A Mind Lost
Anything and everything.
Pausing and Buzzing Sound
A few weeks back I went through a round of upgrades and handing-down, where my father received my first-gen Core i5-750 and I upgraded to an i5-2500K. The old computer has performed exceptionally since I put it together, with hardly a problem, and the old man doesn’t need the horsepower of a slightly more modern system.
The new machine has the aforementioned “unlocked” Core i5 2500K, stock clocked at 3.3GHz (with SpeedStep enabled), with 8GB of Kingston DDR3 1600 RAM at 1333, which is what the BIOS first set it to; I’ve not been arsed to bump it manually since the performance improvements would be so negligible as to be unnoticeable. The motherboard is an ASUS P8P67 Rev3.1, featuring onboard sound, gigabit ethernet, and bluetooth. Graphics are handled by a GeForce 460 GTX, and wireless connectivity by a D-Link DWA-552 wireless N adapter. The graphics and wireless card previously inhabited the i5-750 machine, and worked without problems for over a year.
When watching a video, be it in Media Player Classic, VideoLan or YouTube, or listening to music with foobar2000, the interface will become unresponsive and the audio will buzz for about a second. This happens frequently but inconsistently.
Searching for other folks with this problem, and hopefully a solution, didn’t turn up much until I came across a link leading to “the Sycon’s DPC Latency Checker“. This program measures the latency of Deferred Procedure Calls (the link describes the concept in detail), where a problem free computer should produce output that looks somewhat like this (I am using the samples from Sycon’s site, I didn’t screencap my own use):
When there’s a problem, it looks more like:
While I wasn’t quite seeing such predictable spikes, I was getting high latency at intermittent intervals. Determining the cause of the high latency, a poorly performing device driver, is to go through every non-essential device in Device Manager, and disable it. After going through the first few that came to mind (the nVidia audio driver, Realtek audio driver, and Intel gigabit LAN), I finally disabled the D-Link wireless adapter and watched as the red spikes disappeared.
The suggested solution is to update the driver for the offending device and hope that the problem is fixed. Unfortunately, the driver for this adapter hasn’t been updated since late August of 2010!
Instead I took a quick trip to a local computer shop and picked up an ASUS PCE-N15 wireless adapter (which uses a Realtek chip). It took just a few minutes to swap adapters and plug everything back in.
So far I’ve watched an x264 720p video with DTS audio while writing this and maxing out my network bandwidth for about 45 minutes, keeping the DPC Latency checker in the background. While it’s peaked at 721µs, it has remained in the green and the whole video played without a single stutter.
It’s odd that I never saw this behaviour previously with (almost) exactly the same hardware. The D-Link never caused problems before (except for an issue when I was dual-booting to Linux).
The replacement adapter “only” cost just a bit less than $40 CDN. I’ve read many accounts of people who recommend one stay clear of ASUS hardware, but after four motherboards, a DVD and BluRay burner, as well as an ASUS notebook, I’ve yet to encounter a significant problem. Well, okay, they did ship the notebook with Windows Vista. But aside from that, I’ve not had an issue with their products.
VirtualBox HostAudioNotResponding
Starting a VirtualBox virtual machine results in a warning popup:
This is because Windows/the audio driver has disconnected the devices due to nothing being plugged in to the relevant ports. Modern audio hardware has a feature called jack sensing, and can disable the respective devices when there’s nothing to receive input from or send input to.
Plugging my headset/mic combo into the front-panel audio connectors results in the microphone recording source being enabled.
If you want these sources to be available to your VM, ensure they’re plugged in before starting it.
Configure failing under MinGW
A while back (almost a year, wow), I had problems with Windows 7 “locking” executable files, preventing their deletion and overwriting. Recently I’ve run in to problems again, specifically when running NASM’s configure script, though I’d imagine it can happen any time.
I believe the Application Experience service is acting up again. Going through the Windows Event Viewer, there are multiple entries in the System log indicating that the Application Experience service is being started and, approximately 45 seconds later, stopping. The times coincide with my attempts to run the configure script. Coincidentally, my display driver just crashed. Sometimes I really hate computers.
Anyway, we’ve had Windows Vista for five years last month (!), and Windows 7 for just over two years. I don’t, to my knowledge, run any software that isn’t Windows 7 safe, so disabling the Application Experience service once and for all shouldn’t be an issue at this point. The problem is that just disabling the service causes problems as mentioned in my previous post on the issue.
A bit more digging around brought me to Black Viper’s entry on the service in question, complete with a description of how to turn off this “feature” entirely. This needs to be done via the Local Group Policy Editor, a feature which may not be available on all versions of Windows.
Using the Run dialog (WinKey+R), run “gpedit.msc”. Navigate to Local Computer Policy->Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->Application Compatibility. The two settings we’re interested in are “Turn off Application Compatibility Engine” and “Turn off Program Compatibility Assistant Engine”.
All that’s left is to set the Application Experience service to disabled and reboot.
There’s a bevy of additional “tweaks” that can be made with the Policy Editor; Google can be your friend. Double check before you enable/disable anything! Also, if you do this, be aware of what you’re installing – make sure you use software that is known to work properly with Windows 7. Now I’m off to restart.
Media Center Extender Woes
I spent a few hours banging my head in frustration trying to get Windows 7 and my XBox 360 to work together. Windows Media Center was failing to connect, and not providing any helpful error messages. I dug through firewall rules, services, the event log viewer, anything I could think of, but nothing was working.
In the event viewer, under Applications and Services Logs -> Media Center, the only slightly helpful error I could find was “Media Center Extender Setup failed as the Extender was detected on the network but the UPnP search for the Extender failed (timed out after 20000ms).”
Anyway, long story short, it turns out that if Internet Connection Sharing is in use (which it is, I run an old wired router from my desktop’s ethernet connection to allow my television and blu-ray player to connect to the Internet), Media Center barfs and can’t connect. So the fix, in my case, was as simple as turning off Internet Sharing on my wireless connection.
I found no documentation on any of Microsoft’s support sites mentioning this as a reason for MCE to not work. In fact, their troubleshooting documentation is pretty crappy all around.
Zenburn for MS VC++ 2010
I found a fairly decent implementation of the Zenburn colour scheme for Microsoft’s Visual C++ 2010. It appears to work just fine with the Express version, so hat’s off to Luke Sampson for the “port”.
It’s available here (from studiostyl.es), with styles for the 2010, 2008 and 2005 versions of Visual Studio. The samples don’t show C/C++, but it looks pretty much like the C# sample. Here’s a snapshot:
Looks pretty good. Again, I use Envy Code R (see previous post for link). I might have to tweak it a bit as I’m not overly fond of bold fonts in code display, but it looks good.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Express Edition
I like the Visual Studio IDE. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a free-software alternative that offers the features of Microsoft’s IDE in an appealing and customizable way. I’ve tried CodeLite and Code::Blocks, and a handful of other environments, but there’s always something that irks me about them. I could bug the devs, or (gasp) contribute, I suppose, but instead I’ve taken the easy route and installed the Express Edition of Microsoft’s C++ environment.
While setting it up, I ran in to a small problem with the Windows SDK – it was failing with an unclear error. It turns out that if a newer version of the Visual C++ 2010 x86 redistributable package is installed, the SDK setup program barfs. Removing the redistributable package via Programs and Features allows the SDK setup to do what it’s supposed to.
The version I had was 10.0.4-something.
To use the newer SDK, it must be specified on a per-project basis via the project’s property sheets (Configuration Properties/General->Platform Toolset dropdown).
The Windows SDK Configuration Tool, included with the SDK, does not work with Visual Studio 2010 unfortunately. I would imagine one could edit the appropriate registry keys to set the updated SDK as the default, but a couple mouse clicks isn’t that inconvenient.
While Consolas is a nice enough fixed-pitch font for editing code, I prefer and recommend “Envy Code R” by Damien Guard. I find its slim, clean lines aesthetically pleasing (I also use it with MinGW in conjunction with mintty). Eventually I may try to figure out how to get 64-bit builds working (via the Windows DDK), but for now I’m off to find a decent Zenburn-like colour scheme for the IDE…
Here’s a few links if you’re interested in playing with VC++. Note that these are all legal links to Microsoft’s website, not some shifty “warez” crap.
Visual C++ 2010 Express.
Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 (ISO).
Windows Driver Kit v7.1.0 (ISO).
I think I need to practice my writing skills a bit more. I usually get an idea for a post, but I peter out halfway through writing it. While I generally manage to convey the main points I wanted to, reading over it reveals just how lacking/crappy the article is. =)
Linux Mint 12
I have an old computer that was gathering dust in the closet that I decided to try the recently released “Linux Mint 12” on.
Specifically, it’s an Athlon XP 2200+ clocked at 1.8GHz, with a GB of whatever RAM I could throw in it, a 120GB hard drive and an ancient GeForce3 Ti200 with 128MB of memory. Not a powerhouse machine but it should easily be more than enough to run Linux, even a fairly modern distro.
The installation was painless but time-consuming. There seemed to be some sort of a problem where the system would stop doing anything until I jiggled the mouse. Then it would continue installing for a bit before pausing again.
Finally, after installing and performing a first time update (which again required some mouse jiggling… I can’t help but wonder if there’s a problem with the USB port), including switching to the proprietary NVidia driver for the display adapter, I rebooted and logged in to play. Almost immediately both the top and bottom panels, as well as the window decorations, disappeared, along with the greetings splash screen. After a short time they all came back up, but bringing up the menu and mousing over an entry caused everything to crash again.
Switching to tty1 and checking the system log, I found that gnome-shell is segfaulting in “libGLcore.so.96.43.20”. Presumably this is a part of the NVidia driver, as the version number looks the same. There’s another segfault in “libcogl.so.5.0.0”, but I don’t recognize that shared library.
I have run Slackware on this machine, complete with the old NVidia blob, without problem. I wanted to switch to Mint for ease of updates (I already run Slack as my main OS on my notebook, and while I thoroughly love it, it is time-consuming to update and keep running smoothly).
Switching to Gnome (Classic) from the login manager appears to have fixed things, so something is evidently going wonky in the new Gnome. I don’t know, I’m not familiar enough with Gnome to make even an uneducated guess. I have never been a Gnome fan, preferring KDE, xfce, and Openbox (in reverse order of preference).
I should also note that for whatever reason the NVidia X Server Settings display shows the graphics card’s Bus ID as ?@?:?:?, with an unknown PCI Device and Vendor ID. Strange to say the least.
I think for now this’ll go back into the closet for another couple years and I’ll limit my testing to a virtual machine. I’m not planning to replace my notebook OS any time soon, especially not after I’ve spent so long getting it to work just right. I’m sure the Mint developers work very hard to make Ubuntu usable, but it’s just not for me.
And now, a moderately amusing picture:
Star Wars and The Old Republic
Lately I’ve been playing Bioware’s recently released “Star Wars: The Old Republic”, to the exclusion of everything else (except a few hours sunk in to Batman Arkham City). The game (TOR) is pretty darned fun, and they’ve obviously put a considerable effort into telling an interesting story for each of the playable classes, as well as the non-class-specific questlines that everyone can complete.
As much as it’s a World of Warcraft “clone”, there’s a lot of good things that can be said about TOR. In addition to the storyline, the graphics aren’t too shabby, although some textures are pretty muddy. A high-res texture pack would have been a nice option.
The game mechanics are fairly straight-forward, as well. Each class has a main and secondary stat important to it. There’s no ambiguity over what’s better, and gear selection comes down to main stat and Endurance. Companions are another nice feature. Since I tend to run solo a lot (yes, obviating the whole idea of an MMOG, I know), being able to complete quests that would otherwise be impossible is a pleasant change from WoW’s “if you don’t have a group/friends you’re screwed” method.
The downs to the game are few. I’ve experienced a handful of graphical glitches, all of them easily reproduced. The user interface has no scaling or customization options, and sometimes behaves in ways that are counter-intuitive. For example, most companion abilities can be disabled so the ally will not use them. However, any time the companion is resummoned (for example, mounting and dismounting from a speeder bike) these abilities are mysteriously reactivated.
The lack of scaling is a small annoyance, as the UI takes up a significant amount of space. Future updates are supposed to address this, but I won’t hold my breath. I’ve waited for an overhaul to LoTRO’s UI for years; aside from some cosmetic changes, that hasn’t happened.
The bottom line when it comes to TOR, and the previous KoTOR games, is this is Star Wars done right!
Speaking of doing it right, I just rewatched the original trilogy for the billionth time. I’ve been a fan for long and long, I watched A New Hope on VHS over and over back in the day, and was just old enough to catch Return of the Jedi in the theatre back in the early 80’s. I’m not a hardcore fan like some of the folks out there, but I’m a big enough fan that I know most of the dialog from all three films by heart.
Watching the original trilogy, I am struck by just how well they have stood the test of time. No digital effects, no fancy acrobatic lightsaber fights or overly dense space battles. Just great characters, great acting, great action and the right amounts of romance and humour. All these years later, I’m still astounded by how… great… the original movies are.
Which leaves me wondering how the hell George Lucas could so thoroughly butcher the franchise with the triple abomination that is the prequels! They’re just such unbelievably terrible films with few redeeming qualities. Flat characters, an utterly boring storyline, and many inconsistencies with the original films have rendered them practically unwatchable.
For an hilarious but 100% accurate review of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, I recommend any fan check out the Plinkett Star Wars reviews on RedLetterMedia. You do need a sense of humour and a tolerance for profanity, but with bits like:
If you’re someone who’s under the age of like 20, who says his least favourite film in the series is the Empire Strikes Back because it was “the most boringest one”, then I suggest you shut this review off right now, before I carefully explain how much of a fucking idiot you are.
I’d intended to post a more thorough review of The Old Republic, but my Smuggler’s luring me back. I’m still not sure if I’ll continue my subscription throughout the year, but for the storylines alone I’ll definitely be keeping it for a few more months at least.
DC Universe Offline
Since DCUO recently went free-to-play, I figured I’d give it a try. I recall being excited a year ago when the game was nearing release, but ended up passing on it because the reviews I read around launch weren’t particularly praiseworthy.
I started the install last night, 15GB worth, and did manage to play for a bit today. I figured the game might be enjoyable enough that I paused to purchase the “Fight for the Light” DLC, which opens up a Green Lantern template. This also upgrades the account to a Premium free account.
Then things went to hell.
I haven’t been able to log in and play for more than about 15 minutes, once, in the last few hours I’ve off-and-on been trying. When I did manage to get back in, my character was stuck in the ground and unable to move. I messed around for a bit, then got booted as the server was brought down.
For a game that’s been out for the better part of a year, this is laughably sad. I understand that their “subscribers” has increased by a significant number since moving to F2P, but it’s ridiculous that the servers cannot handle this load. It’s not difficult to see why they had to try a F2P model to pick up some more players (and money) if this is the level of performance the subscribers have been receiving.
Unfortunately, the only impression it has left on me is that it should have been designed as a linear or sandboxed single-player game. The arcade-like controls are kind of a novelty in an MMO, but it’s non-intuitive. Textures and models are bland, but the world looks pretty nice.
So far, I’d rate DCUO a 3/10. This number might be higher, if I could actually play.
Logitech Keyboard Multimedia Keys Not Working
After a recent update to the latest version of Logitech’s software for their keyboards, “Logitech Gaming Software”, the multimedia keys on my G110 stopped working (the play/pause, stop, previous and next keys).
The “fix”, for me, was pretty simple. Open up “Windows SideShow” from Control Panel and untick the checkboxes under the Windows Media Player gadget. I recall doing so when last I reinstalled Windows, but it took me a while to clue in that they had been turned back on after the last LGS update.
I’m just guessing, but I believe the WMP gadget is intercepting the multimedia key presses and not passing them along. Note that the G110 does not feature an LCD screen, so running the SideShow gadgets is pointless anyway.
A Mind Lost 
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