ACPI? Computer locks when playing video

[chmike]

I have an Andara Barebones duron 950 system running Win2K. It's run perfectly since I put it together last fall. Lately (after I upgraded from a duron 600 to the duron 950) the system just locks up once in a great while, but this wasn't a problem until recently.

Now I just started messing with video. When I play an .avi with Win Media player it lasts only a minute or two at best. I was thinking hardware problems, but I can boot Win98 and have no problems (though I am running with 1 less hard drive). I can also run the distributed computing client in the background (full 100% CPU) with no problems.

I've tried the following:
[*]update media player to current version
[*]unplug one hard drive in case it's power supply problems
[*]update to latest VIA 4in1 drivers

Things I haven't yet tried:
[*]update video driver (it's a Nvidia Vanta LT AGP 8Mb)
[*]apply Win2K SP2
[*]flash with modified bios (see http://www.afn.org/~afn03777/)
[*]Get rid of ACPI (the following are all using IRQ 11):
ACPI
Video
Via USB
Via Audio (built in audio)
Lucent WinModem
an Acard Acer PCI SCSI card for a film scanner that is usually off)
[*]Swap out the video card for another one

I'm leaning towards a problem with IRQ's since the video playback obviously runs the
sound and video at full bore.

Suggestions on what to try first. Anything else I might be missing? Comments?

thanks
Mike

 

[GAZZA]

I would deffinitely start with updating to the latest service pack and also update your video drivers .

Also your missing Direct X on your list , I'm pretty sure that Direct X is updated in the service pack but only upto like 7.XX where as 8.1a is now available.

Getting rid of ACPI , I would leave till last just incase everything else fails . Normally ACPI is pretty good in how it manages all your resources so I really wouldn't suspect it much , one thing I did notice when I tried this was a performance boost running timedemo's in Q3 , I was getting like upto 20% improvement changing over to Standard PC.

You can also get Windows Media Player 8 , it only works for Win2k . I had to do this to get a particular Divx file to play .

 

[chmike]

Well, I think it's the onboard sound driver...

I installed W2K SP2, new video drivers and still have the same problem.
Also the latest DirectX

I booted Wini98SE and, since I had no sound there, installed the sound drivers and bingo...
any .avi file played in Windows Media player locks up within 5-10 minutes. Disabled the sound in the bios and I can play them for 30+ minutes without a lockup.

I think I"ll try installing a separate sound card (I have a SB live value sitting around somewhere) and
see what happens.

I also disabled the sound in W2K (via the bios) and can play videos without problem, too

 

[GAZZA]

Heh I didn't know you had onboard sound but from what you have done sure does point to it , what motherboard is that your using and what onboard sound chip does it use ?

 

[chmike]

Heh I didn't know you had onboard sound but from what you have done sure does point to it , what motherboard is that your using and what onboard sound chip does it use ?

Motherboard is a BCM GT133KT (surplus Micron system). The sound chip is apparantly
"AC '97 sound analog devices AD1881". Yeah, the Win98SE system was sitting on another disk partition because I needed it to update a CDRW bios, so I booted it and the video was fine (since I only used the 98SE system once I didn't even have the video driver or Via driver or sound driver installed). I watched some video @ 16 colors, then got the video driver and installed it. Still played without sound, but it worked. I eventually installed the sound driver and then it would lock up. While I was at it I installed the Via driver in Win98 too.

I'm pretty sure it's these drivers (for ME):
here.
and this board
Spitfire - GVC AR862 Motherboard with Integrated Components (Millennia® XV)

 

[GAZZA]

OK I managed to find these sound drivers for you , just follow the Drivers link from the review page , this zip file has drivers for Win9x/ME and Win2k.

 

[chmike]

K I managed to find these sound drivers for you

I've been out of town, but I downloaded these and installed them and it seems to have fixed my problem!! Thanks Gazza!!