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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: HPET and Windows XP..., posted on December 3, 2011 at 22:24:19
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 The pic is from untweaked russian xp on my work machine it is High precision event timer. If you rightclick it you read the drivers are not installed (Code 28) and below in device usage - Use this device (enable) and in resources you will see the irq etc.

 

nLite MultiLanguage ISO, posted on December 3, 2011 at 23:52:09
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 How many have installed a multilanguage version of nLite?

Junaid

 

HPET: Recognized = Yes, Used = No (in Win XP)..., posted on December 4, 2011 at 04:44:29
gjwAudio
Audiophile

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

I too get the equivalent Device Manager info for the HPET device... BUT, XP is not able to use it ! The fundamental code of XP was cast in stone long before HPET devices were implemented on motherboards.

If you read the (rather long) post indicated above (from the cMP thread), you will see the quote supporting this notion, and a link to where I found the information.

Regarding BOOT.INI parameters, my file contains all switches shown above except "/onecpu" and "/MAXMEM=256"... it's been that way as far back as spring of this year. I use a 512 mb stick of Hyper-X RAM, and run cMP^2 on the G31M mobo (...ancient, but still effective).

When you get the chance to test HPET In/Out, please lets us know your findings.

Cheers,
Grant

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

 

Thanks, posted on December 4, 2011 at 04:47:15
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 .

 

nLite Sound impressions, posted on December 4, 2011 at 05:10:38
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 First, let me thank Junaid for this generous gift.

Just install it as recommended, and it is one of the better setups I have heard yet still fully functional.

First I applied the CICS optimizations. I played around with various levels of batch file deletions and have not yet concluded which is my favourite. I did the Bold Fortune deletions followed by steppe to 12. At this stage it is very nice having opened up but remained very full and musical. I added Steppe's lost registry tweak and the watchdog and I think it may have been perfect. I went on and applied Steppe to 16 and the Mihaylov tweaks. Still very good but I am not sure if I might prefer 12. I kept images and will toggle to see.

In all and excellent.. and easy!!

 

RE: nLite Sound impressions, posted on December 4, 2011 at 05:24:27
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 I have not yet started file deletions. Have just made cics optimisations & just ran my registry batches followed by lost & last registry, & watchdog tweak. In short, I am just tweaking with the registry to it's fullest possible to analyse how impactful it is vs file deletions. Serge's boot.ini tweak has entirely changed the performance. It's just remarkable.
At this stage, I am very happy with how it's playing. No complaints at all. I intend to move very slow & careful so as to not get into a complication of whether this file is better to keep or delete kind. Once I am certain with the registry section, only then will I start to run batch by batch & decide how to proceed.
It's good to know u liked Ur sonics as well. I guess we are moving in the right direction :)

Junaid

 

Putting in the whole boot.ini line makes big difference, posted on December 4, 2011 at 05:27:08
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Last time I did not like maxmem=256 but putting the other stuff in (nopae/onecpu) makes it all work very nicely. Thanks for insisting I try the whole line as you wrote it in your post. Nice big sq pop! Not only is timbre right but dynamics and air are also better. Everything sounds very balanced.

 

RE: nLite MultiLanguage ISO, posted on December 4, 2011 at 07:14:09
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Junaid can you please explain how you use this? Do you start with a windows os disc to load along with this or is it something else?

 

Why does your setup needs UHF polluted DC too sound good?, posted on December 4, 2011 at 07:33:54
hfavandepas
 Hi Douwe,

Thank you for your feedback.

When reading your reply, first thing that sprang too mind was: ‘it is very strange that Douwe’s computer needs UHF polluted DC too sound good’.
Ferrites can effectively provide high resistance (‘filter’) for UHF from approx 80 mHz too 300 Mhz (when applied correctly and depending on type off ferrite material used).
Have you any idea why this UHF pollution on the DC power supply lines, makes your computer sound better ?

“iirc this is a known issue of ferritesâ€
Are you really sure about that? I also read this at regular intervals. But I feel this is a misconception from the analogue audio domain which now (unfortunately) also is projected onto the digital audio domain.

Although I did not do/tried it myself, I can easily understand in terms of extra ‘power supply noise suppression’ and extra ‘decoupling’ how bypassing all caps on the mobo will boost SQ.
But I lack the ‘micro’ soldering skills too do this.

I also do believe that powering memory separately will boost SQ.
But is this because memory needs cleaner power which somehow results in better sound quality?
Or is it because in the process Jack is also removing a noise source?
In this case I find it hard too differentiate between ‘cause’, and ‘effect’ (and possibly also ‘symptoms’).

Why do you choose for an atom based setup?
I haven’ compared atom based mobo’s with the latest 1155 chipset mobo’s myself.
But I feel it is definitely worth to try Jackwongs suggestion using a 1155 based mobo with a 1155 socket Celeron dual core. Jackwong reported that this computer setup sounded best in his system.
I think (not sure yet) I will try it myself in a few weeks.

Half a year ago I also changed too using my Gigabyte G41M based cMP setup headless.
This allowed me too get rid of using USB.
While on the same time giving a lot of convenience controlling the cMP setup through my android tablet and smartphone (through using VNC)
Using the VGA output too my Sony KDL-37/W4000 TV has absolutely no impact on SQ.
Also using LAN has absolutely no impact on SQ.
But using USB does have a negative impact on SQ.
This can easily be heard in my setup.
Reducing the polling USB frequency (as found by Ryelands) does give some SQ improvement.
But disabling USB all together in BIOS and XP gives an even greater SQ improvement.
And going headless through using an android tablet is sooo convenient !!


I would not put much effort in XP slimming.
I see no ration behind it.
I consider it as shooting in the dark, hoping you hit something.
And surely you hit something because the results are stunning as reported by other inmates with good equipment and ears.
But one also does totally cripple the cMP machine.
There has too be a more clever way.

I feel a much better approach could be:
1. check with process explorer which files and processes are being used while running cmp + cPlay.
2. Than compare this list it with the list of files Mihaylov’s is running.
Mihaylov’s file list see: http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/9/99505.html
3. Subtract: 1. (process explorer file list) minus 2. (Mihaylov’s file list) = file deletion list.
I will try this somewhere coming weeks.

If you ever manage to find out why your setup needs UHF polluted DC too sound good, let us know.
It’s very intriguing, why it does need it.

Mark

 

RE: nLite MultiLanguage ISO, posted on December 4, 2011 at 07:34:33
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 Just burn the ISO to a cd. Then install Xp just by using this disc alone. U do not need any other disc. It will do a minimalistic Xp installation just required for our purpose.
I just LOVE the sonics I am getting with this set-up...

Junaid

 

Hear, hear ... and you should learn how to use nLite ..., posted on December 4, 2011 at 08:04:09
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 to suit your own purposes.

Excellent point, Grant.

(sorry I missed you call)

 

That is not true, posted on December 4, 2011 at 08:19:40
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 One has a choice of ACPI Uniprocessor or the i486 C-Step that I chose since it has long been said that many times the older technology was better for our purposes.

And with the benefit of lower power requirements.

I can assure you the install is anything but bland. I am hearing much greater dynamics on drums and a surprising increase in low bass energy. Energy I had been missing.

I will try the other way but even then I will still install with only one core working and choose ACPI Uniprocessot.

 

RE: That is not true, posted on December 4, 2011 at 08:26:17
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 As u please my friend :)
As far as u like it. That's what counts..!!

Junaid

 

Why would Microsoft care? , posted on December 4, 2011 at 08:30:53
hfavandepas
 Ho gwjaudio,

Why would Microsoft care?
As long as you have paid for a license too use XP, its fine.
(so no damage too potential turnover)

Microsoft should better not put energy in alienating more customers.
They better put energy in making a better next generation operating software.
Windows 7 is still a little less flimsy Vista version in disguise.
Hope they do a (much!) better job with Windows 8.
As for me, it is far from sure that I will run Windows 8 on my next computer.
Nowadays Linux distro’s (from Ubuntu, Mint, Suse, etc) work instantly flawless right out of the box on the very latest (!!) hardware.
And also Apple is growing every year.
The only thing keeping me from Linux right now is lack of good high quality drivers for pro audio soundcards.

Mark

 

Some Questions, posted on December 4, 2011 at 08:55:37
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 Sorry to bother you! I just started implementing the Tweaks about 2 weeks ago and am missing a lot of details. Here's my questions:

1. What's Bold Fortune Registry changes? Can't find it.

2. What's the recommended sequence for implementing the Tweaks?

e.g.
Steppe 2
Steppe 3
Steppe 4
Jolida 1
Jolida 2
Steppe 5
Steppe 6
Steppe 7
Steppe 8
Steppe 9
Steppe 10
Steppe 11
Steppe 12
Steppe 13
Steppe 14
Steppe 15
Steppe 16
Bold Fortune Registry changes only
Mihaylov's first tweak posted in September
Mihaylov's My Tweak
Mihaylov's Tweak 2
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2

3. Where should Steppe 17 - 22 step-in on the above list?

4. Should Xplite be implemented still during Steppe 6?

4. Where to find Screenshot 1(Part 22?) & 2 (Mihaylov's screenshot?)? Or are there more update ones?

Thanks for your help!


 

RE: Some Questions, posted on December 4, 2011 at 09:19:08
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 The steppes can be run in any order. No hard n fast rules apply there. Xplite was applied between steppe 5 & 6. But I guess u are following the nLite route now, so xplite will be of least importance, as 95% of the stuff is already avoided with the nLite install. If u still want to apply xplite after installing the nLite version, u will have only two video codecs that will need removal from it.
Bold fortune is a different approach. It has it's own batches. If u want, I can send them to u. But I suggest u save it for the last IF needed. Concentrate more on Registry mods, as I now find they are very very effective.
Steppe 17 was a Bios tweak alone. Steppe 18 to 22 were substituted with Screenshots. Both are mostly the same. That section was concentrated on what needs to be LEFT IN. And I did not find it appropriate to make Batch files for them because they anyway had to be removed by connecting the SSD to another computer as a slave, so the drive letter changes depending upon the one which the Host computer assigns. So it was Implemented manually by concentrating on what Remains, more than whats to be removed.
While doing screenshots, u need to be very cautious & slow, as different Xp installations will require different files to work. For eg. If u follow Mihaylov's screenshots, u will remove some fonts which he did, & Ur system will tentatively not boot, as he does not use a monitor. And the font which he needs (866.fon) is not needed by the rest of us. Likewise there are few other files that need to be left in depending upon the MoBo drivers, soundcard used etc etc.
The first time u follow the route, u are most likely to have a BSOD. Until u are too sure of what u are doing, because it would be the final list of files to be removed.
It's highly suggested that u take a back-up after all the batches, & before starting on Screenshots. Mihaylov & Me had posted our screenshots a few weeks back. U will find it in the early November session..

Junaid

 

My monitor works fine!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 09:49:47
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 I really don't use a monitor but it does not mean that it doesn't work when I connect it to the cMP2 I. It works!

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

 

Thanks!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 09:58:27
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 Do send me the Bold fortune batches, as may need them finally .

Yes. I was at Part 22 when I deleted some .nls and Windows needed some some files back.

 

Thanks!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:01:24
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 Can you remove the files associated with the graphic? I think SQ will have major benefit if you can disable it.

 

RE: My monitor works fine!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:01:42
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 I'm sure it does :)
I was explaining the difference in the fonts which are different for each system. By the way, did u do nLite?? What's the scene at Ur side?

Junaid

 

does 'EaRecovery' also need a changed registry value?, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:04:11
hfavandepas
 Hi Steppe,

What do you think of the 'EaRecovery' registry value in the watchdog registry section ?

Does it also need too be changed from 1 to 0 ?

See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff553893.aspx

In Microsoft Windows XP SP1 and later operating systems, GDI uses a watchdog timer to monitor the time that threads spend executing in the display driver. The watchdog defines a time threshold. If a thread spends more time in a display driver than the threshold specifies, the watchdog tries to recover by switching to VGA graphics mode. If the attempt fails, the watchdog generates bug check 0xEA, THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER.

Because timeout recovery code is complex, it might cause incompatibility with display drivers. To resolve the compatibility problems, timeout recovery can be disabled.

To disable timeout recovery, create the following REG_DWORD entry in the registry, and set its value to 0:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Watchdog\Display\
EaRecovery



Mark

 

RE: Thanks!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:12:23
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 Sure. Will send them to u. For a quick way out, let us know which MoBo & soundcard u r using. I'm sure many would be using the similar combo, so they could list files needed in their set-up..(Screenshot)

Junaid

 

RE: Mobo and Sound Card, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:41:25
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 I recently switched to H67MA-UDH-B3 with i3-2120T, I guess not many of us are using this one. Sound card is Musiland 01USD, I already know what files it needs.

I also have a H55M-UD2H and H61M-S2H for use with Julia@. Thanks!

 

RE: Mobo and Sound Card, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:44:54
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 Language pack used for Xp??

Junaid

 

RE: Mobo and Sound Card, posted on December 4, 2011 at 10:50:41
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 XP Pro SP2 English (US) with Chinese Traditional and Simplified languages.

 

RE: Why would Microsoft care? , posted on December 4, 2011 at 11:50:22
gjwAudio
Audiophile

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

I agree with all of your observations on Microsoft.

That doesn't change the fact that their business model relies on a license fee for every installed copy of their product (in this case XP). If the MS Auditor were to find the same serial number on 10 different cMP machines, I doubt the response would be "Move along, and Have a Nice Day".

To be openly posting what is in effect "Git yer free Windows XP Pro here..." cannot reflect well on our very well-meaning group effort. Far too easy to twist the facts into something "illegal", and bring dishonour to an exemplary piece of open-source cooperation.

By now, web-bots have no doubt informed their masters of the transgression. It remains to be seen if the imminent sun-setting of XP support pushes us off their priority list.

That's all for this topic. Let's be careful not to attract the wrong kind of attention to the cMp/cPlay Project. Amen.

Cheers,
Grant

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

 

RE: Why does your setup needs UHF polluted DC too sound good?, posted on December 4, 2011 at 11:55:44
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 Hi Mark, thanks for your post

On the ferrites
I don't know why too much ferrite chokes dynamics, i'm not audio engineer. So i just try and listen, keeping what works.
As you know i use sla-batteries and inverters (to 220v). For the analogue parts i use sinus-inverters; for the digital parts (cmp-machine) block-inverters sound much better! Less filtering, more open sound. Maybe this is an explanation, i really don't know.

I'm very curious about your UHF-shunt: what did it bring you and where did you put it?

On the Atom
- cpu frequency matters. In my former and current machines (Asus-socket A and Intel-1156) cpu-frequency makes a lot of difference. This particular atom-board (asrock ad525pv3) can go as low as 900MHz. Besides that has a very detailed bios (unlike most atoms) and tweakable memory-settings.
- This atom board has no unneeded chips and unneeded functions
- i don'n need 24/192; 16/88 is ok. atom can do this.
- the board is very simple (elegant?). i think i can tweak cpu-psu (lowdrops in stead of 78xx). Besides that: only one powerphase, so no/less switching (i suppose) between phases.
- Ryelands has very good experience with atom
- low power, so easier to battery-psu
- last but not least: learning is as important as sq to me. i just want to try and hear. If it is not good, i'll change to 1155. As jackwong is working on GA-H55M-USB3 (my current board) we have some same reference.
I'll report the results when ready.

I'm looking forward to going headless CMP, my current dualboot setup alows me to go headless in Windows 7. Very convenient!!
What about safety: isn't it very vulnerable when connected to the www? or do you have a closed network with dedicated nas and router? (i'm sorry, networking is not my strongest field)

you should try capping the mobo, just try out on an old mobo. I'm not very experienced, it's not that difficult. Just take time and use tape to hold the caps on the mobo before (and while) soldering. This is another argument for atom: only 20-25 caps to bypass.

You are right about usb: i never used it because of negative impact on sq.

about slimming XP: lets just see what it brings. For me its ok if it gets smaller than 1GB: i ordered a 1gb SATA SSD DOM (disk on module). Bot wow, the 36 mb of Rickmcinnis is very intriguing. I like non-rational solutions, but your approach is very interesting. Please report the results!

Oh, about the UHF: i think my setup and psu is so clean that, in order to sound natural, it just begs for a little pollution ;))


Douwe

 

RE: Thanks!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:30:00
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 I left only those files without which the system is not boot.

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: My monitor works fine!, posted on December 4, 2011 at 12:37:17
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 Now I do not see any necessity in nLite for me. If anew to reinstall system that perhaps there is a sense to use nLite. Though it is better to do all manually.

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: Why does your setup needs UHF polluted DC too sound good?, posted on December 4, 2011 at 13:07:32
hfavandepas



Douwe

Thankx for your response. I enjoy the communication.
I’m also in computeraudio for learning combined with hobby.

I'm not sure what you mean with: UHF-shunt.
I just use ferrite clamp-on beads (combined with caps to create a 2nd order filter). I don't think that is the same as 'shunting'
Here I lack the knowledge of an EE or any other indebt knowledge of electronics too understand what you extacly mean.
I’m agricultural engineer. (I now can hear you laughing, but in the Netherlands this is a real degree. :-) )

“ Oh, about the UHF: i think my setup and psu is so clean that, in order to sound natural, it just begs for a little pollution ;)) “
Well, no kidding, I already thought of some kind of ‘dither’ effect.

About your atom mobo choice.
I now understand your choice for it.
I also don’t care for re- or upsampling or hig res.
I even don’t play FLAC files.
I convert FLAC files too WAV-files
I use a 2 Tb NAS, so why bother about storage space.

It is also my experience that running at low speeds indeed has some positive effect on SQ
But…. Just for that, you can still go with a Gigabyte MoBo
I run mine at 600 mhz. No kidding. See picture.


So on a GA-H55M-USB3 you should be able too go as low.
Although I have never used one, I agree the Atom boards appear to be nice mobo’s for audio PC or even HTPC’s


About going headless.
I guess I have a standard home LAN setup
WWW <-> modem/router <-> LAN 1 Gbps Swith <-> cMP PC
The routing from my android Tablet too my headless cMP is:
Android Tablet <-> LAN WiFi Acces Point <-> 1 Gbps Swith <-> cMP PC

There is also a firewall in my modem/router (as in any modem/router nowadays)
So I don’t care about security issues and safety on my cMP computer.
On my cMP is not any information that has any value too others.
On my small Kingstone 16 Gb SSD there is only an XP instalment optimized for music.
So I really don’t care about safety issues on my cMP
So if you have a WiFi Acces Point on your home LAN,
Just don’t care about safety and do try an android Tablet or smartphone as a wireless remote.

Mark

 

How about with laptop cMP with more ram and no bios, posted on December 4, 2011 at 14:16:53
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 timing adjustments? Can some approximation of this work, like using Maxmen=512 or something a bit higher as an improvement over dual core and 3GB of ram? You probably can't say with any strong basis but does this seem worth trying or obviously unlikely to work?

 

RE: Why does your setup needs UHF polluted DC too sound good?, posted on December 4, 2011 at 14:22:25
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 An agricultural engineer is never laughable. I myself am a trained mechanical engineer trying to become an electrical/computer technician. At any rate you are right learning new stuff is half the fun. When I was working I tended to spend way too much on audio. Now that I am retired I see that very little expenditure (in most cases no expenditure) which can cause way bigger sq changes.

 

RE: From what I have read ..., posted on December 4, 2011 at 14:22:48
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Did you ever get to trying paring down to only one control set?

 

RE: Why does your setup needs UHF polluted DC too sound good?, posted on December 4, 2011 at 14:26:36
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 Hi Mark, thanks for reassuring about LAN-safety, i enjoy the conversation too!
I found a picture of your UHF-shunt (or maybe it was HF-shunt) on your picassa-page, which i cannot find now. You didn't post on it, only the picture about shunting HF to earth or so. And of course, as an agricultural engineer, you know everything about earth and grounding and stuff, so i wondered...

600MHz is great! H55M-bios cannot go below 900 MHz; i chose it for the quiet cpu-psu (ic's in stead of rattling 78xx). Downside is it's crowded with unneeded chips: dvi, hdmi, usb-3, ide, even Floppy-slot. Wouldnot recommend it.

I will let you know when i finished atom-set, maybe you can have a listen when you're in amsterdam.

cheers!
Douwe

 

Sorry, have read only now., posted on December 4, 2011 at 20:39:14
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello, thank You for this info. Probably worth doing. Have You done it? What's the perceptible difference? Do You Like or Dislike the Watchdog tweak in general? Feedback is necessary. Even negative one.
Serge.

 

Best software tweak after ASIO/WASAPI, posted on December 5, 2011 at 06:44:02
hfavandepas
 Hi Serge,

In my system the watchdog registry tweak is the best software tweak after using ASIO or WASAPI.
To give some kind of quantification/impression: it improves sound quality at some 30% – 50% level compared too the positive impact on sq ASIO or WASAPI has. So a real significant one in my system which doesn’t need extensive A <-> B comparisons.

Most software tweaks need extensive A<->B comparisons too indentify their mostly minor and/or very subtle SQ changes/improvements. However, the SQ change of the watchdog registry tweak is very significant. It’s positive impact on SQ can be heard easily and immediately.
It ads to my system a touch of ‘that expensive sound’ one gets when using the top-level range AD-converters from makes like Prism, Lavry, Weiss, Metric Halo, ect

So all in all the second best software tweak for windows XP I’ve come across.
IMHO a must do tweak which should be listed at the cicsmemoryplayer website.

Mark

 

It works at MAXMEM=256 and sounds great..., posted on December 5, 2011 at 06:55:38
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 but I am not certain how I tell if it is really being implemented in my system with none of the advanced bios adjustments. Is this boot.ini setting necessarily effective in any installation with whatever bios?

 

RE: Best software tweak after ASIO/WASAPI, posted on December 5, 2011 at 07:13:16
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Are you specifically talking about your suggested registry tweak or steppes or both of yours combined?

 

I ment Steppes tweaks. The additonal EA Recovery is only very subtle, if any (NT), posted on December 5, 2011 at 07:19:08
hfavandepas
 nt

 

Yes, boot.ini is, posted on December 5, 2011 at 08:02:32
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 enough. It tells window to see only amount specified. There is another interesting switch. It does to windows memory almost the same, but not absolutely. It should be even better, but I haven't tried it yet. /burnmemory=mb You have to calculate how much memory to HIDE from windows, Just the opposite of the /maxmem. Try, if you wish and please report. Feedback, even negativeб is precious to us all. Example, if you have 512 mb stick put /burnmemory=256, if 1gb, put /burnmemory=755
Serge.
The minimal amount of memory is 215-216-217 mb. This row is such, because I hope, that You have tried my bios/memory settings from tweaks part 21corrected. The shorter are the memory timings, the more memory (217) you will need. The sound is EXTREMELY good with Extreme settings. Try, be careful and patient. (give real 24 hours burn-in time.)
Also try to put ALL THE BOOT.INI LINE, including /nopae and /onecpu
The difference is substantional. I,ve been playing my music with this bios line for a month.

 

RE: Yes, boot.ini is, posted on December 5, 2011 at 08:52:53
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 The BURNMEMORY switch works fine. The effect is not obviously different from maxmem but my system is sounding so big and full and balanced at this stage that it is hard to pick up further improvement...maybe with time. I do notice that my cpu usage has gone up from a typical 1-3% to more like 11-13%. As I said I am using a Lenovo laptop which does not provide for the bios/memory adjustments of your step 21 but I am using the full boot.ini line with nopae and onecpu.

I am glad you are so much better with computers than with arithmetic. :) 1000-256 does not come to 755.

 

I am even worse, posted on December 5, 2011 at 10:03:32
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 with my own mind. I have prepared everything to rebuild my cmp again and can't make myself begin. As for the math, yeah, it is funny, because another thing was on my mind absolutely. Certainly, 1000 - 256 makes 778 and not 744 anyway.
Serge.

 

BUT, did you have only one core enabled duting install?, posted on December 5, 2011 at 10:05:06
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 If you did not have but one core enabled your installation is not the same.

 

Now, that is important!, posted on December 5, 2011 at 10:07:32
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 You say cpu is working harder. Is it with /maxmemory or /burnmemory?

 

RE: Now, that is important!, posted on December 5, 2011 at 10:15:42
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 It is working harder with burnmemory by a factor of 5: 1-3% for maxmem vs up to 15%. These memory limitations should increase it some, yes? That is one reason I was questioning whether maxmem was really having an effect. Clearly burnmemory is re cpu work.

 

Revert, please, to /maxmemory, sir!, posted on December 5, 2011 at 10:35:45
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Decisively, /maxmemory should be used. And, btw. I am already hearing the roar of distant laughter at our common math. 1 Gb is 1024 mb (512+512)
Serge.

 

Does ACPI help or hender a "music" computer, posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:00:16
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Since Junaid and I are debating the merits of including this in our installations I have been looking around.

This one has something to say about a similar application to ours:

The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) has caused many frustrations for musicians over the last few years, and since there's a switch in the Windows XP setup procedure that lets you install XP without using ACPI at all, this is the first topic on my agenda. It is also possible to remove ACPI once Windows XP is already installed, as I'll explain, but I can't guarantee that this will be as clean.

ACPI is a power-management specification developed by Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba, and support for it is built into every Microsoft operating system since Windows 98. It's designed to let the operating system control the amount of power provided to each hardware device or peripheral attached to the computer, and makes it possible for Windows to turn off your monitor screen, CD-ROM drive, and so on. As you might expect, It's particularly important in laptops, where extending battery life is a priority, and makes it possible for the entire PC to be turned on or off by external devices, so that you can for instance wake up your PC at the touch of a mouse or key: this technology is known as OnNow.

And more concerning IRQ assignments in the linked article.

From what I am reading I cannot figure how this would improve the performance for our purpose.

 

RE: BUT, did you have only one core enabled duting install?, posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:04:00
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 Ofcourse I had only one core enabled. And I always did..

Junaid

 

I'd say it will disturb, posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:30:42
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 the feature, that I proposed to do in bios - Enable the vdrop control directly. Enabling it won't not allow the cpu voltage to fluctuate with energy saving routines. (But it is counterIntel specs) So, I am against acpi
Serge.

 

RE: Revert, please, to /maxmemory, sir!, posted on December 5, 2011 at 12:48:11
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Obviously, we both have our minds on a higher plane...and what's a few dozen MBs one way or the other anyway.:) I am heading back to maxmem on the double.

 

A goofy sounding thing to try - but I think it does something, posted on December 5, 2011 at 13:51:59
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 with all of the images being made and then written to our SSD's I started thinking that this probably created some confusion based upon the stories we hear about how SSDs are different than HDDs.

SO, I thought I would format my SSD partition before replacing the current image. Doesn't take very long - so it is easy to do.

I think I am hearing an additional clarity - maybe I have talked myself into this but I think it sounds much better.

I would welcome slings and arrows of derision for outrageous recommendations if you find there is nothing fortunate going on here.

 

Sorry to belabor the point but you are not being clear, posted on December 5, 2011 at 14:02:00
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Was your BIOS setup for only one core enabled during the installation using the nLite disk?

Do you use the standard cMP optimized BIOS setting for installation or do you implement after installation? This makes a big difference in what is installed. I just need to know this before I start the install process again. If you did use the cMP BIOS then I will have to try. If you did not, our installs are not the same.

I know you would have used the cMP BIOS eventually but I am trying to understand how you handled the installation. Your answer could mean many things.

Sorry to be so determined.

 

Different result second time around, posted on December 5, 2011 at 14:10:33
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I reverted to maxmem as suggested. This time the cpu ran in the teens rather than low single digits I can't explain the change. Now maxmem runs just a few percent less cpu usage than burnmemory, and perhaps the latter sounds a bit better since now with our new math I am burning more memory to get a truer 256 remainder (3072-2716).

 

RE: Sorry to belabor the point but you are not being clear, posted on December 5, 2011 at 14:43:14
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 Does this discussion explain why my setup sounds better with two cores (and HT) enabled? i did the cics- and bios-optimations after install. Should i reinstall wit one core and HT disabled?
tia
Douwe

 

You did a wrong thing!, posted on December 5, 2011 at 20:01:37
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello! Rick, I think that ssd disks shouldn't be formatted ever. It severely shortens their life. As for the sound, yes it should sound differently, because of the following:
Though we set windows' paging file to 0, it's not a 0 after all. Some volume is created anyway and it partially containd The F* registry and partially what's in the memory - music in our case and chunks and threads' of other processes' remnants, and so on. Now, data from ssds is read faster and requires less processor-memory work, thus different (probably better) sound.
Serge.
Rick! You and some other inmates managed to set the size of the registry to a minimum, but what about the sound. Does it bring the desired change for the better?

 

RE: Different result second time around, posted on December 5, 2011 at 20:10:51
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Please, if you have time and leasure, keep the record of these settings reverting from one to another and try to record the cpu usage. I wonder if both commands allow to bite off a different part of the physical memory every time, and it is important to catch the least possible, if it is possible at all.
Serge
(Certainly, if You have time to do it)
ALSO, Did You try yhe full line with /nopae and/onecpu settings?
What do you think of the sonic change?

 

Did You implement AWE before, posted on December 5, 2011 at 20:41:55
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 or after minlogon? I have tried before. I typed administrators, Administrators, administrator, Administrator, computer administrator and so on. No way...

 

RE: Sorry to belabor the point but you are not being clear, posted on December 5, 2011 at 20:54:08
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 I have always used only ONE CORE ever since I started Setting up my cMp. I have never used multiple cores ever. It's been around 2 years almost, when I has set-up my cMp & since then I have not touched the Bios. Only one core is enabled, whether it's a regular Xp install or an nLite...
I started on nLite just last week for the first time. When I made the first disc, I followed Ur instructions step by step. But all I could have, was a Standard & 486 something (not sure) during the installation. And I VERY WELL remember that all my previous installs were Auto-selected by Xp as " ACPI MULTIPROCESSOR PC" even-though-only-one-core-enabled..!!!!!
So while making my next nLite disc, I left the Multiple Processor Support option remain, but chose the Computer type as "Automatic" to see what the installation prefers for my Hardware. And not surprisingly, it again installed as an Acpi Multiprocessor.
I don't know how this could happen, but I'm very sure that it will happen to all of us. Why don't u restore a previous non-nLite image u have to check how Ur computer was detected. Even then u had only one-core enabled. But I'm sure it would have been installed as a Multiprocessor Pc...
Hope this helps..!!!

Junaid

 

RE: Different result second time around, posted on December 6, 2011 at 07:43:41
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I have gone back and forth between maxmem and burnmemory three more times. I complicated it a bit by reducing the resulting memory used progressively. Still I never reproduced the very low cpu usage I saw at first. It must have been an anomaly or mistake of some kind. In all cases usage varied mostly in the range of 15-20% with spikes into the 20's. I have now gotten down to using 226MB with maxmem. It is hard to say there was any significant improvement in sq beyond the initial benefit of reducing to maxmem=256. If any it is refinement of ultra-refinement. I repeat that I have been using the full boot.ini line with /nopae and /onecpu all along with this.

It is puzzling to me given the overall goal of reducing cpu stress that this memory limitation improves things though increasing cpu usage--though it is now usage of one core instead of two. Contradicts our premise, doesn't it?

 

RE: Fishy Secrets Part 2 or bright fish in the bowl, posted on December 6, 2011 at 07:58:59
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Serge after reading about riboges tests I still wonder what does maxmem=256 mean when you have a 256 ram? Is there any merit in trying something lower than 256 in my case? Also if maxmem allocates the most memory for cplay should not I get more time between swaps versus baseline (no maxmem setting in boot.ini). Baseline would give me 2 minutes 14 seconds between swaps now I get the same with maxmem=256. Puzzling.

 

I had no idea (knew one should not defragment...);, posted on December 6, 2011 at 08:18:10
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 did not realize formatting would have the same bad effect.

So, when you do a fresh install on a previously used SSD you do not let the machine format the disk? I would think that would result in an extra copy of WINDOWS on the disk and would make it crowded.

Looking around I see this is not absolutely settled. As few writes as our minimized OS initiates I would tend to think we do not have much to worry about.

When I think of all of the installs I have done on my two SSD's and with the re-formatting I allowed WiNDOWS to do ...

I would think we would have to do this MANY times for it to have a bad effect. If the drive does go bad we can hope they become cheaper in the future if replacement becomes neccessary!

I am of the same opinion as Mihaylov, that minimizing WINDOWS has to be a good idea and even if one cannot hear dramatic changes with every change there is a cumulative effect.

If I did not think this was going in a good direction I would not post. If minimizing WINDOWS did not improve the sound we would have dropped this tactic weeks ago.

I can say I am very pleased with the sound I am hearing. Micro-dynamics that I did not know existed. Vibrato clearly delineated. My brain is having to do much less work when listening to music! The low and mid bass seem to have been released from captivity. Not a subtle change there. I must say that much of this has come from your latest registry and boot.ini tweaks but I feel they have been unhindered by the lack of other useless stuff hanging around.

I have done most of Mihaylov's registry slimming and though I cannot point to what they have done (we could chase our tails well into our seventh lives doing that, just trying all of the combinations, like an artist deciding to finish a painting, there is always something else that could be done but you have to tell yourself ENOUGH - that is how I feel about obsessing about various combinations of slimming techniques).

I am more than pleased with what I am hearing.

I would ask (since I do not know) how could superfluous registry entries improve the sound? Just like .dll's that have nothing to do with what we are asking the OS to do in this very specialized application, how could a file for telephony make for better sound? Just one example.

I have found that as I take more stuff away from the registry it does not show as getting any smaller. Last I looked it is sticking at 4.25mB. Was it you or Junaid who pointed this out? I have found it to be true.




 

Yes, it does. Very interesting!, posted on December 6, 2011 at 08:24:16
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Just had to be sure since I thought many of us would revert to DEFAULT BIOS at installation.

I know with a standard WINDOWS install I would do this since it would stall when I tried using the cMP BIOS.

I remember you posting about having installation difficulty with 1G memory and this was what made me wonder.

I will now have to try with MULTI PROCESSOR in the mix.

One interesting thing was the machine working without ACPI.SYS since it was never there. Before when I tried to delete it (without the minimal install) it would not work. No surprise there.

 

There is no way to tell (we are still learning), posted on December 6, 2011 at 08:27:25
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I know I am quite pleased with what I am hearing and so is Junaid!

I am going to try putting the MULTIPROCESSOR thing back into the nLite install disk and hear what I think.

What is HT? I cannot think of what that is. Dull head this morning.

 

You did the right thing wrongly, posted on December 6, 2011 at 08:30:15
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 It is probably correct to say that formatting SSDs would shorten their life. Intel recommends formatting SSD in a couple of scenarios, including before reinstalling an operating system.

http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-032319.htm

But Rick, you are not talking yourself into this. Fragment of data are hidden in slack spaces of unused clusters in unformatted disks. These fragments are read but not identified to be useful data by computers. You can check these fragments by hex viewer or diskexplorer and they are dirty. That's why, without these rubbish in your CMP, you were hearing an additional clarity . But I gather that these are very low level noises and that additional clarity could only be heard in a very good audio system, i.e. a fully Tweaked CMP machine with a low noise power supply. It seems that you have reached thus far though.

One way to implement this is to install CMP using a regular HDD. After all tweaks are done, ghost the image and clone to a formatted SSD as the last move. I've been installing using a HDD and am going to try this first on a CF card disk. Thank you for bringing this out.

 

Do You have physically 256 mb stick?, posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:01:21
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Theo, The absolute minimum is 214 mb With less cplay starts, will try to load the file but will finally say it has only so and so (e.g. 160), but needs so and so (it's 163mb, IIRC). By substracting and rounding to the highier value you will reach your absolute minimum. If you set up your bios with cmp002 settings it will ask for 215-216, and IF You are, like Rick, an absolute tweaker, then set your memory timings for extreme cmp003 settings but give 217mb in boot.ini. Read my tweaks 21 with care once again. Try, but do it slowly.
Serge.
P.S. It doesn't matter how much memory you have in your stick, it is how much of your stick you show to the mermaid, if you see what I mean.

 

Oh, yes, it does., posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:05:03
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 And it is something to think about.
Serge.

 

RE: Do You have physically 256 mb stick?, posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:08:01
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 LOL!! I'm afraid if I show any stick to the mermaid...I'll get arrested.


I'll try 217.

 

I think the problem with NLite and AWE, posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:12:20
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 is in our settings of the default user/users during Nlite iso preparation. After the superminimal install Windows/system32/GroupPolicy folder shows EMPTY SUBFOLDERS, thus Group Policy Object Editors sees NO ADMINISTRATOR settings whatsoever. I have prepared two disks with different settings myself from VL version. No Out of the box experience wit vl. No registration. Works and loads perfectly. Windows = 204mb, registry folder - I mean config - is 5,6mb. But still NO F*g AWE!!!
Will try another way.
Serge.

 

Don't worry, posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:29:08
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 1. Rick. Nothing wrong will happen after 5-6 formattings. What gives the sonic result after installing on a newly formatted disk is the paging file being initially defragmented (even though we set it to no paging file, it is there and is at least half of your registry size.)
2. About your Registry Size Limit RSL it is here:
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/9/99455.html
3. You say: I am of the same opinion as Mihaylov, that minimizing WINDOWS has to be a good idea and even if one cannot hear dramatic changes with every change there is a cumulative effect
Truly, when I posted this, (even the word cumulative is from my post) at the tweaks part 6-7 time, I was ridiculed...
Serge.

 

RE: Do You have physically 256 mb stick?, posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:15:32
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 One thing you should remember is that I use the G31-E2sL mobo which does not have many of the settings you reference in Tweak 21. So although I can set timings very low for memory and I can adjust cpu speed and voltage low thats about it.

 

And that is almost all you need., posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:23:12
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Other settings are less important. The trick is in extremely short memory timings.
Serge.

 

You mean you still do not see AWE SUCCESSFUL ..., posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:23:23
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 in your cPLAY diagnostics?

That is hard to believe!

I know it does not install "correctly" but I have made several installs and have been able to get AWE even though it will not accept ADMINSTRATORS.

You are checking within cPLAY?

 

That is a clever approach!, posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:29:58
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 That is how I will do my next install and tweaking which involves much back and forth with the images.

Maybe NEWEGG will have a sale on a small capacity SSD and I can copy that final image to the new SSD.

That is such an obvious and GOOD idea!!! But who is surprised by good ideas from you? I have come to expect them.

Got my desoldering stuff yesterday and tonight I start practicing removing video chips from unusable MB's. Can't wait to hear what this will do in combo with minimized WINDOWS together. At the same time I hope to finally install a P24 linear supply I have tinkering with for months (years?).

Thanks!

 

NOOOO!, posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:31:59
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 No AWEEE!
That is why I started sneaking like a Gollum around and inside a normally installed Windows and how I found this groupobject empty folderrrrrrr!
Serge

 

Not by me!!!! I Being ridiculed ususally means you are ..., posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:45:42
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 on to something. Some will be jealous they did not think of it. I know I was not jealous but wondered why I had not ventured into this. You look at these files in system32 and the balloon (on a non-cMP machine) pops up and tells you what it does. In your head you know that is meaningless for the cMP application but it is easier to think, better leave well enough alone.

Thanks to you we now are looking for the new residence of "well enough" - have not found it yet though we are getting closer.

I do think I know of one who did this and seems to have come round rather strongly in favor of your initiative.

Maybe it was your playful language; your speaking of starting this journey after feeling the effects of alcohol maybe struck some as being unserious. I can assure you without the benefits of alcohol I would have hesitated doing many things that turned out well!!!

I do not think ANYONE is ridiculing you now. And if they are, luckily, they do not speak out on the forum because if they did they would meet massive resistance.

When you consider install s I have formatted the two SSDs tens of times, each. I cannot see or hear any problems. Of course, I would have to try a new one in comparison to really know.

Thanks for the link.



 

Makes no sense!, posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:55:27
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I know with my "minimal install" I cannot get it to accept ADMINISTRATORS but when I go to cPLAY diagnostics it shows up.

Now I am assuming you are attempting to implement AWE early on.

My install process (done many times and I always get AWE)

as soon as I have a working WINDOWS I:
install chipset drivers
implement AWE
implement MINLOGON
install cMP and cPLAY
start machine in cMP mode and stay there.
do the basic cMP optimizations, which are almost minimal, too.
run Junaids registry batch files all consecutively
uncheck as much as I dare from AUTORUNS while deleting .dll's and .sys's the entries correspond to. This requires some back and forth which I do just to be careful

After tuis the rest of deletions and reg changes are made from the "other" machine.

I delete all but the files I keep in one big deletion.

I have found that the files batch files have IN MY SYSTEM created problems. I am making all deletions while connected to the "other" machine.

I wonder if your problem is WHEN you are attempting to implement AWE? Are you doing it early on?

 

I didn't mean You., posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:01:32
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006



Rick! There was no bitterness in what I posted. It is just the funny side of it. And besides, it's not really me, it's our COMMON effort, no less. It all started with Cics, after all.
Anyway. If you have time and leasure and are willing to risk (not very much) open your registry here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
in the window to the right find NonPagedPoolSize. If it doesn't exist, just create it.
Doubleclick and set the value to 4194304 (that's in bytes. See the pick. I have just done it on my working machine I am posting from. (15-20 minutes ago) Everything seems suddenly so agile... It has to do with AWE)
Serge.

 

first thing, posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:07:06
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 after installation of windows-lynx-cmp-cplay. After that - restart with a new hope and then start cplay to see it failed.
Serge.
P.S. Read my post below about nonpagedpool size. Can You try it? I am typing from that machine. Just try, not more than 15 minutes then revert.
Serge.
This is very important, I mean feedback.

 

Have you tried re-installing WINDOWS?, posted on December 6, 2011 at 14:29:53
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I know you probably have but I thought I would ask anyway.

Now to look at the pagefile post ...

 

I know - I was just having some fun, too /will look when I get home, posted on December 6, 2011 at 14:32:19
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 writing at work so I will look as soon as I get there.

Well, after I pour some whiskey in a glass THEN I will take a look and report.

 

Another thought - when I first tried minimizing WINDOWS, posted on December 6, 2011 at 14:42:18
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 with nLite I did have a few disks that I could not implement AWE which was one of my first frustrations with using it.

NOW, I must say I did not find it unlistenable by any means. I did wonder if when one minimized WINDOWS did this diminish the need for AWE?

I do know that the formula I am using and the one in my post will most assuredly allow AWE. Junaid's formula does allow AWE. Did you make any changes from either of these two versions?

The "version" of nLite that would not allow AWE had more stuff in it than the one I posted about.

I just had another thought: maybe I was getting AWE after all but when clicking OK after typing in ADMINISTRATORS and this was not accpeted maybe I gave up. I cannot remember whether I checked the cPLAY diagnostics since my assumption was IT DID NOT WORK. We have all learned much with this experience. Never be too sure ...

Excuse this stream of WINDOWS minimizing consciousness ...

 

2 cores still better, posted on December 6, 2011 at 15:00:43
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 I tested: two minimal nLite installs: one single-core, the other dual-core. Two cores give little more space an depth. Sounds better in my setup (h55m-usb3-i3-530).
HT is hyperthreading.

Later maybe test acpi vs standard-pc install.

 

It did not work at first (I have a 512 mB memory) so I ...., posted on December 6, 2011 at 16:39:35
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 halved the number. And it works.

Haven't had a chance to listen just thought I would tell you.

How big do you think I can make the number with my half-size memory?

I will report on what I think of the sound when I can segue to EXTREME BIOS and listen for awhile.

I can tell you (who knows how influenced I am by your comments) but the music did seem to leap out of the speakers.

More to follow if you are still awake!

 

The number was ZERO before ..., posted on December 6, 2011 at 16:43:09
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 so I am not sure this is AWE.

Meant to say that in the first note.

 

Try this, posted on December 6, 2011 at 16:50:29
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 Hi, i couldn't install awe either, but found a solution (for my machine):

Follow the cics-directions until step 9. Then:
- when you must enter "Object Types" button, don't do that, but do 'advanced' button.
- Find Now button
- In the field below, under Name(RDN) select Everyone
- OK button
- Object Types button
- check Groups > uncheck Built-in security principals & Users > OK button
- again OK button
- apply button
- again OK button
- File > Save
- File > Exit
- Reboot

This worked for me, hope it works for you

Douwe

 

I find that I have more segments with that number ..., posted on December 6, 2011 at 17:34:01
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 than I had before. (2097152)

With your number cPLAY would not load any files. Couldn't "find" my files.

Before each approx. 3 minutes was a segment. Now it is like 2 minutes.

I have halved the number again to see what happens.

So far, it certainly is not doing anything obnoxious.

Will see what 1088576 does and will let you know.

 

RE: NOOOO!, posted on December 6, 2011 at 20:05:13
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 Serge
For what is worth, I had the same problem with Junaid's nLite. It would not accept Administrators, and AWE would fail.
I got it to work by picking another ID that was listed. Instead of Administrators I used both Anonymous User & Everyone. It took it, and then AWE was enabled.
Hope this helps.

 

WARNING ! Be Sure to Specify These Numbers as HEX -or- DECIMAL Values..., posted on December 6, 2011 at 20:54:59
gjwAudio
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Location: Toronto
Joined: March 11, 2006
 Gentlemen... please be careful to specify numbers like this as either HEX or DECIMAL values, lest we be led to wrong conclusions.

Serge - the number you quote in the body of your post ("4194304") is in hexadecimal format. It's DECIMAL (ie: base-10) equivalent is displayed in your pic to the right (in brackets, "68764420"). That is the number of bytes Windows is using for this parameter.

I mention this because Rick later used a number "halved", and it looks like he has done base-10 division on a base-16 number. The result might "work", but it's certainly not what he presumes it to be.

Just a little "gotcha" we need to avoid in these deep internal tweakings.

Hope this helps...
Grant

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

 

Please, Explain, posted on December 6, 2011 at 21:12:45
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 it more deeply. I wanted to set the nonpaged pool to 40 mb. According to You, I have set it to 687mb now ? Ok, I see. I have on my working machine that is currently working much faster and I am posting right now from it I have 2gb of memory. So, for 1 gb it should be appr 480 and for 512 - 256? No math here in my post, only a common sense, though it doesn't always work with ms programs. What can be recommended or safe numbers to set for an experiment in our cmp for 1 gb and 512 mb, do You think? What is Your opinion?
Serge.

 

Will do it today. It's morning here, btw., posted on December 6, 2011 at 21:38:14
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Will go, pick more blank disks, try anothe nLite iso, reinstall and try. Will report. I want to find a routine that will be at least as easy as what Cics told us to do. It worked fine then, so it shouldn't be more complicated now. The easier it will be, the more people will join us.
Serge

 

I may be using and creating, posted on December 6, 2011 at 21:58:43
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 a wrong iso and do it wrong myself. When I click on advanced I DON'T FIND THERE ANY NAME.
Serge

 

RE: Fishy Secrets Part 2 or bright fish in the bowl, posted on December 6, 2011 at 22:36:12
kclo
Audiophile

Posts: 68
Joined: August 21, 2010
 Hi Serge,

Van Morrison's 'Saint Dominic's Preview' always sound a bit thin and 2 dimensional. With your latest boot.ini tweak, it is thin no more, but now very liquid and 3 dimensional for the first time. Even a bit tube-like, in the best sense of the term.

A great tweak, thanks for a wonderful find.

KC

 

RE: Desoldering Stuff, posted on December 6, 2011 at 23:15:45
jackwong96
Audiophile

Posts: 219
Joined: April 20, 2010
 I bought a 1600W adjustable hot air gun and can now remove chips with this gun and a sharp plier. I just heat up the chip directly for about 15-20 sec, pick up the chip when the tin solder melt. It's hot, need to wear clovers.

Be careful with removal! Remove the audio chip first and then network.... Good luck.

 

No Opinion Yet... Need to Understand How NonPagedPoolSize "works", posted on December 7, 2011 at 00:23:31
gjwAudio
Audiophile

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

Until I understand a little about how the NonPagedPoolQuota & Size parameters work, I have no recommendations for using them. Checking my main system here, both are set to ZERO (I don't remember setting AWE on it).

I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to achieve with these settings... how it will improve playback.

You know the math: 1024 x ?? = your mb value. My point was to be clear on exactly what we are telling Windows to do via these numbers.

Cheers,
Grant

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

 

RE: Does XPLite make registry changes?, posted on December 7, 2011 at 06:43:05
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Serge Mihaylov as I have previously stated this method does not seem to work for me. I replaced the files both you and jolida mentioned and double checked them by reloading a 3 month old version of my os, opened up regedit and ran mark russinovich process explorer to verify. So the only difference could be in the cicsmemory player path file. So I changed that to replicate your ripper 1st line....then tested both. Neither works for me. Maybe taskmgr.exe is deleted too. Anyway did you put regedit.exe in System under Windows or in Windows root directory? Also when I double click T screen it just recycles the cmp screen without ever getting into registry editor.

 

RE: Does XPLite make registry changes?, posted on December 7, 2011 at 07:16:48
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 Once again. To return the files aclui.dll, ulib.dll, clb.dll into System32 folder (maybe some others else) and regedit.exe into Windows folder. Also replace cicsMemoryPlayer.pth in Program Files/cics Memory Player folder with folowing cicsMemoryPlayer.pth (see link below). Then to run cMP and to open settings and:




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

 

Could this be an effective ‘Steppes short list of files'? Comments welcome., posted on December 7, 2011 at 07:23:29
hfavandepas
 Hi All,

I like Steppe’s idea too delete files so that XP cannot use them any longer too run unnecessary processes. What I don’t like is: we don’t know exactly which files too delete.
So we must randomly delete files too see what works and what not, untill we reach a point where our cMP setup no longer work.
I don’t like this try-and-error approach very much. I feel such approach is like: shooting in the dark, hoping one does hit something.

But thankx too Mihaylov files list, we now know which files Mihaylov’s headless and networked cMP is using too run properly without any problems.

And more pleasantly, I think Mihaylovs file list opens up a way too indentify the files we don’t want XP too run in our cMP setups.
I will name that list: ‘ Steppes shortlist of files’

Here’s the concept that might allow for indentifying these files. For this I used:

1. List of files which my standard, headless and networked cMP setup is using. I created this list with 'Process Expolorer'.
I use a headless and networked cMP setup and used ‘Process Explorer’ too see which files XP uses while playing.

2. The list of files which Mihaylov’s headless and networked cMP setup is using after ‘Steppe’ deletions, as posted by Mihaylov.

List 1 (hfavandepas file list) MINUS list 2 (Mihaylov’s file list) =

list of files hfavandepas cMP set is running, but which files are not strictly needed / which files we don't want XP to run in a cMP setup.

Here is the list of files which my standard cMP setup does run, but which are not run in Mihaylov’s cMP setup (‘Steppes short list of files to be deleted’):
advapi32.dll
AcGenral.dll
activeds.dll
actxprxy.dll
adsldpc.dll
apphelp.dll
arial.ttf
arialbi.ttf
atl.dll
ATMFD.DLL
audstub.sys
batmeter.dll
browselc.dll
browseui.dll
cabinet.dll
credui.dll
cryptui.dll
cscdll.dll
cscui.dll
davclnt.dll
dmio.sys
dmload.sys
drmk.sys
drprov.dll
dxgthk.sys
explorer.exe
Fips.SYS
Fs_Rec.SYS
index.dat
intelppm.sys
JulaWdm.sys
kbdclass.sys
kerberos.dll
ks.sys
linkinfo.dll
lucon.ttf
mlang.dll
mnmdd.SYS
mouclass.sys
msacm32.dll
MSCTF.dll
Msfs.SYS
msgina.dll
msimg32.dll
mssmbios.sys
mstlsapi.dll
msutb.dll
nddeapi.dll
netlogon.dll
Ntfs.sys
ntmarta.dll
Null.SYS
odbc32.dll
odbcint.dll
portcls.sys
powrprof.dll
PROCEXP141.SYS
profmap.dll
psapi.dll
rasadhlp.dll
rdpdr.sys
regapi.dll
rpcss.dll
rsaenh.dll
rtutils.dll
scecli.dll
schannel.dll
sfc_os.dll
sfc.dll
shdocvw.dll
shimeng.dll
srv.sys
sserife.fon
stobject.dll
sxs.dll Fusion 2.5
tahoma.ttf
tahomabd.ttf
termsrv.dll
themeui.dll
update.sys
urlmon.dll
uxtheme.dll
vgasys.fon
w32time.dll
wdigest.dll
webcheck.dll
wininet.dll
winrnr.dll
winscard.dll
wlnotify.dll
wm_hooks.dll
wtsapi32.dll
xpsp2res.dll

In the attached PDF file you can see how I created this ‘Steppes shortlist of files too be deleted’
Download PDF here: http://www.mediafire.com/?74oo51p9ao18v0t

I did not implement this list yet.
I first want too hear any comments and thoughts on this approach too get this ‘Steppes short list of files’.
So any suggestions and thoughts are vey much welcomed


Mark

 

That's a whole lot more than is neccessary, posted on December 7, 2011 at 07:27:57
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 unless you find a need for them ...

 

Nothing better than making it easier, posted on December 7, 2011 at 07:31:09
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Any recommendations (again) on this hot air gun?

Do you think that any adjustable 1600 watt gun is as good as another?

Thanks,

 

Can you be more clear?, posted on December 7, 2011 at 07:45:32
hfavandepas
 Hi Rick,

What more is needed? And why?
Please explain.

Mark

 

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