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Topic: Hyper-Threading Issues?

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I have had issues where Virtual DJ stops responding to any commands that involve playing the music. The crossfaders and volumes work. I forget whether I can load new songs or not while it is frozen. It happened about 3 times so far. I will try to see what else I can control next time it happens.

One of the troubleshooting steps I like to take is to disable hyper-threading for the program temporarily by going to the Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and right clicking on the process and setting the affinity to only use "CPU 0". I will see if this prevents the issue.

I found a useful program I would love to share with the Virtual DJ comminity, the ImageCFG Affinity Mask Tool. It permanently forces the program to only use" CPU 0" any time the program starts. It prevents having to go the the Task Manager to disable "CPU 1" all the time. You can find it here:

http://www.robpol86.com/Pages/imagecfg.php

I have the "BCD2000 2.1 Mapper" installed and have "BCD 2000 ASIO" selected as the output sound card.
Latency is set to 4 ms for the "BCD2000 ASIO" in "B-DJ" mode.

Here is my performance settings as of now:
Note: Press "Alt"+"Prt Scr" to take a snapshot of only the window selected. It prevents having to open any graphics program and cropping the screenshot.



My Current PC Configuration:

Desktop PC Brand: None, custom built
Monitors: Two monitors, one for me and the other for the crowd to see videos and pictures at a resolution of 1024x768
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling 510W
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz Hyper-Threading (AKA Hyperthreading) 650 Prescott 800 MHz FSB LGA 775 EM64T
Video Card: BFG NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX OC 256 MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
RAM: 2 GB RAM Corsair XMS2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4300)
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2
OS: Windows XP SP2
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Logitech G5 Battlefield 2142 Edition
Speakers: Logitech 5.1 Speakers Z-640; I set the rear left and right rear speakers to output the same left and right from the front to immerse the audience.
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 16x IDE DVD Burner SOHW-1693S
Hard Drives: 3 Internal Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
Printer: Canon iP4300
Headphones: Pioneer HDJ-1000
Audio Hardware: Behringer BCD2000; Behringer BCF2000; Behringer XM8500 Microphone; Yamaha PSR-290

All hardware drivers are checked for the latest version every week.
 
Inviato Tue 02 Oct 07 @ 7:11 pm
GargantulaKon wrote :
I have had issues where Virtual DJ stops responding to any commands that involve playing the music. The crossfaders and volumes work. I forget whether I can load new songs or not while it is frozen. It happened about 3 times so far. I will try to see what else I can control next time it happens..


When this happens, does the skin browser part get cluttered? Where for example the sampler engine and browser is shown at same time and similar.
 
Inviato Tue 02 Oct 07 @ 7:54 pm
Cluttered as in garbled such as a graphics engine bug? No, I have not seen that happen. I forget whether or not I can access the other tabs such as browser, effects, etc. Next time it freezes I can capture my desktop in a video to show exactly what happens and can post it in this thread.

I updated my blog with more details on how to use the Hyper-Threading tool. I thought it might be useful for others.

http://www.virtualdj.com/blog/GargantulaKon/
 
Inviato Tue 02 Oct 07 @ 8:09 pm
Well, it happened again. I got it recorded with me trying to get it started again. This makes me not want to try playing with this current setup live anymore. I was so excited with discovering the BCD2000 mapper. I am going to try to troubleshoot the problem. Any help would be great.

 
Inviato Wed 03 Oct 07 @ 6:09 am
It happened again after doing the same thing, loading a video. Here is another video with a yellow circle around the cursor to show where it is and a red circle to show when I am left clicking on something. Hopefully this can help the developers. I am happy to help, just ask questions.

I made a discovery! I can play the songs again after a freeze without having to restart VirtualDJ and even the video when I go to my config window and selecte another ASIO driver and go back to the BCD2000 ASIO. The driver seems to just give up.

 
Inviato Wed 03 Oct 07 @ 6:29 am
djcelPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2004
This behavior appears when no sound card is availlable for VirtualDJ.

It's the known problem with BCD2000 drivers and it's not linked to VirtualDJ
 
Inviato Wed 03 Oct 07 @ 8:55 pm
No sound card available? That is odd.

Does this issue happen in other applications? (I think I hear tanzi coming, haha, :-) I have not had the issue in other applications. Can a workaround be made in VirtualDJ to prevent this from happening? Any luck asking Xylio or Native Instruments how they make it work? Any way to prevent it? Any luck talking to Behringer about it? I can try asking them myself.

I just fell in love with the BCD2000 mapper by moramax and now this issue happens. It feels like a never-ending road.



Yellow circle shows the cursor and the red circle means that I left clicked the mouse.
 
Inviato Wed 03 Oct 07 @ 9:40 pm
Is it possible to use the sound master output through my computer's sound card, but still be able to cue up with the headphones through the BCD2000? Do I have to rely on the BCD2000 ASIO drivers and internal sound card? I also want to be able to still use the BCD2000 Mapper 2.1 to control VirtualDJ.
 
Inviato Wed 03 Oct 07 @ 10:44 pm
djcelPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2004
GargantulaKon wrote :
Can a workaround be made in VirtualDJ to prevent this from happening?

No because it's an external problem, inside the BCD2000 drivers which are poorly written. It was reported a lot of times by so many users and confirmed by the Berhinger team.

Make a search on blogs and forum about BCD2000 drivers. It's an old subject already solved.
 
Inviato Thu 04 Oct 07 @ 12:32 am
tanziPRO InfinityMember since 2005
Why should i? You gave the answer yourself:
GargantulaKon wrote :
I have not had the issue in other applications.


Sorry for beeing a little sarcastic ;)

Happy mixing, no matter what your software is called.
Tanzi
 
Inviato Thu 04 Oct 07 @ 12:51 am

Try this :

www.asio4all.com

Those drivers might work better.

But the BCD2000 drivers work too, there is something wrong with your current soundcard setup I bet.
Make sure its logic, in the input and output settings in VDJ

And post a screenshot of your current soundcard setup if you can
 
Inviato Thu 04 Oct 07 @ 5:11 pm
GargantulaKon wrote :
Is it possible to use the sound master output through my computer's sound card, but still be able to cue up with the headphones through the BCD2000? Do I have to rely on the BCD2000 ASIO drivers and internal sound card? I also want to be able to still use the BCD2000 Mapper 2.1 to control VirtualDJ.


Thats possible yes, in theory at least (depending on if VDJ can find the open headphone port)

Choose Speaker + Headset in output, and choose 2 soundcard mode. Master at PC soundcard, headphone at BCD
 
Inviato Thu 04 Oct 07 @ 5:14 pm
Hey tanzi, thanks for taking my joke nicely. It was meant to be a little funny.

I can provide a screenshot of my sound card setup before changing to what you suggested. I hope that I can do my setup that way.



So, dj-in-norway, you think the problem is not with the BCD2000 drivers, but djcel thinks it is. I contacted Behringer to see what they say.

I tried it the way you suggested. I had to turn the master output to off the BCD2000 or disconnect the output cables. It works, but the audio is distorted. It sounds like a volume problem. I am troubleshooting now, but it almost works perfectly!

Update: Okay, I got fixed just because I was fiddling with the "Headphones" volume and the "Cue-Mix" slider. Weird! I lowered the volume, but that did not fix it. Then I was playing with the "Cue-Mix" slider and that confuses the BCD2000 in conjunction with the "PFL Mix" knob and then it fixed itself after fiddling with the "PFL Mix" knob and the "Cue-Mix" slider. Anyone with a BCD2000 should try that to fix any problems. I do not understand what is going on, but it seems that both of the "PFL Mix" knob and the "Cue-Mix" slider controls fight for control of the audio output on the headphones.

Can performance settings be set for each sound card? I would like higher settings for my first sound card and lower settings for the BCD2000.
 
Inviato Fri 05 Oct 07 @ 2:26 am
Once both songs were done playing I went to try to play both songs again to test again and the sound was distorted again, but after about 3 seconds it fixed itself with no intervention for me. Wow, that is very puzzling! I will continue to monitor and tweak this setup. I hope I can get this working.

Update: I closed and restarted VirtualDJ and played two songs again. The distortion is back but did not go away in 3 seconds as before. I tried changing the BCD2000 ASIO driver latency with no luck. I tried playing with the "PFL MIX" knob and "Headphones" slider wit no luck. It is totally random. I am going to try different performance settings now, such as the "Safe Mode", "Overclock" and "Latency" settings.

Further clarification: The Master output has no distortion problems at all it is only the headphones through the BCD2000.

Using this new sound card setup, loading the same video that made VirtualDJ freeze does not affect VirtualDJ at all! Woohoo! Thanks dj-in-norway! Now to fix this distortion problem and I am set for my event next week! The BCD2000 still works well with the extra control by the BCD2000 2.1 mapper. Thanks moramax.
 
Inviato Fri 05 Oct 07 @ 2:44 am
Talk about bad luck. I just loaded another song into the "cueing" deck and now I do not hear anything through the headphones connected to the BCD2000. The master output still works without a hitch.

That video loading problem that happened before still affected the BCD2000! I cannot believe it! I did the "reloading trick" to re-initialize the BCD2000 drivers and it started working again with little distortion. Ugh! I disabled the "Overclock" and it stopped the distortion, but I enabled it back and the distortion did NOT come back. I tried playing again and the distortion came back and I went to disable "Overclock" again, but the distortion remained. I enabled "Safe Mode" and the problem went away. Went back to disable "Safe Mode" and the distortion did NOT come back again. "Safe Mode" makes the waveform display choppy so I do not want it on.

It is the something to do with the BCD2000. It is such a great controller, but the sound card seems so buggy.

djcel wrote :
Make a search on blogs and forum about BCD2000 drivers. It's an old subject already solved.


Solved by knowing about the problem but Behringer not doing anything about it? Oh, Behringer...I love the BCF2000 and my Behringer microphone but no love for the BCD2000. I hope that I can convince them to fix the ASIO drivers. Did Atomix Productions get to talk to Behringer about this issue that many people have written about for about a year now? What did they say in response exactly? That they do no want to fix it?

Thanks for all of your help people. Feels like I am out of luck until Behringer decides to fix the problem, if ever. I do not understand the BCD2000 seems to work well in Traktor (tanzi says it works perfectly in Traktor). I had the BCD2000 work well in the B-DJ 1.1 program and the FutureDecks Pro program.
 
Inviato Fri 05 Oct 07 @ 3:06 am
DaGManPRO InfinityMember since 2007
No one can understand that, works in other programs but here at VDJ it keeps getting said faulty Behringer products/drivers/sound card??
Yet have a look at the hardware page where they say it works well with VDJ??

Many are waiting to see what happens as have read that and bought the BCD2000 but on trying the demo found otherwise, unfortunately many have bought and paid based on that advise and promises of support for the BCD2000 in ver 4 and 4.1. (Tanzi and others) and we all wait and keep checking back in the hopes that the two will stop blaming each other and get on with it.

And YES it really works in Traktor!!! long before they started working with Behringer, strange if it is faulty (insert your preference here hardware/drivers/soundcard/ASIO support) from Behringer.

We live in hope and keep checking back for news.
 
Inviato Fri 05 Oct 07 @ 3:40 am
Behringer, responded asking for my system information (Already sent it) and pointed me to this Web site (http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php) and sent me a document of XP tweaks. Haha. :-) I hope this can help them get to the root of the problem.

Here is my e-mail that I sent in case it might amuse some people:
Quote :
I have been trying to get the BCD2000 to work for a long time now, but I got so close to being in love with it. Now, an ugly audio issue came up. According to the developers of VirtualDJ, the problem is attributed to the BCD2000 drivers. I asked Behringer before, but they said it was Atomix Production's fault. Who is right? I do not know, but can both companies just get along and try to fix the problem? I would love Behringer and Atomix Productions if everything worked right.

I do not want to have to buy the BCD3000 to make it work. I love my current BCD2000 and would love to use it since I spent the money for it. Can Behringer turn their backs on the current BCD2000 owners? A lot of users feel this way (http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/01/18/behringer-finally-fixes-bcd2000-drivers-and-platform-support-calls-it-the-bcd3000).

You can see a video of the problem here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWTIBchaXfc

The developer stating that the problem is Behringer's ASIO driver is stated here:

http://www.virtualdj.com/forums/77958/PC_Version_Technical_Support/Hyper-Threading_Issues_.html?page=1

That tips Web site Behringer pointed me to brings up an interesting point. Is it true? Does anybody do it with positive results?
MusicXP.net wrote :
"Processor scheduling should be set to background services and not Programs."

This is a very important tip and could make a significant difference to how low you can set your samples per buffer for your soundcard.

A lower samples per buffer setting means lower latency, which is better for vsti's and ASIO monitoring (if you use it).

Processor scheduling should be set to background services and not Programs.This has the effect of switching from more frequent and smaller CPU time slices (applications), to less frequent and longer CPU time slices (background services).

This allows the audio application or driver to "hang on" to the CPU for longer without interruption.

In addition, the background services setting also reduces the amount of "priority boost" that foreground window's threads receive.

Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced Tab > Background Services


This Web page (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/XPMyths.html) talks about it, but not entirely. Search for "Set CPU Priority" to find the section. Press Ctrl+F while on that Web page.
 
Inviato Fri 05 Oct 07 @ 8:17 am
I got a sound card setup that works well now, but it does not involve using the BDC2000's headphone output (ASIO drivers). This is annoying to use because I cannot use Creative EAX CMSS 3D Version 2 to immerse the crowd. I have to do a rudimentary speaker setup. Creative EAX CMSS 3D Version 2 upmixes stereo music to multi-channel surround sound with ambient effects. It sounds great. I use it when I listen to stereo music and anything not originally in 5.1 surround sound.

Audio Channels for Audigy 2 Sound Card
Front Left/Right: Master output
Rear Left/Right: Headphones

5.1 Speakers
Front Left/Right: Master output
Rear Left/Right: Master output - I split the Front Left/Right output so that I can connect these rear speakers since I use the headphones for the Rear Left/Right audio channels.
Center: Master output - By enabling the "Matrix" button that it has, it mixes the Front Left/Right audio channels.
 
Inviato Fri 05 Oct 07 @ 6:26 pm


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