Computer problem solved with new audio card

[jdavia]

Shade don't be so much in a hurry to erase those songs. Try some first. It's quicker than doing them all over again. Don't you think!
Maybe your father can do better than you admit. If you erase them, you will never know his true skills.

[bobcox- with the Lord]

turtle beach makes a usb laptop sound card that i am told is very good. and very small. $79.00 wal-mart.it is the size of your thumb, that would leave your slot open for video card. i am right on md line. and org from Balto, if i can help. i will drive down to meet you Good Luck, Bob

PS, your KMA Files should be ok. audio drop is prob in computer sound card not kma files.

[admin]

Well done Shade!

I think it's wonderful that your Grandfather wants to do Karaoke!

I also applaud your dedication and love for him. That is impressive and we're here for and with you... as your MTU Community!

Now, we need to help you with this thorny HP.

First, there is nothing wrong with the imported KMA files unless your CDR drive messed them up. KEEP EM! The problem is most likely the playback/delivery system.

Karaoke has more demands on the video and audio than one might expect. Think about it... Karaoke CDG Player "boxes" have a dedicated computer that ONLY decodes the lyrics/graphics data embeded with the audio to render it to the display. That "computer" doesn't have to contend with a thorny OS (aka Windows) that wants to sweep the floor, flush the toilet, take out the garbage, and so on... whenever it feels like it. That's why we recommend disabling some of those things Windows does automatically. Also, when the video (which has the highest demands) is using shared memory, it drains the computer by demanding resources and CPU utilization.

My first suggestion... talk him into a cheap desktop from Dell that will get you (and Gramps) out of this ancient HP laptop. As they say, you can't beat a dead horse... or squeeze blood out of a turnip... or more video cycles out of an S3 chip!

If you "want" to visit Gramps every 3 days to enjoy his company, and make him feel warm and fuzzy about his grandson (Lord knows Gramps love to do that, I've got 3 grands myself ), but sometimes it takes stepping back and saying, this horse (er... HP) ain't goin' nowhere! Keep that "option" in mind before you spend too much money. A new computer will solve a lot of woes. Then, who knows, maybe the two of you can practice singing duets together. That should be good for some real quality time!

One other thing... we like attitude turn-arounds, and folks that come back and stand up for themselves. Makes us all smile when we see real growth in a person. Good Job!

So... my second suggestion... call Doug (919-870-0344 x201) and tell him his Dad told you we'll give Gramps a free upgrade to Hoster 3.006. You'll need to tell us who originally purchased Hoster. There is a new CDG Player library in 3.006 that just might solve your S3 problems. Heck, I'd like to know if you find it does work on the S3. My only requirement is that you post back here what the results are. If that helps with the audio dropouts, then we know it is helping to overcome the video problems just enough to make a difference. If you only knew how much time we have fought this audio-dropout problem, like the ol' timers here have watched and helped us with (especially George)! Success with an S3 will be a real success!!!!

Ummmm... maybe I shouldn't celebrate too much until the results are in.

[DJYale]

He installed the software onto an older HP.

What model HP?

[MTUSUPPORT]

The only way to replace the S3 Video card in a Laptop, is to replace the Laptop with a new Laptop that has either an ATI Radeon Graphics chip in it or a NVIDIA chip.

No other way to do this.

[Shade]

Whew. Lots of people to respond to. lol here goes another long post.

Haven't erased the songs yet. That's the last thing I want to do. The 60 gig hard drive is only half full so I don't think my grandfather imported all of his songs onto the laptop yet.

I must admit though, I didn't know you could buy a USB soundcard. That's interesting. The only problem with that is, this laptop has 1.0 version of USB and I'm wondering if that would be fast enough to support the USB soundcard you mentioned. I'm not sure. It's all new info to me. I didn't even know they existed.

Admin>>> So you are a grandfather huh? Congradulations. Being one, I"m sure you know hot frustrating grandpas can be right? Just kidding! Us grandsons can be just as bad. So Doug Cox is your son? That's really impressive that you two work together here with your business. Thanks for the upgrade. I'll get in touch with Doug as soon as I get the chance. And keep you updated on the situation with the S3 video.

The computer model # is an HP Pavillion xz275 I believe.

George>>> Let me point something out here. You lay in here and post about my negative attitude and trying to prove I'm some sort of evil person, but the only thing you're proving is that your attitude is even worse and more negative than mine. While others and myself have let it go and have moved on in this thread, you're still expressing YOUR negative attitude. Do you have a life? I mean really. You're doing exactly what you've been dissing me over and you're even worse. If anybody should be banned in here, it should be you. I apologized, and moved on. The others in here accepted, and moved on. However, you're still being an a-hole. Why exactly are you even in this thread anyway? What's the exact point you're trying to make? Your whines and complaints are worse than mine were in the original post I put up in here. Like I said before, either help me figure out what to do about this computer, or go away. I would appreciate the help. I really would. But like i said, the only thing you're proving here is that your attitude is worse than mine.

Everyone else, Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it. You all rule. Especially Bob for offering to drive over here and help us out. I may end up having to accept that offer. lol

[mikedomi]

sorry i did not get back sooner
but bob is closer then i am you are about 3 hours from me a bit far dont you think

bryan said your video would not support hoster did you see that
if that is the case i would not even mess with that unit you have now and get one that will work
good luck it you are ever down way way look me up
bob you too see you mike

[George]

Shade,

I didn't make you out to be anything. All I did was mirror your own posts back to you, and for a reason.

You asked what point I was trying to make, so I'll tell you.

This wasn't the first incident where you acted in the manner you did. You did the same thing with another MTU product..Seemed to be a pattern there.

You needed to feel the anger and other emotions that MTU staff and others felt when they read your first post. You had that coming, not from any vindictiveness on my part, but so you'd experience what we did. Wasn't very pleasant was it?

I hope you learned a valuable lesson in interpersonal relationships and dealing in these forums from the experience.

That was my intent and I hope it served it's purpose.

In the midst of all that, I was the first to indicate you'd probably not need to reimport the KMA files, which was of great concern to you. So I wasn't all that bad was I ? I did put a bit of sugar in with all that vinegar.

I feel no animosity towards you now that it has run it's course.

Take care,

George

[Digital Party]

Incase MTU did not hear it from me......THANK YOU....THANK YOU....THANK YOU!!!!

Chris
AWare Entertainment

[Shade]

For those of you who remember my last thread about the problems with the laptop, here's an update.

I ordered a pcmcia sound card and installed it. Ahhhh the moment of truth came as my grandpa and I played a kma file..

we turned on the computer...

we opened hoster...

we played a song....

we listened....

we listened some more...

we listed the full 5 minutes of the song....

we didn't hear any dropouts.

So I do believe that may have solved the problem. Wanted to thank everyone for bearing with me and listening to me whine, pout and cry about it and for offering your help. But the new soundcard seemed to help DRAMATICALLY.

[bobcox- with the Lord]

Happy everything is working out for you and grandpa. by the way iam a grandpa to. the folks on this forum will always help. all you have to do is ask, their all great guys an gals. helped me out a lot. lots of luck, Bob

[SabreT]

Yeh

I bought the excellent Creative Audigy 2 card....absolutely brilliant. It's all about shifting the processing of specifics...like sound....away from the processor.

[admin]

I merged this with the prior thread to bring closure to it.

Glad to hear the results are positive. Hope all is well now that you have solved your Grandfather's concerns.