Matrox P650 & PCI Overflow w/ Cubase SX

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 6:29 pm

I just installed the new matrox p650 on a new Gateway MFATXPNT ESX 500, 2.4 Ghz, 512MB Ram, WinXP Pro SP1(tweaked), Pulsar I, SFP 3.1c, 20GB, 80GB IDE HD, 80GB USB2.0 External HD, Intel(R) 845G/GE/GL/GV/PE Chipset. Everything works fine except when i start cubase sx - then I get the pci overflow message...

The Box has been working great with the intel graphics driver and pulsar by itself - with no PCI overflow. I open up Gigastudio, Reason, and WavLab without any problems - only when opening Cubase SX do i get the pci overflow with this configuration - I even installed an old Nvidia card to test and the same pci overflow message comes up only when opening Cubase SX and having an AGP card installed.

I've updated the bios, iv installed every new thing intel has to install, I moved the pulsar card to different slots, I'v installed a usb 2.0 pci card and uninstalled intel usb - I'm not sure what to try next...

I have searched the forums much and find this problem weird compared to all other posts...
I'm thinking maybe the intel graphics driver is conflicting w/ the new device or maybe i need a new motherboard or chipset but i'm not too familiar with that part of computers as i'd rather be making music...

I also noticed there were lots of talk about certain things to enable, disable, or set in the bios but when i check my bios it doesn't seem to have as many options to #*@$ with in comparison to other posts....I'm not sure if those options are apart of the bios of certain motherboard/chipset manufacturers or if there utilities from somewhere else....

Any help would be greatly appreciated - let me know if i need to include more specifics or details.

Thanx!

[ This Message was edited by: Ora on 2003-07-12 19:33 ]

giucant · Post by **giucant** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 7:20 pm

Mmmm..ystical:-))
So what i should do...!?!
Understand agp/pci slot condivision scientifically from the MoBo manual...
Try with only pulsar inside in the right slot...
Try to open agp bandwith from bios...
Disable ALL integrated peripheral (USB, audio, lan)....
coffe...

good luck!

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 7:58 pm

-as i said, everything worked fine before i installed the agp graphics card so i don't think it is the usb or any other device conflicting

-Where do i get this manual - since this is a gateway, I don't think the 'mobo' manual comes w/ it. (what is mobo 'scientifically' anyways?)

-what determines the 'right slot' for the pulsar to go in?

-How do i open AGP bandwidth from the bios - like i said, i don't see that many options in the bios?

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 8:38 pm

Might be worth a try:

In the Matrox Utility disable the option for busmastering, that way the card won't grap the agp/pci buss all the time, that's what might be causing the errors.

HTH
Greetz

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 8:47 pm

I have heard of disabling the option for busmaster but I don't know where this option is located on the g650....

...I also read somewhere about the system needs at least a 250-300 watt power supply - i checked mine and noticed it has a 160 watt supply - Would it be a waste to get a power supply then a new motherboard if this problem still continues?

[ This Message was edited by: ora on 2003-07-13 03:21 ]

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 1:45 pm

Hello!

I think you certainly need a bigger power supply, but this doesnt have to do with your problem. I dont know why you experience the problem with SX either...
If I were you I would do these things:
1) disable the graphics support on the motherboard, using the jumpers
2) disable bus mastering on the Matrox (right-click the desktop, go to properties, go to video adapter and search somewhere in there)
3) if the problem persists, make an image of your hard drive with Drive Image or Norton Ghost and then format and re-install everything.

Hope that helps!

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 5:22 pm

what would be some of the effects from not having enough wattage on the power supply?
how do i disable graphics support with the jumpers too?

Thanx!

[ This Message was edited by: Ora on 2003-07-13 18:23 ]

King of Snake · Post by **King of Snake** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 7:33 pm

effects could be: unexplainable dropouts, craches, BSOD's, excess heat, maybe the PSU could even burn out eventually, damaging components. However I must say I was running my own system on a very old 235 Watt PSU until recently and I never had any problems with it. Better be on the safe side though, 160 Watt is very little power.

I have a similar problem with my own system. (Asus A7N8x, Athlon XP2600, Radeon 9100 AGP card). I get PCI overflow messages when I start Cubase with certain SFP projects, even without masterverbs. I haven't been able to solve it yet and I tried everything from disabling USB to reinstalling in Standard PC, to updating BIOS and drivers etc etc..
I have a feeling there could be problems with the AGP cards (although the ATI Radeon doesn't seem to have any busmastering option) but can't figure out where the problem lies exactly.

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 5:05 pm

...this just in and pretty weird too - but most importantly, I think i have fixed the problem...

...I have 2 installations of XP - I test everything & use internet, graphics, etc on 'A' & have the solid tweaked audio only on 'B'....well, on my 'A' version, it wasn't recognizing my propack keys or something - I would load my customized startup project and i would get a 'missing dsp file' on the mixer package 1 w/ the 2448....well at that point i was about to try anything and copied over all the dsp files from the 'B' partition to the 'A' partition folder....since then i haven't had any pci overflow messages while opening Cubase SX or during any process since....

...I have all usb & usb 2.0 & Lan enabled, a scsi card installed, and the AGP matrox p650....which mind you, is working wonderfully and is fast as hell w/ SFP...
Although i have never had a g550, from what i can tell, they have removed the option to disable busmastering so they may have fixed that problem with the new models....
I just ordered my tv out cable. Is there a limitation on resolution for the 'tv out monitor' on previous dualhead versions? I am thinking of using an extra tv for my 2nd monitor for a little while..... not sure if it will work but its sounds like a good idea now

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 5:09 pm

...I was looking at quietpc.com's 400watt power supply but i also read in the forum somwhere that the antec supplies are really good too.
Does anyone have experience with each of the two and know what would be best to choose from? ...and how many watts do i 'really' need?

Thanx again!

King of Snake · Post by **King of Snake** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 7:01 pm

I'd say 350 Watts is cool. Antec is good, so is Enermax, but generally I think you just get what you pay for. A 350 Watt PSU for 25,- Euros won't be much good obviously. You can always try google to look up any reviews of the PSU you have in mind, or the brand in general.

btw. Good to hear you solved the PCI problem, although it doesn't sound like a solution I could try for my setup...
_________________

[ This Message was edited by: King of Snake on 2003-07-14 20:02 ]

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 3:46 am

Hey Snake - thanx for the help!

...you may have tried this 1st thing but for your problem did you try swapping pci slots w/ your pulsar?

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 4:21 am

...Are the Enermax / Antec power supplies the most quiet & most stable?
...still no answer about quietpc.com power supplies - are they more generic maybe?

King of Snake · Post by **King of Snake** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 5:45 am

On 2003-07-15 04:46, Ora wrote:
Hey Snake - thanx for the help!

...you may have tried this 1st thing but for your problem did you try swapping pci slots w/ your pulsar?

I have tried pretty much everything possible, including swapping PCI slots.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 6:01 am

I used to have a quietpc 300W PSU in my old P3 box - with that and a zalman heatsink without a fan running, the machine was silent except for the HDs.

I have not tried the newer ones, however. Although, if they are anywhere near as quiet as the 300W they should be very good. The PSU itself was pretty good - reassuringly heavy, and I never had any problems with it.

peace

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 3:18 am

Looks like Antec, Enermax, or QuietPC are my options then - Thanx much!

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:54 am

Hi Guys,

I was swapped my old and noisy 350W for a proSilence 420W (19db), a Zalman CNPS 5700 D (20dd) and Pabst case fans (12db).

It made a massive difference to the level of noise not to mention my motherboard temp now never exceeds 38c

I got the kit at http://silentmaxx.net/

Cheers
Chris

cemhot · Post by **cemhot** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 6:43 am

You said, that you solved your problem, but what would really interest me is, if you ever tried SX and Giga again. Because I have the same problem. In my opinoion it´s the Scope software 3.1c. I think it takes a lot of CPU. On my old machine there was Win98se and the old Luna-Soft. I never had that problem, then. I´m going to try SX , XP (whats on my new machine), and the old Luna-Soft. Has anyone experiences with that?
Greets,
cemhot

Ora · Post by **Ora** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 7:00 am

...SX & GigaStudio Work Fine - SFP Does take lots-o-memory though - 74MB sometimes...but with 512 ram its not so bad...I'm working on an upgrade to 1GB ram and all should be fine...

I think you'll just need more ram to cope...