warm and joyful (really!) feeling when opening MJ - now I am nervous and feel lossy when doing it, anticipating all the clicks.

There must be a way I can handle this - and if any of you have a hint, please feel more than free to come forward with it.

I am not very skilled in regular pc terms - so I will appreciate any hints given, that they are at a very practical level - imagine you are advising your mother in law

Here is a fresh sys info:

Media Jukebox PLUS 8.0.333
Install Path: C:\Programmer\J River\Media Jukebox\

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 1799 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 350 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 (Build 2600)

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
wnaspi32.dll: 4.70 , ASPI for Win32 DLL, Copyright © 1989-2001 Adaptec, Inc.
Aspi32.sys: 4.71 (0001)

Jesper

RemyJ · « **Reply #9 on:** July 21, 2002, 08:36:44 am »

When applicatiuons are starting slowly is there a lot of disk activity, cpu activity, both, neither?

Anti-virus software? Some have device drivers that insert themselves between applications and the file system. Try completely disabling or uninstalling.

Is there an ethernet card in the system and is it actually connected to a functioning LAN? Two possible problems here... I've seen some ethernet drivers that poll the card every few seconds if it's not actually connected causing pauses. Also, if you use shared network resources and those resources disappear unexpectedly, Windows keeps looking for them frequently.

How about Microsoft's DirectX? I think XP includes the latest version but try running "dxdiag" from a command prompt and run the tests. You can also check to see if hardware acceleration is turned on.

Remy

TURBO · « **Reply #10 on:** July 21, 2002, 08:56:54 am »

Mmmm. Ladies and gentlemen. For the sake of my insanity. Just update all the drivers needed. Ej: VIA,INTEL,ASPI,HIGHT POINT RAID DRIVERS,AMD,SOUND AND VIDEO Drivers. Ah and dont forget to check the bios settings specially the pci ones. This is not a matter of reintalling XP. It is a fusion of insane developers, all interacting between your mind and your computer throu the highways of sound.

Xstatic · « **Reply #11 on:** July 21, 2002, 12:13:17 pm »

When applicatiuons are starting slowly is there a lot of disk activity, cpu activity, both, neither?

I would say both - because it is both when I have started the pc and it has settled down, that they start slowly, and also when some programs are running and I start new programs it is slow.

Anti-virus software? Some have device drivers that insert themselves between applications and the file system. Try completely disabling or uninstalling.

No actual anti-virus software- only a small program, V-catch, which I have had turned off the last couple of hours, and still having clicks.

Is there an ethernet card in the system and is it actually connected to a functioning LAN? Two possible problems here... I've seen some ethernet drivers that poll the card every few seconds if it's not actually connected causing pauses. Also, if you use shared network resources and those resources disappear unexpectedly, Windows keeps looking for them frequently.

Yes, there is an ethernet card and I do have a LAN network with one other pc. I also use shared network resources.
Since reading your post I have experimented with shutting down the other network pc, and having it turned on.
I couldnt tell any difference in the sound clicks neither way.

How about Microsoft's DirectX? I think XP includes the latest version but try running "dxdiag" from a command prompt and run the tests. You can also check to see if hardware acceleration is turned on.

Didnt know how to find directX, thanks for that! :-)
I performed the tests, and they were good - no problems.

Re. drivers:
Sound card and graphic drivers were updated recently.

As a sidenote: when I observe the the cpu performance while playing files, the clicks both occur when cpu load is both at 100 % and at the usual 6-14 %.

Ton-Up · « **Reply #12 on:** July 21, 2002, 02:12:03 pm »

Not sure if this will help but I bought a new pc the other week, about the same spec as yours, and had a similar problem to yours accept it was a SB live. My solution, as strange as it may seem, was to set the skip/responsive slider all the way to more responsive and no more pops or clicks.

Xstatic · « **Reply #13 on:** July 22, 2002, 03:58:16 am »

My solution, as strange as it may seem, was to set the skip/responsive slider all the way to more responsive and no more pops or clicks.

thx for the tip. Just tried it - and it made it even worse.
But maybe, the fact that setting it to more responsive makes it worse, could be a hint to the cause of the clicks??

Would an attempt to reinstall XP be worth it? (in terms of probability of handling the prob vs the hassle of doing it)

JimH · « **Reply #14 on:** July 22, 2002, 01:24:07 pm »

I think that KingSparta said he solved a sound problem by reinstalling XP. That's all I know. Sorry.

Stebajo · « **Reply #15 on:** July 22, 2002, 08:26:09 pm »

I have read here in forum some times ago that two people have resolved their pop and clicks issue raising the pci latency timer in the bios at least to its default (about 32).
Stebajo

Xstatic · « **Reply #16 on:** July 25, 2002, 08:41:19 am »

Finally I am clickfree!

I reinstalled XP, as King Sparta tried before with a similar problem,
and it did the job.

Thanks everyone for the willingness to help.

As an entertaining sidenote for you pc-skilled guys, read this and roll on the floor laughing:

I have 2 harddisks.
I put in my winXP cd and I must have missed something during installation, because it installed XP on my second harddisk, not the c-drive.

This I didnt want, so I just put the cd back in the drive and was more attentive this time during installation.

Then I was asked during install to decide which drive XP should be installed on, and I was also presented with the option of deleting the "partition" on my e-drive..

I gathered that the word "partition" meant something like windows-installation, and that it of course didnt mean the actual data on the entire harddisk, so while I was at it,I also deleted the partition on drive E.

When I rebooted after install, XP was back and fresh at c-drive, but...half of my MJ collection (without backup), my 4.500 files on the e-drive was gone

So I am clickfree, and definetely back on the happy ripping road again..., and hopefully a bit wiser till the next win-install.

Jesper.

KingSparta · « **Reply #17 on:** July 25, 2002, 09:16:15 am »

>> I reinstalled XP, as King Sparta tried before with
>> a similar problem, and it did the job.
And you Know I Am Not Sure What Was The Problem, Drivers Or What.

I Reinstalled Sound Drivers And That Did Not Fix It, Doing A Complete Reinstall Of WindowsXP Did Work.

Go Figure.

BillG Said He Designed WindowsXP To BlowUp From Time To Time. I Think Thats To Keep AOL\Netscape At Bay.

JimH · « **Reply #18 on:** July 25, 2002, 09:40:41 am »

Jesper,
Thanks for reporting the solution and sorry about your files.

King,
> BillG Said He Designed WindowsXP To BlowUp From Time To Time. I Think Thats To Keep AOL\Netscape At Bay.

I think it's to create a market for the next version of Windows. If they didn't do it, people might not update. Hmmm, now that's a good idea....

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** July 25, 2002, 12:18:41 pm »

Someone suggested you try a disk recovery utility if you haven't written to the disk yet.

Fastyves · « **Reply #20 on:** July 25, 2002, 01:34:19 pm »

As Jim wrote, I got a disk crash, and could recover about 85% of my
MP3 files with Easy Recovery.

It just takes some time and I had to check them (tags ?) but, at least I got them back

Yves.

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Author Topic: MJ & CPU prob's/clicks - I am stuck and lost (Read 2706 times)

jimmy

TURBO

Ton-Up