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Simian 1.8 Issue

B

Bill_981

I've been fighting a problem that came up a couple of months ago. All of a sudden, the Simian would begin to freeze, usually right after a SAT_OFF command, and sometimes when a background recording was taking place. All the decks would go gray, and the normally bolded lines in the playlist would not be bold. Stopping the program and restarting it would solve the problem for a while. At times the screen would go all white, and the CPU usage would shoot up to 99%. Once one could open task manager and end the Simian process, it could then be re-opened and run normally (for a while.)

Sometimes it would throw either ntdll.dll or holygrl32.dll errors. Those usually happened when the white screen did not happen, and would be logged in the Windows application log.

I have replaced the hard drive, memory, audio card (AudioScience), all to no avail.

Anybody out there have any suggestions? I looked on the BSI forum, and saw may people with the same or similar problem, but no definitive fix.
 
Download the free version of malwarebytes and run it.
It's only a guess but I'm thinking that you may have some 'nasties' in the computer.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but already been there, done that multiple times.

Did I mention, XP SP3? Mgmt. reluctant to upgrade to new box, current OS and current software. It's a $$$ thing right now.
 
If the PC is not connected to the Internet, likely its hardware.....Power supplies are the 1st to go in a PC....period..they can cause weird issues...You've already changed the RAM which is what I would do after the PS.....check all fans and make sure they are running (PS fans usually are sleeve bearing and will lockup/quit...allowing the PS to overheat and then there goes the rest of the box...had to change a lot of them out at ABC RN with ball bearing models over the course of a week). CPU overheat can also cause similar issues...XP SP3 is fine to use....it's not dead yet (I know of a couple of Win2000 machines still running!)
 
Haven't done the PS yet. I'll do that next. I checked the fans when I had it out for the memory, AND vacuumed out the dust bunnies. I also left the console panel off so it gets more air. The 'lytics on the MB look OK, aren't bulging. It is a Dell, after all. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
I didn't see what kind of CPU you're using. I've been running various Simians since around '04, and they're generally very reliable.

The company is fairly specific about the CPU. If you aren't running a Pentium, with no multi-threading and the hard drive write cache turned off, they probably won't talk to you. If you were running a Celeron, and they knew it, they probably wouldn't answer the phone. They're fairly specific about that in their system requirements page. Otherwise, just about any general-purpose computer works with this software. Most of the heavy lifting is done by the audio card, so there's not a lot of load on the computer, even with multi-instance applications.

I think if BSI had their way, all Simians would be married to Audio Science cards. I use them wherever I install a system, but I've seen Simian work fine with a computer's internal audio. You might not get overlap, but the system shouldn't crash on you.

If you have a clean windows load, a Pentium, there's nothing else running on the computer (except maybe Audition) and the program is bombing, then you have a very unusual situation.

I'd bet on the computer being the culprit.
 
Regarding XP - if you go to 7, you'll need a new version of Simian and AFAIK that upgrade ain't free. GG is right on target with the clean install advice.
 
Dell GX280
P4, 3.4 GHz
1G RAM
XP SP3
ASI 4344

Machine ran fine until a few months ago when this started. I uninstalled a bunch unneeded programs, ran CCleaner, reduced the background recording to a minimum (thanks to XDS) and it's better, but still crashes when I have to record a long-form program (MAX Receiver).
 
Yep... I can see why this would be a challenge. Hardware looks good. Background recording shouldn't make this thing choke. Maybe a setting that some other program changed? I'd check hyper threading (one only), hard drive write cache (off), maybe look for any conflicting record commands, though it sounds like you've done that. Maybe get another memory strip and have the ones you've got tested. Are you trying to start the long-form file before it finishes recording? Some ASI cards allow for that, but I don't think they all do (I didn't check on yours). The power supply idea sounds good, though I've never seen one cause a problem like you've got. More likely, they run until you shut them down. Sometimes they don't start back up.

In the system settings (performance options), I usually set my computers for "best performance", rather than best appearance or "let windows decide".

Seriously... I've had this software running on one of the cheapest Dells I could get off of Ebay, and it had no problem with it. BSI's specs give the program plenty of headroom.

Grasping at straws... maybe see if ASI has an idea. Perhaps an updated driver for the card?

BTW... if you can catch your owner in a generous mood, a current software upgrade is only $500.
 
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Grounded Grid said:
Yep... I can see why this would be a challenge. Hardware looks good. Background recording shouldn't make this thing choke. Maybe a setting that some other program changed? I'd check hyper threading (one only), hard drive write cache (off), maybe look for any conflicting record commands, though it sounds like you've done that. Maybe get another memory strip and have the ones you've got tested. Are you trying to start the long-form file before it finishes recording? Some ASI cards allow for that, but I don't think they all do (I didn't check on yours).

Our card does allow for that. I use the feature quite a bit, as some of the network programs don't break when the other network news is on. I also take a program via Barix from our other station, and it's post-delay, so I have to delay the news by that much.

The power supply idea sounds good, though I've never seen one cause a problem like you've got. More likely, they run until you shut them down. Sometimes they don't start back up.

In the system settings (performance options), I usually set my computers for "best performance", rather than best appearance or "let windows decide". Already done

Seriously... I've had this software running on one of the cheapest Dells I could get off of Ebay, and it had no problem with it. BSI's specs give the program plenty of headroom.

Grasping at straws... maybe see if ASI has an idea. Perhaps an updated driver for the card?

BTW... if you can catch your owner in a generous mood, a current software upgrade is only $500.
Click to expand...

...and a new computer for about the same amount. $1k for a whole new system ain't bad. Thanks for your help.
 
Here's the latest on the Simian. It's been up for over 19 days now! About the only thing I can think of that I did was to UNcheck the box on the Tools>Hardware Options--Record Tab--AutoTrim. I recall checking it at some point in the past, and I think that's about when the trouble started. All my recordings are of network programs anyway, and the record length is either a timed amount, or terminated by a trigger, so no big deal on trimming.

Thanks to all for their suggestions.
 
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