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[Shelly]

I'm starting this thread at Jim's request.

I reported in the previous build (248) that 2D and 3D visualizations appear choppy, pausing every 2 or 3 seconds. The problem is present with playing of all internal audio file types and CDs.   Visualizations display smoothly in Winamp.

This problem has also been reported by others, including Matt and MGD_King.

I just tested this on my laptop (Thinkpad T30) and visualizations look great with no choppiness at all.  

Is this a display configuration problem or a bug with specific hardware?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  All of my drivers and bios are the current versions.

Listening to: 'Over the Rainbow' from 'Harold Arlen Song Book, Vol. 2' by 'Ella Fitzgerald' on Media Center 9.1

System Info:
Media Center Registered 9.1.249 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2678 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 1048 MB, Free - 440 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1226 / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.71 (0001) , ASPI for Win32         DLL, Copyright © 1989-2002 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.71 (0001)

Ripping /   Drive H:   Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer   CD Type:Auto   Read speed:Max
 Drive I:   Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer   CD Type:Auto   Read speed:Max
 Drive J:   Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer   CD Type:Auto   Read speed:Max
 Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: No /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
 Eject after ripping: No /  Play sound after ripping: No  

Burning /  Drive H: PLEXTOR  CD-R   PX-W4824A   Addr: 1:0:0  Speed:48  MaxSpeed:48  BurnProof:Yes
 Drive J: SONY     DVD RW DRU-500A    Addr: 1:1:0  Speed:24  MaxSpeed:24  BurnProof:Yes
 Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: No /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: No
 Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

Processor: 2666 megahertz Intel Pentium 4
Board: MSI MS-6730 1.0
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 11/04/02      
Hard Drives:
440.09 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
110.45 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Promise 2+0 Stripe/RAID0 SCSI Disk Device (240.06 GB)
WDC WD1200BB-00CAA1 [Hard drive] (120.03 GB)
WDC WD800BB-75CAA0 [Hard drive] (80.00 GB)
RAM: 1024 Megabytes Installed Memory
Display: MSI MS-StarForce GeForce4 Ti 4600 with 8X (NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 with AGP8X) [Display adapter]
Samsung SyncMaster [Monitor] (19.3"vis
Creative SB Audigy

[NoCodeUK]

I had this problem for a while and I kept reporting it but nobody else seemed to be suffering from it. I now don't have it and I cannot remember exactly how I got rid of it but it was around the same time I was having trouble with the start up time and I got rid of that by removing the Direct X host.  So are you using the direct X host plugin?  If so remove it and see if that makes any difference.

Adam

[MGD_King]

This problem has also been reported by others, including Matt and MGD_King.

Yeah, I have/had this problem, can't quite tell yet. I had it when only playing MP3s, the visualizations worked fine on anything else. And I had it when I installed the 248 build, and then gradually it went away. I'm now on the 249 build and I don't have it, yet. I'm keeping my eyes on it and hoping that it doesn't come back. Will keep you posted.

[Matt]

Visualizations in MC run at a low priority so they don't fight with other things on the system.

That means if anything else uses a little CPU once in a while it'll stall the visualizations.  Virus checkers, mail programs, instant messengers, etc. could all be the culprit.

[Shelly]

 So are you using the direct X host plugin?  If so remove it and see if that makes any difference.

Not using it.

Visualizations in MC run at a low priority so they don't fight with other things on the system.

That means if anything else uses a little CPU once in a while it'll stall the visualizations.  Virus checkers, mail programs, instant messengers, etc. could all be the culprit.

I disabled every running process possible with no luck.

[JimH]

Shelly,
As a test, try lowering the resolution of the monitor and see whether the hesitation goes away.

Jim

[Shelly]

Shelly,
As a test, try lowering the resolution of the monitor and see whether the hesitation goes away.

Jim

I lowered it incrementally down to 800x600 without any change in the 3D vis.

[Shelly]

Any other suggestions, Jim or anyone?

[Shelly]

Nevermind!  

All of a sudden it's working fine.  I just did some various software upgrades, including Roxio CD/DVD Creator, but not any drivers.  For whatever reason, both 2D and 3D visualizations are displaying as they should.  Go figure!

Shelly

[MGD_King]

Nevermind!  

All of a sudden it's working fine.  I just did some various software upgrades, including Roxio CD/DVD Creator, but not any drivers.  For whatever reason, both 2D and 3D visualizations are displaying as they should.  Go figure!

Shelly

That's the same that happened to me I think. After I installed some software, the visualizations worked fine. I find this very peculiar..... :-/

[MGD_King]

THEY'RE BACK!!!!! Choppy visualizations reappeared after I installed the Windows Update KB824146.  What's up with that?

[Shelly]

THEY'RE BACK!!!!! Choppy visualizations reappeared after I installed the Windows Update KB824146.  What's up with that?

I installed that one last week but the problem existed prior to that update. Did you try using a system restore to see if the problem clears when that update is removed?  

[simpleuser99]

This is just a thought.

I was reading on the Intel site today that the Intel Applicatin Accelerator can have problems with Windows 2000 and XP. They recommended installing the latest "beta" version of the program.
It is also supposed to work better with Raid's.

Also, I had a 3.06 HT P4 and had ocational sound skips and video skips. It was the original, and first, model of the HT processor with an ASUS 875P - and other -  motherboard. Now I am using a newer, 800MHz FSB P4 3GHz HT. No problems so far so I wonder if some processor can cause this.

This may not be an option but how about trying another processor to see hot things roll.

[MGD_King]

This is just a thought.

I was reading on the Intel site today that the Intel Applicatin Accelerator can have problems with Windows 2000 and XP. They recommended installing the latest "beta" version of the program.
It is also supposed to work better with Raid's.

Also, I had a 3.06 HT P4 and had ocational sound skips and video skips. It was the original, and first, model of the HT processor with an ASUS 875P - and other -  motherboard. Now I am using a newer, 800MHz FSB P4 3GHz HT. No problems so far so I wonder if some processor can cause this.

This may not be an option but how about trying another processor to see hot things roll.

Tried that, or actually I tried two seperate machines as I posted here and no luck. I'm thinking it's more software driven, more specifically the OS as it was a problem for a while for Shelly and I both, then we installed some software and it went away, then I install a Microsoft update and it comes back. I just wish I could pin-point the problem.

This weekend I'm planning on a fresh install of the OS and then installing MC9 to see how that goes. Maybe there's something else that's bugging it? :-/

[JimH]

We know about at least one speed issue that we think we'll have fixed this week, but there have been a number of puzzling reports.  The timing of these has coincided with the flurry of Microsoft security updates, so that is definitely a possibility.

[Shelly]

This is just a thought.

I was reading on the Intel site today that the Intel Applicatin Accelerator can have problems with Windows 2000 and XP. They recommended installing the latest "beta" version of the program.
It is also supposed to work better with Raid's.

Also, I had a 3.06 HT P4 and had ocational sound skips and video skips. It was the original, and first, model of the HT processor with an ASUS 875P - and other -  motherboard. Now I am using a newer, 800MHz FSB P4 3GHz HT. No problems so far so I wonder if some processor can cause this.

This may not be an option but how about trying another processor to see hot things roll.

I just built my system this spring and after reading your message I stayed up way to late last night researching the new boards and processors.  This is a bad bad addiction.