Topic: flac issues

[JackoRoses]

sorted out the version issue with flac but the quirk is still there. I don't have a floppy drive installed and the bootable thumb drive didn't work even though the bios supports several usb boot options. So I can't run a memtest until I get a floppy drive installed. My friend has a usb floppy and I'm going to try that first when I can get over there this weekend
In the meantime I will keep running prime with the ram intensive torture test.
My friend seems to suggest the heat is causing the problems but my system temps right now with prime on are 42C cpu temp and cores are 44C
hard drive temp never went over 35C while doing the audio encoding etc.
thank you for all the suggestions.

[kskreider]

there is a bootable memtest iso file on their website.  Cant you just put it on a CD?

[JackoRoses]

there is a bootable memtest iso file on their website.  Cant you just put it on a CD?

DOH

[boojum]

Well, if you are using just the one version of FLAC, 1.1.4, and it is still failing it is unlikely that 1.1.4 is the rat.  It works for the rest of us.  If the memtest is not the problem it sounds like a hardware (drive) problem.  Do you have trouble writing any other files??

[JackoRoses]

Well, if you are using just the one version of FLAC, 1.1.4, and it is still failing it is unlikely that 1.1.4 is the rat.  It works for the rest of us.  If the memtest is not the problem it sounds like a hardware (drive) problem.  Do you have trouble writing any other files??

I have ruled out flac and didn't really think that was the real culprit from the beginning.
Yet finding the different version(s) in my system was enough alarm to continue following that trail till it ended.

I left prime running all evening and night and was still running as of this AM when I left.
I am going to burn that bootable memtest onto disc when I get home and run memtest.
I feel like a fool as well since I looked right at that bootable ISO file and it never once rang a bell.
I was too hung up on getting the usb boot option to work for me never even looked beyond it.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I had a PC that would corrupt disk transfers every once in a while...  I'd mainly notice it when I'd copy 70gigs of flacs to the system. I'd find a few of them that would not test/extract without error. Memory testing would not find a problem like that.

I suspect a hardware problem though it could be software. Bad drive, bad disk controller, bad disk, memory, etc.

Maybe try copying WAVs and verifying the md5's.  But keep in mind if you have a disk problem the clock may be ticking to a complete meltdown.

[kskreider]

chkdsk is your friend, as is memtest and google.

My suggestion (as I head into a new build myself) is to go to all your hardware manufacturers web sites and make absolutely positive that A) you have all of the updated drivers, and B) that you have hardware that plays nice with each other.  (i.e. no running with scissors or rock fights)

And, lastly, if you are going to open her back up to reseat RAM it can't hurt to check your disk drive cables and make sure they are all seated properly as well.   I once had a PC where [somehow] the power plug from the PS to the mobo wiggled loose and it was doing all kinds of crazy things.

[boyacrobat]

did you cut and paste md5 or txt or create in folder,
advise to create in folder, this was my problem
had simular problem, doing this was the fix.


g

[JackoRoses]

memtest has been running for over 13 hours and has made 29 passes with 0 errors.
I left it running still but I doubt ram is an issue at this point.
Reseating the ram isn't going to help either at this point because memtest would of failed by now yet let's see what the results are when I get back home.

I have checked my events log and I have not see any indication of a disk controller going bad or a hard drive. I have ran chkdsk (passed) on the drive I am doing all this work on which is a brand new fujitsu u320 drive.
I know that doesn't mean a lot since hardware can be bad right out of the box.
Also S.M.A.R.T is enabled on all my drives and the temps and integrity of the drives all show excellent status.

I have also updated most of the drivers since this started happening. The only thing left is the lan and to check to see if intel has released a newer driver for the chipset. Oh and to update the bios as well.

Yes the next option is opening the machine up and reseating all connectors and hardware.

One other thing I have not done yet is to replicate my work on another disk on the same machine.
I am going to try that as well since it can't hurt although that drive is on the same scsi controller.
Anyone have any suggestions for testing a SCSI controller? I am using a 29160N Using the SP5 drivers

I would think after running this sytem 24/7 for the last 4 months that the hardware has shown that it is all capable of playing nicely together.

[JackoRoses]

Maybe I missed it but have you copied a ton of data and verified the md5's?

not a ton but a few gigs to the server. They checked out ok. I am even seeding one show that I did transfer for over. But again haven't done much testing there as I was performing other tests.
Plus I haven't had a lot of time to spend on it this past week.

[JackoRoses]

I had a PC that would corrupt disk transfers every once in a while...  I'd mainly notice it when I'd copy 70gigs of flacs to the system. I'd find a few of them that would not test/extract without error. Memory testing would not find a problem like that.

I suspect a hardware problem though it could be software. Bad drive, bad disk controller, bad disk, memory, etc.

Maybe try copying WAVs and verifying the md5's.  But keep in mind if you have a disk problem the clock may be ticking to a complete meltdown.

what did you do do to fix the problem? buy a new pc?
I'm not worried about a disk meltdown, that disk has all data backed up on it since it's for audio editing only. It's new and the warranty will cover it. I just want to know the issue so I can move on...

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Maybe I missed it but have you copied a ton of data and verified the md5's?

not a ton but a few gigs to the server. They checked out ok. I am even seeding one show that I did transfer for over. But again haven't done much testing there as I was performing other tests.
Plus I haven't had a lot of time to spend on it this past week.

Copying to the server doesn't really replicate the workflow of the flac problem because flac typically reads and writes from the same drive/location. You need to emulate the data flow of flac. That is read, process and write.

How often does this problem occur when using flac? Is it every file?  Every 10GB?

There was no real fix for my problem system. I ended up running all the drives off an external promise disk controller. It was a via mb and cpu.

[JackoRoses]

Maybe I missed it but have you copied a ton of data and verified the md5's?

not a ton but a few gigs to the server. They checked out ok. I am even seeding one show that I did transfer for over. But again haven't done much testing there as I was performing other tests.
Plus I haven't had a lot of time to spend on it this past week.

Copying to the server doesn't really replicate the workflow of the flac problem because flac typically reads and writes from the same drive/location. You need to emulate the data flow of flac. That is read, process and write.

How often does this problem occur when using flac? Is it every file?  Every 10GB?

There was no real fix for my problem system. I ended up running all the drives off an external promise disk controller. It was a via mb and cpu.

Yea I'm already running on an external controller.
Well 24 hours memtest over 50 passes and 0 errors. When I booted it back up I proceeded to abuse the drive and controller pretty well but everything passed all md5 and flac tests. Created wavs, encoded back to flac tested verified decoded to wav and checked the original .wav md5 eventually re encoded the show I was having issues with and everything checked ok now..

It seems the mystery issue may have went underground for now.

[boojum]

Does this happen on hot days only?

[JackoRoses]

Does this happen on hot days only?

it's the first time I have experienced it.