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Sound problems - now repeatable!


David Jedrejcic
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David Jedrejcic
Posted
Posted

Ross, et. al.,

 

I have had this issue for a long time using VRC, and I could never duplicate the problem. Every so often my perfectly working and capable VRC client with seemingly no provocation would stop letting me receive VOX. I could still transmit vox, but no rx. Further, all of my windows sounds would stop, I could not hear the 'dings' and things you'd normally hear when using other windows applications. The only solution was to log off and log back on - I figured out that I did not need to reboot my system to get it fixed. And then it woudl happen again at no specific time, or it would work for weeks without an incident.

 

I have found a way to cause the problem. If I click on a controller in my controller panel and request the ATIS - the above problem happens immediately. I don't even hear the click for when the message comes in. Mandatory log off and log back on at that point. Happens without fail, every time.

 

Just so you have an idea of my specs, I have an AMD Athlon 64 bit single core, 3.2GHz, 2GB RAM, and am running Windows 2kPro (I love it don't bash it ) The only problem I might see with being able to diagnose this is that I'm using an outboard soundcard - the E-MU 1820, which connects via firewire, and is really a semi-professional sound card made for recording. I never have any issues with the sound card otherwise, and I have on many occasions toyed with the settings and reset them to defaults to make sure my sound device was not causing the issue, and my capabilities never changed. Always everything worked fine, until for some reason they just stopped.

 

Just to be clear, sometimes it will still just break for no apparent reason, like I said, but no I can make it happen willingly. If anyone has a clue how to troubleshoot this problem, please lend a hand. It is the only flaw in my otherwise perfect setup.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

David Jedrejcic

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UVA DCAFO [Mod - Happy Thoughts]istant Manager

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Ross Carlson
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The fact that you can trigger this problem by requesting an ATIS (which has nothing at all to do with voice or any type of audio other than the text message click) makes absolutely no sense to me. I don't see any way I could even begin to track this problem down without being able to reproduce it on my machine, which I certainly can't. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears!

Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy

Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC

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David Jedrejcic
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Ouch, that wasn't the response I was hoping for. If Ross can't help me, who shall save my posessed client?

 

Not that it'll help, but remember it's not only the ATIS that does it - it's also some other seemingly random event. Can you simulate seemingly random events on your system?

David Jedrejcic

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UVA DCAFO [Mod - Happy Thoughts]istant Manager

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Wade Williams 877539
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You won't like this answer, but the first step in troubleshooting is to eliminate the variables.

 

Disconnect the Firewire sound card try to duplicate the problem. If you cannot, you know where the problem is.

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David Jedrejcic
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Yes, that's true. You're right, I'm not crazy about that answer. That would mean I'd have to uninstall the sound card, which is not quite like uninstalling WinZip or something trivial. But you're right. That is the proper procedure. Well, I guess I'll get back to you with a diagnosis once I feel compelled to become adventurous with my system setup. Thanks very much for the help!

 

Dave

David Jedrejcic

vZDC DATM

UVA DCAFO [Mod - Happy Thoughts]istant Manager

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David Jedrejcic
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Okay, you guys win.

 

I did not like the answer, and I procrastinated, but I unloaded my sound card and all its software, which I did not want to do because of the headache involved. Then I had to re-adjust my bios so that the onboard sound card was enabled (as having the two enabled at once made problems for some reason when I originally installed it), and found the right drivers, etc. etc. Bottom line...

 

THe "repeatable" problem has been solved. I can now request an ATIS from an adjacent controller and it comes back, and my sound still works. I have a very good feeling that this will also solve the "unrepeatable" problem, which is that the sound just goes out for no reason that I can tell. I don't think that will happen anymore. I was even further amazed that I got my plantronix headset in the mail today just in time to be able to take advantage of the USB capability, rather than having to plug in with my XLR mic inputs converted to 1/4" jacks downsized to 1/8" for the little tiny audio plugs in my motherboard (sorry I'm a sound freak).

 

Anyways, okay, that worked. Now what is the problem with having the soundcard that I mentioned? Because this is not going to be a full time solution - I need the soundcard to record audio. Any ideas for a solution now that we know what the problem is?

 

Thanks very much for your help by the way, very much.

David Jedrejcic

vZDC DATM

UVA DCAFO [Mod - Happy Thoughts]istant Manager

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