Start/Stop

[deanguidry]

If we were to agree with some on this thread, when one buys a car it would be acceptable for it to start only after the third try every time. Or, when a major leaguer is at bat, he starts out with two strikes (maybe not perfect analogy, but I couldn't resist...my son tells me all lessens in life I relate to him are in some baseball analogy).

[DigiTechSupt]

For anyone experiencing this problem - can you tell us if enabling 'error supression' in the playback engine helps at all?

[HGC]

For anyone experiencing this problem - can you tell us if enabling 'error supression' in the playback engine helps at all?

I've just tried this and did a little over an hour of mixing. The start button still does not work every time, but I would say it seems to happen less. It's still not great, but it is an improvement.

[Jason Deevis]

Advice from a programmer:

It sounds like it might be a multi-threading issue. Are all your objects playing nice with respect to grabbing and releasing locks when they should?

It seems strange to me that this high priority defect can go unfixed for (literally) years. Maybe it's time for a partial re-design?

Jason Deevis

[Jason Deevis]

More advice:

Step 1, on some fairly broad level narrow down all the places in the code where play/record could conceivably be interrupted. Some finite set of functions must have a potential to error out and/or there are a finite number of places where exceptions could conceivably be thrown.

Step 2, painstakingly scrutinize the code, coming up with a complete theory on how these various error conditions or exceptions may be occuring.

Step 3, through process of elimination, eliminate all of the things that definitively and definitely cannot be causing the problem.

Step 4, at this point, you should have a better idea what the problem is. if you still can't narrow it down, put in a bunch of very detailed logging code, such that for each place it may conceivably be erroring out, information is written to a log file, indicating where in the code this is occuring. if you can also log other related state information, so much the better. Then, when someone complains about this issue, ask them to send you the log file and you should get a pretty good idea exactly where in the code the problem is occuring. with every new cs release, refine this logging based on what you discovered in the previous round. at some point, you will be able to narrow down the cause of the problem or figure out a fool-proof workaround.

I think right now there's too much reliance on customers anecdotes for clarity on this problem.

[DigiTechSupt]

For anyone on this thread experiencing this problem, can you please post a Sandra report for the computer you're experiencing the problem with?

[HGC]

For anyone on this thread experiencing this problem, can you please post a Sandra report for the computer you're experiencing the problem with?

I posted a description of this problem (and some others I'm having) in the "Problems with PTLE? Post your configuration here.." thread on 7/17. Here is a link to my post:

http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...5&o=7&fpart=42

[HGC]

No one else with this issue wants to post a sandra report??

[Greg B]

It is frustrating. I'd say it's close to when you are ready to pass a car (at the perfect moment), and you mash the pedal, but don't go into passing gear... This "start" bug is one massive buzzkill. It happened once or twice in months of use with 6.4, and with 6.7 would happen occasionally, and with 7.1 it's a given.

<<< System Summary >>>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

< Processor >
Model: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+
Speed: 2.20GHz
Model Number: 3400 (estimated)
Performance Rating: PR3305 (estimated)
Type: Standard
L2 On-board Cache: 1024kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back (16-way, 64
byte line size)

< Mainboard >
Bus(es): ISA AGP PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support: 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC: Yes
System BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 1001.005
System: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Mainboard: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K8VSEDX
Total Memory: 1023MB DDR-SDRAM

< Chipset 1 >
Model: ASUSTeK Computer Inc Apollo K8HTB CPU to PCI
Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed: 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)

< Chipset 2 >
Model: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 /
Opteron HyperTransport Technology
Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed: 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)
Total Memory: 1024MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed: 2x 200MHz (400MHz data rate)

< Video System >
Monitor/Panel: Acer AL2416W (Digital)
Adapter: RADEON 9200 SERIES
Adapter: RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary

< Physical Storage Devices >
Removable Drive: Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk: WDC WD800JB-00JJA0 (74.5GB)
Hard Disk: WDC WD800JB-00JJA0 (74.5GB)
Hard Disk: WD 1600JB External USB Device
CD-ROM/DVD: LITE-ON CD-RW SOHR-5238S (CD 175X Rd, 52X Wr)
CD-ROM/DVD: TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H542A (CD 40X Rd) (DVD 5X
Rd)

< Logical Storage Devices >
1.44MB 3.5" (A:): N/A
System (C:): 74.5GB (32.7GB, 44% Free) (NTFS)
Music (D:): 74.5GB (8.5GB, 11% Free) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (E:): N/A
Audio cd (F:): 0MB (0MB, 0% Free) (CDFS)
My book (G:): 149.0GB (40.1GB, 27% Free) (FAT32)

< Peripherals >
Serial/Parallel Port(s): 2 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub: VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host
Controller
USB Controller/Hub: VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host
Controller
USB Controller/Hub: VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host
Controller
USB Controller/Hub: VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host
Controller
USB Controller/Hub: VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub: USB Mass Storage Device
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub: VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Keyboard: Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/
2 Keyboard
Mouse: Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

< MultiMedia Device(s) >
Device: SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

< Printers and Faxes >
Model: Quicken PDF Printer
Model: HP DeskJet 930C/932C/935C

< Power Management >
AC Line Status: On-Line

< Operating System(s) >
Windows System: Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32
x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

< Network Services >
Adapter: Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit
Ethernet Controller

< Performance Tips >
Warning 100: Large memory sizes should be made of
Registered/Buffered memory.
Tip 2546: Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** End of Report *****

[jt1up]

7.3.1cs4 - quad HP xw8400 workstation having the same issue here. I can hardly get any work done with this problem. Only 1 in every 5 or 6 attempts works! I've been taking most of my work home to a mac based system. One thing that I have noticed is that by right clicking on the play button in the transport and using the "prime for playback" works every time. If this method works for others out there digi would only need to add an option that would "prime for playback" every time the play button or space bar was pressed. I would rather deal with a slight delay in playback vs. breaking my keyboard out of frustration...