scottdemarko
06-15-2004, 06:24 PM
This was posted in Sweetwater's Insync and it was such good info I thought I would repost it here just in case you don't get our Insync newsletter... I posted what I could below, the rest can be found by clicking on the link here: PC Optimization Guide (http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/techtip.php?find=06/11/2004) Enjoy (':scared:')
PC Optimization Guide for Windows XP Desktops & Laptops
06/11/2004
If you are doing recording, or planning to do recording, on your PC this should be very helpful. These tips and tricks have been tested out and have proved successful on many occasions. If you follow this document to a "T", you will have your system in true optimum performance. They are listed in descending importance.
1. It is recommended for all Windows XP machines to change your pro audio card's buffer size to approximately 128 in its control panel. Typical defaults are 512 and 1024. Check your audio equipment's manual for where this setting is. There is a very desirable side effect of this as well - it drastically lowers latency in the audio system. If you are using Cakewalk Sonar without ASIO drivers (version 2.1 and below), you'll want to re-run the Wave Profiler after this step. - Always use ASIO drivers if your application and sound card support it. In most instances, it will improve latency and stability. - Pro Tools may require a buffer size of 256 or 512.
2. Make sure you don't have ANY IRQ conflicts of any sort with your audio/MIDI card (Windows will not always tell you if you do). Do the following: - Right-Click MY COMPUTER, select PROPERTIES. - Select the HARDWARE tab, and DEVICE MANAGER. - Go to VIEW, select RESOURCES BY CONNECTION, expand INTERRUPT REQUEST. - This will show you a complete list of all the IRQs in use. If you see more than 2 devices on the same number as your audio card, you might have an IRQ conflict. - Any device can, without problem, share with IRQ holder for PCI steering, or ACPI IRQ holder for PCI IRQ steering. Some other devices that will not usually cause problems are System Management Bus or SMBus, and SCI IRQ used by ACPI Bus.
Devices to watch out for (especially when they're sharing the sound card's IRQ) are: - Other sound cards - SCSI controllers - USB controllers - Network cards - Video cards
If you have a conflict and you want to fix it, the best way to move the IRQs around is to move the card in question to another PCI slot. This may mean trying 2,3, or even 4 different slots. You may need to move another card to a different slot to allow the audio card to use that PCI slot. All unused PCI cards should be PHYSICALLY REMOVED (or built-in devices should be disabled from BIOS), not just disabled in Windows, as this does not always truly free up the resource. Remember to power down your system before changing hardware; you should NEVER install or remove hardware while the computer is powered ON, except for USB and Firewire devices (or PCMCIA Cardbus devices on laptops).
Some BIOS manufacturers may allow you to assign a specific IRQ to a PCI slot (from within the BIOS under PCI configuration - see below), but you should try to avoid IRQ 9 because it is cascaded to IRQ 2. It will allow you to assign PCI slot 2, for example, to IRQ 5. Usually, Windows XP will override any of these BIOS assignments.
Some more tricks for freeing up IRQs are to disable one or more COM (serial) ports, printer ports and USB (if you're not using them), or on-board audio (Sometimes called AC97 or Legacy Audio) from within the BIOS (see below). You must check with your motherboard/computer manufacturer to find the correct way to do this. Disabling devices within the BIOS will remove them from the system, and possibly allow a device or two to jump to a free IRQ, reducing the amount of troubleshooting you must do.
To get into your computer's BIOS, you'll need to reboot (or turn on) the machine. Immediately when you see the boot up logo or memory/hard drive check, press the appropriate key (which varies from computer to computer - check your computer's documentation if you're unsure) until it enters the setup. This will be before Windows boots, and typically it only waits for 1-2 seconds for you to press the key. The most likely keys are DEL, F1, and F2, but could also be any of the F-keys (you can usually press multiple keys at the same time if you're unsure.) Within the BIOS, you should select Integrated Perhiperals. If you don't see this option, try Advanced, and within this menu, look for I/O Configuration, Perhiperal Configuration, or something of the like- it varies from system to system. This is where you'll see the options to enable/disable hardware. This is also where you'll change the parallel port mode if you are using a parallel port midi interface. Then follow on-screen instructions on how to exit and save changes.
Another option within the BIOS, which may be under almost any menu, again depending on the computer, is PLUG AND PLAY BIOS or INSTALLED OS. This will have two choices, one being Windows, and one being non-Windows (the wording may be different.) This setting determines whether the BIOS or Windows will control resources. You may want to try switching the option to the other choice. If it doesn't work as well, it can always be changed back. Many computers do not have this option.
If you're using a USB device (either audio or midi interface), you'll want to have the USB on its own IRQ. Most new computers actually have 2 to 5 USB devices: One pair (or more) on the back and one which is either connected to the front or not connected at all. Resolving IRQ sharing with USB is more difficult because there is no way to control which IRQ it uses, so usually you must move devices off of the USB IRQ by moving or removing the PCI card in conflict. Also, if you can avoid it, don't use any other USB device on that pair of USB ports. This will decrease the bandwidth for your audio/midi device and possibly create conflicts. Especially avoid hubs and high-bandwidth items like modems, ethernet controllers, hard drives or cd-rom drives, printers, and scanners.
If you're using a Firewire audio device, you'll want to have the Firewire IEEE 1394 controller on its own IRQ just like it is your sound card. All firewire ports on a card share the same resources, so it shouldn't make a difference where they are plugged in unless there is a physical problem with the card.
3. Also, while in Device Manager, you may want to check for multiple driver installations. Go to Start - Run, and type CMD and click OK. Type exactly: - set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 - start devmgmt.msc
(The latter command actually launches your device manager- you can use this elsewhere or make a shortcut to this file if you desire.) Go to View - Show Hidden Devices. Don't worry- you'll see alot of other devices which you didn't see before- this is normal. For instance, if you have a network card, it may now show as 5-10 devices, these are background pieces of it required for normal operation. The same goes for Sound, Video, and Game Controllers- there will be 6-12 new devices, mostly Microsoft devices. Do not remove these, they are required for Windows use. You can now see if you have 2 or 3 (or more) of the exact same device driver installed of your audio/midi interface (unused devices show as a light-grey color). If you do, right-click on the extra devices, and click Uninstall. Reboot after removing the extra devices, and go back and check again. You may need to remove all of a particular device to get the driver installed just once. This step is typically not needed, but in some cases where you have gone through driver installation several times, it is worth checking. Scroll above for the link to the rest of this exciting information...
Happy Recording,
Scott Demarko
scott_demarko@sweetwater.com
PC Optimization Guide for Windows XP Desktops & Laptops
06/11/2004
If you are doing recording, or planning to do recording, on your PC this should be very helpful. These tips and tricks have been tested out and have proved successful on many occasions. If you follow this document to a "T", you will have your system in true optimum performance. They are listed in descending importance.
1. It is recommended for all Windows XP machines to change your pro audio card's buffer size to approximately 128 in its control panel. Typical defaults are 512 and 1024. Check your audio equipment's manual for where this setting is. There is a very desirable side effect of this as well - it drastically lowers latency in the audio system. If you are using Cakewalk Sonar without ASIO drivers (version 2.1 and below), you'll want to re-run the Wave Profiler after this step. - Always use ASIO drivers if your application and sound card support it. In most instances, it will improve latency and stability. - Pro Tools may require a buffer size of 256 or 512.
2. Make sure you don't have ANY IRQ conflicts of any sort with your audio/MIDI card (Windows will not always tell you if you do). Do the following: - Right-Click MY COMPUTER, select PROPERTIES. - Select the HARDWARE tab, and DEVICE MANAGER. - Go to VIEW, select RESOURCES BY CONNECTION, expand INTERRUPT REQUEST. - This will show you a complete list of all the IRQs in use. If you see more than 2 devices on the same number as your audio card, you might have an IRQ conflict. - Any device can, without problem, share with IRQ holder for PCI steering, or ACPI IRQ holder for PCI IRQ steering. Some other devices that will not usually cause problems are System Management Bus or SMBus, and SCI IRQ used by ACPI Bus.
Devices to watch out for (especially when they're sharing the sound card's IRQ) are: - Other sound cards - SCSI controllers - USB controllers - Network cards - Video cards
If you have a conflict and you want to fix it, the best way to move the IRQs around is to move the card in question to another PCI slot. This may mean trying 2,3, or even 4 different slots. You may need to move another card to a different slot to allow the audio card to use that PCI slot. All unused PCI cards should be PHYSICALLY REMOVED (or built-in devices should be disabled from BIOS), not just disabled in Windows, as this does not always truly free up the resource. Remember to power down your system before changing hardware; you should NEVER install or remove hardware while the computer is powered ON, except for USB and Firewire devices (or PCMCIA Cardbus devices on laptops).
Some BIOS manufacturers may allow you to assign a specific IRQ to a PCI slot (from within the BIOS under PCI configuration - see below), but you should try to avoid IRQ 9 because it is cascaded to IRQ 2. It will allow you to assign PCI slot 2, for example, to IRQ 5. Usually, Windows XP will override any of these BIOS assignments.
Some more tricks for freeing up IRQs are to disable one or more COM (serial) ports, printer ports and USB (if you're not using them), or on-board audio (Sometimes called AC97 or Legacy Audio) from within the BIOS (see below). You must check with your motherboard/computer manufacturer to find the correct way to do this. Disabling devices within the BIOS will remove them from the system, and possibly allow a device or two to jump to a free IRQ, reducing the amount of troubleshooting you must do.
To get into your computer's BIOS, you'll need to reboot (or turn on) the machine. Immediately when you see the boot up logo or memory/hard drive check, press the appropriate key (which varies from computer to computer - check your computer's documentation if you're unsure) until it enters the setup. This will be before Windows boots, and typically it only waits for 1-2 seconds for you to press the key. The most likely keys are DEL, F1, and F2, but could also be any of the F-keys (you can usually press multiple keys at the same time if you're unsure.) Within the BIOS, you should select Integrated Perhiperals. If you don't see this option, try Advanced, and within this menu, look for I/O Configuration, Perhiperal Configuration, or something of the like- it varies from system to system. This is where you'll see the options to enable/disable hardware. This is also where you'll change the parallel port mode if you are using a parallel port midi interface. Then follow on-screen instructions on how to exit and save changes.
Another option within the BIOS, which may be under almost any menu, again depending on the computer, is PLUG AND PLAY BIOS or INSTALLED OS. This will have two choices, one being Windows, and one being non-Windows (the wording may be different.) This setting determines whether the BIOS or Windows will control resources. You may want to try switching the option to the other choice. If it doesn't work as well, it can always be changed back. Many computers do not have this option.
If you're using a USB device (either audio or midi interface), you'll want to have the USB on its own IRQ. Most new computers actually have 2 to 5 USB devices: One pair (or more) on the back and one which is either connected to the front or not connected at all. Resolving IRQ sharing with USB is more difficult because there is no way to control which IRQ it uses, so usually you must move devices off of the USB IRQ by moving or removing the PCI card in conflict. Also, if you can avoid it, don't use any other USB device on that pair of USB ports. This will decrease the bandwidth for your audio/midi device and possibly create conflicts. Especially avoid hubs and high-bandwidth items like modems, ethernet controllers, hard drives or cd-rom drives, printers, and scanners.
If you're using a Firewire audio device, you'll want to have the Firewire IEEE 1394 controller on its own IRQ just like it is your sound card. All firewire ports on a card share the same resources, so it shouldn't make a difference where they are plugged in unless there is a physical problem with the card.
3. Also, while in Device Manager, you may want to check for multiple driver installations. Go to Start - Run, and type CMD and click OK. Type exactly: - set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 - start devmgmt.msc
(The latter command actually launches your device manager- you can use this elsewhere or make a shortcut to this file if you desire.) Go to View - Show Hidden Devices. Don't worry- you'll see alot of other devices which you didn't see before- this is normal. For instance, if you have a network card, it may now show as 5-10 devices, these are background pieces of it required for normal operation. The same goes for Sound, Video, and Game Controllers- there will be 6-12 new devices, mostly Microsoft devices. Do not remove these, they are required for Windows use. You can now see if you have 2 or 3 (or more) of the exact same device driver installed of your audio/midi interface (unused devices show as a light-grey color). If you do, right-click on the extra devices, and click Uninstall. Reboot after removing the extra devices, and go back and check again. You may need to remove all of a particular device to get the driver installed just once. This step is typically not needed, but in some cases where you have gone through driver installation several times, it is worth checking. Scroll above for the link to the rest of this exciting information...
Happy Recording,
Scott Demarko
scott_demarko@sweetwater.com