Q35 for video editing using Vegas

Firstly, I'm new here.
I've read some of the threads re Q35.
My Q35 is running XP Home, has a T2300 processor and 512MB. Q35C002/SUK.

The recent driver changes on the Samsung download site - as far as I can tell only the BIOS needed updating. All the other drivers were as supplied when I got the machine back in October 2006.

Touch wood I've had no problems with it so far. Except ....

I'm planning on using my Q35 for video editing using Sony's Vegas. DV content captured via firewire. Stored to external disk via firewire.
Tests so far are encouraging apart from some dropped frames on capture - which is not acceptable.

I do have a (minor) problem with the Q35 - every now and then it appears to hang for a few seconds. Keyboard and touchpad are not responsive. But return after a few seconds. It is infrequent, but may be indicative of a problem when it comes to video editing/capture.

Sorry if that's long winded.

Anybody have the same 'symptom', or know why it does this?

Pete

 

You may need more RAM.

 

I don't recognise the problem of my Q35 becoming unresponsive for a few seconds, but I have encountered this general problem within the past few years. How often is this occurring? The usual cause is some high priority process deciding to grab all the resources, but this should be less of a problem with dual core CPUs.

A possible cause which somes to mind is Windows deciding to go and dump some RAM into the swap file. Everything can become very slow while this is going on. If you do have only 512MB RAM then this will be a likely cause since XP needs all that for itself. You can monitor the memory usage using Task Manager. If you look at the processes page you can see how much memory each process is using and the Commit Charge at the bottom of the window means how much RAM is in use and how much is available, including virtual memory on the hard disk. If you can keep the first number less than your physical RAM (allowing for the GPU taking up to 128MB) then your computer will run more smoothly.

I would also suggest that you fix the size of the swap file (virtual memory) this is under the My Computer > properties > advanced > performance > advanced. I would suggest 2GB. Then use pagedefrag to defragment this file so that when it is used then access will be smoother.

Another possibility is that power management settings are causing the hard disk or some other component to go to sleep. My desktop computer, which has 2 HDDs, suffers from the problem you describe if I do something which triggers access of the second HDD, which is usually sleeping because it is rarely used. However, if you are streaming video then the HDD should be busy.

I would suggest that you look in the specialist video forums regarding minimising lost frames. HDD writing could be an issue if your HDD is either nearly full (it gets slower towards the end) or the empty space is fragmented. Is concurrent reading the DV through Firewire and writing to an external HDD through USB worth considering?

John

 

John,
Thanks for your help.
Commit charge says 330M/1228M, and this is reflected in the Peak Commit charge of 387188 on the performance tab. The pagefile is up to 1.2Gb set automatically by XP. And it looks like it may be split (using defrag under My Computer).
The hang/stutter/hesitation happens under 'normal' usage (i.e. not when video editing). I dont think its sleeping disks as the cursor usually goes to the egg timer for that delay, whereas I'm getting no cursor change and no keyboard or touchpad response.
I will up the RAM. I will use the pagedefrag. And see what happens.

Thanks again.

Pete

 

I'm running short of suggestions. You could try having Task Manager open and next time the problem happens try to use Alt-Tab to bring up Task Manager and see what is hogging the CPU. Alt-Tab sometimes works when other keys don't.
Grabbing both cores takes some doing or maybe it is an I/O problem.

I am running my Q35 with the latest BIOS marked as being for Vista although I am currently using XP (Vista upgrade is on order). I see no ill-effects from this BIOS with XP.

John

 

My system didn't need to have any of the files defragged that pagedefrag operates on.
RAM still not all being used.
Curiously, I can prolong the problem by keeping the touchpad working. As soon as I release the touchpad (ie stop any pressure/movement) then the system recovers.
I will run task manager as you suggest.

I must just be lucky and have a 'special' Q35 lol

cheers

 

Your comment about the touchpad may be a clue. Did you get the latest touchpad driver (V8.3.4 for 2K/XP) from Synaptics. I've got a feeling that the one provided by Samsung is quite ancient. I usually update drivers as a matter of course on the assumption that they fix bugs which I might not notice.

John