Lee - AA5J
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:59:27 -0800
73, Lee, AA5J On 2/6/2010 9:53 PM, Tim Ellison wrote:
Frank, It isn't that PowerSDR isn't getting enough resources, it is that other things are taking away from the resource pool. Windows is a pre-emptive multitasking operating system. Everything equally (more or less) gets a slice of the pie. Memory is not the only resource. It is easy to do a memory utilization analysis you determine if you need more RAM. Adding more of it, probably will not make a lot of difference since you already have 2 GB and XP can only effectively use 3 GB. With the programs you described that are running, none are extensive memory hogs. Adding more memory usually can't hurt unless you add more than the OS can address. I would highly recommend that you run DPCLAT and see if there is a direct correlation between long duration DPCs (in excess of 2000 us) and the "no power output failure" condition since you can reproduce the failure scenario. I suspect that there is a direct correlation. If there is, then you have to go on the great hardware hunt to see which hardware device in the PC is causing the problems. Video, NIC and chipset drivers are usually the main offenders. -Tim -----Original Message----- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Frank Haas KB4T Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 10:07 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Intermittent Power Output when keying F5K in SSB mode Here's another follow-up. Evidence is clear now that my "no power output when transmitter keyed" problem was the result of a lack of computer memory resources. What I haven't figured out is why the same computer setup worked fine for months before the problem appeared. I chalk that up to the basic nature of personal computing. Things change behind the scenes that we are not told about. I suspect an automatic update to Windows or Firefox brought this on. Experiments have clearly shown that it's easy for my computer to run low enough on RAM resources to cause PowerSDR to misbehave. Recall that my computer is equipped with a Pentium Dual Core running at 2.4 GHz with (only) 2 GB RAM and Windows XP Home Edition. If I run Firefox AND Ham Radio Deluxe (IP Server& Logbook) and an email client. Within just a few attempts to transmit, I encounter the "no power output failure." Sometimes the radio will literally lock up and I have to pull the power supply to reset the box. I've ordered another 2 GB of RAM but it won't be here for several days. If I don't run Ham Radio Deluxe, the "no power output" problem occurs rarely. So what could I do to make more memory resources available to PowerSDR? The obvious first answer is to uninstall or disable any System Tray items that aren't needed. Any program that loads into memory to perform a function that isn't really needed had to go. What else could I do? Surely I should be able to "optimize" Windows XP to run as lean and mean as possible. I did some research and found an article at the Microsoft Support site that addresses this objective specifically. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417 This article is very informative. It provides a link to something Microsoft calls "Guided Help" which will walk you through the process of adjusting Windows XP to use less RAM to function. If you don't want to use the Guided Help executable, the article includes step-by-step instructions for making the changes yourself. The result is more memory for PowerSDR and the other apps I want to run. I made the suggested changes. So with the removal of a few unnecessary programs and tweaking Windows XP to run a bit leaner, I am now able to run PowerSDR, Firefox and HRD without the "no power output" problem at all. Life is good. Of course, when the RAM upgrade arrives hopefully I can put a few things back the way they were...more or less. This is the end of the road for this issue. Hopefully my findings will be of value to others running similar configurations. Good luck! 73, Frank N. Haas KB4T Florida _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
_______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/