CD Playback - computer randomly stops responding

studbike

Junior Member
Sep 20, 2004
4
0
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here is an interesting problem that i can not figure out:

My computer, when playing audio cds, will work fine. then randomly, every 5 - 15 minutes or so, the sound will skip, and for about 5 - 10 seconds the computer will completely stop responding, - mouse and keyboard - and whatever is on the screen will freeze there for that time. then everything will catch up and return to normal.

the problem ONLY occurs when playing audio cds - never for ripping, burning, or installing programs or anything else.

problem occurs accross any program i use to play the cd, and happens with both of my cd drives , which are both relatively new. also, the problem does not seem to be affected by using the cable (analog or digital) to passs audio directly to sound card.

problem existed on the computer before i reformatted it and changed the OS (from xp pro to 2000 pro) - which suggests a hardware problem

I have tried every setting and searched all the forums, no software change has helped.

also, voltage from the psu is fine. i have a good cooler - my cpu runs at about 35 degrees, 40 under load. the case temperature is also fine - decent cooling.

Any info would be very appreciated!!

Asus a7n8x-x mobo
512 ddr ram (crucial i think)
audigy 2 card
athlon 1800 - not overclocked
lite-on dvd drive and cd burner - both are of good quality, and relatively new. both are hooked up to the slave IDE, and i believe the dvd is the master.

WD 80gig hdd, 8mb cache
MSI VTDR128 video card - 5600XT
antec 400w power supply

i am an amateur at this, so please bare with me if i left anything out.

thanks a lot

-studbike
 

watek

Senior member
Apr 21, 2004
937
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If you installed the Nforce chipset SW IDE drivers that could be a problem.
 

studbike

Junior Member
Sep 20, 2004
4
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SW drivers?? thanks for the help, but what are those? the drivers i installed are whatever the newest one is from nvidias website.

-studbike
 

oldman420

Platinum Member
May 22, 2004
2,179
0
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It sounds like maybe it a memory latency thing or perhaps the pci bus latency is off .but my bet is bad memory run memtest and see.
That board including the audio section are rock solid so it has to be the mem.IMHO
 

studbike

Junior Member
Sep 20, 2004
4
0
0
ran memtest to 200% coverage - 0 errors. i will run it again tonight overnight.

any other ideas?

ps - the computer also has a firewire adaptor and a nic - both on pci slots.

studbike