Help from any computer gurus out there

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

Thanks, guys

I was gone for the weekend but I'm going to get back to troubleshooting this thing tonight.

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

Okay...still no luck. I ran 8 processes of Prime95 for nearly 36 hours straight and everything passed. I also did a couple cycles of MemTest86+ from a boot CD and everything passed here as well. I don't know how to test the PSU voltage tolerance, but that one sounds like a long shot anyway.

I don't know if this makes sense, but is it possible that the crash is being caused by slow communication between my PC and the interface because of the limitations of USB? In other words, would switching to a PCI interface fix the problem?

I'm convinced the interface itself is not the problem because I've had the same issue with two different USB interfaces (different manufacturers, different drivers, different power sources, etc.). I'm starting to think that my computer is working fine...so I'm spitballing about other possible causes. Any thoughts?

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

Okay...still no luck. I ran 8 processes of Prime95 for nearly 36 hours straight and everything passed. I also did a couple cycles of MemTest86+ from a boot CD and everything passed here as well. I don't know how to test the PSU voltage tolerance, but that one sounds like a long shot anyway.

I don't know if this makes sense, but is it possible that the crash is being caused by slow communication between my PC and the interface because of the limitations of USB? In other words, would switching to a PCI interface fix the problem?

I'm convinced the interface itself is not the problem because I've had the same issue with two different USB interfaces (different manufacturers, different drivers, different power sources, etc.). I'm starting to think that my computer is working fine...so I'm spitballing about other possible causes. Any thoughts?

Yes; I checked out your Motherboard specs. Nice board, do you use it for gaming too?
Any way , it uses the same on board codec chip that mine does. Mine is a cheaper Gigabyte board with a Phenom2x6. It's got me wondering whether that's your problem like I figure it's mine. Your blue screens are like a more severe symptom like I have. I have to reboot If my sound disappears or the sound program freezes.

The software that goes with it efs up. I boot up and sometimes it decides I have plugged or unplugged something. I contend that the drivers for it are just as bad and probably interfere with any other sound devices. This happens whether it is turned on or off. I tried doing that [ turning it off ] and using my ZS2 card. It was hopeless. Endless sound disappearing and sound programs freezing.
I'm using an Aardvark interface that I used with the ZS2 in another earlier computer without any problems. The only diff is the on board chip and it seems to be the source of my problems. My solution is to get another MB WITHOUT a Realtek chip on it. Boards without on board chips are hard to find these days and pricey.
Opposite of what it used to be.
I've actually got an Asus board with a Via chip in mind.

What I previously wrote.

I have an issue with my [Non net connected ] D.A.W. . It appears the on board sound chip [ turned on or off ] interferes with my other sound devices. It causes the sound to disappear or/and the computer to freeze. When the sound disappears I can see the wave forms happening in my sound program but nothing can be heard.

It's intermittent so some times the thing runs for hours without a hiccup. Other times it happens with in 5 minutes of booting up. My solution is probably to change to a better quality Motherboard WITHOUT a crappy AC97 type chip on it. Apart from that t
he current mother board is as noisy as crap. Lots of bus noise. It has got to go.

I don't know if I need to switch to a Fire wire or PCI interface, or if my computer just can't handle the load.

I doubt any of these aspects are the problem.

[uOpt]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

So, to recap, because there was a different thread and I don't want to mix things up.
- You had two different USB interfaces, both make the OS crash.
- The computer itself is stable (mprime) and the crash message looks like related to the USB interface.

Obe common source of trouble here is the drivers for the USB chip on your motherboard. Update those.

What I would do at this point is get a USB 2.0 PCI card. It's < $10.

I wouldn't rule out your motherboard is broken which would explain why neither USB nor sound work right. But all this can easily be explained with Windows driver messes, too. What board was that again?

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

So, to recap, because there was a different thread and I don't want to mix things up.
- You had two different USB interfaces, both make the OS crash.
- The computer itself is stable (mprime) and the crash message looks like related to the USB interface.

Obe common source of trouble here is the drivers for the USB chip on your motherboard. Update those.

What I would do at this point is get a USB 2.0 PCI card. It's < $10.

I wouldn't rule out your motherboard is broken which would explain why neither USB nor sound work right. But all this can easily be explained with Windows driver messes, too. What board was that again?

Intel i7 950 3.06GHz quad core processor
ASUS Sabertooth X58 motherboard
12GB RAM (3x4GB)
ATI HD5570 1GB video card
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio sound card
WD Black 7200RPM SATA3 hard drives
Coolermaster 550W PSU
Coolermaster 690 II case

The MB has USB 2 and 3.

- http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...specifications -

[uOpt]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

Oh, it's an Asus X58?

Broken southbridge seems plausible. Never buy expensive Asus boards, only the cheap ones. But still, go to Intel's site and download the newest drivers for the x58 chipset, to get the USB drivers.

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

So, to recap, because there was a different thread and I don't want to mix things up.
- You had two different USB interfaces, both make the OS crash.
- The computer itself is stable (mprime) and the crash message looks like related to the USB interface.

Obe common source of trouble here is the drivers for the USB chip on your motherboard. Update those.

That's correct.

GoldenVulture and uOpt, thanks for your continued help through this. I'm sitting here with two different USB interfaces, neither of which will work reliably.

I don't use the computer for anything but making music. I put that Sound Blaster audio card in there before I realized that the audio interface takes the place of a sound card...rookie mistake.

So the next step is updating MB drivers. I'll download the drivers for USB, chipset, and audio and see what happens.

What do you guys think of my theory, about USB technology not keeping up? I keep coming back to that for two reasons. First, the fact that it only crashes when I'm doing a demanding task involving the interface. It's not totally unpredictable like your problem, GoldenVulture. Second, it seems like the newer of the two interfaces can handle more strain before crashing than the older interface, and the new interface is USB 2.0 whereas the old interface was USB 1.1. If the USB connection were the cause, it would make sense that 2.0 would give me less trouble than 1.1 did.

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

Well, I updated the drivers. Then I was doing some editing in a Reaper project, went to open another project, and bam, BSOD. I guess two Reaper projects was too many.

Same crash report as always, ntoskrnl.exe and the interface driver.

[uOpt]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

I think at this point you gotta look at the USB ports themselves. I was serious when I said that for all we know your mainboard has a broken southbridge. I had several expensive Asus boards with that problem. The fact that you have occasional sound problems isn't encouraging.

One thing to try is to get a PCI card with USB ports and go through that. That costs like $7 or so.

If you have an old XP or Win2k around somewhere you could get that a test ride on a separate harddrive, to rule out that somebody fatfingered the 64 bit and/or vista drivers.

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

That's correct.

GoldenVulture and uOpt, thanks for your continued help through this. I'm sitting here with two different USB interfaces, neither of which will work reliably.

I don't use the computer for anything but making music. I put that Sound Blaster audio card in there before I realized that the audio interface takes the place of a sound card...rookie mistake.

So the next step is updating MB drivers. I'll download the drivers for USB, chipset, and audio and see what happens.

What do you guys think of my theory, about USB technology not keeping up? I keep coming back to that for two reasons. First, the fact that it only crashes when I'm doing a demanding task involving the interface. It's not totally unpredictable like your problem, GoldenVulture. Second, it seems like the newer of the two interfaces can handle more strain before crashing than the older interface, and the new interface is USB 2.0 whereas the old interface was USB 1.1. If the USB connection were the cause, it would make sense that 2.0 would give me less trouble than 1.1 did.

Your MB has USB3 on it. It's much faster than 2

USBNEC® USB 3.0 controller
- 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (blue, at back panel)
Intel® ICH10R Southbridge
- 12 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 ports at midboard, 6 ports at back panel)

Are you using one of these? Then again your device is USB 2, but one of those ports should ensure max throughput for your interface.

[uOpt]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

If the board has different speed USB ports definitely try one of each.

Using ports on that NEC controller is asking for trouble. The most reliable should be those that are in the Intel chipset.

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

I just tried both the USB 2 ports and the USB 3 ports, and got the same crash on both. If there is a problem with the ports, switching which port I used didn't change anything.

[briggleman]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

OK, I have read your troubleshooting so far and I think you need a different approach to this.

Lets look at the entire thread and I see one thing that bothers me: The trouble did not start until you added a second hard drive for backups.

This leads me down this path:POWER ISSUES

First, disconnect the 2nd hard drive and see if the problem still occurs, I did not read every thread so if you have done this, great.

Second, a new power supply. Get a 750 or better (I like corsair, antec, and Thermaltake) and along this same line of thinking, make sure you are plugged into a good source of power, so I recommend an APC Battery Backup with power regulation, no brown outs, or surges, just good clean power.

Now, other common trouble shooting tips.... swap memory slots, move your chips from one slot to another and see if the BSOD occurs sooner or later.

I think its a power issue.

[uOpt]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

Actually, did we ever sort out whether you use an external PSU for the soundcard or whether you try to power it via USB?

I am getting comfortable blaming Windoze.

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Help from any computer gurus out there

briggleman, thanks for joining in. That's a new idea. Actually, the problem started when I added a THIRD hard drive. The first drive runs the OS, the second drive gets the audio files written to it, and the third is for backup. Someone told me the best way to record music was to save the audio to a different drive than your primary OS drive, so I started with two right off the bat. The only thing that has me skeptical about this is the fact that the third drive isn't active during my recording/editing, so I don't think it's using power during the crashes. But, for the sake of being thorough, I'll unplug it and do some test work using only the original two. I'll post the results and we'll go from there.

Another thing to note about the new drive, just in case it's relevant, is that it plugs into a different place on the motherboard. The MB has two 6 GB/S SATA slots for the primary drives, and six 3 GB/S for any additional drives. So my first two hard drives are connected at 6 GB/S and the new, third hard drive is connected at 3 GB/S. That's probably irrelevant but...now you know, just in case.

Right now my PSU is 550W...do you think that's insufficient for three hard drives?

uOpt, we did talk about the audio interface power supply as well. The old interface (M-Audio) was USB bus powered, which you thought might be causing problems. The new interface (Tascam) is powered by its own AC adapter, so it should be good to go.