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cPlay - the open source high-end audio player using ASIO

41.183.0.21
Posted on May 5, 2008 at 12:31:58
cics
Audiophile

Posts: 1320
Joined: November 9, 2006
cPlay

The open source high-end audio player using ASIO

May 2008

cPlay delivers high quality audio playback using ASIO 2. Playback is achieved using any ASIO compatible soundcard. cPlay is a minimalist audio player using the latest high quality SRC resampler (Best Sinc SNR 145.68db or 121.33db) or SoX (VHQ or HQ). cPlay's design offers state-of-the-art ASIO-only playback and caters for touch screen users. Installation, setup and use is easy. cPlay is built in c/c++ and operates on Windows XP SP2 Professional (32 bit).

FEATURES

  1. Resampling is sourced from LibSampleRate (version 0.1.5) and SoX 14.2.0 under GNU GPL license. LibSampleRate is aka SRC (Secret Rabbit Code) and supersedes the version as used in foobar2000. Best Sinc converter now offers a SNR of 145.68db or 121.33db (versus 97db). SoX VHQ offers better than 170db SNR. Resampling is bypassed when input rate matches output.

  2. Supports Steinberg's excellent ASIO 2 and is backward compatible to prior ASIO versions (as required by ASIO drivers).

  3. Offers high quality 64 bit double precision digital volume control (in 0.5db steps). This can be bypassed.

  4. Playback is achieved through .cue, .wav or .flac files. cPlay loads entire .wav or .flac (decoded) into RAM before starting. Playback is done directly from cPlay's internal buffer. Cue playback requires .cue files as created by EAC (single or multi file standard).

  5. Ensures efficient CPU resource utilization allowing for low specification processors or high levels of upsampling. This means CPUs can be underclocked / undervolted.

  6. Supports up to 3 ASIO soundcards with each having up to 100 output channels.

  7. Advanced optimizations are applied (if available from ASIO driver) during playback.

  8. Best results achieved when using cMP (i.e. cMP²). This allows for low level Windows optimizations. Use cMP release 1.0 final or later as this allows for bypassing RAM load in cMP (set RAM Load in cMP Settings to No) otherwise wav file is RAM loaded twice. cPlay allows for both svchost and lsass to be suspended during playback thus reducing the Windows footprint. Only exception is EMU's ASIO driver which requires both (svchost and lsass) to be operational. Set cMP's Optimize setting to Critical.

  9. Full remote control is achieved with cMP: offering volume control, track navigation, next/previous and stop/eject via (wireless) mouse.

USER MANUAL

Visit cMP² website (http://www.cicsMemoryPlayer.com) for more details and setup.

Screen Shot




GETTING STARTED

Download cPlay's installer here (1.3MB). Installation and startup is straight forward.

If you don't have an ASIO compatible soundcard, use ASIO4ALL. Note that ASIO4ALL does not support channel mapping (use default) and rarely handles above 48k sample rate.

Your feedback will help guide cPlay's future development. Source code (4.1MB) is available via email.

 

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    ...
RE: Yes, It was Mario, , posted on February 10, 2012 at 04:15:01
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 Your Idea about horizontal scrolling is good

Except that the cutting off of long tags makes it a bit superfluous . . . there's nothing to see if you do scroll to the right. I should have thought of that!

cmp won't get into full . . . It was from NLite installation onward

Er, don't use nLite? Others may like it but I don't trust it.

attempt running a sequence of cmp-cplay being loaded at boot time as WINDOWS PROCESS

That would be excellent though I've no idea where to start.

 

Right click mouse for next track, posted on February 10, 2012 at 07:58:35
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Long ago I eliminated AHK & Cicsremote from cics memory player. I use a ps/2 mouse. Now that I am going dark screen to listen it would be convenient to have the right click-- next track function-- back. So I restored the above files amended the .pth file...still does not work. Anybody know what windows files are required?

 

I was tinkering with that last night, posted on February 10, 2012 at 08:00:20
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 My thinking is: would it work if I changed the stuff in the SOFTWARE hive to look in system32 instead of PROGRAM FILES and simply put the files in system32.

I think the problem is the .pth aspect.

I placed it in the system32 folder but I get the idea WINDOWS does not look in there for such a thing.

The machine would get to the point of the cursor showing but no cMP screen.

I should have tried it by leaving the .pth in the PROGRAM FILES folder but my premise was to attempt to get rid of the folder.

I did find that one cannot simply put everything back where it was and expect it to work. I had to copy the image back onto the disk to get back to a working machine.

So the question is: where to put the .pth folder and have it recognized?

One can get rid of more stuff in the folders. And delete stuff out of the .pth file. The last two items I remember for sure. I am writing from memory at work.

I suspect there is a way to do this and make the machine even more of a dedicated cMP machine.

Maybe find a way to put the .pth information in the REGISTRY?

 

You need to adjust ALL the sizes and locations..., posted on February 10, 2012 at 08:18:32
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 not just the frame dimensions and font size. This wasn't clear but became apparent in trying to reproduce this.

Thanks, Ryelands, I have been hoping for a way to do this all along and asked cics about it several times. Of course, he wanted none of it.

 

Where in Registry to Change Font Size in Active Title Bar?, posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:20:12
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 The listings are too large but the title--artist and album at top--is too small. I used to enlarge this via Display>appearance>advanced>Active Title Bar, but with nLite and slimming, especially hacked shell32.dll, this is undone. Anyone know where one can set the title bar font size in the registry directly?

 

Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics... but you won't like what you find there..., posted on February 10, 2012 at 14:25:35
gjwAudio
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Location: Toronto
Joined: March 11, 2006
 Hi Riboge

The "WindoMetrics" key controls this. You can edit/ADD it in the DEFAULT hive... look for [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics], but the job is not as easy as setting "10 pt." to "14 pt." and your font increases.

There is a nice, detailed description of these items here -> http://www.virtualplastic.net/html/desk_reg.html

I suffered the same fate when I slashed my registry hives, and some settings reverted to the Windows defaults (just as you, I previously increased the title bar font for the very same reason).

My solution was to go back to a previous image of my cMP_OS (when the desktop settings were still as I has customized them) and export the entire WindowMetrics key. This was imported to my current DEFAULT hive - and BINGO !! - colours & font sizes appear just as before. In my case, since the DEFAULT hive had been mostly emptied (toward the goal of best SQ), I chose to ADD these few entries in return for the GUI I am comfortable with.

If you also have a custom colour scheme, the same technique can be used, where you export/import this key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors].

I hope this gets you back to where you want to be.

Cheers,
Grant
That's not a Toy... IT'S A TOOL !!

 

Thanks. That did the trick. (nt), posted on February 10, 2012 at 15:27:30
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 .

 

RE: Right click mouse for next track, posted on February 11, 2012 at 04:40:22
kalimasada
Audiophile

Posts: 18
Location: Medan
Joined: November 6, 2002
 Not very sure, but you can try restoring wsock32.dll

 

RE: Right click mouse for next track, posted on February 11, 2012 at 07:40:56
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Thanks it was worth trying but it did not work.

 

It is IMPORTANT to delete WIN.INI, posted on February 11, 2012 at 09:57:41
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello, everybody. I was just messing around with the system hive and again deleted smth wrong. The system started to a BLUE SCREEN, so, as usually, I booted into another windows, deleted everything in config folder and repopulated it from reserve folder. Started cmp machine and... it won't boot, telling me it misses config file.
So, I deleted everything again, DELETED WIN.INI, opened working system in regedit just to create a log file and rebooted into cmp again. All went smooth.
So, It's either the log file or deleting win.ini. And I think it's the latter.
Serge.
default 8, security 8, sam 12, software 16, system still 350 kb!!!

 

Changing cMP Main Window, posted on February 11, 2012 at 14:59:54
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Following upon Ryeland's example of changing size and font in cPlay via resource hacking, I took on cMP. Using reshacker I was able to enlarge the window and reduce the font in the same way. It turns out cMP does NOT truncate the cuesheet listings, so much more information gets shown, especially helpful with classical recordings comprising several works. However, the listings became non-alphabetized. With some experimenting I learned that this was due to the way reshacker compiled the changed dialog. I found a better program Resource Tuner which compiled it correctly. This is offered with a free 30day full-function trial at:

http://www.restuner.com

 

RE: Changing cMP Main Window, posted on February 12, 2012 at 04:52:57
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 I found a better program Resource Tuner which compiled it correctly.

Thanks for the tip. I did try Resource Tuner earlier but, though I could delete resources easily enough (and, helpfully, in bulk), I couldn't find a way of deleting elements within a dialogue such as buttons. Was that me or is it what the programmer intended? (I can delete them with Res Hacker.)

I'm glad Resource Tuner solved your problem but I can't reproduce what you report with my "Resource Hacker"-hacked (sorry) UIs. For me, cMP lists alphabetically by album title. No idea why there should be a difference.

Dave

 

RE: Changing cMP Main Window, posted on February 12, 2012 at 08:36:35
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 It is puzzling, but also your way of doing file names and constructing cuesheets is highly individualized. I have tried to follow your description of how you go about it with only partial success. It brings unusual outcomes. For instance, ordinarily cMP does not list by album titles at all. It has alphabetized primary lists of genres, artists and all(starting with performer/artist). Album titles are only alphabetized secondary to those, so I still don't understand how you get a display of all album titles alphabetized. Seemingly, this sort of difference could explain the different behaviour of the two hacker programs as well.

In any case, it is great for anyone desiring it to be able to modify the size and font of both parts of cMP2 to suit his display type and taste, to say nothing of slimming made possible.

 

SOFTWARE at 16kB - you must have deleted (almost) everything, posted on February 12, 2012 at 08:38:50
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003



Inspired by your kunacy I have been making my way.

At 20kB and the only things I have left to delete are the MICROSOFT and POLICES entries - I am assuming the entries that mention ASIO and my soundcard must stay?

But who knows?

My system is at 252kB.

Sorry I am not good at making clear screenshots. Grant has given me the tool but I have not found the time to learn how to use it.

What more have you removed, Serge?

 

The Good, the BAD and The UGLY, posted on February 12, 2012 at 11:12:55
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006



Hello, Rick, Hello, evertbody!
The Goog thing is that Software can be reduced to 16 kb (see the pic of what remains).
The Good thing is that Mr.Wong has found even smaller versions for some files, and their substitution, especially one of *.nls, csrsss.exe and cssrv.dll give brilliant results, however small the difference in sizes.
The Bad Thing is that not all his files I can use and most of xp-pro users, especially basesrv.dll, what a pity, really, as it's one of the most dirt-important.
The really UGLY thing is, I never had my system backed-up like some of you do with some image, I don't know what You do and how, but this is what happened. Mr.Wong sent me his watchdog.sys, that is smaller, but warned me I have to substitute among kernel and vga.sys, and videoport.sys (a long mortal friend of mine) also hal.dll. And when I did it, the sun stopped shining, my mermaid girl has abandoned me, four horsemen rode across my sky... Well, it all BURNED F***ING DOWN, with no restore. No config substitutions, no total windows folder rewrite, nothing would help. It seems, that NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM are working in conjunction with hall.dll. I am with no cmp again. But I don't griev, as it will allow me to start again from scratch and, documenting every step, to "pave" the way for other NEW inmates to achieve our ULTRA setups easily.
Serge.
See the pic for software. I have deleted WINDOWS, but left windowsnt. Also, delete all persistent handlers in class.
DON'T ASK ME FOR THE JW FILES.

 

AS you can see from my SOFTWARE, posted on February 12, 2012 at 12:09:35
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Not only can you get rid of persistent handlers you can get rid of all of the file extensions.

Now to see if I can combine our work!

Sorry about the start over, even though there is always something to be learned.

I would certainly keep my config folder since it should work just fine in your new installation.

You need to get SNAPSHOT. It is worth the money!

 

Yeah, surely, but what's this, posted on February 12, 2012 at 12:27:37
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Good evening (It's late and very fine and snowy evening here) to everybody.
Surely, I'd invest in this thing, but what's this. Please excuse the wild boy. I am used to surgery without anaesthetics...
Joke. I really would like to know about the ways to restore fast. Can anybody tell me, please.
Serge.
BTW, MR.WONG has just sent me another set of files and a possible way to a tweak. HE IS A JEWEL!!!
Will post it in the morning, just let me restore

 

Enabling PSE?, posted on February 13, 2012 at 01:11:25
Bibo01
Audiophile

Posts: 648
Joined: December 18, 2008
 As there has been a lot of talk on RAM management in recent months, I have been considering the implementation of Page Size Extension (PSE), that is using 2-4MB large pages to transfer between RAM and CPU instead of the usual 4KB chunks.

This is a method used in servers and it increases RAM speed. In our case it would be a further extension to our lock pages and AWE.

What do you think about it?
Is there a way to implement it in kernel?

"Enabling PSE (by setting bit 4, PSE, of the system register CR4) changes this scheme. The entries in the page directory have an additional flag, in bit 7, named PS (for Page Size). This flag was ignored without PSE, but now, the page directory entry with PS set to 1 does not point to a page table, but to a single large 4 MiB page. The page directory entry with PS set to 0 behaves as without PSE."

A further insight:
http://www.rcollins.org/ddj/May96/

 

Yes, but how?, posted on February 13, 2012 at 03:51:01
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello, it's a thing I have seen several times and always wanted to achieve. But where in registry, what is exact syntax, I couldn't find it.
It would be great, even bigger, say, 16 mb pages, it means less run to and from for processor and a tighter, read - more precise, timing, I think.
Serge.

 

The SNAPSHOT program. Is it, posted on February 13, 2012 at 04:53:14
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 The Drive Snapshot, a little simple proggy from Germany? With S letter and white gear and a drive on the desktop Icon?
Serge.
Don't want to start over again without a backup.

 

RE: The SNAPSHOT program. Is it, posted on February 13, 2012 at 05:37:45
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 It's this one

 

RE: Slimming cPlay, posted on February 13, 2012 at 11:58:57
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I did some minimum cplay hacking and it was good. But now I have now replicated the above clean cplay look with Dave's help. Yes I lost some function (volume, balance, scrolling within a track, polarity control ...well maybe a bunch of function) but my oh my the sonics are way better. I mean way better...dynamics, strong tight bass, extended highs, very very upper midrange grunge free. You gotta try this. I now have 3 sets of volume controls to adjust but hey why should it be easy when it sounds so good. I wouldn't want it any other way.

 

No Phase Switch - not a good idea, posted on February 13, 2012 at 12:23:38
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Ted,

If you are not looking for the best "polarity" of a recording I wonder how you can hear the subtleties of this cPLAY slimming.

The file is not reduced that much!

I slimmed the settings dialog to just do what I want it to do. All of the other buttons and text are gone. I got rid of the diagnostics screen since I do not need it anymore (and since I deleted its button). Same with the add disks dialog (more buttons. Personally I think this is a better way to slim.

All is a compromise but being able to switch phase should be important to you. I know I could not live without it.

 

RE: No Phase Switch - not a good idea, posted on February 13, 2012 at 12:59:57
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 It is all a matter of compromise. Yes I do miss the phase switch. But cplay sounds way way better w/o it because of the great sonic impact of the tweak. You really have to try it. But you are right we all to individually decide which way is better.

 

SNAPSHOT is brilliant !, posted on February 13, 2012 at 15:27:23
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 948
Joined: November 21, 2008
 Anyone tuning computers on the cMP level, should be familiar with backing up a disk image. In this regard SNAPSHOT is brilliant. Easy and straight forward.
Get it !
Hysolid // Mytek Brooklyn // Spectron Musician III // Analysis Audio Omega

 

RE: No Phase Switch - not a good idea, posted on February 14, 2012 at 04:15:59
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 If you are not looking for the best "polarity" of a recording I wonder how you can hear the subtleties of this cPLAY slimming.

It's 4am in a sleepy suburb of Smallsburg, MO. All is quiet - not even audiophiles can hear cats prowling in the back yards. Three large cars pull up outside Theob's house; twelve officers of the Audio Enforcement Agency crowd round the front and back doors, all wearing flac jackets and carrying night-wavs.

Suddenly, all hell breaks loose as the doors are rammed. Lights ablaze, Sargeant Dwight B Test (known to colleagues as DeeBee T) barks orders, 'Officer Cable, listening room! Officer Tohnarm, basement!'

But it's for show only; they know what they're about.

A tense hour later, DeeBee asks, 'What have you got?' Cable lists six mini-ITX mobos. 'All bar one of them dead! What business has any honest citizen wrecking five of the things? He's up to something, I know it.'

Tohnarm agrees: 'Two Heathkit 60s-vintage tube amps, neither working, two two-way Miranda Wrights still with electrolytics in the crossovers and an old Quadraphonic Converter still in its box but not a phase button in the place. Never seen the like in twenty years in the AEA.'

'Arrest him. Read him his Magneplanars and take him to the station. I'll faze him soon enough. Good work, men; the lab boys will be round shortly'.

 

RE: No Phase Switch - not a good idea, posted on February 14, 2012 at 04:20:38
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Oh oh busted again!!! LMAO!!!

 

AWE in the registry (where could it be), posted on February 14, 2012 at 07:23:12
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Out of curiosity I thought I would see if one could see any change in the MEMORY MANAGEMENT registry when AWE is implemented.

On my host computer I looked at memory management and took a picture of it then implemented AWE (with the necessary reboot) and looked at it again.

There is no difference in the values shown. So I have to figure there is nothing we can do THERE to adjust AWE.

I did not look at the whole registry since I had no idea where else to look. I would be glad to do this again if someone knows other places that might be affected by this setting.

Now to find a way to view the sub-registry since there has to be something like that.

 

It should reside in those, posted on February 14, 2012 at 09:18:42
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 unattainable spheres of security and default hive or probably also SAM, that are dealing with policies.
I asked this question to myself some time ago while experimenting with nLite, remember, I couldn't make awe with those ini-es?
Then I became more attentive and retained in nLite iso Group Policy Object Editor and some other group policy smth, and when trying to move forward, I was prompted, that some more items were needed for it to work, so I retained them also.
Serge.

 

There is not question it makes a difference, posted on February 14, 2012 at 09:40:34
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 The gear you mention would probably not reveal the difference so there is no need with that set-up.

Once you hear the difference it is clearly audible.

It is not immediately obvious when you first experiment but with time and spending time with each polarity when listening it will become clear that there is a best position for each recording and sometimes for tracks within an album.

I find the difference to be, at least, as audible as many of these other mods we have used.

Plus without a remote it makes for a good excuse to get out of the sofa.

If you can't hear it, I guess, you can't hear it. But I think that is impossible ... unless you never tried!

 

So I wonder if we should use HIVELOADER and see, posted on February 14, 2012 at 13:37:17
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 if more of DEFAULT is shown?

I was doing some searching and came across something to the effect that winver is involved in this.

Can a .dll be modified within a WINDOWS installation or do they always stay the same?

 

Should have tried before posting - does nothing, posted on February 14, 2012 at 14:03:02
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Oh, well.

 

RE: AWE in the registry (where could it be), posted on February 15, 2012 at 11:31:20
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 It's stored in binary inside HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Accounts\S-x-x-x-xxx\Privilgs]

Where the SID:"S-1-5-32-544" is the BUILT-IN\ADMINISTRATORS.

The below is captured from my working computer where multiple privileges, including AWE, were assigned to the Administrators:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Accounts\S-1-5-32-544\Privilgs]

@=hex(0):15,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,11,00,00,\00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,12,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0c,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,13,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,09,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,16,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0b,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,0d,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0e,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,0a,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0f,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,05,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,17,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,1c,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,1d,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,1e,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

When AWE is removed, the first value changed to @=hex(0):15,00,00.... and the values at the end "04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00" were removed.

I guess you've already removed it from your CMP computer registry.

 

The mystery is solved!, posted on February 15, 2012 at 13:54:16
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I probably have. Not at home to check.

Easy enough to restore. I have plenty of old config files laying about.

We'll see.

The question does remain: just how important is this? If I have already disabled it (which is likely) and am enjoying what I perceive to be improved quality I wonder if this is still important in our minimized machines.

The more I read about AWE, and considering I am using a 512mB memory I really wonder just what it could do. Seems intended for large value memory installations. Seems like it could be confusing to the machine when the value of the memory (as in my case) is so small. Any opinion?

I tried the 1gB Kingston Value Ram without success. Could not get anywhere close to Serge's settings, would not run on low voltage and did not sound very good. Maybe the fact it was new and I was not patient enough to let it break-in? Maybe the version you are using is different than the one I got? I bought it from NEWEGG so I feel sure it was a real KINGSTON product.

And while I am rambling on - I have yet to attempt running the memory stick from a battery. What battery voltage are you using? I assumed a D cell. Does the MB still regulate that voltage down to the 1.2V?

Thanks!!!

 

...and a NEW Mystery Appears..., posted on February 16, 2012 at 00:41:02
gjwAudio
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Location: Toronto
Joined: March 11, 2006
 So Gentlemen, riddle me this:

If I have deleted the entire BUILT-IN\ADMINISTRATORS account (ie: "S-1-5-32-544" no longer exists in the SECURITY hive), why does cPlay's Diagnostics screen still report "AWE successful" ?

Surely it knows what it's doing. On my main desktop (where cPlay runs solo - without cMP) I've not implemented the AWE function in XP Pro (though the box is ticked in cPlay's settings window), and in this case cPlay faithfully reports "AWE failed, reverting to standard allocation".

Could there be other places in the registry directing the kernel to use AWE memory management ? It would seem so on my cMP^2 rig.

To Rick's question (and I'm hypothesizing here with little deep research to back it up...), I think one of the real benefits of AWE is it reserves a chunk of RAM for exclusive use by the program - in this case cPlay - and is therefore spared the chore of requesting/obtaining memory space "as needed" during operation. One of cics's guiding principles is to reduce any OS activity that can be avoided, and AWE helps go in this direction.

I don't think the size of the RAM plays as big a role as the activity overhead of managing it. Does anybody know better - or differently ?

In any event, I'm happy I still (seem to) have AWE working for me in the slimmed-down, Franken-OS world of cutting-edge cMP^2. It sure continues to sound better and better as we discover new tortures to put our systems through.

Cheers,
Grant

That's not a Toy... IT'S A TOOL !!

 

It is only an assumption, posted on February 16, 2012 at 02:27:21
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello! Grant, Hello, everybody. It is also an assumption, certainly, but I think that we have long overlooked this file - ntldr, that resides in the root. It is very important to the whole system, and, I believe, it's getting modified as time goes by. At least it surely is modified by cmp-cplay, - there are strings about cmp-cplay among the usual program gibberish inside the file (opened in the notepad).
I think that the behavior of all: system, default administrator or guest, is described in one and only account, or rather pattern - the god's mode, with our accounts representing only differences (limitations), assigned to the god mode. In my ramblings across the net I have come a couple of times across refferences to developer's and god's mode in windows, but I don't remember where or when...
Serge.

 

But when you read what MS says, posted on February 16, 2012 at 07:53:49
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 it does not say that is what it is doing.

Their literature makes it sound like it has more to do with utilizing large amounts of memory.

Of course, the 3gB switch in boot.ini mystifies me the same way with a 512mB memory ...

 

That has to be, posted on February 16, 2012 at 07:55:55
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 There is something else. No question.

But whether we can access it and more importantly have any idea how to manipulate it - that is the challenge.

 

riboge is right - Resource Tuner does a superior job with cMP/cPLAY, posted on February 16, 2012 at 08:02:20
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Had played with the files long ago with reshack and when I read riboge's report I started playing with RT. But I was modifying the already reshacked files.

Last night I went back to my original files and RT'ed them.

Riboge is right - reshack screws up cPLAY and it is not just cosmetically.

There is quality to be gained with starting over and using RESOURCE TUNER.

I have made two versions of each. One minimized to only one dialog screen and the other with the other dialogs for making adjustments. I think there is something to be gained with this.

I do retain (in the minimized version) phase/volume/balance and X in cPLAY. Nothing is retained in cMP. I went back and forth and settings are retained since they are kept in those .ini files.

 

The relevant policy can be found amongst 37, posted on February 16, 2012 at 08:41:03
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 other Privilege Rights in one of the Security Configuration Templates, named DEFLTP.INF, in the XP PRO SP2 installation disc. It reads "SeLockMemoryPrivilege = "

Adding *S-1-5-32-544, or *SID, to it will result in AWE being enabled for the named SID, after installation.

All other privileges written in the same Template for different SIDs will appear in Local Computer Policy\....\User Rights Assignment in the exact manner as it is written in the Template. And they will be stored in the Security hive. One can see the changes in value each and every time the user rights assignment is changed. To view one's own Sam and Security hives in real time, one needs to logon as the System Account. In this connection, Psexec.exe from the System Internal can be put to good use.

However, the situation is different in XP Home SP0, SP1 and some earlier Beta versions, where there is no mention of LockMemoryPrivilege amongst a few Privilege Rights present in the Template. Nonetheless, Administrators will be assigned AWE privilege automatically. This is not the same case for XP Home SP2 though. The relevant entries for Privilege Rights can be found in dpup.inf in SP0 and SP1 etc.

I know too little about AWE and privilege assignment, and have no answer to all the questions. But what's presented, is solid.

You may aware that I've only 4 entries inside Winlogon and the UserNames/DomainNames were gone. I did so because the Administrator account was removed and there was no point logging on as such SID. I successfully logged as no one! And still got AWE. Perhaps, I've logged on using the Everyone account, i.e. S-1-1-0, which is the only account left behind after the deletion.

Back to the question of AWE in cMP. Although it says AWE successful, it also Ram Load each and every time, even when told not to do so.

And to echo Rick's comments, the effects of AWE is diminishing as we move on. I guess our Windows have become so efficient and quiet that it now closely resembles loading music files in Ram or alike. Just a guess though.

By the way, Rick, if you put NiMh batteries in, there will be no voltage regulation. The voltage will slowly drop from 1.35V to the lowest working voltage of your memory.

 

RE: The relevant policy can be found amongst 37, posted on February 16, 2012 at 08:52:16
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Using minlogon is one not always logged on as the system account?

 

Minlogon is an Administrator Account, posted on February 16, 2012 at 09:01:56
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 Quoted from MS "How the System account is used in Windows."

"The system account and the administrator account (Administrators group) have the same file privileges, but they have different functions. The system account is used by the operating system and by services that run under Windows. There are many services and processes within Windows that need the capability to log on internally (for example during a Windows installation). The system account was designed for that purpose; it is an internal account, does not show up in User Manager, cannot be added to any groups, and cannot have user rights assigned to it. On the other hand, the system account does show up on an NTFS volume in File Manager in the Permissions portion of the Security menu. By default, the system account is granted full control to all files on an NTFS volume. Here the system account has the same functional privileges as the administrator account."

 

RE: Minlogon is an Administrator Account, posted on February 16, 2012 at 09:10:52
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Some up until now have said minlogon puts one as the default user, others more lately have said it is the system account, now you--who seems to know what you are talking about--say it is "an" administrator account. Is it "the" (real, fundamental) administrator account? Is there such a thing?

More importantly, how DOES one logon to the system account?

 

To logon to the system account, you simply, posted on February 16, 2012 at 09:27:40
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 download a set of very useful Pstools from Windows Sysinternals.

http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/PsTools.zip

Unzip and copy Psexec.exe to your system32.

In CMD, type "psexec -i -d c:\windows\regedit.exe" and enter.

A powerful Regedit will then pop up under your service.

You can also load and view other Sam and Security hives without using any 3rd party software.


How the System account is used in Windows:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/120929


"Some up until now have said minlogon puts one as the default user"

It depends on what account is logged on. E.g. in SP1, after minlogon, one logon as Owner, this one is logged on as Default user, and the Default User folder will be created in C:\Documents and Settings. If logged on as Administrator, then the Administrator account.

Edit: after minlogon, one would use the Default folder in C:\Documents and Settings, as a computer users, perhaps a super one.

 

Mr. Wong is on a mission - discovery is inevitable!, posted on February 16, 2012 at 09:35:47
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 WOW, you are speeding ahead and flying high - I cannot wait to see/hear what you come up with.

Thanks for your efforts and your generosity.

 

My Windows is 16.1 or 16.2mb,, posted on February 16, 2012 at 09:54:50
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 if excluding cPlay, cMP files, 1 Chinese font and C_950.nls, The config folder is now 164kb.

I want to do more file substitution before letting you know. I now use a micro-shell32. It sound so much better!

I might have found a way, as my registry slimming went exceptionally easy and smooth.





 

What is micro-shell32? nt, posted on February 16, 2012 at 10:08:19
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 .

 

A 47KB SHELL32 IS A MICRO-SHELL32, posted on February 16, 2012 at 10:12:52
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 .

 

Can't wait to see how you have done this!, posted on February 16, 2012 at 11:49:34
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 config at 164? Incredible!

I have not been trying much lately because I thought when I got below 300 I was just about done AND NOW you post this.

I get the feeling there must a combination aspect to further deletions since I have tried numerous "single" items with no success.

Will TRY to wait patiently for the micro-shell32 but it is NOT going to be easy.

Congratulations and thanks again.

 

NOVELTY: Men competing about who's is SMALLER :) nt., posted on February 16, 2012 at 14:16:59
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 .

 

nLite cMP modded on HDD will not run on SSD, posted on February 16, 2012 at 14:44:55
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I installed Jolida's nLite xp and did mods, tweaks and some slimming all on a hdd. I made an image which worked to restore to the hdd when I goofed with further slimming attempt. But when I copy this image to either of two ssds I tried it will not run. Boot begins and gets just past the XP with progress bar then stops on a blank screen. Seemingly it is cMP that will not start. I have tried this on two computers several times with two different applications for copying the partition, one by image and the other direct disk to disk. No go. I am baffled. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

It's natural, posted on February 16, 2012 at 15:18:32
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello! You have installed on hdd1, and installation process has created and modified the registry according to your THEN current hardware set, namely in software and especially SYSTEM hive. You cannot just copy and attempt to run the same windows, hacked or not, on another hdd, unless it's just the same hdd model and capacity, and, I suspect, even batch.
Serge.

 

RE: It's natural--??, posted on February 16, 2012 at 15:28:19
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Actually, I have done so quite freely up until now. I have copied from one drive to another many times both between the two drives in my laptop (one is removable and goes in cd slot adapter)and to external drives which then were configured to boot. These are various brands--Hitachi, WD, Kingston et al--no two the same. Also there has been discussion here previously about working on the system on hdd until satisfied and then transferring to ssd at the end to avoid too many rewrites on the ssd. So clearly others have done this.

 

RE: It's natural--??, posted on February 16, 2012 at 15:34:36
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 I can't imagine how it can be done. There's device enumeration in the system hive that simply has to cause bsod as the drive type for the system position gets changed, though, I may be wrong, especially with laptops. Also, there is a thing in system hive that marks which control set is default and which current and which, if any, is considered failed, look there, It may be that the failed one is the one You need, then just change the failed value.
Serge.

 

RE: Are you running on XP Home Edition SP1? nt., posted on February 16, 2012 at 15:36:25
smicyta
Audiophile

Posts: 125
Joined: February 19, 2010

 

Yes. I'm running on XP Home SP1, posted on February 16, 2012 at 16:02:29
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 .

 

More on SAM & SECURITY Hive, posted on February 16, 2012 at 20:45:53
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 I don't know whether inmates can see this when you load the Security hive. There is a copy of Sam inside the Security hive. The 2 Sams make changes simultaneously, if data in Sam hive is changed.

I can't see the Sam inside Security either, when using load hive and log on to system account. In order to see all data and make changes simultaneously, one need to log on to the system account in the CMP Windows.







Delete the data inside Sam hive and the deletion will be reflected in the Sam inside Security hive. You'll hopefully get a 8kb Security hive.




 

I found the same thing to be true, posted on February 16, 2012 at 20:59:15
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I had taken Mr. Wong's advice to install on a HDD and then transfer to my SSD and it would not work.

Anyway, I think the SSD fragility stuff is more than slightly overstated.

 

SO, how do we do that?, posted on February 16, 2012 at 21:03:28
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 For those of us who can no longer do ANYTHING on our cMP installs?

Do we load an "older" version and work on it there, save it, and place it in out minimized installs?

 

Nonetheless, I contend it matters little what you start with, posted on February 16, 2012 at 21:08:13
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 with .dll substitutions and registry mods you still end up in the same place (if you want to).

 

You need the files to boot into explorer..., posted on February 16, 2012 at 21:31:39
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 For me, I would use the first ghost image or without it install a new Windows using the same Nlite disc. On 1st boot, I'll log on to system account and do Sam & Security slimming simultaneously. Thereafter, copy the Sam and Security to the config folder of the slimmed CMP Windows.

 

RE: You need the files to boot into explorer..., posted on February 16, 2012 at 22:14:17
audiofanatic
 I am lost with all the changes to Sam and Security changes (which ones to do).

@jackwong96: can you tell me (maybe via a link to the changes) exactly which changes you make in Sam and Security after a fresh install so that I can try them?

 

Please see Screen Shot, posted on February 17, 2012 at 02:16:33
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 This is how it looks, so far, after booting into Windows.



Actually,I found that load hive & delete data in SAM only, will result in corresponding changes mirrored in the SECURITY when boot into Windows.

For SAM, it is 8kb.

The Security hive is also 8kb. I have not yet decide which Policy\Account to keep. S-1-1-0 is "Everyone" and S-1-5-32-544 is "Administrators". The Privilege etc are still inside. I have copied the Privileges granted to "Administrators" to "Everyone" in case they are needed.

The PolRevision & PolSecret... were deleted and no longer present when I load hive. Nevertheless, they kept coming back in Windows(only) despite further deletions.

One thing, add read and write rights for Everyone and delete System and anyone else in all keys and sub-keys after load hive. Right click "Permission" to do that.

 

Problem solved with Paragon Migrate OS to SSD, posted on February 17, 2012 at 04:43:57
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 This aging thing sucks memory-wise. I later recalled I had a year ago used this software to set up my first ssd(no longer used). It worked just now to migrate from the hdd nLite cMP drive to another better ssd drive.

Paragon Migrate OS to SSD was offered originally free from Paragon. That is how I got it a year ago. It's second version is now licensed by them for $19.95. Other software I suppose offers this migrate function as well. I don't know whether I can legally offer the first, free version to others. If anyone can advise about this and it is okay, I can make it available.

 

I think I just reloaded the right key to get back into awe, posted on February 17, 2012 at 07:02:15
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Here is how I did it using Snapshot.

I opened an earlier image of my os.

I pulled my Security file out of it and placed on my desktop.

I used the new program Jack mentioned to open and hack it.

I used Ntregopt to compact it (while still in regedit mode)

I rebooted.

Loaded my ssd into my docking station on my desktop.

Replaced the Security file with the newly hacked/compacted Security file.

Rebooted and now I am listening to see (hear) if I can notice a difference.

 

Further Deletion Improves Sound, posted on February 17, 2012 at 07:14:36
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 The Sam hive remains the same as per my last report - "Please see Screen Shot". Please don't touch anything inside Account and Builtin. There is nothing inside RXACT but the folder is needed.

I've deleted more from the Security hive, as follow:

1. The remains of Security hive as per the screenshot. The presence of Account\SID\Priviledges does not improve sound;

2. Delete the Key/Dword inside PolAdtEv, PolAdtLg and PolMod respecticvely. The folders are needed; and

3. In RXACT, delete content of the log only.

Please don't touch PolAcDmS, where the machine SID and backup of Sam reside, and SecDesc.

There are some good improvements after the registry deleletion. Music is definitely more 3-Dimensional; there are slight but noticeable improvement in minor details. Less policies in the hive perhaps reduces interactions between the Security hive and Isass.exe, hence, less noise and overhead.

The deletion is done on XP Home SP1.




 

RE: Changes to CPlaylist Editor, posted on February 17, 2012 at 07:40:22
aljordan
Audiophile

Posts: 1252
Location: Southern Maine
Joined: November 4, 2003
 Hi,

I updated the link in the original post. Sorry about that.

Alan

 

RE: Further Deletion Improves Sound, posted on February 17, 2012 at 07:40:57
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 You said: '...The presence of Account\SID\Priviledges does not improve sound...' I just listened and you are right no difference maybe even a slight degredation.

Its interesting that I have no sam within security. I do have a sam within sam but that is all, There are differences as well.

Going to try your new registry edits now.

As always thanks Jack.

 

RE: Further Deletion Improves Sound, posted on February 17, 2012 at 08:31:11
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 The Sam in the Security hive(not in Sam) can only be seen when one boot into its own Windows and view directly in Regedit. It's not about loading the Security hive using another computer, the "Sam in the Security hive" can't be seen this way.

 

RE: Further Deletion Improves Sound, posted on February 17, 2012 at 09:40:32
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I replicated your security hive screen above and got a bsod. Upon looking at my hive before I did your edits I noticed that I had a few more entries under Policy in parallel with PolAdtEv, PolAdtLg and PolMod that I deleted. So I am going to try again leaving in those other entries. I am on another computer away from my cmp box so I cant copy them here but there are 3 or 4 of these.

 

Try deleting the string or dword first , posted on February 17, 2012 at 10:08:30
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 from one direction, bottom up or reversed. Jump to next if unsuccessful. Keep the Account\SID for the time being, that's the last one to be deleted.

After emptying some of the key/string, try deleting the folders.

If you have no success deleting a string/dword, try emptying it's content.

 

Wouldn't boot with this in my nLite xp pro sp2 (nt), posted on February 17, 2012 at 11:14:12
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 .

 

RE: Wouldn't boot with this in my nLite xp pro sp2 (nt), posted on February 17, 2012 at 11:34:45
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 It should be used in conjunction with shlwapi.dll.

 

RE: Wouldn't boot with this in my nLite xp pro sp2 (nt), posted on February 17, 2012 at 13:37:27
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Shlwapi.dll also caused a no boot. I was able to use this substitution with mini XP previously but not here. What I haven't tried yet is putting in both your shell32 and shlwapi at the same time. I will report back if that happens to work.

 

Finally got it to work ...thanks Jack, posted on February 17, 2012 at 16:46:36
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 The secret was in leaving all the other policies in (as per steppe) then I was ok.

 

And what about the new shell?, posted on February 17, 2012 at 16:55:10
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello! Ted, I have just restored my cmp. I have tried new shell + shlwapi and even + Jack's gdi32.dll, still no sport. Jack! If You read this, where is this shell from, really, just for interest?
Serge.

 

RE: And what about the new shell?, posted on February 17, 2012 at 18:14:49
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I believe they(shell32 and shlwapi) are from xp sp1 home and they did not work in my system either. My thought is that, like your set of files, they probably will all have to be substituted for it to work. Jack indicated that his file set is from a whole bunch of different sources.

 

Fishy Secret 8 Nice and easy, posted on February 17, 2012 at 18:48:32
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006



Hello, everybody! Here is a nice and easy thing to do, while we are looking for the way to adapt new shell:
WARNING: THIS TWEAK NEEDS ABOUT 24 HOURS and several REBOOTS to shine.
Go here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\000\ControlSet001\Control\Windows
change the marked settings as You see it on the pic.
set ErrorMode to 2
set NoInteractiveServices to 1
set ShellErrorMode to 0
Yes, and DON'T HESITATE to remove Watchdog from registry, It's a great tweak.
Also, go here
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\000\ControlSet001\Control\Video\{23A77BF7-ED96-40EC-AF06-9B1F4867732A}\0000 and set InstalledDisplayDrivers to only
vga framebuf.
Serge.

 

It might have something to do with FAT, posted on February 17, 2012 at 19:28:47
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Mr. Wong is using this instead of NTFS.

Since I assume we have deleted the FAT files and entries in the REGISTRY this can cause a problem.

I am making a new install with FAT on all drives and see if I have success.

 

RE: It might have something to do with FAT, posted on February 18, 2012 at 07:11:53
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 You are spot on check your email.

 

Registry editting issue, posted on February 18, 2012 at 12:58:13
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Ok expert registry guys. I have an issue wrt to keeping revised hives. I edit them load, boot, play music. Then I come back for more reg edits and the hive seems to have grown again. For example I editted software from 28 kb to 20 kb (deleting persistent handlers etc etc per steppe)and when I come back for additional edits its back up to 28 kb. Yes I ntregopt it always. In my system hive I get it down from 512 kb to 384kb load it play music come back later for additional edits its back up to 512 kb. Anybody else have this issue?

 

RE: Registry editting issue, posted on February 18, 2012 at 13:12:34
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 Edit the file boot.ini, adding the key /MININT into the command line (last line) to prohibit any registry changes.

Serge.
http://cmp2-mihaylov.narod.ru/

My cMP2: Windows XP SP2 Ru, GA-H55M-UD2H, i3-530, Corsair CM3X160C9DHX 1GB, system drive - Transcend IDE FLASH MODULE TS2GDOM40V-S FAT32, ESI Juli@, full linear PSU, NAS - WD My Book Live

 

RE: Registry editting issue, posted on February 18, 2012 at 13:20:00
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I have it in boot.ini but not the last entry. I'll move to the last item. Thanks Serge.

 

RE: Registry editting issue, posted on February 18, 2012 at 17:12:44
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Moved the MININT switch to last item in boot file and it does not seem to work for my enum root key ... it keeps coming back. While doing key deletion I asked for permision (even tried advanced permission once) and my editted system file goes from 384 kb back to 512 kb over and over again.

I'm giving up for now.

 

RE: Fishy Secret 8 Nice and easy, posted on February 19, 2012 at 06:50:59
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I initially did this but somehow managed to miss the last part on the '...set InstalledDisplayDrivers to only vga framebuf...'. When I did the last part it resulted in a very very strong positive sq pop. The way I would describe it is strong strong dynamics, bass, better extension top and bottom. More coherence.

Thanks Serge.

 

How to kill Winlogon and other Services in CMP, posted on February 19, 2012 at 09:25:04
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 This suits normal CMP users with a regular Windows more than those using a slimmed Windows.

Download PSTOOLS, extract and copy Pskill.exe to system32.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896683

Create a Pskill.bat in C:\, with the following entries:

@echo off
pskill -t \\cmp smss.exe
pskill -t \\cmp winlogon.exe
pskill -t \\cmp lsass.exe
pskill -t \\cmp svchost.exe


Assuming the domain or computer name is "cmp"


In cicsMemoryPlayer.pth,

Amend:
RIPPER #M "c:\program files\exact audio copy\EAC.exe"

to read:
RIPPER #N "c:\Pskill.bat"


Boot into CMP and RIP to kill services.

Csrss.exe and Service.exe are the only processes left.
Please note that Service.exe can't be killed as it's needed by cicsplay.exe

Note:

(1) You will lost the ability to shutdown or reboot, after killing the services!

(2) It hasn't been tested in a network environment.

In theory, users of slimmed Windows can put in cmd.exe and usp10.dll, and with the necessary registry entries, services can also be killed. Please don't ask me how, as I haven't got time to try it yet.


 

Help! Deleted SecDesc key by mistake, posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:21:34
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I was doing Jack's slimming using Psexec. Can someone tell me what should be inside this key? Is it standard or machine specific? Can I recreate this key or do I need to substitute new copy of security hive and start this tweak all over again?

Also, using pskill as described disconnected network. Which of smss, lsass or svchost should not be killed to preserve network connection?

 

RE: Help! Deleted SecDesc key by mistake, posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:36:18
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 Well, if you can still boot without it that would be great! If not, please load your last security hive, export the SecDesc key and import to your current hive.

I forgot to mention that the "Services Killing" thing was done in a non-network environment, it hasn't been test in a network CMP.

 

You need lsass.exe and svchost.exe for network cMP., posted on February 19, 2012 at 12:05:59
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Without the latter you cannot connect and without the former you cannot get cMP to call cPlay even with the former running.

Edit: Hours later I tried returning the killing of lsass.exe to the pskill.bat and now network play does work. Puzzling--especially since either way lsass.exe is shown running in task manager. Doing this, however, eliminates normal shutdown and requires hardware shutdown. Makes you wonder about cMP's suspend of svchost and lsass.

 

Error after USB 3.0 disk attached, posted on February 20, 2012 at 08:03:33
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 948
Joined: November 21, 2008
 Dear community,

A friend of mine has problems with his cMP2 setup after he tried to backup his music library via an external USB 3.0 disk.
This back-up took extremely long time.

He reports that cPlay now makes digital noise for about 20-25 seconds at the beginning of playback of each track.

I have told him it sounds like a memory error, and I´m awaiting the diagnostics file soon, but maybe someone can identfy the problem....

kind regards

Hysolid // Mytek Brooklyn // Spectron Musician III // Analysis Audio Omega

 

Suggestions on implementing Jack Wong's micro-shell32, posted on February 20, 2012 at 10:13:38
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Don't know if this will work for anyone else but maybe there is something that will help.

I decided to follow Mr. Wong's use of FAT instead of NTFS so I began with a fresh minimal nLite install.

I should say that I intially (just for fun) tried to insert the micor-shell into my exisitng install with no luck. This did give me a hint as to what to do next. I was told that WINDOWS would not load because c_950.nls was missing. I copied this from my main machine and made sure it was in the registry (where I had previously deleted it). This was not successful.

So I began the new install.

It is amazing as many of these as I have done that I still mess them up. This is due to my incessant obsession with looking for short-cuts. After a few of these I decided to take my time and be methodical.

Shortly after getting minlogon, cMP/PLAY and JULI@ installed I did Mr. Wong's SECURITY and SAM deletions. I also did what remains to be done of the the original cMP optimizations. Most of this stuff is taken care of by file and registry deletions so much of it is now a waste of time.

I had done this a couple of times and then tried to insert the micro-shell and it would not work. The last time (the one that worked!) I remembered Serge's protocol for inserting files from his BIG FILE SUBSTITUTION tweak and thought I should try that.

I did and it worked. I substituted Mr. Wong's files in the first group specified by Serge which happened to include shell32.

It works well. The only slightly strange thing is when you minimize and mazimize the cPLAY screen there is a little stuttering of the playback. Big deal.

The strange thing is how much trouble I seem to have going further. All I have done to the system registry so far is to remove controlset2, root out of ENUM and most of the media/audio/video entries. I have done very little file deletion. When I try to go further (which is still taking away big chunks) I cannot boot. Back to SNAPSHOT ...

I know this will be overcome but it is frustrating having this huge WINDOWS isntallation at the moment. (no jokes riboge)

Tonight I will do further file substitutions per Serge using Mr. Wong's files and see if I can use the minimized SOFTWARE and DEFAULT hives.

 

I can't resist...but seriously, posted on February 20, 2012 at 10:40:11
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 If you can't get it smaller in over 4 hours...

I have tried again and again and can't get these to work even with the other substitutions. You are amazing being able to keep this up (here I go again) through such labors as starting over FAT and then the frustrations that are following.

How can the file/disk format make this difference? And if it does, shouldn't there be some "translation" application out there that converts between NTFS and FAT in a way that maintains all functions?

 

I found a NTFS to FAT32 converter, posted on February 20, 2012 at 11:06:42
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 This is supposed to do it without data loss--we'll see about function loss. It's demo/free version works on converting partitions up to 8GB.
http://www.aomeitech.com/n2f/download.html

I will try it and hope a couple of you will, too. Who knows if this will bridge the gap between nLite installs in ntfs and Jack's shell32 et al?

 

I guess the question is what is "testing", posted on February 20, 2012 at 11:52:02
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 sounds to me it won't do this neat trick unless you buy a copy.

Could be worth the money!!!!

 

Trial converter worked fine but shell32 still didn't, posted on February 20, 2012 at 12:07:46
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 The converter's site says "Aomei Ntfs2Fat32 Free Edition can work on Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000/2003/2008, but it only supports converting the NTFS partition maximum 8GB to FAT32 for testing"

After conversion, which was very fast, all that was required was to repair boot files with EasyBCD. It ran fine as it was but with Jack's shell32 and shlwapi substituted I got the same error message as I had gotten when I was NTFS. My nLite installation has all the mods and tweaks but only limited slimming, especially to the registry. So that may make a difference but it is hard to see why it should. I have substituted most of the other files with no problem.

 

RE: Trial converter worked fine but shell32 still didn't, posted on February 20, 2012 at 13:56:39
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 You made sure you included the c_950.nls file and made sure this shows up in SYSTEM/Nls - can't remember what comes next but it is easy to figure out once you are there.

Did you include, at the time of substitution ALL of the files Serge recommended changing at the same time as shell32?

I think that was key.

Wish I had known about this YESTERDAY!!! The converter that is. It never occurred to me to LOOK for such a thing! Good to know ...

 

New Version of Cplayrun batch file plays MP3 and APE files using Cplay, posted on February 22, 2012 at 15:29:13
Ken Stuart
Audiophile

Posts: 134
Location: California
Joined: December 27, 2011
 NEW VERSION: Now plays all four formats supported by Recursive Cue Creator, using Cplay, by automatically converting APE and MP3 files to WAV in the Windows Temporary Folder and automatically editing the CUE file to match, and then starting Cplay with that cue file. (This feature requires a .vbs file, which is included in the download link. It also requires the free Monkey's Audio program to convert APE files, and/or the free Lame program to convert MP3 files, and links for those are at the bottom of this same post.)

This will work without cue files, but then only with one file at a time, as cue files continue to be the "playlist" of cplay. (It also supports Shorten SHN files, but those are not currently supported by Recursive Cue Creator, so any cue file would be supplied on your own.)

On my PC, conversion to WAV takes about one second per minute of audio files, YMMV.

For those who are unfamiliar with Cplayrun batch file, the following is the entirety of the earlier post explaining it:

WHAT: A Windows Batch File that integrates cPlay for flac and wave files, with another player (foobar2000 v0.8.3) for all other music files, and provides automated rate switching for cPlay:

MOTIVATION: Recently I discovered that a DAC that 1) generates its own timing, 2) generates its own regulated power, and 3) isolates the digital audio chain from the analog chain, removes most of the defects of digital audio that makes it sound worse than analog audio. (The HRT Music Streamer II at US$150 does all three things, but there are others as well, but perhaps not as inexpensive.)

I then became interested in comparing the sound of music playing software, using this DAC, and found that the smaller and lighter the program, the better it sounded (in other words, the least distortion it applied to the original audio). The free program "cPlay" - developed in this very Forum - continues to produce the best sound quality of any player I have tried. (Amongst the others, currently MusicBee is notable for combining stability with a lot of fun features, such as lyrics scrolling in sync, album art, display of web information on the artist, etc - but it seems those features come at a sound quality cost.)

My music playback PC is also my living room video PC, so it runs Vista, and so I have been unable to run the "cmp" system that replaces the Window shell, since it does not work with Vista. However, I did build that PC from scratch using "quiet home theater PC" principles that mirror the ones in the "cmp2" hardware system. And I had already disabled all unnecessary services and software for better video playback, so that also mirrors some of the cmp principles as well.

DETAILS: There are two difficulties with using cPlay that I have sought to overcome:

1) It has a fixed output sample rate. cPlay was written when virtually all music was 44.1 khz and so upsampling to a much higher rate had some benefits. However, now we have hdtracks providing 88.2, 96 and 176.4 files. My DAC is limited to 96khz, and upsampling from 88.2 to 96 definitely sounds worse than just leaving it as 88.2 khz. So, I need a system to set the sample rate based on the file's rate.

Fortunately, Bibo01 posted a batch file to this Forum a few weeks ago that changes the cPlay .ini file's RATE setting based on the user's keyboard input to a prompt. I modified that batch file to instead look for a text file in the same folder - "44.txt" to use 44.1 khz, "48.txt" to use 48 khz, "88.txt" to use 88.2 khz, "96.txt" to use 96 khz, "176.txt" to use 176.4 khz, and "192.txt" to use 192 khz. (The files can be empty, zero length, text files.) Since you can right-click in a folder (using Windows Explorer or a replacement) and select New File or New Text Document and name it, then you specify the output sample rate very quickly and easily. And this can be more sophisticated than "use the file's sample rate" if, like me, you have files with rates greater than the DAC's limit. So "88.txt" in a folder with 176.4 khz files will downsample in a clean way by tossing out every other sample, rather than intensive computation to go from 176.4 to 96.

2) cPlay only plays WAV and FLAC files. I have many lossless audio files in other formats, including APE, SHN, ALAC and WV, and also some lossey files in MP3 and WMA format. If you start cPlay and try to use it to play music, you find that sometimes you want to hear music and it is in APE or some other format unsupported by cPlay and you have to close cPlay and then find the music again to play it with another player.

So, I wanted a system that will play all my music files, and use cPlay for all WAV and FLAC files, and another player for all the other files. In my personal testing, I found foobar2000 0.8.3 to be the best sounding player outside of cPlay - better sounding than the current foobar2000. It starts up instantly, showing that it is very small and light (smaller than current foobar which has added a lot of code over the six years).

HOW TO USE: The simplest way to accomplish my goal, was to use a file explorer, and associate all audio files with foobar2000 0.8.3 and then associate WAV and FLAC files with the batch file mentioned above that sets the sample rate. In order to have the most minimal setup for best sound quality, I chose a popular small, light, free file explorer and included a line in the batch file to kill its process before playback. The batch file also runs cPlay in realtime priority using the same lines from cPlay's included batch file.

However, that only allows you to play one FLAC or WAV file at a time. In order to play a whole album, you also need to associate CUE files with the batch file. You can then use Alan Jordan's Recursive Cue Creator to create CUE files for every folder in your music library (available from alanjordan.org). (By the way, you don't need CUE files to be associated with foobar, because if you click on a full-album APE file, it will look for a CUE file in the folder for the track information.)

A link for the cplayrun.bat batch file is at the bottom of this post. The provided version includes code that supports rates up to 192, but is intentionally limited to 96 - since that is my DAC's limit, and may be yours. If you have a 192 DAC, open the batch file in a text editor, and there are comments explaining the lines to remove to allow it go all the way up to 192.

The current version of the batch file in this cPlay thread is the second version 0.2.0, which includes two new additions: (1) added support to automatically use cPlay for cue files that it supports, and foobar2000 for all other cue files, and (2) support to add a folder context menu entry that will choose cPlay for folders that can be played by cPlay, and foobar for all other folders. (For those who cannot figure out to add that support to the registry, let me know and I'll provide a .reg file to do it.)

Also, the batch file should be put in cplay's folder, and it is hard coded in the batch file to be:

C:\Program Files\cics Play

If you have cplay in a different folder, you will need to change the location inside the batch, in several places, using a text editor.

You can also edit the batch file if you want to use a different file explorer than xplorer2_lite. Note that if you try to kill Windows Explorer, in most versions of Windows, it will kill the whole shell, so it is cleaner and simpler to use another file explorer for selecting your music.

The free file explorer xplorer2_lite can be downloaded from dev's site:

http://zabkat.com/xplorer2_liteTB_setup.exe

NOTE: you'll want to unselect the toolbar installation to keep a minimal setup.

foobar2000 0.8.3 can be downloaded from File Hippo at:

http://filehippo.com/download_foobar2000/55/

otachan's audiophile ASIO plugin for foobar2000 0.8.3 can downloaded in a dizzying array of variations from:

http://personales.ya.com/angel49/foobar2000_otachan/intro.htm

the fourth choice of ver 0.51 seems to be the most generic and works fine.

Monkey's Audio can be downloaded free from the creator's site at:

http://www.monkeysaudio.com/download.html

Lame MP3 encoder and decoder can be downloaded free from:

http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php

Shorten 3.6.1 encoder and decoder can be downloaded free from:

http://etree.org/shncom.html

NOTE: Use of any software provided in this message, is done at your own risk and no warranty of any sort is implied. It is proper practice to backup any important data from your computer before installing anything new.

 

RE: New Version of Cplayrun batch file plays MP3 and APE files using Cplay, posted on February 22, 2012 at 21:28:04
Bibo01
Audiophile

Posts: 648
Joined: December 18, 2008
 Hi Ken,

thanks for this new effort.
In the same fashion can this be extended to other formats as well, like AIFF and ALAC?

I would like to point out that under Seven some problems with your batch. Seven has VirtualStore so it saves a copy of cPlay files in another directory which get involved in the .tmp creation. The answer is to change Ownership of cPlay folder by going to C:>Program Files>cics Play, then Property>Security and change user's account authorizations.

 

RE: New Version of Cplayrun batch file plays MP3 and APE files using Cplay, posted on February 22, 2012 at 23:09:56
Ken Stuart
Audiophile

Posts: 134
Location: California
Joined: December 27, 2011
 Yes, it could be extended to any other format, just two things are needed, which is 1) installing a program that will decode the files into WAV files using a command line, and 2) having a cue file (unless the there is only one file). The latter is the major problem.

In fact, I am thinking that the one biggest problem with cplay was the decision to use cue files as its playlist file format. There is virtually no software to deal with cue files, since they are only designed to burn CD-Rs.

If cplay had been designed to use .m3u or .pls playlist files instead of cue files, the program might have several times the user base by now.

PS Concerning the ownership of the cplay folder under Win7 - is that merely a suggestion to other users, or is it something that ought to be part of the batch file itself ?

 

RE: New Version of Cplayrun batch file plays MP3 and APE files using Cplay, posted on February 23, 2012 at 01:09:05
Bibo01
Audiophile

Posts: 648
Joined: December 18, 2008
 Re. the ownership of the cplay folder under Win7 -

It is a suggestin to other users otherwise the batch file simply does not execute properly.

 

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