Problems with Hoster audio and graphics and MP3's

[inthelimelight]

I purchased the ruggedized laptop a little over a year ago with the hoster already installed. From time to time I was having problems with the graphics/too slow or too fast - it seems like it was corrected after some of the updates- I was upgraded to 4.6- skipped and upgraded 4.8- currently I am still experiencing audio and graphic issues.- I have 2 gb ram- but the computer is clearing having problems- even when I look up another song- or try to upload while someone is singing- I have done all of the windows updates and went through the other changes that were recommended- still cannot seem to fiquire out what the problem is- I have about 7200 kma and about 2000 at the most of mp3's on the hard drive- any help is much appreciated.

[marklwood]

Have you installed/uninstalled any additional programs besides what came on the laptop? How much free space is left on the C:\ drive?

[inthelimelight]

I have 47.7 gb left out of 109GB- I do think there are some duplicate kma's that I lost on the hard drive with the 3.0 version last year- I had to recover my files onto an external hard drive and then re install them- I never did know where the original files went

[marklwood]

Sorry, just got back home. Do you have any additional programs on there that could be running in the background? Hit Alt+Ctrl+Del and give me a list of what applications are running and their Mem Usage. We'll start there and see if we can free up some resources.

I feel certain this is where the issue is from your description of the issues. No matter what you do, Windows and it's registry gets filled up with crap over time. We will start here and try the easiest things first, then move on to more if it doesn't resolve itself.

[inthelimelight]

Mark,

I did you what you said and I played a kma and then uploaded during the song- and the cpu jumped to 100%- before the upload it seemed to be in the normal range- thanks.

[inthelimelight]

I am still having problems with 4.08 does anyone else have any suggestions- I also put in a service ticket last night- thanks

[ddouglass]

What was the original version of Hoster you bought with the laptop?
If it was before version 4.00 then as you know there has been a whole lot of changes including the display which has expanded greatly over what it used to do. This means more processing power and time for Hoster than ever before.
When you say you have done all the Windows updates, is that the Auto-Updates or have you gone to the Microsoft Updates web and done the Custom updates? (Just checking to be sure).
In another post you state "my cpu is running at 100% with only (2) programs running". What other program are you running?
Also you didn't answer Mark's question about whether you had loaded any other programs on the computer since getting it. This information is needed for us to be able to help you determine the problem.

[inthelimelight]

I rec'd the computer Jan 08- It would have been version 3. ?something- I purchased the 4.0 upgrade and have done the upgrades as they happen- I have installed another djing software rock-it-pro that I have not even been using. There is a recovery software on the computer. I have a walmart music download program- and whatever programs that MTU put on the computer-I am wondering if I should reinstall 4.8 just in case all of the windows updates were not complete before I installed it- I also have a Norton 360 anti-virus program-I have since doubled checked updates- did the custom updates- changed the suggested settings

[inthelimelight]

I forgot to mention that when I am running hoster-playing a kma- and then try to import from a disc- the computer starts to get garbled-thesound messes up and the graphics- and if I check the cpu usuage it is at 100% no other applications are showing that they are running-otherthan hoster

[ddouglass]

One thing you need to do is turn off or disable the Norton Auto-Protect, when you are running Hoster for a show.
Does this recovery software do anything in the background in other words does it have any processes running?
Same thing for the Wal-mart program?
When you say the processor goes from normal up to 100% when you import, what do you classify as normal? With Hoster running playing a KMA the processor per centage should be 15% or less. If yours is higher than that then something else is running.

[marklwood]

I also asked you for a list of running processes. Hold down Alt and Ctrl and hit Delete. This will greatly help narrow down your issues. Don't try to jump ahead. This is a process. Without being in front of your computer, it needs to be done one step at a time. We WILL get this figured out. Dale and I, as well as others on this board are very familiar with the process. We have helped loads of people. Just don't panic, it isn't anything that can't be fixed. You just have to be patient. Post all your answers in this thread so that myself and others can keep track of where we are in the process.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by inthelimelight

playing a kma- and then try to import from a disc- the computer starts to get garbled-thesound messes up and the graphics-

This is Norton checking the disk for viruses. Norton takes over to protect you. It doesn't know, or care, about Hoster and sync issues.

[inthelimelight]

Ok Norton is turned off and I had turned it off before when I was troubling shooting- but, I just ran another test- norton-off- playing a kma- cpu is running at 1-2 as soon as I upload from a disc- cpu jumps to 100% and then the graphics mess up a little and the sound is distorted- once the import is complete the cpu goes back down to 1-2. I have always had a problem when uploading a song at shows- even on the older versions- thanks for your help I do appreciate it- I have a show Saturday night so I need to get this working-

[inthelimelight]

ok another observation- I am playing the kma that I uploaded- I just noticed the cpu was jumping to 16-25- with no other programs running in the background- is this maybe a ram issue??

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by inthelimelight

ok another observation- I am playing the kma that I uploaded- I just noticed the cpu was jumping to 16-25- with no other programs running in the background- is this maybe a ram issue??

That is exactly the way it should be.

[ddouglass]

At start of play this would be normal as it is setting up and filling buffer's with data at that point in the process.
Mark left one step out to get to the process, but I think you understand what he is looking for since you know how to get to the Tesk Manager. Look on the Processes tab and list all the processes running. Be sure to have Hoster open when you do.
I get the same thing (100% on processor)you get on my test (home computer) but unlike a show computer I have a lot going on on this computer that I can't turn off. Most of the time though I do not see/hear any glitches. Neither of our show computers do this, but I don't know how high they go as I have never tested it. If it does start happening again on me though I have a single disc CDG player mounted in my equipment rack as a back-up.
I will tell you this though, roughly 95% of the sync problems we have troubleshot in the forums since 4.00 came out have been laptops. This is mostly due to the fact that laptops have an on-board video card and use shared memory from the processor's RAM rather than having dedicated memory on the card itself. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to change that. What can be changed though is the amount of processes that the processor has to deal with.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by inthelimelight

I have a show Saturday night so I need to get this working-

So do what we ask and we can get this done. Quit trying to jump to the end. I appreciate your panic, but we need to walk, not run, to get out of the fire. I could have gotten you a little farther this morning but now I have to leave for the day. Dale will jump in if you can give me the list I asked for. I will check back when I get back in town later today.

[inthelimelight]

Are you speaking of the applications or processes- if application- with no programs opened- the cpu runs 2-18 percent

[inthelimelight]

There are are large number of processes running- I am not sure if this is what you are referring to? Mark I would have replied earlier but had a family emergency today, and I just home about an hour ago.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by inthelimelight

Are you speaking of the applications or processes- if application- with no programs opened- the cpu runs 2-18 percent

The processes. I know it's a long list, that is why it is important though. Each of these effects the total picture.