Subject:Tech Help with Computer

Posted by: joelogan

Date:12/11/2002 10:08:33 PM

I am having a consistent problem and I do not think SoundForge causes it.

Here is the situation…

While using SoundForge, my computer locks up. The event occurs while zooming in or out of an audio file. My system will completely freeze. The image on the screen will freeze and I receive no error messages. CTRL+ALT+DEL will not reset the computer. The only recourse is to press the reset or power button on the case. This problem can be replicated.

Other times the freeze-up occurs is while using Internet Explorer on the Internet and burning a CD. These events are more intermittent.

I have run many of the system diagnostic programs to isolate the source of the trouble and I have no luck. All the programs I run indicate the computer is running fine with no IRQ conflicts or bad hardware. I have also checked the CPU temperature and it is operating in the safe zone (around 45* Celsius.) I have even tried formatting the hard drive and re-installing everything and found no fix.

I’ve made sure I’m running the latest drivers and BIOS version. In addition, I try to run a very clean startup list. The only programs I have checked are SystemTray, Logitech optical mouse software and ZoneAlarm.

My guesses are: 1) Bad RAM, 2) Bad video RAM/Card or 3) A CPU glitch.

Please share any experiences you have had like this along with any ideas on what it will take to fix it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Joe

Here is my system information:

-- Windows 98SE
-- SoundForge 6.0
-- AMD Athlon XP +1900 (1.67Ghz)
-- Abit KG7 Raid Motherboard (no second drive)
-- 512Meg of PC2100 RAM
-- Nvidia GeForce2 MX 100/200 (32Meg of RAM)
-- 80Gig Hard Drive (partitioned x3)
-- Echo Mia Sound Card

My IRQ Settings:
0 System timer
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2 Programmable interrupt controller
3 Communications Port (COM2)
4 Communications Port (COM1)
5 NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 100/200
5 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
6 Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7 Printer Port (LPT1)
8 System CMOS/real time clock
9 Mia by Echo
9 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
10 D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI Adapter
10 VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
10 VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
10 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
11 HPT370 UDMA/ATA100 RAID Controller
11 ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering
11 SCI IRQ used by ACPI bus
12 Logitech-compatible Mouse (PS/2)
13 Numeric data processor
14 Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
14 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller
15 Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
15 VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller

Subject:RE: Tech Help with Computer

Reply by: MyST

Date:12/12/2002 9:40:03 AM

Have you tried disabling ZoneAlarm before using SF? Does it still happen?

M

Subject:RE: Tech Help with Computer

Reply by: musicvid10

Date:12/15/2002 7:49:54 PM

Try disabling in BIOS anything you aren't using, and let the IRQ's reshuffle themselves. Likely candidates for you are COM2, USB, HPT Raid, and Secondary IDE. Also, make sure PNP OS is "Yes" in BIOS. Another thing to try is temporarily disabling your network card in Device Mangler. They are notorious clock hogs.

Two things bother me: 1)I don't know anything about your Echo, but soundcards in general don't like IRQ 9. It should land somewhere else after doing the above. The other thing is your Nvidia way down on 5. Is it a PCI card? If so, put it in slot 1 (closest to AGP), and reshuffle others as necessary to avoid sharing with it or the sound card.

Are the latest graphics, sound, and DirectX drivers installed on your system? This can make a lot of difference.

**Just noticed: Try completely uninstalling the Logitech mouseware. You might have to reload Win98, but probably not. The Logitech software is known to cause inifinite loop errors on some systems.