Solid Computer Setup

[sndmarks]

Help. I need to have another giga-system built and Nemesys/Tascam has been of NO help. Are AMD systems solid? I know there used to be some problem. What are the specs of your AMD system? Processer, mobo, etc? Are there any \"off the shelf\" computer systems that work and are solid? HP, Dell, Compaq, etc. Which ones. The new systems needs to be solid. Unfortunately, Nemesys/Tascam has posted system suggestions/info for laptops but not workstation systems. They haven\'t responded to e-mail or phone calls. TIA for all your help.

[Gav]

Get on the web and go to...
www.soundchaser.com (\"http://www.soundchaser.com\")

These guys will have answers to any questions you have. You can buy entire system from them or just individual parts. Not the cheapest solution in the world but reliable.

Gav.

[sndmarks]

I\'m familiar with SoundChaser, Wave Digital, and all of those turnkey systems companies. I have a company here in town that custom configures computers for me. I\'d like to duplicate the \"ideal\" setup that they run and troubleshoot on at Nemesys/Tascam.

Unfortunately, since the takeover, tech support has been deplorable. I\'ve sent several e-mails, left many voicemail and personal messages and nobody will get back to me with any answers. If any of you could share the specs of your configuration, it\'d be much appreciated. Can Giga run on Celeron? What is a solid AMD based setup? Thanks

[Avar]

Here is my system, built after studying many posts. It works. It was not trivial to get it working, as you will see if you read this:

GigaStudio Custom PC Specification
· ASUS A7V133 KT133A motherboard with VIA KT133A chipset UDMA100
· AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz w/266 MHz FSB CPU
· 512MB 133MHz SDRAM DIMM memory
· Inwin A500 medium tower case with 235W UL/CSA power supply
· Maxtor 20GB 7200RPM UDMA100 hard disk drive (Boot Up drive)
· Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM UDMA100 hard disk drive (data drive)
· NEC 100 MB ZIP drive with one cartidge
· ATI Expert2000 Pro 128bit 32MB AGP video card
· Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
· Diamond SupraMax PCI 56k fax/modem
· Panasonic 48x EIDE CDROM

System Price: $ 905.00 + 72.40 = $977.40

Contact: Lawrence at Aromatech, 470 Lakeside Drive, Suite F. Sunnyvale, California 94086 Phone: (408) 736-4355 Store Email: sales@aromatech.com

Then, I performed these basic system optimizations:

Make sure PS/2 mouse is connected to PS/2 port; will not recognize the USB mouse otherwise
Let Windows manage virtual memory [System Properties/Performance/]
Disable all startup programs
Disable any screensavers and wallpaper. [Start/Settings/Control Panel/Display/Screensaver]
Disable all display effects. [Start/Settings/Control Panel/Display/Effects]
Disable Active Desktop [Start/Settings/Control Panel/Display/Web]
Defrag audio data drive if not newly formatted
Set machine’s typical role to “network server [System Properties/Performance/File System/Hard Disk]
Set read-ahead optimization to None. [System Properties/Performance/File System/Hard Disk]
Set hardware acceleration at 25% (one click from None). [System Properties/Performance/Graphics]
Disable write-behind caching for all drives. [System Properties/Performance/File System/Troubleshooting]
File system should be 32-bit.
Disable Auto Insert Notification for CD drive. [Start/Settings/Control Panel/System Device Manager/CD ROM]
Disable low power mode to hard drives or any other power conservation. [Start/Settings/Control Panel/Power]
Enable DMA Settings ( ? TBD need more info first) for both drives [System Properties/Device Manager/Disk Drives]


I\'m using a MOTU MIDIFlyer on the parallel port of the dedicated PC. (No USB!) And an Echo Mia sound card.

These things also need special care:

PC MIDI Settings
Printer Port should be (LPT1) [System Properties/Device Manager/Ports]
If ECP shows, update the drivers: select the ECP printer port and choose properties/drivers tab/update drivers. Choose \"No\" for auto scan, next and \"show all drivers\". You should see a \"Printer Port\" driver on the RH side. If not, use your windows CD to install the driver.
Make sure only Printer Port (LPT1) is assigned to IRQ7.
[System Properties/Device Manager/Computer] Make sure that there isn\'t another device set to use IRQ 7
Confirm that the communication mode of LPT port is set to EPP or bi-directional. Established in the BIOS or CMOS. Get Aroma Tech support for this.
Make sure all legacy sound cards are removed and disabled.
Control Panel/Multimedia/MIDI: “Flyer:A, Flyer:B, Nemesys MidiOut Port 1, Nemesys MidiOut Port 2”
Control Panel/Multimedia/Devices/MIDI Devices and Instruments: “MIDI for Layla24 by Echo, MIDI for WDM-based device, MOTU: A, MOTU: B, Nemesys MidiOut Port 1, Nemesys MidiOut Port 1”
Mia Soundcard System Config Settings
Control Panel/Multimedia/Audio/Playback Preferred Device: “Mia 1/2 Virtual Out”
Control Panel/Multimedia/Audio/Recording Preferred Device: “Mia 1/2 Analog Record”
Control Panel/Multimedia/Devices/Audio Devices: “Audio for Layla24 by Echo”
System Properties/Device Manager/Sound, video and grame controllers/MIA by Echo/settings: Check only “Show console on taskbar” and “monitor during playback.”
Enable GSIF [System Properties/Device Manager/Sound, video and grame controllers/MIA by Echo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sndmarks:
I\'m familiar with SoundChaser, Wave Digital, and all of those turnkey systems companies. I have a company here in town that custom configures computers for me. I\'d like to duplicate the \"ideal\" setup that they run and troubleshoot on at Nemesys/Tascam.

Unfortunately, since the takeover, tech support has been deplorable. I\'ve sent several e-mails, left many voicemail and personal messages and nobody will get back to me with any answers. If any of you could share the specs of your configuration, it\'d be much appreciated. Can Giga run on Celeron? What is a solid AMD based setup? Thanks<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[JohnS]

Avar, I looked at your system settings and have a question. I noticed you disabled \"write-behind catching\" and set \"read-ahead optimizations\" to none. Do you know the reasons for this? Have you done any test to show the effects of these settings on Gigastudio.

I currently use the GA-7dx/1.2 Athlon /Promise Raid card/ Audiophile 24/96 and get very good results.

[Avar]

Actually, John, I do not know the reasons for this, except that read-ahead could interfere with GS\'s streaming from the audio disk. I read the recommendations and decided to use them all.

GS96 2.2 works for me, with this caveat. Occasional clicks and now and then a loud pop from the left channel. I\'ve determined that this sound comes only from GS software, not from any other part of the system.

I reduced video acceleration to zero and set the VCACHE=0. As a result, the clicks mostly disappeared and the pops have become less frequent. The longer GS runs (after an hour or so) the loud pops become even more rare but can still ruin a recording.

So far, no idea what to try next. I wonder, do you suppose enabling \"write behind caching\" would fix that?

Good luck!

avar


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JohnS:
Avar, I looked at your system settings and have a question. I noticed you disabled \"write-behind catching\" and set \"read-ahead optimizations\" to none. Do you know the reasons for this? Have you done any test to show the effects of these settings on Gigastudio.

I currently use the GA-7dx/1.2 Athlon /Promise Raid card/ Audiophile 24/96 and get very good results.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>