Computer problem solved with new audio card

[George]

Originally Posted by admin

Also, I can't believe someone would really import 20,000 songs (that's like over 1,500 discs ) without playing some of them first. I truly feel sorry for the end user if that is what he/she did.

My very same sentiments. Frankly I don't believe the fairy tale.

I consider myself to be an average person, possessing an average amount of curiosity, and I played back a couple of tracks after importing my FIRST cdg disc into Hoster, a program completely new to me.. That's just human nature.

20,000 songs without checking...BULL.

If anyone believes that, I know where I can get them a real HOT deal on some attractive water front property in the Mojave.


George

[MTUSUPPORT]

The first things that you need to take care of on the computer are the Audio and Video cards.

With your clients computer having the following parts, which the video card is stated to NOT work under our Computer Requirements for the software.

VIA Audio- Replace with a quality sound card, that is not using the processor to drive the audio.

Savage S3 32mb video

Here is what is stated on our website at: http://www.mtu.com/basics/karaoke-hoster.htm go to the bottom of the page under Computer Requirements.
Graphics video card with 8MB or more of RAM must support Direct-X 9.0 or higher. Dual-display requires an ATI (MTU recommends ATI Radeon series), NVidia or equivalent dual-display card. S3 video cards will NOT work.

[Shade]

DJ Yale>>> Sorry. I could be wrong about the songs. It's not like I went in and counted them all and I don't know much about Hosters software. The customer had told me there were approximately 20,000 songs. I don't know if his count is correct or how large those files are, but that's what I was told. He may even have an external hdd that he uses as well, so maybe that's why the number sound kinda off. The background processes that you mentioned were all turned off so there shouldn't be any heavy load on the processor. hmm..... Just boggles my mind.

Jdavia>>> We'll probably upgrade to version 3.006 and hopefully that helps. If that doesn't work, we'll backup all the songs that have been recorded and formatt the hard drive and install and set up everything fresh. My purchaser is my grandfather and I guess he missed the free upgrade. I didn't even know Hoster offered free timely upgrades so you can't really blame me there. And no, it's not a MTU computer. He installed the software onto an older HP. It probably would be best to just format and repartition the hard drive and start fresh. It may even be pointless to back up the songs since they all have dropouts. And No, i wasn't trying to get anything for free. lol I"m not the one paying for it anyway. so why would I try to get it for free? Secondly, if I wanted it for free, I'd go to a website in germany and download it along with the crack. I don't pirate software, but it's out there all over the place.

bob>>> "i have been using hoster for 8 months, on my laptop and my rackmount, my laptop is 5yrs old and barely meets the specs, yet hoster runs flawless. sounds like your cust needs a new tech. Bob"
First of all, that was kinda rude. The "tech" is me. His grandson who just graduated from college and possesses my CompTia A+ Certification and now preping for MCSE, so quite frankly, there's nothign wrong with the tech. He's a newbie, and doesn't have the experience, but he's certified, free, and is family. I"m glad you haven't had any trouble with your installation and performance. Good for you, but this is a completely different computer, owned by a completely different person with completely different software applications installed than what you have. At least this "tech" doesn't have a pride issue and came on this website for help. Yes, that's right. I came here for HELP, not to be insulted. So either help me out here, or stay out of this thread. I want help, not critisism.

admin>>> Yes, you're right. I do have alot of pressure and tension with that computer. It always has some sort of problem. lol I"m always having to fix something on that computer. but well, my grandfather is old and computer illiterate so I guess it can be expected. I do apologize for my negativity. It's just frustrating when you have to work with the same computer over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.. .... and over. lol and then some more. I can't stop working with the customer because it's my grandfather. lol So you can see my situation here right? lol I can't charge him because he's family, I can't say no because lord knows I love him, and since I can't say no, I'm over there at least every 3 days fixing SOMETHING. lol So yea, I apologize for my negativity but you can see where I"m coming from.

beavis>>> Hey, I think I remember you. I think you helped me with kpro a few years back. I'll probably end up erasing everything and starting over. Who knows what all has been reconfigured or installed onto that computer. I don't think it's used on the internet, so it's probably not a virus. Yeah, he has lots of discs. That's why he got this Hoster program. Because he's tired of carring around all those discs, having them get scratched up and everything else. But he loves his karaoke so I don't look for him to give it up. Over 70 years old and still hosts karaoke. Wow. He's been doing it for awhile. That's why he has so many songs.

bspaint>>> Yes, this comptuer has shared memory. I added more RAM to try and compensate for the loss and also looked through the manual and followed all instructions there as well as the MTU support section. Still no success. :(

Georege>>> I never asked you what you believe and what you don't. I don't even really care what you think. I was told he has approximately 20,000 songs. He could have counted wrong or he could even have an external hard drive he uses as well, but as far as you accusing me of a liar goes, I don't really give a crap. I'll tell you as I told someone else, I came here for help. Not to be called a "liar" who's making up fairy tales. So yeah. Either help me out here, or go away. I consider myself to be an average person, possessing an average amount of curiosity, and I played back a couple of tracks after importing my FIRST cdg disc into Hoster, a program completely new to me.. That's just human nature. George, you're talking about a 72 year old man. He doesn't have a wonderful intelligent know it all genius mind like you do. He's old.

Everyone>>> Sorry for being so aggrivated with this. I don't want to come on as some know it all ass because that's not who I am. I'm just a person who is aggrivated with having to work on teh same computer ever 3 days. lol (read the post for the admin above)Thanks to those who offered advice and "go away" to those who wanted to get smart. I ordered a PCMCIA sound card and hopefully that will help. Also, since all of the songs have dropouts anyway, I'll probably end up erasing everything and starting over. Bless his heart. He's going to hate having to do that. Especially if he has as many songs installed as he said he does.

[Shade]

Originally Posted by MTUSUPPORT

The first things that you need to take care of on the computer are the Audio and Video cards.

With your clients computer having the following parts, which the video card is stated to NOT work under our Computer Requirements for the software.

VIA Audio- Replace with a quality sound card, that is not using the processor to drive the audio.

Savage S3 32mb video

Here is what is stated on our website at: http://www.mtu.com/basics/karaoke-hoster.htm go to the bottom of the page under Computer Requirements.
Graphics video card with 8MB or more of RAM must support Direct-X 9.0 or higher. Dual-display requires an ATI (MTU recommends ATI Radeon series), NVidia or equivalent dual-display card. S3 video cards will NOT work.

We ordered a PCMCIA Soundcard for the laptop to replace the Via audio. I'm not really sure what to do about the video. I believe this computer uses onboard sound and video, (via and savage) which both you say are not compatible. If we put in the pcmcia soundcard that still leaves us with the video problem and don't know a whole lot about laptops or how to install a different video card other than the pcmcia slot... which will be used for the soundcard. Hmmm. Maybe this computer just won't work with the software. You don't think we'll have to get a new/different laptop will you?

Thanks

[George]

I'd be very surprised if the .KMA files are corrupted and would have to be re-imported.

George

[Beavis]

i think we should forgive shade!! anyone who takes the time to post in a thread that long, deserves a second chance !!!


Apology accepted !!

[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.

[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

[jdavia]

I don't think it should go that far.
I believe he was trying to get a new Hoster install for free. But wasn't slick enough. If he wants to do karaoke, Hoster is the way. Give him time to repent.