INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: Mastiff on March 16, 2004, 01:40:53 am

Title: Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: Mastiff on March 16, 2004, 01:40:53 am
Around every 15-20 minutes I have "brbrbrbrb" (the same sample repeating itself over two seconds or so) on all zones simultaneously on the carputer. Any ideas what this may be? I have tried various versions of MC 9 and 10. OS: Windows 2003 Server @ workstation, two SB Live! 5.1 with kX drivers, PC: XP1800 with 256 meg ram, two harddrives (120 & 160 gig). No power saving options enabled.

Suggestions will be receieved with thanks!
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups
Post by: jleerigby on March 16, 2004, 06:40:47 am
Hold your breath and your nose and drink a full pint of water while stood on your head.

Works for me.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups
Post by: Mastiff on March 16, 2004, 06:52:37 am
Darn, I went on the Net with my puny ISDN actually hoping that somebody had something helpful to say...  ;)

Anyway, an additional information: I'm running 2003 Server on another computer as well, and that does not have this error.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: lee269 on March 16, 2004, 02:56:20 pm
After playing, ripping, printing and attempting to play Flight Simulator 2004 simultaneously at the weekend, it sounds a bit like something taking over the computer and messing with playback. Im sure you tried this, but have you got any suspicious background processes hogging your computer periodically? It sounds like the 15-20mins thing is either a regular process or an MC limit.

And - I was always told that a key held down your back would cure hiccups :).
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: Mastiff on March 16, 2004, 03:02:53 pm
Yes, I have been banging my head in the wall looking for weird processes. I can't find any that aren't there on the other computer that does not have this problem. I may try that again, though.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: gpvillamil on March 16, 2004, 03:07:01 pm
Check your DMA settings, and turn off indexing as a Windows service. The combination of the two could cause what you are describing.

The Windows background services should normally not cause a problem - however, if DMA was switched off by accident, then they would consume much more CPU and cause glitches.

Try switching off any unneccessary services as per the Blackviper tweak guide.

http://www.blackviper.com/index.html
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: Mastiff on March 16, 2004, 03:08:52 pm
Thanks! I will check that. Indexing actually sounds like a good bet since it works periodically.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: xen-uno on March 16, 2004, 03:15:11 pm
You could open up Task Manager and go to the Processes tab. Click on the CPU column title so that active processes will be at the top. Monitor it and note any process that spikes at those time intervals you've mentioned.

10-27
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: JustinChase on March 16, 2004, 03:24:51 pm
on the carputer.

pot-holes? ;)
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: Mastiff on March 16, 2004, 03:25:36 pm
Yes, I thought about that. Takes a bit of patience, though... All sporadic errors disappear when you watch them...
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: pbreet on March 16, 2004, 04:41:51 pm
I've had this trouble too, and it's hard to find.  I saw nothing usual in task manager.

Finally, I traced it to a bad hard drive on my IDE channels, and the bad hd was not even the one that had my music files on and it was not my C: drive.

But by pulling one hd at a time, I found it.  It tooks days to troubleshoot.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: Mastiff on March 17, 2004, 01:20:59 am
Thanks. I doubt that it's that, though, since I have two drives that both are used for MP3 storage and playback, and they're both fairly new. Finally both have been used in the two main MC computers in my house without any problems.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: JimH on March 17, 2004, 07:17:40 am
Maybe you said, but is it a wireless lan?

Devices like wireless telephones and microwaves can interfere.

If it is exactly the same interval each time, is there anything periodic that happens on the PC?

Neighbors communicating with extra-terrestrials?
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: pbreet on March 17, 2004, 08:05:06 am
Thanks. I doubt that it's that, though, since I have two drives that both are used for MP3 storage and playback, and they're both fairly new. Finally both have been used in the two main MC computers in my house without any problems.
Sounds unlikely, but I still suggest pulling one and testing, and then pulling the other and testing, can't hurt and at least you will have eliminated something.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: Mastiff on March 17, 2004, 09:04:06 am
Jim, it's the carputer, so that would have to be aliens following me around, then!  ;D I do have a wireless accesspoint connected, but that's connected with a regular (well, crossed) TP LAN cable, so it shouldn't really affect it. I will take it indoors (I don't have a monitor in my car) and disable indexing first, then play around with the harddisks. If that doesn't help, I need to find a way to monitor CPU usage of services, so I can check what has happened when the error surfaces. Anybody know of something that I can use? I will hear the error, but I would like to be able to look back a few seconds in a log or something.
Title: Re:Weird error - maybe every 15 minutes I have hiccups on playback
Post by: jleerigby on March 17, 2004, 11:30:23 am
This applies to XP pro:

I have not tried it but you might take a look at Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Performance.  Maybe that can create a log for you.