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Is Shrink too slow?
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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19. January 2005 @ 17:11 |
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Yes, you're right it is getting narrowed down, and you're welcome on the help, I don't mind... I'm still looking it over, but I'll mention some of the things I noticed.... I don't know wether this happened when the change happened, but you are only moving 4,000 kb/s on average during compression. I don't believe it's a lack of processing power because the time difference between compressed or not compressing is fairly small. It's 3 mins for both of us and that isn't much. It would have been larger had the cpu been a lot slower. Obviously the cpu is overkill for what you are doing. With the burner now removed from the picture, a new HD, that leaves your main bus and IDE channel(s). It could be be your memory, but it's score is in the ballpark of PC2100 memory. Not wonderful, but memory is a lot faster than what is needed for file movement. If anything the memory could slow processing for the cpu when shrink runs, but this doesn't seem to be the major problem.. So I am leaning towards your bus and IDE wether it's in the design, a conflict or a failure. As much as I like Asus, it makes me think it's partly due to a very low end Asus version. I also took the time to look up your board last night and noticed that it popped up as an HP package. I also see ddp is asking if you have an hp. But you put it together and your dealer got it from somewhere even if used in hp also. So this board must be popular with those. I also couldn't find it on Asus web site, but may have overlooked it.. I wanted to find details on the board description so I could know more what we are dealing with. So that has sort of held me up on part of it. Will check again later. I did find out it's max memory is 1GB then? But moving beyond the idea that it may be a low end board, there is still the fact that you had a better backup rate 3 or 4 days ago. So, that again, it makes point back to the fact that something happened. I also know you have tried just about every combination and way to hook it up correctly.
Now you've re-installed XP, so chances are it's not that, unless something is automatically set incorrectly, which is much less likely. It could be the way the drives are configured, but you have tried every possible combination and nothing has improved. Have you made sure the jumpers on the back of the burner is set to Master? (unless cable select is there).. Did you make sure your new HD is set to cable select? I know the drives would not normally work, but believe it or not, I have seen some burners work anyway with jumpers set wrong causing a slow transfer rate and conflicts. At least check this even if it seems silly. Also I'm assuming these tests are done with only the HD and one burner, each on a seperate IDE channel and cable, and each at the end of the cable (not middle). Also the jumper being set on the WD to cable select, and the jumper on the buner being set to master. The HD cable going to the primary IDE on the motherboard. This is usually a blue connector on the motherboard, but it's better to read writing on the board that says primary IDE. Also the connector on the cable that is furthest away from the other two go to the motherboard. (just making sure, lol) That's what I usually do when I find a problem like this. Then I get fancy later after the problem is solved.
Some of my tests on the 3.2 do great because my bus and memory are much faster. Yet, some of your scores are very odd, and a few pretty low under certain circumstances. I ran the same test on Phantom Menace with a slower P4 2.1GHZ system with a 400mhz FSB, and 266 PC2100 ram which is very similar to yours. DVD to HD for Phantom was 22mins 14sec. Notice that is very similar to what you are getting right now. A bit slower since the dvd is larger. So at least that is more in line. It also shows that you can move data at a normal rate when you are not compressing.. I then did HD to DVD9 (no compression) and it moved in 8mins and 37seconds with a rate of 15,000. This beat the 13,300 on my 3.2ghz because my drive was full and that one was 1/2 full (also WD). So your results on that test are actually a lot less than results here, even though I used a slower cpu in this test. And you tested on another machine are also finding it's better. This points to a possible problem on the bus, wether it's a conflict, fault etc. Again, I don't consider it proven to be this, since something may have been overlooked. I keep hoping that a misconfiguration is spotted.
I did HD to DVD5 and got 6000kb/s on average with the 2.1 system. Not quite the 10,300 I got on my 3.2ghz but that's partly due to processing power. So it's quicker here too. What is really interesting is this. For your test, you get 22 mins to HD and 16mins to recompress to DVD5 (all on HD). Add these together and the total is 38minutes for your test! This is close to what you were getting before things went downhill. Now that really beats the 2 hours and 5 minutes. Yet, according to what you are saying, if you simply use shrink and compress to DVD5 while reading from burner (not HD) at the same time, you get that 2 hour figure. Do one or the other, and the speed is more normal.
So you can move the movie from the burner to the HD in an OK time, and compress the movie all on HD in an OK time, but when you let both the burner and HD work on the IDE bus at the same time, it just dies. Yet, it didn't 4 days ago. It seems like your bus is really crowded and choking on the data when you do both at once. It keeps making me think there is a conflict. I'd say a very weak/slow bus and IDE section, but again it worked 4 days ago. Well, it isn't acting right now. So, it doesn't seem to be your cpu, burner, cables, possibly not memory, so I'm left with the IDE chain through the bus. It seems like you've tried just about everything when it comes to master/slave DMA, checking cables and more. So I wonder if something happened to your board.
Before jumping to that conclusion I want to think about it more. Also, can you tell me what mode your HD is in when your system boots? You will see a black screen come up when you power on your computer. It will print the name of your Wester Digital hard drive. Does it say it's Ultra DMA 5?, or mode 5, or something like this? What does it say for your burner? At the rate this is going, pretty soon (but not yet), I'd be tempted to swap the entire motherboard.. I'd be tempted to look at BIOS, but you never touched yours when it was working, or afterwards, so I'm passing for now. Most motherboards come with a CD that has drivers for that motherboard. Drivers that cover the bus, bridge, HD, video and more. Did you install those drivers when you finished installing XP? All sorts of weird things can happen without those. I know your backup started slow, then fast, now slow, but missing drivers could cause stuff like that. I don't think that's it, but it might be worth checking. Some boards are not as affected as others, or need it, but many do. I'm still looking the original stuff over and will post more later.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 19. January 2005 @ 19:59
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sean5775
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19. January 2005 @ 21:15 |
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Ok first thing yes this motherboard came from a HP computer. I don't have an HP computer now with the exception of the board of course. Its now all in a custom case, and all my research and advice from a friend who is a computer tech showed that all the components I had or bought when put together would be 100% compatable. Now my friend certainly could help me but has moved some 2000 miles away and is very busy so thats out of the question. You are right though, I remember when I put this PC together I couldnt find a whole pile of info on the board I used. I looked again tonight and found less, almost nothing.
You explained how the drives should be hooked up and thats exactly how it is. Except I do have my DVD ROM still installed but I tried removing it a few days ago and it didnt change anything and left it installed ever since. I have the burner on Master the ROM on slave, but there are cable select pins as well. Should I be using those? A long time ago when I bought the burner I tried that and it was acting very strange on cable select. It would only read cd's and the tray would only open if I used a button in a program to do. The actual button on the drive did work but it would close as soon as it opened. I switched it to master and problem solved.
The hard drive is set to cable select and is the only thing on that IDE cable.
You got a good idea with the burner and HD working together things die, but I ripped the DVD to the HD and then ran it through shrink for DVD9 NO COMPRESSION and its slow as hell right? You get 13,700 kb/s and I get 5500 kb/s on the new PC and 8500 kb/s on my other slower PC. It seems to me that I should probably be hitting 10,000 kb/s on this machine and the other one is performing as would be expected. These transfers are HD to HD, the DVD drives are not involved. And no compression so does that not sort of make that if the drives work together then things are slow, but still they are. I know that was confusing.
My Hard drive is in Ultra DMA mode 5
The Burner is in Ultra DMA mode 2
And yes all drivers are installed from the cd with the motherboard, well its a cd from an HP computer but its all there, I have installed them well over a dozen times in the last year, I know exactly where to find them now.
I am basically ready to replace this board soon anyways, but its actually still covered 100% by an extended warranty plan I got sucked into buying until August 2005, but again proving that its bad is probably not easy.
I just think but I could be wrong that you overlooked my poor HD to HD DVD9 format times. Sorry could be wrong but just making sure.
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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20. January 2005 @ 01:00 |
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I see what you mean about the rest being custom parts. When I was talking about HD to DVD9 and said, "I then did HD to DVD9 (no compression) and it moved in 8mins and 37seconds with a rate of 15,000. This beat the 13,300 on my 3.2ghz because my drive was full and that one was 1/2 full (also WD). So your results on that test are actually a lot less than results here". - I didn't overlook the HD to HD DVD9, but may not have been clear enough when I simply said your results on that test are actually a lot less than results here. It would have been more clear had I also compared the 13,300-15,000 I get directly to your 5,500kb/s (and 19mins) rather than say it was a lot less. Sorry if that wasn't clear. And the reason you can move the movie from the burner to HD in ok time is only because the burner is still slower than your HD. So the HD can keep up even if it's slow, making the IDE appear ok for that test. But when you are completely on HD, doing HD to DVD9 or DVD5, the results are pretty slow. Even in comparison to the 2.1ghz computer here with a WD drive. That's what I was getting at. And what's striking is when you make a DVD5 from the burner, it goes up to 2 hours. It appears that the IDE bus gets overloaded so bad at that point, that's what happens. And it really shouldn't.
When I mentioned you could compress the movie all on HD in OK time, I meant it seemed "OK" in comparison to the 2 hour problem. But just ok, not really great. And it won't be because of the IDE problem. Also your HD to DVD5 score didn't look to bad in comparison to the 2.1ghz machine because they both took about 22mins. But your cpu is 3ghz!!, so it should be much less. My 3.2ghz took 12mins 45sec on an 8.6GB movie. It would have been 9.5mins for a 6GB movie. - Your cpu is not much slower than mine. But your ram is slower, and could add 2-3 minutes. I'd still think you could compress Phantom in about 15-16mins, and a 6GB DVD in 12mins. That's only a guess, but makes sense. The 22mins is your IDE holding you back. Your estimate of 10,000kb/s sounds right.
You drives are in the right modes, but it's not working right. At this point it sounds like your motherboard. The options have become really narrow, but there's still a couple things you could try. I think you tried this, but you could completely disconnect the burner and DVD-Ram. Run a quick test ALL on HD going from your A folder to DVD9 to see if the speed goes up. There's no need to wait for it to finish. I think you did try that.... But you could also do this. Switch your HD from the primary IDE to the secondary IDE where the burner is. Leave the burner disconnected. Power up, and try that test again. If on just the chance that only the primary port isn't working right, then maybe you can get by on the secondary. Then you could put your DVD's on the primary which are slow in comparison to HD's anyway.
The problem could be anywhere, but at least it's one of the things you can change around. I don't know if you know this, but when you make changes you should turn off the switch in the back of the computer to completely turn off the motherboard. Otherwise it could damage chips. If HP was too cheap to give you a switch on your power supply, just unplug the computer.
I wouldn't worry about changing the jumpers on your dvd drives since we know the problem happens without them. I've also seen strange things happen when I don't force them to master/slave in the past too on a couple machines.
It seems like HP has obviously paid Asus to make a stripped down board. It's not even covered on their site! In that case it might as well be like an HP which usually makes low end stuff, just like EMachines and so on. As for the warranty you're right. I doubt they will believe you. Also you moved the board. Maybe it could be put back, but big companies work hard to make it hard for the customer. The fine print is so picky too. Another friend got an emachines which has customer service like HP, and they didn't honor the rebates. Then it burned up and they were nearly impossible to contact. Then they had excuses and long waits and so on. After a week of this, I said to my friend. You can spend another week or two, or more with them, but it would actually cost you less to just put in a new board than lose the time. Of course you can try.
Your machine is better than an HP because you choose some other good parts. Now all you need is a good motherboard. Asus is one of the best brands when you buy an ASUS board directly. Not one included in some other companies package. Mine is really fast as you see. I'd pick a motherboard with an 800mhz front side bus, and change your ram for 400mhz. Even if you mounted your old ram, your results would still improve vastly. But for $85 more you could get fast ram. You know how in windows when you click and open menus, or watch icons redraw etc? Running on this board with with 400mhz ram makes windows much snappier in comparison to the 2.1ghz wth ram at your speed. In my opinion, your cheapest option is to simply change just the motherboard for a good one. You don't need the very best, but I wouldn't suggest the very cheapest.
I'll also post a couple of BIOS settings you can check for your drive. At least you can still backup a DVD in less than an hour if you copy the whole thing to HD, then compress it in a second step.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2005 @ 01:19
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sean5775
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20. January 2005 @ 01:20 |
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Well you got some good ideas there I can certainly try those out tommorrow.
If its the motherboard I will still try to get the warranty for it since its not from HP or ASUS its from the store where that computer was bought, I read the fine print on it, it says the whole unit of components of are all covered until august 05, It apparantly doesnt matter if its been moved or not. Either way worth a shot.
Is it a rare possibility that the new HD I just got is defective? would these problems suggest that in any way.
Originaly when it was installed the computer seemed really quick at opening stuff and that quickly faded to basically as it was before. If I say click on microsoft word for example it takes about 12 seconds to open. At one point a few months ago this was basically instant. Everything is just seeeming so slow at processing.
Saving 1 page MS Word document to HD 15 seconds. Thats insane.
I just defraged this morning, no spyware according to 3 programs, no viruses, and all updated definitions for all 4 programs.
Oh yeah and this might or might not be important but I forgot to post this originally and a few times after that. When I was copying the ripped DVD to DVD9 the computer was louder then I have ever heard it before. It however is very quiet when compressing to DVD5, And it acts this same way everytime.
Sorry I forgot to post that before.
Either way regardless of anything I think I might just get some new RAM and a Motherboard anyways then I could actually have the features I need in a motherboard. But will try your ideas first of course just to see what all happens.
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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20. January 2005 @ 01:44 |
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To go into BIOS usually you press the delete key when you first see the boot up screen. On some systems it might be F1 or another key, read the screen as it boots. pause key will stop the text from moving during boot. When you are in there, don't change things you are not sure of. Also, write down any setting you change in case you need to put it back. These will probably not help but you can look at them. Also they could look different or even be missing from your BIOS. Go to where your drive is listed and high light it, then select enter for details on your drive.. Well, actually every BIOS is slightly different and you may have to play around with it. It may even be in another menu. If something is off, you can try turning it on. If there is an auto option, it should automatically detect. When you are done go to the rightmost menu and select save and exit. If you think you goofed, select discard changes and exit. Look for things like this.
LBA/Large Mode try setting to auto or on
Block(Multi Sector Transfer) mode - auto or on
PIO mode - auto or on
DMA mode - Auto or UDMA5 (which is already on from what you said)
32 Bit Data transfer - ON (not for anyone with win nt, unless patched to SP2)
DVD PIO Mode - cdrom or dvd.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2005 @ 02:03
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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20. January 2005 @ 02:02 |
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Thanks. I just wished one of the ideas would work! lol. At least we found out some things. That's great that your motherboard is under warranty from a store. Maybe you do have a shot. Yes there is a rare possibility that the new HD is defective, but I'd have to say I really doubt it. First off your performance improved over the other one. Then 2nd, your problem is existant on either drive you try.. You also get better speed with the WD because it was even faster than your old drive. So if that were possible it would be very rare. If you had another drive sitting next to you, there would be so easy to try, but I would think you'd have to go to a lot of trouble to change the drive. I can't rule it out, but I just don't think so.
You say originally the computer seemed really quick when you put in the new WD but then faded? Is it possible you just got used to it? Or don'tyou mean it's slower than the original system was weeks or months ago??. My MS word opens in less than a second here.. and on the slower computers too. 15 seconds? I suppose that's not a joke. Wow. That is insane. I agree you probably don't have a virus or spyware, but here's something extra you can test. One thing you can do is list all of your taks under task manager on paper. Then type them into google one at a time and if it's been reported as a virus/spyware etc, it will show up in google. I have 3 or 4 programs, anti-virus, the works!. But if there is a problem I check that list. They are in the processes tab. Like iexplore.exe is one that belongs to windows. But if you see things you are not sure of it's a great way to double check. I have found ones that did not show up in my spyware programs. They are rare though.
I don't know what the noise is. Your HD makes noise? Or does your fan on your cpu speed up when it gets warm?
Yes, I would go with the new ram and motherboard. Good luck on the ideas and post if they help or not.. probably not if it's your board though.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2005 @ 11:19
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ddp
Moderator
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20. January 2005 @ 08:00 |
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what cache on wd do you have as possible might have crapped out from overheating if not ventilated properly
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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20. January 2005 @ 09:57 |
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As for worrying your new drive being bad. Besides using sandra, you could test it like this. Get a 2 or 3 large files (500MB, 1GB+ etc) and copy it from one directory to another and time it. You could also do small and medium in another directory. Like roughly 100 to 200 10MB files.. Really any random directory will do, and time that. Mount your new WD in the other computer you have and hook it to middle so that it becomes the slave drive. Boot into windows and let it settle down for a min while it detects etc.. Your C: will now be something like D:. Find it, and copy the 2 or 3 large files again and time it. Try with the medium random files etc and time those. If your WD does poorly in the other computer then it's that rare case you wondered about. If it's hard to tell because the other computer is slowish, you can also test the WD drive against what ever drive is C: while it's in the other computer.
ddp, I think he meant his computer is slower now than when he got it a few months ago and not with the new WD.. But he did say that right after talking about the WD, so I'm unsure if he meant this happened now on the new WD, or is talking about differences from weeks ago. I guess we'll know when he comes back. It's a good suggestion. As for the cache he has the SE which I believe has an 8MB cache. But spotted another page that listed it with a 2MB cache. Maybe only the OEM has 8MB. I think the SE (special edition) might be for the OEM only, but I sort of believe this page though: http://www.directron.com/wd120jb.html I'm not 100% sure this is his drive, but has the same title he listed pages back.
Sean5775, If you really DO mean it is the new WD that was super fast a day or so ago, and now is slow, that makes the situation far different. It's also possible that some damaged hardware on the motherboard is screwing up the WD chip set. Maybe a bad voltage or who knows. That would be awful. I had also suggested checking your temperatures several pages back but I think you might have not seen it? I kind of assumed they were good because you didn't comment on it. While you could check your cpu temp, your motherboard temp (if available) would be some indication of a poorly ventalated case as ddp is also wondering. Only you know if you have good fans. If you have a smallish case, that 3ghz chip can generate a lot of heat for the rest of the components too. Especially when processing video. A 3ghz cpu's fan can also accumulate more dust, making cooling inefficient. This adds heat to the overall system. Have you blown the dust out of your fans? I use canister vac, with hose on reverse side blowing air out. I hold fan to prevent it from spinning since that ruins them. If you really meant your new WD was fast then suddenly slow then that is far different from it being slow from the first minute it was installed. One indicates a change, the other doesn't. Let us know! lol
I forgot, For the virus check idea, I meant that in general. Not now since you just reinstalled XP.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2005 @ 12:53
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sean5775
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20. January 2005 @ 21:30 |
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I tried your idea of switching the Hard drive to the secondary IDE cable and left the drives out. This made a minor difference with transfer from HD to DVD9 around 5700 kb/s so thats 200 kb/s which basically is near nothing.
I tried to get the temperature from that program I saw listed. I wasnt able to figure that out, but I am certain that ventilation is good, The case is fairly large, all the fans are more than sufficient, all clean, all working. It does gather alot of dust in the case as I leave it running 24/7 but I clean it at least once a month, and always have.
I took the computer in and had the tech check out the motherboard. He said it seems to work for the basic test they do on it. So with it appearing to work he couldn't do much for me. He did say that if I really want a new motherboard there are ways to damage it, but I don't know if I'm like that or I wouldnt know what to do anyways. Basically for this place all it has to do is fail his little test and its replaced with any model they have in stock. I tried to quiz him on the test he was doing but he really didnt say much about it.
Yeah the WD was much faster the day I got it, but quickly went down to the way the computer was last week. For months it has taken me a long time to open applications, navigate through web pages, my other computer is far superior in these areas now, and this never used to be the case. The link for the hard drive you listed is the one I have, but as for how much the cache is well I havent a clue, I don't have the box or anything, they had to keep that.
I also checked all processes that are running in google and none came up as spyware or anything that wasnt supposed to be there. It was very interesting however to see what some of that stuff is.
I did try another hard drive in this computer some time ago, and it was also slow as this is now, that same hard drive works fine still in my other PC, So I guess that would basically rule that out as the cause of the slowdown.
I really think this board might be the cause, I just wish it was broken so I could get a free one LOL.
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20. January 2005 @ 22:57 |
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wow, 2hours for Shrink on a fast system. I was getting like 1.5hours for Shrink on all films, on a P3 500 with 384MB ram on Win2K. Now on Athlon 2800+XP with 512mb (same hard drive - a lowly 20GB AT100 WD drive) all shrink operations take max of 15-20 mins. Btw (can't remember if it's been mentioned in this monster thread) but all ripping using a DVD Burner is not recommended as they're not built for constant stop/start operations. I do all ripping from DVD Rom/cd writer combo drive - LG 4480B i think. (the LG drive is even hooked up externally in USB2.0 controller, yet still manages 15min rips). Sorry haven't got much to add other than that.
Rich
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules *** |
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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20. January 2005 @ 23:52 |
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Well, thanks for trying everything and sorry one of the ideas didn't turn out to be it. Glad you liked the processes thing in google. There could always be more guesses out there, but I think the guesses are getting more and more unlikely, and it's simply that board. Actually I know is. What else could it be. And there were lots of good suggestions in this thread from every one, back to page one. At least you tried all the stuff and you got to hear what you expected from the guy. Deep down the main owners know it doesn't work right, but don't feel any obligation to do anything unless it's totally dead. Which obviously doesn't cover your situation and seems a tad unfair, but it's their rules. My shop will actaully just let me swap a board on my word... and a few questions of course.
The fact that the one guy told you there were ways to damage it if you wanted a new board probably means he wants you to have one, but can only follow the rules there. So he dropped you a hint. In fact I was going to write that as a suggestion and sort of make a joke last night, but here the guy in the shop says it. Amazing. I know what you mean about wondering if you are like that etc.. The moral issues etc. But they don't see it that way. You also have to wonder if they are like that.. I mean if they would actually let you stay with it that way.. and they did. At least the guy was nice enough to tell you that. If it's dead, off they ship it and don't give it much more thought than that. Come on!! Unleash your deepest desire to destroy HP's evil empire! Grab a chair Sean and pretend the chair is HP! LOL. You know those little, little tiny pins around those chips? Cut one or pinch two together.. That 240 volt dryer outlet could do wonders to your motherbord. No wait. They might suspect you if you bring it in melted. Plug the BIOS chip in backwards. Short the video chip!. Black screen equals failed test. Who knows, maybe some better suggestions will follow. Any ideas out there?!? Well, of course it's up to you. You can also go motherboard shopping since you probably don't really want that same board back anyway. So you still have choices. :-).
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20. January 2005 @ 23:59
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sean5775
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20. January 2005 @ 23:58 |
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If they cover it I can get any board in stock, thats the policy. I only wish I could destroy it and not make it obvious, I would do it too. But its gotta be something believable that would happen inside the PC. I have to bring the whole PC in for them to test it and decide to replace it or not. Simply the fact that the computer doesnt transfer data as fast as it should is not good enough for them I guess. See he said it was slow but said it could be software and blah blah but really I think he did know just couldnt do anything about it.
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BlueLaser
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21. January 2005 @ 00:03 |
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Actually while I was goofing around, a couple of those ideas could work. But I know what you mean, it has to be believable. I'll give it some thought and post an idea if I can think of very inconspicous method. Also ask around. I re-read what you just wrote.. Yes, I'm sure he knew and can't do a thing until it fails totally. The software thing was just bull of course.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 21. January 2005 @ 00:10
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sean5775
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21. January 2005 @ 00:23 |
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yeah I notice they always blame software, because software related problems are never covered. And almost anything could be software related but I now know this isn't.
I just surely hope this board is my problem. I don't like it anyways so I would replace it, surprised I didnt initially.
Anyways I thank you for all your help bluelaser and others but mostly bluelaser, this thread has basically been back and forth between the 2 of us and has at least got me somewhere as far as narrowing it down.
I might do some more swapping parts between the 2 pc's I am even willing to swap motherboards, I believe they are both compatable with each PC, in fact I know they are. I guess if this motherboard makes the other PC slow then its either the motherboard or the RAM I guess. And of course I can post those results, and of course if there is a way to have it damaged intentionally then I guess I would appreciate that as well. Its not normally something I would do other then the fact the tech actually suggested it, I should have asked him how LOL I got sucked into a $349 extended warranty at this store for a bunch of parts I bought. I have tried numerous times to get things replaced with only one time when a CD burner tray got stuck closed, they replaced that and other then that I have payed to replace other parts that were obviously damaged but not to point where they would replace it. Basically it has to be dead or a function of it not working at all. I learned my lesson about these warrantys, they make it sound so good to get you to buy it, but when it comes to actually replacing or repairing things they see it as software related and therefore won't fix it. But they say they can check for software problems and rule them out at my expense. Basically for them to rule this out for the motherboard he said a minimum of $75 for diagnosis would be the charge. not really fair if you ask me.
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bombbay41
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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21. January 2005 @ 05:44 |
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Re Blue Laser's post on Jan 20. I don't think Sean5775 has a problem at startup but just a quick aside re startup. To check Windows startup processes, visit www.windowsstartup. Might be a tad quicker than Googling each process seperately.
Hope you guys find the culprit after all your hard work, sounds like m/board is suspect for sure. Good luck.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 21. January 2005 @ 05:45
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ddp
Moderator
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21. January 2005 @ 05:49 |
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could get in trouble for this but connect a usb cable upside down or a metallic object across the 4 pins in the usb port which should frie the usb circuitry thereby giving you chance to replace board as i've seen that happen by mistake but was able to repair myself but store won't
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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22. January 2005 @ 01:03 |
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Here's an idea for your collection. I like this because you don't have to do anything but run software. You could download the BIOS flash program and let it begin updating your bios. As soon as it starts, turn off your computers power while it's writing to the BIOS chip. After this is done, your computer (most likely) will not boot any more, will not show anything on the screen. Once you do this, you can't reverse it from software. They will probably be too busy to look into it and even know it's the BIOS in the first place. There would be a small chance that your shop would think of BIOS, and try to get it going again. But that would mean another BIOS chip. And if they did you could say thanks and bring it back in 2 weeks with some new hardware problem, if you find a way.. But this truly makes the computer look dead physically when it's not. They probably won't want to try and figure out what's wrong with it. Even if they suspect BIOS, they also won't know how it happened since BIOS can get corrupted by accident, a failure, or by software. Some viruses attack BIOS (rare), unless protected. But still, any little problem and someone's BIOS can go out.. So there's nothing they can say. Stil, that will have a good chance of making them think it's broken. The computer will be dead, and the worst that would happen is they reset it.. I bet they don't know it's bios or they don't bother with it. Of course there's always that small chance. What you could do is get a BIOS update, or backup your current BIOS to a file.
For fun google, "HELP I erased my bios" in search or in groups to see what happens. Here's just one: http://forums.windrivers.com/archive/index.php/t-67532 LOL, poor person! He doesn't realise that there is no way to boot the computer again without the chip.
You need a program AWDFLASH. See: http://www.jetway.com.tw/evisn/download/update.htm or similar to it. - But I have AMI bios, so if that's yours, then you need a different program. There are instructions on Asus site. It's a little hard to find but it's there. Or you can go through HP's site which is more cumbersome. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bph07680#
And read this about flashing your computer's board ASUS P4G - LA http://www.computing.net/cpus/wwwboard/forum/7096.html
It can only be done after you make a bootable DOS floppy. Put it on the floppy or on the hd in a folder like C:\BIOS and run it from there. Boot off floppy, then run it. You can read your bios into a file, then tell it to write it back out. Otherwise you need to locate a bios file. You'd have to learn to use the program, but it's a small utility.
Juuust an idea for you. Just be sure before you do it. And you could try the memory switch.. It's probably not that, but I wondered since your scores were a little low. Your store is terrible for charging $349 for a warranty! I never buy them. In the last few years I've saved so much money by avoiding them, that I could also just buy a new computer anyway. Oh, and getting a new board shouldn't be too expensive. You could use your old parts and they should be fine. Then you'd be free of that store. There are many good sites on line to order from. Good luck.
Thanks for the suggestion bombbay41. It looks like an efficient site. The only reason I went the google route was in the event that a rare/new virus had hit. Some process sites are slower than others to list them. And some web sites, as you know, are currently using browser bugs to quickly install new programs, often under new names. Sometimes the new ones pop up on one site before others. Less efficient, but gives more results from all sites. I did look at the site you mentioned, pretty neat..
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22. January 2005 @ 01:17
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echologos
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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22. January 2005 @ 09:08 |
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Hi, just joined today after lurking for some time. If I
step on anyones toes on this first post I apologize in
advance.
I solved my burning problems in this way. Set up a dedicated machine to burn cd's and dvd's. It is a
P3 Celeron 900, Intel 815 mobo, 20GB - 7200 rpm hd, a
Optorite DD405 8x burner with win2000 SP1.
No printer, no scanner, no internet, used monitor.
Only loaded essential programs: Nero 6, JetAudio, WinDVD 4.0, Power DVD 5.0, and of course the brains
of the appliance
Dvd Decrypter and DVD Shrink taking up maybe 2.5GB of
the C: drive total of 5.0 GB, with
empty 14 GB on Drive D. Also not connected on purpose to the Internet,
thus relieving 95% anti-virus and spyware problems.
Total current upgrade cost of $52.00 for the Optorite burner, and $4.00
for one new case fan. I already had everything else
collecting dust.
I would say average time for decoding and writing to
HD with Shrink would average 1 hour if divided up between 10 random DVD's. I believe the shortest I had
was 15 min. and the longest 1hr30min. I always re-author and try to keep compression between 75% to 100%.
Burn time max never goes over 10 minutes with DVD
Decrypter with 4x compatible DVD+R such as Sony that
burns at 8x for 2/3 of the disc, the first 1/3 being
at 4x.
Troubleshooting problems have been mostly very minor,
and as long as I leave the system "as is" I don't expect any that aren't easy to fix since the hardware
and software are basically frozen now.
So I have solved two problems, I have a back-up computer ready to connect to the internet modem if my main pc goes down and I have a stable media burning appliance I don't have to fiddle with every day.
This is a $250. system that really solves time and
headache problems. Now I have the time to play with
my 2 new photo printers on my main pc and edit and
print photos, labels and covers and surf the net at my leisure while viewing a dvd or listening to a cd.
This is the only way to go, meaning a dedicated machine
not my specific underfunded system, and its cheap too!
That's my 2 cents.
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hardcandy
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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22. January 2005 @ 15:48 |
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sean5775
Member
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25. January 2005 @ 21:09 |
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Well thanks Bluelaser and everyone else. I got my motherboard replaced free of charge after convincing the tech that something was not right with the data transfer speeds. It took a great deal of convincing. This seemed to have solved all my problems. I now have a MSI 848P Neo-LS 800MHz which was recommended by the tech. I even got them to install it for free, after I had some problems doing it myself. I can now backup most DVD's in 30 minutes. The HD to HD transfer is now 11,300 kb/s which is more than double what I got before. And simple tasks like opening MS word now takes less than 1 second as it should rather than 10 seconds or more.
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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26. January 2005 @ 11:20 |
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Wow, that is great Sean5775 ! I'm glad to hear you got them to swap your board. I googled "MSI 848P Neo-LS 800MHz" and it got a really good review at http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/motherboards/MSI_848P_1.html . I noticed it has pretty much most, if not all of the features needed for speed that are found on better boards including mine. Mainly the 800 fsb, and support for the 400mhz memory. Not that you needed that particular memory to solve the your problems, but it's good to know it's there. Also the better memory controller. All around the quality of the board gives you a backup time several minutes better than when the old one worked at it's best.. The HD transfer looks very fast too. It's a MUCH better board and I don't see how you could have made out any better. And they originally were saying it was software, LOL. Glad to hear it's resolved and that you now have a great board.. Happy burning!
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sean5775
Member
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26. January 2005 @ 12:01 |
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Yeah it seems to work great, its like I just got a new PC. I just can't thank you enough for all the help you provided for me. Otherwise I would have still been running with all the problems and lack of performance I was having. Eventually I would have replaced my old board anyways, but probably not so soon. I also bought new RAM today and its got 2GB now, not that I needed it but it can't hurt. I got the speeds mentioned before with 512, I would have expanded to 1 GB but the price was great as it was on sale this week so I went all out with it. Now I also don't have to unplug USB devices and keep switching them to what I need now as I have the space to run all the ones I need at one time. It also makes playing games like DOOM 3 much faster then before as thats a game that's a little sluggish on even good PC's
Again I really appreciate your help on this. I guess this thread is pretty much done.
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BlueLaser
Junior Member
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29. January 2005 @ 20:38 |
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The 2GB of ram sounds awsome and I would have done the same had there been a sale like that. I may pick up more sometime too. And as you said, it helps with the memory the USB used. I play DOOM3 too, and it does love ram, lol. You're certainly welcome and I was glad I could help. Have fun with your new PC. :-)
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