Computer Audio Asylum

Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

Return to Computer Audio Asylum

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

Page: [ 1 ] . . . [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ] [ 54 ] [ 55 ] [ 56 ] . . . [ 60 ]

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.

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
and these, posted on January 21, 2012 at 11:07:54
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006



The first was session manager - memory. This one is session manager itself.
Serge

 

Already set to zero, posted on January 21, 2012 at 11:47:01
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 It is in MEMORY MANAGEMENT.

 

My settings are the same as those, posted on January 21, 2012 at 11:51:31
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I increased the IO thing to 20000 and there was one more that was different on the second suggestion.

Now to give it a try!

Thanks!

 

I could see from the files you sent me, posted on January 21, 2012 at 11:54:43
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I noticed you did not send frambuf and the .iso I found did not contain it OR it has a different name in there. All of the other files are quite obvious so this is a bit of a mystery.

I (thought I) went through all of the FOLDERS thinking it might be hiding in one of those.

Send it, please.

 

Here is where I am on this., posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:27:07
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I did 4 or 5 files from w2k and the result was very good sonically. Then with the Steppe files I basically substituted only those files which showed a large (>50kb) size reduction for everything in my system32 folder. I did it in 3 steps. Only major files I did not do was shell32 and winspool. The sonics progressively got softer (not in a bad way), almost as if a tube stage was introduced into my system. The negatives in sonics: deep bass lost a little punch and extension, soundstage and depth shrunk a little. The positives in sonics: just like in tubes the mids and upper mids and highs became mellower/sweeter (more sweet?). So it depends where you are in the spectrum of on the one side of tight/crisp all the way through mellow/sweet on the other end of the spectrum that in my opinion will determine what and how much of these substitutions you might like. I found a good balance for me/my system. I probably did all but maybe 4 or 5 files including those mentioned above. All in all a very worthwhile tweak...thank you Serge!

 

RE: and these, posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:35:52
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I will try these registry settings. I have a very different session manager - memory. I forgot to mention that I got no BSOD's as Rick did. Rick did you get these while booting or while listening to music?

 

RE: The Big Substitutions TWEAK, posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:59:02
theob
Audiophile

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



Here is my registry. Look at bottom 4, some not even shown on your's Serge.

 

Only while listening to music, posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:59:37
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 accompanied by a squeal!

Booting is never a problem.

I think I just finished getting the last of what I know I can eliminate from the registry (thanks to Mihaylov on both counts due to /minint and his original road map) and after using the compressor my config is 398 kB.

Now to see if the problem re-occurs. It is annoying but not alarming, other than the squeal! Starts right back up after an incident.

By the way, WHERE is Mihaylov?

As far as sonics I suspect my complete happiness (for the moment until the ear/brain wants more of something to keep the charade of music reproduction interesting) is my use of horn loudspeakers. Softening is never a problem with horns!

There may be softening but unlike some tube softening there is more information making its way through the electronic maze.

Also, at this point I think I can safely say with no qualms that the H61 board Jack Wong recommended is truly superior to the H55. For those wanting to get a little closer this should be procured.

Ted if you want the chips removed I would gladly do it.

 

How can I find what you deleted. , posted on January 21, 2012 at 13:03:11
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 I have been looking all over the thread, and I can't find where it is described what is safe to delete.

I am at 16mb after Nlite and compacting. I would love to try this but prefer to benefit from your trial and error and not re invent.

 

RE: The Big Substitutions TWEAK, posted on January 21, 2012 at 13:33:40
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I changed my session manager memory settings to Steppes. It booted ok will listwen and report my on my sonics. Rick that is a great offer but I dont even have that mobo. Still have the old G31-s2el for the 45 nm hardware.

 

Did the registry settings of Serge and..., posted on January 21, 2012 at 14:01:52
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 ...you guys are going to hate this but the sound tightened up significantly but now may be too zippy. I'm thinking I may have to do all the file substitutions now or go back to my original registry (for session manager /memory). Funny thing this computer audio stuff.

Rick was your session manager /memory registry like Segre's or like mine? I checked my desktop which is a win xp home and its registry was like mine and not Serge's. So I'm not sure which is right.

 

Funny, but the BIGGEST EFFECT, posted on January 21, 2012 at 14:41:35
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 of substitutions should com from the following files:
shlwapi
ole32
shell32
framebuff.dll
lsass-lsasrv
scesrv
sxs
authz
and especially from services.exe, svchost.exe, secur32, msvcp60 and crypt.dll
So, It's not the size that matters! But presence in memory and service strings/threads or whatever they call them that are EXPORTED by the files.
My registry session manager snapshots were initially for Rick only, but if You find them helpfull, they are for everybody.
Also, Rick, If you use 3rd stage extreme bios settings, be sure I sometimes also get a bsod while listening and the soundcard starts stutter-hammer like a small pneumatic hammer.
Serge.

 

Ok so I'm all into this tweak now and..., posted on January 21, 2012 at 17:09:42
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 ...all I can say is that your voicing ability to tweak an os for audio purposes is phenomenal. All the tradeoffs between too crisp or too soft I mentioned in earlier posts are gone. This is the best. I am only somewhat sentimental in that this sadly may be the end of the journey. But oh what a finish you have brought us to dear friend Serge. You are a master tweaker Steppe: very, very well done. As I type I am listening to Diane Krall...your kitty would have been proud of you and proud of what DK sounds like right now.

I know I know you are working on something else now...the next tweak. But if you want to take a break this is the right time. I just wish Cics could hear the heights to which you have brought Cplay/cmp.

 

The funny and slightly sad side of, posted on January 21, 2012 at 18:16:30
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 all this, that I am listening to her "Girl In The Other Room" too, right now. And a new kitty is right here. She is still young but also likes music. But her faves are Can from Germany and Steely Dan. I was listening to the French Military marches yesterday you've mentioned before. A very educational thing to listen to, soundwise. As for new tweaks, yeah, I KNOW what else can be done, but it NEEDS a serious programmer. I'd like to rewrite cmp as a Rootkit, only in the best sense of the world. Also, for Windows xp to work and load rootkit at boottime, it doesn't need anything but 5-6 files. no lsass, no svchost, no nothin'
Serge.
P.S. I am happy, that you find the sound good.
P.P.S. I now know what the writers mean when they write it's a sad thing to have lost a good enemy.
Why, But THERE ARE drivers yet to try to substitute, like videoport.sys and dxg.sys...

 

RE: cPlay error message, posted on January 21, 2012 at 18:31:34
smicyta
Audiophile

Posts: 125
Joined: February 19, 2010
 Here are threads on the problems encountered on the Xonar SC.

I don't know whether the exchanges there would help, but no harm in checking the registry to see if the driver is there on your computer.

 

Is there a way too check which kernel is actually loaded at startup?, posted on January 22, 2012 at 01:30:17
hfavandepas
 Hi Serge,

Is there a way too check which kernel is actually loaded at startup?

(Situation A)
It is my impression that if one retains the ntkrnlpa, the boot.ini string “/KERNEL= yournamekernel.exe “ is ignored and the ntkrnlpa.exe is still loaded (despite the boot.ini string).

(Situation B)
If I rename the exe-file extensions from botch ntkernelpa.exe and ntoskernel.exe too *.bac and put the ntoskernel.exe (w2k-version) in place, I get an error message at startup there are DLL’s missing.

If in situation A the ntoskernel.exe from w2k was loaded through use of the boot.ini string, than I should have gotten that same error.
But I didn’t got that error.
So an alternative kernel is loaded in situation A.
Probably the ntkrnlpa.exe because it is retained.

Mark

 

You can specify, posted on January 22, 2012 at 02:56:43
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 to load yourname with ntoskrnl.exe present or with ntkrnlpa present. In both cases you need at least one native kernel to be present. Nt loader checks to see that you have at least one. To, say load w2k kernel with ntkrnlpa and to be sure it is w2k kernel, that is at work, specify /KERNEL=yourname.exe in the beginning of the string AND /nopae closer to the end - this comand FORCES nt to start with either ntoskrnl.exe or with alternative one. If you retain ntoskernl.exe and delete ntkrnlpa, then use /kernel=yourname.exe, but at any time ONE NATIVE should be present, thus any time with alternative kernel there are TWO kernel a native one and alt. one, But to use and load in memory ONLY ONE kernel, use your native ntoskernel.exe from xp. This way, though it's bigger you assure the best memory-cpu interaction and absence of the secondary kernel in memory. It seems to me it sounds more robust, vivid but without harshness, while with w2k and ntoskernel(native) together the sound is smmother but slightly dull.
Serge.
P.S. Hope it's not confusing.

 

No not confusing. It's very clear: there is no reason in trying to us a W2K-kernel in XP for SQ reasons. (nt), posted on January 22, 2012 at 05:45:41
hfavandepas
 nt

 

Like Serge's - I do not remember seeing yours., posted on January 22, 2012 at 08:23:42
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 No remote viewing here ...

 

RE: You can specify, posted on January 22, 2012 at 08:36:18
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I thought you had stated previously that ntkrnlpa was insufficient by itself. If that is so "to be sure it is w2k kernel, that is at work, specify /KERNEL=yourname.exe in the beginning of the string" would seem unnecessary if one has removed native xp ntoskrnl and is using win2k one with ntkrnlpa.

If that is not the case, then why not use just ntkrnlpa on purpose?

hfavandepas, there IS a reason: you might prefer the sq even though steppe doesn't. I like it that way but have not so far gotten a successful try at using the original kernel alone to see whether or not I find it better myself.

 

RE: cPlay error message, posted on January 22, 2012 at 08:51:37
Bibo01
Audiophile

Posts: 648
Joined: December 18, 2008
 Install Foobar and its ASIO extension.
Open ASUS ASIO driver, change resolution to 32 bit.
Now you can open cPlay and it will work.

 

Still can't use ntoskrnl alone, posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:17:40
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I tried as you suggest: "If you retain ntoskernl.exe and delete ntkrnlpa, then use /kernel=yourname.exe" taking it to mean I rename ntoskrnl.exe, say to ntriboge.exe, then remove ntkrnlpa and in boot.ini up front put /KERNEL=ntriboge.exe. Is this correct?, because it didn't work causing cycling of startup just like simply removing ntkrnlpa. My computer may somehow be different because I was also able to substitute win2k ntoskrnl without /kernel and renaming.

I also tried leaving in /KERNEL=ntriboge.exe while not renaming ntoskrnl.exe just to see (since your instruction is a little ambiguous) but no surprise that did no better.

Any suggestions?

 

RE: Like Serge's - I do not remember seeing yours., posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:28:36
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I showed in this post. Look at bottom 4 or 5.

 

If interested, mine were like Serge's (nt), posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:00:07
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 .

 

you don't, posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:23:19
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 rename xp native ntoskernl. It should remein unchanged. Once you do it You get a black screen on reboot and you will have to remove the file and paste it back, also remove all logs that were created by registry hive.
in othe words you have 4 kernel options
1, two native kernels
2. one native kernel. but only ntoskrnl.exe and /nopae switch
3. w2k + ntkrnlpa + /nopae switch
4. w2k + ntoskrnl
Leave at least one native kernel unchanged
5. option to use only native ntkrnlpa can be possible but you need 4 gb physical ram, /PAE and /3GB switches.
Hope, this is it.
Serge.

 

Registry Slimming - Is there an example of what's possible?, posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:31:06
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 I have been away, and missed the registry slimming discussion. I have been looking for an example of what is possible to delete from the registry. Looks like Mikhalov had posted an example that is no longer available. Is there any guidance that anyone can provide to help me understand what I can delete before experiencing the BSOD?
thanks much
Walter

 

RE: you don't, posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:47:26
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 When I try to do your 2., as I said, I do not get a black screen but a restart before anything shows up over and over until hard shutdown. This is with renamed ntoskrnl.exe and no ntkrnlpa and with /nopae. Nonetheless I will go on to cut and then past ntoskrnl.exe and remove all hive logs and see what happens.

 

Keep in mind, posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:57:43
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 That it should be THE NATIVE kernel. Don't give its name to alternative one. ntoskrnl.exe should ALWAYS be the real native one.
Serge.
As for e-mail, some things were made there that make a lot of cics' optimisations done or unnecessary, but the services were untouched, and some othet things, so You better treat it as a minixp. It should install easily and without oobe, serial, regs and so on. Video was already set, most things removed. When installing weiss or other things, be patient, please, it takes looonger. Awe and minlogon should work like a charm as they were described. WFP was already removed. There is also a session.ini file that you may see what was done, if you have nlite, just load the ini files from the iso. It's very easy to navigate.
Serge.

 

RE: Keep in mind, posted on January 22, 2012 at 12:30:46
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 Without ntkrnlpa I have, of course, only been trying with the native ntoskrnl. I tried it after cut and paste and removal of hive logs both as "ntoskrnl.exe" and as "ntriboge.exe" with /KERNEL=ntriboge.exe but neither got anything but recycling restart as before.

The nlite xp allowed Weiss install normally as well as Intel ethernet install and that for cMP/cPlay, but it did not recognize the net command in command window despite network running.

 

Send me an email and I will send you my config folder, posted on January 22, 2012 at 14:56:37
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I assume you would want the H55 version. I have one for the H61 board, also.

If you are using JULI@ and H55 you can substitute DEFAULT and SOFTWARE.

SYSTEM might work if your HDD's are basically the same arrangement other wise you need to load your and "mine" into REGEDIT and toggle back and forth to see what to do.

I recommend adding /minint to the boot.ini while doing this.

After you are done use the registry compactor.

 

I do tend to think it has nothing to do with files and ..., posted on January 22, 2012 at 15:04:03
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 everything to do with BIOS.

I got a new message today: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

Now whether that is due to my registry experiments or BIOS will remain a mystery.

No stutter, though I used to get that from using batch files which is when I lost interest in them, but a squeal.

Starts right back up.

What is neat about the H61 board is that it will start with "third stage" memory settings. No need for the intermediate step.

Not driving me crazy - it can go hours before it does it.

 

Available here, posted on January 22, 2012 at 16:42:50
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 See link.


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.. you've got mail!, posted on January 22, 2012 at 18:54:30
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 Config file will be put to good use.

 

RE: Available here, posted on January 22, 2012 at 18:58:56
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 Thank you for the link. I can't make out the writing, but looks like Rick will send a copy of his which will fix me up. Thanks again.

 

/maxmem - second thoughts, posted on January 22, 2012 at 20:06:44
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Grant and I were talking last week about all things cMP when the subject turned to how and why minimizing the available memory would be useful.

At the beginning cics wanted to use a small memory to minimize power usage. But when we do this I suspect the memory still uses the same amount of power.

Well, the only way to find out is to do it.

I took it out of my boot.ini and I must say it does make a difference. Taking it away has reduced noise not unlike removing the video and audio chips on my board.

Previously I had noticed a strange electronic noise when cPLAY was engaged. While the cMP screen was showing there was silence but as soon as I selected something to listen to, and especially with orchestral pieces where there are a few moments of silence before things get started this noise would begin. When the music began it was relegated to the background but of course it was still there.

With it removed so is the noise and I notice a general quieting in the noise floor. I was hearing some random soft pops - I listen to LPs so this was not bothering me but now that is gone.

I am upsampling at the maximum level. I am using a 512kB memory and I am using JULI@ so I wonder if what Serge is hearing with this is very different than what I am hearing. If he is not oversampling maybe this has a different effect with his system. We know he is not using JULI@

I am hearing a more robust sound. The sound is not as recessed which is an effect I liked but now I wonder if that was a sound effect instead of accuracy.

Serge, please explain what this is supposed to do.

I get the feeling the system must actually have to work harder with this in the system. Obviously the memory is and I do not think it a bad thing for the CPU to be given a load. I wonder if the CPU like a class AB amplifier might sound better working harder but there is more to it than that. It seems to me this is an obtrusive instruction that gets in the way of the machine doing what we want it to: simply process the information with as little interference as possible from unneeded files and registry entries that must be polled (I assume in my poetic/idiotic understanding of how computers work).

 

You are back! Again to give credit where it is due ..., posted on January 22, 2012 at 20:16:22
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 My SOFTWARE and DEFAULT are not much different from what you posted. Those screenshots showed the way. I remember first looking at them and thinking there is no way that will work!

SYSTEM being the most individual required lots of trial and error since your system retained network stuff and I had to find my own way there BUT STILL using your model was and is the key to true registry minimizing.

No matter how hard I try I cannot remove all of ControlSet2.

At this point I find screenshots to not give a clear enough picture of all that is going on plus it so much easier to load both hives and compare.

I would be glad to send you what I have done if you would send me an email.

I do not doubt at this point you are probably already at the same place.

 

A DOM SATA question..., posted on January 22, 2012 at 20:28:36
GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001
 The info on the Memory Depot & Innodisk websites suggest the DOM SATA drives are powered from the SATA data connector, but the info I've been able to dig up on the connector pinout shows:

1 Ground
2 A+ (transmit)
3 A− (transmit)
4 Ground
5 B− (receive)
6 B+ (receive)
7 Ground
— Coding notch

(From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA)

No power there. What am I missing?

Thanks!

Greg in Mississippi
Everything matters!

 

RE: A DOM SATA question..., posted on January 23, 2012 at 05:09:51
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 No power there. What am I missing?

According to the web site (provided you look hard and get lucky with it), there's a +5v power line on Pin 7 with this connection type. I'm not sure how it's done as Pin 7 is normally, as you note, Gnd. But it seems that conventional SATA interface devices are available - see link.

Best

Dave

 

RE: /maxmem - second thoughts, posted on January 23, 2012 at 06:06:41
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 For me the same experience: without the maxmem it sounds just a bit more musical, more body, more detail. Very subtle though.
I implemented it in a former setup (H55M), and continued this in the current atom d525 setup. So for me the lesson is every new setup needs its own check of the tweaks.

As for upsampling: i tested:
A. songs 44.1 upsampled to 88.2 by cmp
B. same songs upsampled 'by hand' and stored in a 88.2-file, no upsampling by cmp.
B sounds better, little more music, stage, detail
So in this case: the less work for cpu, the better

 

RE: /maxmem - second thoughts, posted on January 23, 2012 at 06:06:53
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I tried taking out maxmem from my boot file and while I did not hear less noise I did hear many of the things you mentioned. Its not subtle. I hear soundstage more up front (but less depth). I hear a fuller midbass (but less deep bass). I hear more distinctness with maxmem back in. I think my reaction is the difference between our systems. My system (electrostatics and cone drive bass) is very inefficient (maybe 85 db) whereas your system (horns) is much more efficient. Bottomline I prefer maxmem back in.

But this is yet another way to balance one's system. Its just like, imo, reducing cpu frequency in bios...I tend to find the value that sounds dynamic/lively (not too low a freq) but not hard in the upper mids, highs (not to high in freq).

 

I agree with what you hear, but ..., posted on January 23, 2012 at 07:52:43
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 like I said I wonder if it is sound effects?

I did like the effect that maxmem gave, too, but the reduction of noise is something I think I will prefer over time.

There is the possibility that maxmem will work better after being re-inserted. I have noticed this many times with other tricks.

I still cannot figure out WHY this should do something worthwhile and I wonder if it has something to do with upsampling v. no upsampling?

 

Upsampling before v. after (with cMP), posted on January 23, 2012 at 07:58:18
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Other than the massive additional storage needed I do not doubt it is better to do this before but I have been concerned that there is something about SRC that is not available from, say, dBPOWERAMP which will upsample. I am sure there are others that I am not aware of.

My DAC upsamples everything to 192 and seems to me SRC/cMP does a better job so I leave cPLAY with 192/highest resolution.

What are you using for upsampling? I would like to give it a try.

Thanks,

 

cMP2 Has got a danish website, posted on January 23, 2012 at 08:08:12
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 948
Joined: November 21, 2008
 Dear cMP2 Forum

I´ve established a danish cMP2 Website (still not quite fished)
Have a look and leave a comment if you wish.

http://www.freewebsite-service.com/cmp2/forside.php

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

 

RE: SoX upsampler, posted on January 23, 2012 at 08:33:22
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 For upsampling i use SoX (like cPlay and Foobar). Ik like it more than SRC. These are the settings i use in batch-resampling:

mkdir H:\MUZIEK_ORIGINEEL_3288\A_sox
FOR %%A IN (%*) DO sox %%A -b 32 -t wavpcm "H:\MUZIEK_ORIGINEEL_3288\A_sox/%%~nxA" vol 1.0 rate -v -s 88200 stat -v
pause

I don't recall the meaning of all settings (did it years ago).
I think 'stat' gives report which i use for checking on clipping. If clipping occurs, i set volume to 'vol 0.8' and retry.
32 stands for 32bit lots of 'zero's', huge files but better sound

My DAC upsamples to 176.4. Thats why i let cPlay/myself upsample to 88.2 In my setup this gives the best results.

Douwe

 

Thanks - will give it a try, posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:07:37
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I used to halve the duties in a similar way but eventually settled on full on cMP.

On cPLAY I seem to prefer SRC to SOX though I have no way to describe the differences I hear and wonder if I really DO hear a difference.

But upsampling the file does interest me.

Thanks for bringing it up!

 

RE: I agree with what you hear, but ..., posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:28:58
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 You said: '...like I said I wonder if it is sound effects...'.

I think its all about sound effects, that's what voicing is all about. Here's another item that has an air of absolute science about it but is really pragmatic in a sense ... 'lowering the voltage or cpu frequency' to lower rfi. That may be true (that it reduces rfi)but it is also just modifying the power supply. For example we're all told to lower the voltage and cpu speed as much as possible (to reduce rfi). But taken to an extreme if you lower both to zero and what do you get...no music right. Raise them both till you get something to work and get music...but it may be real weak music... soft, no strong bass, no high frequency extension. Raise it too much and you get strident music. So you try to set it just right...not too high not too low. There is much about audio design that is really just about voicing something just right. Yes new technology begets new electronic devices to produce music but they still have to be voiced. I believe since we have so many variables in computer audio to play with ... we should play with them to voice our system. Why not? I also believe those that have tried computer audio and dismiss it have just have not really tried to 'voice their system'. Look at it from an analogue perspective...you need to adjust cartridge vertical/horizontal tracking angles, stylus tracking force plus electrical loading (47k ohms or 10 ohms). If you don't do all that (plus a lot of other stuff) you don't optimize/tweak the system to get it...just right.

I bet if any who claim computer audio is not up to analogue or even good cd disk playback ever heard your cmp fully optimized as I know it is they would be instant believers in computer audio. I know I am.

 

RE: SoX upsampler, posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:40:54
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 When I did upsample I also preferred sox. Now I listen to 44k sr. But the idea to restructure the file to 32 bits is very clever. I should try that.

 

RE: cMP2 Has got a danish website, posted on January 23, 2012 at 14:40:03
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 Very nice Play-mate, congratulations!

 

That is not quite right, posted on January 23, 2012 at 14:59:17
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Adjusting a cartridge's load is not neccesarily about voicing though one could do that if they wanted. There are actual electrical parameters that need to be met due to the cartridge's characteristics.

All I can say is that I no longer am getting the blue screens and squeal and it is not as if the sound I am hearing is not attractive.

It is a more robust sound.

When someone loads a MC cartridge with too low resistance one will get a bassy bloated sound and lose output voltage; one can like it but it is not (really) what the designer intended.

One can take the voicing thing to the point where fidelity to the sound that was actually captured has little to do with what is actually ultimately heard. Sometimes this is good for a really bad recording but usually will introduce distortions (euphonic to some) that will mask what is there. This can be advantageous on some recordings but usually makes a mess of many others. I guess I want as much information as I can get and that is my bias. Neutrality is my goal. Sometimes you have to live with the warts.

I would like to know the reason for /maxmem since there is no reduction in power used by the memory when implementing this so the argument about reducing RFI does not apply here.

I think it is something that worked before and has been made superfluous with later developments.

Just my opinion.

 

Not upsampling would explain your view of /maxmem, posted on January 23, 2012 at 15:01:45
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I did not realize/remember that.

I think my problems with it are entirely due to upsampling.

 

RE: A DOM SATA question..., posted on January 23, 2012 at 15:06:29
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 How I realized there are two versions of the SATA DOM:
1. SATA DOM D150S http://www.memorydepot.com/ssd/listcat.asp?catid=satadomD150SV
2. DOM SATA D150 Vertical Built-in Power (pin7) http://www.memorydepot.com/ssd/listcat.asp?catid=satadomD150SVF
"- Does the Disk on Module come with the power Cable?
- All the Disk on Module that requires to get power from the power supply are coming with Power Cable adapter, The USB DOM and 44pin Disk on Module, that get powers from the data connector, doesn't come with any power cable since it is not required. "
(http://www.memorydepot.com/ssd/service.asp).
Dave correctly told about the second version.
A quote from the site just speaks about the first version with power cable. I suppose so. Jack Wong would be able to say exactly.

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: You are back! Again to give credit where it is due ..., posted on January 23, 2012 at 15:39:00
Mihaylov
Audiophile

Posts: 355
Location: Moscow
Joined: March 11, 2010
 Rick, I longer read (listen) than write (say) :).
I sent you email but it was blocked (it's unfortunately happens sometimes :(). Send me please the hives to my email via the Forum. Thanks.

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

 

How to get rid of ControlSet2, posted on January 23, 2012 at 16:23:55
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

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



It is really easy but it took me until now to simply check the box to do it.

While in regedit - select ControlSet2
right click PERMISSIONS
then click ADVANCED
the second unchecked box REPLACE PERMISSION ENTRIES ON ALL CHILD OBJECTS ...
check the box
then you are able to delete!

Make sure /minint is in the cMP drives boot.ini

Then compress your file again and you might come up with this if you have done other deletions

 

Serge, you do not allow email from the forum ..., posted on January 23, 2012 at 20:16:25
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 plus I do not think I can send attachments through there, anyway.

Did you use my moniker email address? I have no blocks on it at all.

Please try again.

 

RE: How to get rid of ControlSet2, posted on January 24, 2012 at 02:10:08
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Great find!

 

RE: a German version is in the pipeline N/T, posted on January 24, 2012 at 05:19:01
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 948
Joined: November 21, 2008
 .
Hysolid // Mytek Brooklyn // Spectron Musician III // Analysis Audio Omega

 

RE: How to get rid of ControlSet2, posted on January 24, 2012 at 18:13:36
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Thanks again worked like a charm.

 

No /maxmem - high IO page lock (40000), posted on January 25, 2012 at 07:34:24
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 This seems to work very well in my system.

 

What takes the place of dxg.sys in win2k?, posted on January 25, 2012 at 07:41:51
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I see it is not there and wonder if there is something less intrusive in win2k that will work in its place.

Without dxg.sys the system will boot and gets just to the point where the cMP screen would be displayed but just stays there, can't load the screen.

Any ideas?

 

RE: Send me an email and I will send you my config folder, posted on January 26, 2012 at 20:23:22
wlowes
Audiophile

Posts: 112
Location: Toronto
Joined: April 18, 2009
 Worked like a charm. Thank you!

 

Mini XP (by eXPerience) - Jolida’s Multipro nLite Disc (2011-12-02: 91,7 mB): Jolida wins on SQ hands down, posted on January 27, 2012 at 07:57:09
hfavandepas
 Hi All,

With help of Douwe01NL I finally also succeeded in getting an ‘Jolida’s nLite Disc’ and installed it.
The Installation process is also an unattended process.
So one can sit back and watch it happen just like with Mini XP.
I only had too install network drivers and the ESI-Juli@ drivers.
When I installed Foobar I got and error because dsound.dll was missing.
After I copied a dsound.dll-file from the Mini XP installation, Foobar installed without any problem.

I have 3 (2,47 Gb) partitions on my little 8 Gb Kingstone SSD, so comparing SQ is really easy this way.
I Just reboot into another partition.

Already with the first music tones coming from Jolida’s version it was very clear too me: Jolida’s standard version sounds MUCH better than the standard Mini XP install.
Much more micro details, better imaging and better sound quality.
Especially in the upper-bass and lower-mids regions SQ improved very much.

Roughly checking the registry it turned out that Jolida’s version had more tweaking done geared towards sound quality than the Mini-XP version. Mini-XP still had 3 performance counters working. In Jolida’s version all were diabled. Checking the audio-codecs: Mini-XP still had them all in, Jolida’s version only had 2 audio codecs left (MP3 and WAV). Also unnecessary hardware like WAN Mini Ports, Direct Parallel, ect where not present.
In the registry I only had too ad: disable CD autorun and the disabling the wathdog bug checking.

So all in all Jolaid’s version is much better optimized for (networked (internet)) audio playback than Mini XP is.
Which is immediately and very easy audible with the first music tones played (with Foobar).

I also swapped in an Steinberg MR816x converter from a friend of mine.
And again: the SQ differences where immediately audible between Mini XP and Jolida’s version.
Also on the Steinberg MR816x, Jolida’s version has much better audio SQ.

So very recommended this nLited XP version from Jolida !.
And if you are not able too create Jolida’s slimmed XP version yourself with nLite (like me) ask somebody too do it for you or help you with it.

Mark

N.B. I’m not using the stock Juli@-digital part. In my setup the 3.3 volt and 5 Volt too the ESI julia digital part are separately powered from a 12 Volt linear bench PSU. The 12 volt DC is first filtered in with various L-C filters (ferrites, coils and caps) and than post regulated too 3.3 V and 5 V which than again is post-filtered before being fed into the Julia digital part .(Julia stock 3.3 regulator is unsoldered/removed and the 5 volt PCI power lanes from the MoBo are cut)) This tweak ‘quantum-leaped’ SQ in my setup.

 

nLite does not tweak the registry, posted on January 27, 2012 at 10:23:41
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 The less stuff there is at install the less stuff there is in the registry.

nLite does allow you to make a few setings that are effected by the registry like disabling SFC and pre-fetcher, balloon tips, etc..

If you want to take the next step I would be glad to send you a minimized config file that you can use to truly tweak the registry.

Most likely you can simply insert default and software since you are using JULI@. Are you using the H55 MB?

Getting rid of superfluous stuff in registry makes every bit as big a difference as a minimal nLite installation.

 

thank you. I would like too hear what these extra registry settings / slimming do for SQ, posted on January 27, 2012 at 11:04:07
hfavandepas
 Hi Rick,

I checked some more registry settings and you are right.
Only some registry values are changed and other registry values are simply missing.

Never the less, the standard Jolida’s nLited XP, sounds really very good even without all these registry tweaks.

I’m not using an H55 MB.
I’m still using G41M chipset MoBo and dual-core processor on 775 socket.
But and a H61 Mobo and a dual core Celeron 1155 and DDR3 Dimms are on its way.
PCI slots are disappearing so I ordered a new MoBo as I expect in a year there will be no more new MoBo’s with PCI slots (which would mean I can not use my tweaked ESI Juli@ card any longer)

I would be happy and thankful if you are willing too send a registry config file too minimize my registry too see what that does for extra sound quality. Thank you for that.

Mark

 

I am using the H61 & JULI@ so I will send you that one, posted on January 27, 2012 at 11:40:09
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 Funny, though I can get the H55 one EVEN smaller than the H61 which is purely academic and cosmetic.

I really like the H61 and think it is better than the H55 just as Jack Wong reported.

Consider removing the chips per Mr. Wong. I had removed the chips from the H55 so I am able to compare the two fairly.

I hope we do not lose the ability to use JULI@ any time soon. No ohter card allows easy access to I2S and that is what I am committed to.

Obviously, you have got over any fear of the non-native PCI support. I sure have. No doubt it made a difference at one time but time has brought improvements.

Send me an email to my moniker and I will forward the H61 folder to you.

Something to consider, if you want your config folder to be as small as possible (and why not?) use /minint in the boot.ini file to eliminate all of the useless logs. Can make a difference of 100kB in the size which becomes significant when the folder goes below 500kB.

There are logs within each hive along with the logs you see when you open the folder.

You will be surprised how good JULI@ can sound when all of the superfluous junk is deleted in DEVICE CLASSES.

You still will need to use your head, especially with SYSTEM. Repeating myself you will likely be able to insert SOFTWARE and DEFAULT as is as long as you are willing to deal with no features at all, though no different than getting rid of EXPLORER. The computer becomes a dedicated transport when this is done.

 

RE: Mini XP (by eXPerience) - Jolida’s Multipro nLite Disc (2011-12-02: 91,7 mB): Jolida wins on SQ hands down, posted on January 28, 2012 at 11:40:01
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 Mark,
I'm glad u liked the nLite. Yes, it does sound quite good straight out of the Box. When I first installed it, I felt absolutely no necessity to make tweaks or running my Batch files. I am still at the stock nLite state with just a few registry mods & the boot.ini switch which serge suggested. All in all, it sounds clean, & as I put it "more-balanced" throughout the music spectrum.
Certain cMp set-ups respond different to file deletions & reg tweaks. Which is why even after all these months, we still have a few who are happy with the steppe 4 to 4.5 segment.
NLite by default sounded very promising so I let it run & now am very carefully tweaking areas which show potential. With so many flavours of cMp, some with Linears, some with batteries & some with the stock smps supplies, one needs to custom-tailor their set-up according to the rest of their line-up. At the end of the day, it's all about getting things right for YOU..!!!

Junaid

 

RE: Mini XP (by eXPerience) - Jolida’s Multipro nLite Disc (2011-12-02: 91,7 mB): Jolida wins on SQ hands down, posted on January 29, 2012 at 14:47:54
kclo
Audiophile

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

I am still at steppe 4.5. But over the last copule of months I had installed all the Fishy Secrets, the Shell32 slimming, the automatic Registry slimming, and boot.ini tweaks (got to thank Serge for all the wonderful finds). I had now starting to manually slimming the Registry-massive deletion according to a slimmed down sample that is currently flowing around. I had just started last night cutting down the SOFTWARE hive by 40% (still huge comparing to Serge's but it's a start). The effect is quite dramatic. With immediacy and blackness of background that I had never been able to achieve on a digital setup. One has to try it.

I will definitely try nLite on the new server.

KC

 

RE: Mini XP (by eXPerience) - Jolida’s Multipro nLite Disc (2011-12-02: 91,7 mB): Jolida wins on SQ hands down, posted on January 29, 2012 at 17:50:05
smicyta
Audiophile

Posts: 125
Joined: February 19, 2010
 Would it be better if SP2 is slipstreamed to SP3 in Jolida's nLite install?

 

RE: Mini XP (by eXPerience) - Jolida’s Multipro nLite Disc (2011-12-02: 91,7 mB): Jolida wins on SQ hands down, posted on January 30, 2012 at 05:03:27
Jolida
Audiophile

Posts: 329
Joined: June 26, 2009
 How do u think it would be Advantageous?? I guess not. Unless u have hardware which need sp3 support, u would only be populating the install more..!!

Junaid

 

RE: Mini XP (by eXPerience) - Jolida’s Multipro nLite Disc (2011-12-02: 91,7 mB): Jolida wins on SQ hands down, posted on January 30, 2012 at 05:42:30
smicyta
Audiophile

Posts: 125
Joined: February 19, 2010
 I am asking because this file Multiprocessor LAST SESSION.INI I downloaded courtesy of Bibo01 shows the ENV and Target to be SP3.

 

Pagefile, threads handles size, posted on January 30, 2012 at 05:50:16
erin
Audiophile

Posts: 31
Joined: May 29, 2010
 Hello Gents,

Just wondering if those who have "highly tweaked" operating systems would be kind enough to post their Pagefile size, threads and handles as displayed in task manager upon CMP startup. I think this would help myself and others determine how far we have to go to improve our systems.
Thanks.

 

RE: Pagefile, threads handles size, posted on January 30, 2012 at 06:18:28
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Would give you that if I wasn't so 'highly tweaked' that I dont have that functionality any more. In the absence of that my tweaked windows xp system is 22 mb in size with config @ 0.52 mb in size. Not much left to do anything except/boot/play music.

 

RE: Pagefile, threads handles size, posted on January 30, 2012 at 10:12:53
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 I'm not so far down the road as Rick, Ted and others and can still launch Task Manager - see pix.

Note that winvnc.exe is a "headless" control utility. It is believed (though, obviously, unverifiable) that Isass.exe and svchost.exe do not normally run when suspended in cMP's setup dialogue but are invoked by Task Manager. Well, it's what I like to believe.

If I'm right, you're looking at five processes plus cMP & cPlay.






As I do not like the sound of (and have had issues with) AWE-enabled pre-loading of music data into RAM, I don't know what figures are returned for cPlay when so used but, as you can see, cPlay clearly pre-loads data into RAM somehow or other regardless of setting. (You can also see this by looking at the networking tab.)

The setup here is an Intel D510MO dual-core Atom mini-ITX board driving a USB-connected DAC without upsampling. Data from my main system, a slooooooow single-core Atom, are pretty similar but I can't show them as it no longer has TM access. When I could, the main difference was that CPU load was a bit higher, especially at the start of a track.

Hope that's what you were after,

Dave

 

I need a little help on a no-boot issue , posted on January 30, 2012 at 17:49:18
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I was simply rebooting my cmp box today and got the dreaded HAL error. HAL = hardware abstraction layer, the cpu hardware drivers if you will. One can get this error by either having a corrupt/missing hal file or some hardware failure. Given that I had my last HAL error only a month ago and solved it by reflashing my bios...I reflashed again but this action did not solve the hal error this time. I tried reloading earlier versions of my operating system to make sure my hal file was good but that did not work either. Relative to hardware ... I measured the psu voltages and they are all good going to the mobo (12v, 5 volt supplies) and the cpu (12 v). I can enter bios to reflash or reset optimized defaults so that infers that mobo, cpu and memory hardware are ok. I ran a chkdsk on my ssd (on which my OS resides) while it was in a docking station hooked up to my desktop and it showed no errors or bad sector. Something is obviously not right so any ideas out there on what to test?

 

RE: Pagefile, threads handles size, posted on January 30, 2012 at 23:32:43
erin
Audiophile

Posts: 31
Joined: May 29, 2010
 Hi, yes that is what I was after. My stats are below:

Pagefile = 25.5MB (before loading an album)
Handles = 896
Threads = 92
Processes =11

Still hoping to see some more responses from other people.
I have noticed that every time I reduce handles and threads the sound gets better, without exception, but I am using a USB spdif converter.

 

RE: Pagefile, threads handles size, posted on January 31, 2012 at 03:53:49
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 I have noticed that every time I reduce handles and threads the sound gets better . . .

Not every time in my case but generally I agree. Meanwhile, the linked piece helped me to understand what Task Manager is reporting. Sort of.

 

MBR corrupted?, posted on January 31, 2012 at 05:49:23
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 I sometimes got the HAL-error when i edited the partition-sizes, or installed dualboot OS's. Errors occurred especially when using windows disk management (no promblems since i use gparted).
In this cases the MBR (Master Boot Record) was corrupted. I never succeeded in repairing the MBR. I use True Image 2011 for imaging the OS-partition(s); it can also recover the MBR. Very nice feature, just put back the former MBR and ready to go again.
I don't know which imaging program you use, but this could maybe a solution.

Other possible direction:
If the OS was build on a HDD, then copied to SSD, you could try this.
- make backup image of OS
- using gparted, move the OS-partition 1Mb. So free space preceding the OS-partition will be 1MB.
- restore the OS
Maybe MBR can now find the first Windows-sector again.
link: http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid+state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows

Another idea:
- make a new, fresh, nLite install (only 15 minutes). A new MBR is set up.
- reload minimized image
I would try this one first.

I hope this can be of any help, HAL-errors are ugly.
Good luck!!

 

another hal-error link, posted on January 31, 2012 at 06:00:41
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/missinghaldll.htm

 

RE: another hal-error link, posted on January 31, 2012 at 06:57:30
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Thanks but yes I read that and did all of the mentioned actions...still not booting.

 

RE: MBR corrupted?, posted on January 31, 2012 at 07:18:19
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 '...In this cases the MBR (Master Boot Record) was corrupted. I never succeeded in repairing the MBR. I use True Image 2011 for imaging the OS-partition(s); it can also recover the MBR. Very nice feature, just put back the former MBR and ready to go again.
I don't know which imaging program you use, but this could maybe a solution...'

This certainly sounds plausible. I use Snapshot and have reloaded OS images many times with success. But after this hal error nothing seems to work. Can you say more about how you reloaded a MBR image? I take it that the MBR is on the HD ? If so why wouldn't just reloading an OS image do the same thing? Anyway this is my only lead. Thanks again.

 

RE: MBR corrupted?, posted on January 31, 2012 at 08:06:28
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 according to specs Snapshot can restore MBR, so you could try this before doing a new install.
http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/restdos.htm

MBR is the first physical sector of a harddisk, which functions as a content-table of the harddisk. It contents all info about the partitions on the disk(partition names, where they start end end, etc), and points to the first sector of each partition, so your computer knows where to go for startup instructions (boot.ini). So when it cant find this, due to corrupted MBR or corrupted first partition-sector, it won't boot. XP then reports very confusingly that hall.dll is missing.

Reloding an OS image would not reload the MBR, as this is not in the physical partition. You'll have to do this separately.

hope this helps, good luck!

 

RE: MBR corrupted?, posted on January 31, 2012 at 08:19:14
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Very helpful I believe this may be the answer. One more question is there another way to reconstruct the MBR on my ssd? I can certainly access it via a docking station on my desktop pc.

 

if Snapshot works on your desktop, posted on January 31, 2012 at 08:30:45
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011
 it should be possible. I assume the dock is SATA.
But i think, if you have a small XP iso, it is faster and easier to do a fresh install & reload your own image.
I looked at snapshot: difficult dos commands and all. True Image it's just ticking a box. Easy.

 

RE: MBR corrupted?, posted on January 31, 2012 at 09:27:33
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I re-read the Snapshot website on restoring an image and apparantly you can re build an MBR or whole sector by a simple right click in the restore process. I did this for the MBR and the whole sector separately and after both attempts I still got the Hal error during boot. I will try the n-lite version but am skeptical now.

 

Being Away really helps, posted on January 31, 2012 at 10:41:36
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 Hello, everybody! I am sorry for having been away. But it happens. I am happy to see that discussion continues with more and more people getting in. My best wishes to Play-mate with his site.
I had some time to think and here is a modest and dubious result of this process:
We perform minlogon tweak and are left with only default user. Only? No!!! We ARE NOT THE DEFAULT USER, we are Administrators, and our user hive is "hidden" in the file ntuser.dat in documents and settings\administrator folder. Just load this file in YOUR REGISTRY and you will see it's a normal hive in itself and UNTWEAKED. Do it. A conservative tweaking and compaction with regopt will shorten it from 256 kb to 20. The sq change is here, strong and for the better. Unlike the default hive this ntuser.dat is more personal and contains info that is not present in default. Also, there you can set EnableTrueType setting to zero and try to boot without ttf files in fonts folder (I have thought of it just now, haven't tried this font thing).
Glad to be with You again.
Serge.

 

Why not get rid of it entirely?, posted on January 31, 2012 at 12:32:31
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 I thought we all deleted that long ago.

Unless you want it to do something, it is not needed.

It is completely redundant.

I have found sonic improvements with all redundancy eliminations in the registry. Cumulative, that is. Though there seems to be something abut ENUM/PCIIDE/ IDE Channel and deleting the second entries for Primary and Secondary channels, the bottom two. This one seems to make a difference all by itself.

My WINDOWS folder is now at 20.1 mB.

Glad you are back.

 

RE: Being Away really helps, posted on January 31, 2012 at 12:32:35
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 You are absolutely phenomenal...cant wait to try. Gotta get cmp to boot again. I try again tonight.

 

MinLogon uses the SYSTEM Account..., posted on January 31, 2012 at 12:41:37
gjwAudio
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Location: Toronto
Joined: March 11, 2006
 Hi Serge - and Welcome Back !

Once you go to MinLogon, XP uses the SYSTEM account (all-powerful, all-seeing - even more so than an ADMINISTRATOR account), and the settings for it are stored in the DEFAULT hive. It is nicely summed up here ( http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/winnt-based/37724-using-minlogon-to-speed-up-booting-and-decrease-footprint-26.html#post1175620 ) as follows:

"minlogon uses the System account and cuts out a lot of logon actions and security stuff going on in the OS when using accounts. It's meant for truly embedded devices that don't need any of that. It cuts down boot time significantly, but it's not for all scenarios."

Long ago I removed all instances of "ntuser.dat" from the Documents and Settings folder. Boots just fine without them. Recall that I run cMP standalone (no network stuff), so I can't comment on how this affects networked set ups.

Try cleaning out all ntuser.dat's you find, and have a listen to that state.

You could try the TTF fonts trick by exporting the EnableTrueType settings from ntuser.dat and importing them to the DEFAULT hive... might work - or not. Please DO let us know.

Cheers,
Grant

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

 

20 MB!!! you are an animal..way to go. , posted on January 31, 2012 at 13:01:28
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 I was down to 23 mb before I blew it up.

 

RE: Changes to CPlaylist Editor, posted on January 31, 2012 at 14:03:41
n_vincent
Audiophile

Posts: 34
Joined: November 27, 2007
 Very nice idea,
I'm quite busy but I could try to make some test

Nicolas

 

In fact, the best DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS folder ..., posted on January 31, 2012 at 17:39:09
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 is none at all.

Just deleted the whole thing and my machine works faster.

Also, configured the RECYCLER (the first one, the BIG one, to delete stuff immediately so no space is allotted for it.

I had had D&S down to about nothing anyway and this discussion got me to think just what is it doing anyway.

Nothing useful.

 

And then you can delete EVERYTHING in Default, posted on January 31, 2012 at 21:51:22
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 not sure if it is connected but I was able to delete everything else in Default.

If you delete Default entirely the system does not seem to be able to locate ntoskrnl but the system works fine without anything else.

 

Rick! You really are, posted on January 31, 2012 at 22:19:45
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 a pioneer in exterminating all the registry crap! And I am at awe at your courage, as You delete the things I would otherwise not dare touch! So, do I understand correctly, that
1. I delete documents and settings with ntuser.dat in it completely and
2. after that I load default in another windows regedit and delete EVERYTHING inside it, leaving an "empty shell" of a hive, just name...
Do you compact it afterwards?
Serge.

 

Have just done it your way!, posted on January 31, 2012 at 23:24:13
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006
 The result is super!
I have
1. deleted documents and settings folder with ntuser.dat in it, rebooted into cmp - works.
2. Rebooted into normal windows, loaded default hive, deleted everything inside, compacted to 8kb, rebooted into cmp - works.
3. Booted into normal windows, loaded system hive, asked for permissions to delete ControlSet02 and changed the permissions as You described. Won't delete at first because of lynx, but I opened inside and deleted Lynx inside ControlSet02 manually, then I was able to delete ControlSet02 itself completely. Rebooted into cmp - WORKS GREAT!
The added clarity in the middle of the stage (deepwise), more pronounced and drier (in the good sense of the word) bass, tighter and better defined. Longer sounding instruments in the mids A very good deletion tweak! Recommended FOR EVERYONE!
Serge.

 

RE: if Snapshot works on your desktop, posted on February 1, 2012 at 02:09:23
Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009
 I looked at snapshot: difficult dos commands and all.

Not so. Snapshot has a perfectly good GUI. I've no idea whether it's still a better program than TrueImage but it certainly was when I first bought it some years ago. (We won't even talk about Norton's "Ghost" which, dammit, I paid good money for.)

True, I have in the past configured Snapshot to perform an automatic restore using a bootable floppy and a batch file but that was a facility for the non-technical, not a limitation of the program. That was way back in the days of the floppy disk and is no longer necessary as the program can now restore a boot partition.

More recently, I've seen me dozens of times get locked out of a cMP^2 machine and be back up and running in two or three minutes, ne'er a DOS command in sight.

D

 

the better for theob, he's still fighting his HAL-demon n/t, posted on February 1, 2012 at 03:05:09
Douwe01nl
Audiophile

Posts: 71
Location: Amsterdam
Joined: September 29, 2011

 

I am just now seeing this, posted on February 1, 2012 at 07:37:14
rickmcinnis@dogwoodfabrics.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
 But you see how simple it was!

There is nothing to fear! Make images or copies of the pre-deletions config folder and give it a try!

I tried deleting DEFAULT entirely and the machine could no longer find ntoskrnl. Since the compacted DEFAULT is 8kB there is obviously a few things left in there we cannot access. Undoubtedly there is a reference to ntoskrnl in there.

Also, go ahead and delete RECYCLER. You will first have to go into RECYCLER/pick one of the bins/PROPERTIES/ADVANCED/ GLOBAL/click do not move stuff to the recycle bin. Then go to the drive in question (within the same box) and say not to send stuff to the recycle bin. Then you can delete the folder entirely. If you have two recycle bins do this for both.

Can't say it makes a difference but part of the cumulative effects that we believe minimizing WINDOWS will culminate.

 

RE: Have just done it your way!, posted on February 1, 2012 at 08:16:13
Dawnrazor
Audiophile

Posts: 12592
Location: N. California
Joined: April 9, 2004
 Hey Steppe,

loaded default hive

Sorry to be so daft, but how does one do that???

Cut to razor sounding violins

 

It is done like this, posted on February 1, 2012 at 09:09:34
steppe
Audiophile

Posts: 641
Joined: September 28, 2006



I have another computer, that has "normal" windows (untweaked) on it. I boot into this windows with my cmp hdd attached as a slave, run regedit, place my mouse on HK_local_Machine (see picture) It MUST BE THE HKEY LOCAL MACHINE, then say - file - load hive and browse my cmp hdd to find windows\system32\config folder. There You will find system, software, SECURITY, SAM and default hives. Select default and say yes (or open) The dialog appears to assign a temporal name. I usually assign the name 000. say ok. Click now on Your HKEY_Local_Machine and under it You will see 000, That's Your (default in this case) hive. Please note, that default means default user, not some general default hive.
Please note for convenience that in my setup I have an external sata/usb box with a hdd that is a cmp system disk, It is attached to cmp machine with esata cable and simultaneously attached to the working normal machine with USB cable. The power is from a wall outlet via 220 v adapter. When I listen to the music, but when I switch the cmp machine off it automatically is recognised as a USB flash drive)
Hope this is not confusing, but read and perform everything with care, and no harm will come to Your system. It's much easier than it reads.
Serge.

 

Probably not with networking, posted on February 1, 2012 at 09:44:23
riboge
Audiophile

Posts: 675
Joined: June 25, 2008
 I haven't tried this yet, but I believe if one maps a network drive that mapping is in DEFAULT so one can't just empty this hive. Anyone know different?

 

Issue solved ...lessons learned, posted on February 1, 2012 at 10:11:43
theob
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: ann arbor michigan
Joined: November 4, 2000
 Turns out I had my Master Boot Record on my ssd corrupted. Only way I could fix was by reloading Windows. During that process one of my 2 switching power supplies failed (it was supplying my cpu and one of my data discs). So this may be at the root of my downtime. I put my cpu on the one good psu and finished loading xp from scratch. Then reloaded my 25 mb Windows with Snapshot (thank goodness for SS). So I'm good & will probably leave p4 and p24 on one PSU and drive data discs with separates. Ah the sweet sound of music!

Now why does my switching psu's keep failing? Beats me. I used to run my psu's on the low side (on the pot inside I set p4 to 11.92 v). After 2 failures I adjusted my latest psu to a tad over 12v. Well now that one failed. So for a while I will run p4/p24 off of one psu to see if that helps. Who know maybe running low cpu core volts and low speed contributes. I was running at 150 core speed with 6 multiplication factor so thats 900 mhz. I run v core at a tad under 1 volt.

Now all have to do is figure out how to back up my MBR.

A big thanks to Douwe01nl and Ryelands for all their help.

 

Page: [ 1 ] . . . [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ] [ 54 ] [ 55 ] [ 56 ] . . . [ 60 ]

Page processed in 0.414 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]