K
Virtual Dj software
- Thread starter bizzyb53
- Start date
Jeff, why would the program, running the same code throughout, crash 3 hours in?
It is almost definitely a heat issue. I have seen it dozens of times when I was an IS Specialist at a Telecommunications company, the execs coming in with their laptops (ALL Dell btw) saying they would crash after 3-4 hours of working on blahblah project or blahblah plotting program. 99% of the time it was a heat issue. So much so that we got these really cool things that you lock the laptop into, almost like a dock (but still allowed them to dock to docking stations) with cooling fans and exhaust fans. After installing one I never had an issue with the same laptop. I wanna say those things were made by Dell, but we may have gotten them 3rd party. Point is, when you do heavy stuff on certain laptops, they overheat. ESPECIALLY Dells, because they have their cooling vents on the BOTTOM, which is just stupid IMO. Most other laptops have them on the sides or back.
It is almost definitely a heat issue. I have seen it dozens of times when I was an IS Specialist at a Telecommunications company, the execs coming in with their laptops (ALL Dell btw) saying they would crash after 3-4 hours of working on blahblah project or blahblah plotting program. 99% of the time it was a heat issue. So much so that we got these really cool things that you lock the laptop into, almost like a dock (but still allowed them to dock to docking stations) with cooling fans and exhaust fans. After installing one I never had an issue with the same laptop. I wanna say those things were made by Dell, but we may have gotten them 3rd party. Point is, when you do heavy stuff on certain laptops, they overheat. ESPECIALLY Dells, because they have their cooling vents on the BOTTOM, which is just stupid IMO. Most other laptops have them on the sides or back.
His laptop specs look fine too, other than the fact that he is probably running Vista... which may be the problem as well. If you are running Vista still, upgrade to Win7 ASAP. Vista has more crashes than a demolition derby.
Here are his specs:
Processor: Intel 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo T8100
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8600M GS w/ 256mb Ram
Ram: 2 GB DDR2
Keep in mind that you are also running just about the bare graphics card specs for doing Video on VDJ, so set all your setting to "Performance" instead of "Quality".
Here are his specs:
Processor: Intel 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo T8100
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8600M GS w/ 256mb Ram
Ram: 2 GB DDR2
Keep in mind that you are also running just about the bare graphics card specs for doing Video on VDJ, so set all your setting to "Performance" instead of "Quality".
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
I've been running 2 Dells for 5 years now; with Virtual DJ and up to last year (when I put in bigger hard drives, with all of the bloatware. Never had one shut down at any time.
The DJ Police is back in action so get with it! LOL.........
How would I break down this issue to get to the bottom of it is try getting another laptop and install the software on it. Run it all day and see what happens. If you duplicate the problem then you know it was not the lappy but if it does then you know something has to do with the software. If it is the software which I doubt then I would go ahead and buy a licensed version. Most probably it is your laptop.
How would I break down this issue to get to the bottom of it is try getting another laptop and install the software on it. Run it all day and see what happens. If you duplicate the problem then you know it was not the lappy but if it does then you know something has to do with the software. If it is the software which I doubt then I would go ahead and buy a licensed version. Most probably it is your laptop.
Dude you should have seen when I was a Special Beta tester for Vista. According to the terms, I had to use a machine with Vista as the SOLE OS... no dual boot. OMG that was SO unstable!! Nothing worked. Half my programs were useless, the other half had crashes and bugs.
And this happened all the way up to RC2, then they released it. With a bunch of bugs we were STILL finding. I still can't believe they released it. It started to get better once they got better driver support, but then they just stopped once Win7 went to beta. Even the Beta of Win7 was better than Vista Ultimate. I hate that infernal OS.
Win7 is the ish tho. The stinky poo.
Win8, however, looks like a big extension of the OS on the Windows Phones (from what I have seen so far).
And this happened all the way up to RC2, then they released it. With a bunch of bugs we were STILL finding. I still can't believe they released it. It started to get better once they got better driver support, but then they just stopped once Win7 went to beta. Even the Beta of Win7 was better than Vista Ultimate. I hate that infernal OS.
Win7 is the ish tho. The stinky poo.
Win8, however, looks like a big extension of the OS on the Windows Phones (from what I have seen so far).
Dude you should have seen when I was a Special Beta tester for Vista. According to the terms, I had to use a machine with Vista as the SOLE OS... no dual boot. OMG that was SO unstable!! Nothing worked. Half my programs were useless, the other half had crashes and bugs.
And this happened all the way up to RC2, then they released it. With a bunch of bugs we were STILL finding. I still can't believe they released it. It started to get better once they got better driver support, but then they just stopped once Win7 went to beta. Even the Beta of Win7 was better than Vista Ultimate. I hate that infernal OS.
Win7 is the ish tho. The stinky poo.
Win8, however, looks like a big extension of the OS on the Windows Phones (from what I have seen so far).
Oh I did some beta testing too - not for MS tho. Had to meet certain standards - OMFG!!! Might as well write a letter and send it instead of emailing - would have got there before you EVER got to log into Windows. We couldn't dual boot neither.
For the record, as good as Win98 SE was, when they retired it, it still had 600,000+ known bugs in it.
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
So is everyone who purchases/streams music from I tunes/Amazon and the like....... Do you? Let's all do ourselves a favor and get legit.....
For future reference for people finding this post with similar problems one thing I would do to isolate the problem is leave the laptop running overnight with just windows running and no dj software. If it is locked up in the morning then its either the hardware or a problem in the OS.
Next night boot the pc up into the bios (eg F10 or del key or whatever it takes for your PC) and leave it in the bios screen overnight. If its locked up then then its a hardware problem. If it isnt then its an OS problem, get windows re-installed if you're comfy with that.
if its neither of those then leave it on overnight with your dj software running and see if it locks up on its own, ideally playing a tune on repeat or a super long 6 hour mix mp3.
Check the clock if its visible and you'll know how long it takes until it goes wrong.
You shouldnt have any other software running on that PC, either foreground or in the background. Go into the scheduled tasks setting in the control panel / admin tools to make sure you havent got an antivirus / windows update / something else kicking in at a certain time of the night thats causing a lockup.
Next night boot the pc up into the bios (eg F10 or del key or whatever it takes for your PC) and leave it in the bios screen overnight. If its locked up then then its a hardware problem. If it isnt then its an OS problem, get windows re-installed if you're comfy with that.
if its neither of those then leave it on overnight with your dj software running and see if it locks up on its own, ideally playing a tune on repeat or a super long 6 hour mix mp3.
Check the clock if its visible and you'll know how long it takes until it goes wrong.
You shouldnt have any other software running on that PC, either foreground or in the background. Go into the scheduled tasks setting in the control panel / admin tools to make sure you havent got an antivirus / windows update / something else kicking in at a certain time of the night thats causing a lockup.
Hello, when you set up your equipment for your gig, make sure that you laptop dont start any virus scan, I installed Advanced System care and run that every time before i start any of my DJ Sets and do a quick scan, Also check some where in the computer propities that the HDD dont turn off or power down, also dont let the system go into stand by, you can change all the user setting by doing the following ps note I run Win 7 64 bit home ed. if you run Xp i thing you can get to advanced setting via the control pannel, but anyways:
Start\Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings
here is how mine is laid out:
Function....................on Battery...................Plugged in
Dim Display:.....................1 Min.......................10 Min
Turn off Display:...............20 Min.......................Never
Put computer to sleep:.......3 hours.....................Never
then click on save changes, then click on Change Advanced Power setings and Adj. the following
Function........................on Battery........................Plugged in
Turn off hardisk:.................9999............................Never=0
Wifi:................................MaxPower saving.............Max Performence
Sleep:..................................9990..........................Never=0
Allow Hybrid sleep: all off....................................................
Hibernate after:...................360Min........................Never=0
Allow Wake timers: ..................ALL DISABLED=0
USB Selective Suspend setting: Enabled all
Power/lid
Function........................on Battery........................Plugged in
Lid Close......................................sleep.....................Do Nothing
Power button action:.....................Sleep.......................Sleep
Sleep power action:......................Sleep.......................Sleep
PCi Express pwr/managment:......Max Pwr Saving............Off=0
Min Cpu State...............................5%...........................5%
System cooling Policy..................Passive.....................Active <this tells the fan how to act>
Max CPU Rate:.............................100%.............................100%
Display was alreay covered above^
Function...............................on Battery........................Plugged in
Muiltimedia sharing:..............Allow computer to sleep for batt and plugged in...
When playing Video................Optimize pwr saving..........Balanced
Internet Explorer
Java Script Timer FREQ:.........Max PWR Saving................Max Performance
Battery:
Critical battery Alarm:...............Hibernate...................... Do Nothing
Low batt Level:............................10%............................... 10%
Critical Batt Level:........................5%................................. 5%
Low Batt Noteice:....................... All On
Low batt Action:.........................Sleep......................... Do Nothing=0
Reserve Batt Level:........................7%................................ 7%
Graphics Settings:......................Max Batt Life.................Max Perfomance
then hit Apply and ok then it save and X out of the screen.
Also you may want to invest into a laptop cooler with a built in fan
I have made my own that runs off its own PSU all it is, is an old 12volt DC CPU cooler fan from and old pc and also bought some metal mesh and bent it in to a laptop stand then used 2x 8/32 nuts bolts and washers and moundted the fan on the metal mesh, if you put the laptop on your home built stand and take a look around the back you can see the laptops in take vent line up and know where you need to install the fan right on the under side of the metal mesh where the intake lines up, mark it out with a pen and then mount the fan to it, this will provide extra supper cooling, when I have finished my 8 hour DJ Set, the laptop is still cold like I just pulled it out of the bag c o l d :tribiggrin:
** I made mine for about $15.00, or you can buy one for about $30.00 and you will have a tiny pig tail wire that has a Usb plug on the end
that provides 5v Dc for the fan right from your lap tops USB power
ayhow...
apply the settings above and let us know how you make out :trirolleyes:
Dj~Ez
Radio DJ for 90.7 Fm KViT Az 12-3am
www.soundcloud.com/fnfs
also to view the home built stand look us up on Face book serach for or type in FNFS)
Start\Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings
here is how mine is laid out:
Function....................on Battery...................Plugged in
Dim Display:.....................1 Min.......................10 Min
Turn off Display:...............20 Min.......................Never
Put computer to sleep:.......3 hours.....................Never
then click on save changes, then click on Change Advanced Power setings and Adj. the following
Function........................on Battery........................Plugged in
Turn off hardisk:.................9999............................Never=0
Wifi:................................MaxPower saving.............Max Performence
Sleep:..................................9990..........................Never=0
Allow Hybrid sleep: all off....................................................
Hibernate after:...................360Min........................Never=0
Allow Wake timers: ..................ALL DISABLED=0
USB Selective Suspend setting: Enabled all
Power/lid
Function........................on Battery........................Plugged in
Lid Close......................................sleep.....................Do Nothing
Power button action:.....................Sleep.......................Sleep
Sleep power action:......................Sleep.......................Sleep
PCi Express pwr/managment:......Max Pwr Saving............Off=0
Min Cpu State...............................5%...........................5%
System cooling Policy..................Passive.....................Active <this tells the fan how to act>
Max CPU Rate:.............................100%.............................100%
Display was alreay covered above^
Function...............................on Battery........................Plugged in
Muiltimedia sharing:..............Allow computer to sleep for batt and plugged in...
When playing Video................Optimize pwr saving..........Balanced
Internet Explorer
Java Script Timer FREQ:.........Max PWR Saving................Max Performance
Battery:
Critical battery Alarm:...............Hibernate...................... Do Nothing
Low batt Level:............................10%............................... 10%
Critical Batt Level:........................5%................................. 5%
Low Batt Noteice:....................... All On
Low batt Action:.........................Sleep......................... Do Nothing=0
Reserve Batt Level:........................7%................................ 7%
Graphics Settings:......................Max Batt Life.................Max Perfomance
then hit Apply and ok then it save and X out of the screen.
Also you may want to invest into a laptop cooler with a built in fan
I have made my own that runs off its own PSU all it is, is an old 12volt DC CPU cooler fan from and old pc and also bought some metal mesh and bent it in to a laptop stand then used 2x 8/32 nuts bolts and washers and moundted the fan on the metal mesh, if you put the laptop on your home built stand and take a look around the back you can see the laptops in take vent line up and know where you need to install the fan right on the under side of the metal mesh where the intake lines up, mark it out with a pen and then mount the fan to it, this will provide extra supper cooling, when I have finished my 8 hour DJ Set, the laptop is still cold like I just pulled it out of the bag c o l d :tribiggrin:
** I made mine for about $15.00, or you can buy one for about $30.00 and you will have a tiny pig tail wire that has a Usb plug on the end
that provides 5v Dc for the fan right from your lap tops USB power
ayhow...
apply the settings above and let us know how you make out :trirolleyes:
Dj~Ez
Radio DJ for 90.7 Fm KViT Az 12-3am
www.soundcloud.com/fnfs
also to view the home built stand look us up on Face book serach for or type in FNFS
)
Damn, that seems fairly complicated... :sqerr:
Perhaps you could just use Rockit instead -- we aim to please, your aim will help
Perhaps you could just use Rockit instead -- we aim to please, your aim will help
its really not that complexed, once you open up the power setting config window its all there on the screen for ya all have to do is adj. it to the above configuer post that I laid out for ya, it sounds complex but it really aint unlass you one of them guys that knows how to turn on a computer and thats it. Oo lol
Kinda like driving somewhere in your car, and getting a flat tire, are you just going to sit there on the side of the road and call someone to come out and take the flat tire off and put the donut on thats sitting in the boot/trunk... or... are you going to do it your self and fix it in no time?
in any case, I think before you start any dj'ing on any computer, you should really get to know the in's and outs and how to's of your p.c, that way if something dose happens, you know how to eather get around it, or fix it...
or you can just sit there and shake you head :triwink:
if your laptop system is just a typical standrd, it will also have the typical power settings config. if you don't adj. them settings, then you may experience typical trouble issues, I have been around pc's for many years and kinda know my way around them, I may not know everything but if you learn someing then its not a waste of time learning it in the firat place and learing is a good thing to learn is to have knowledge...
Dj~Ez
Kinda like driving somewhere in your car, and getting a flat tire, are you just going to sit there on the side of the road and call someone to come out and take the flat tire off and put the donut on thats sitting in the boot/trunk... or... are you going to do it your self and fix it in no time?
in any case, I think before you start any dj'ing on any computer, you should really get to know the in's and outs and how to's of your p.c, that way if something dose happens, you know how to eather get around it, or fix it...
or you can just sit there and shake you head :triwink:
if your laptop system is just a typical standrd, it will also have the typical power settings config. if you don't adj. them settings, then you may experience typical trouble issues, I have been around pc's for many years and kinda know my way around them, I may not know everything but if you learn someing then its not a waste of time learning it in the firat place and learing is a good thing to learn is to have knowledge...
Dj~Ez
Relax DJ ez that's just Rick being Rick... selflessly plugging Rockit and poking some fun at ya... he is a board sponcer and pretty darn good at making very easy to use DJ software... just thought you might have missed the wink
its all good, I am kinda new here but I want to be helpfull, and if I can help someone out, well you know what I mean, its all good my friend, and tnx for the reply..
Dj~Ez :trismug:
Dj~Ez :trismug:
I doubt it is the cooling... most of today's laptops can run audio all day long with no issues. My guess is it is either
- the VDJ software coded to shut off after x amount time on the home version
- VDJ is hogging system resources and not freeing it up when not needed
- some other process running on your pc is hogging memory
- the VDJ software coded to shut off after x amount time on the home version
- VDJ is hogging system resources and not freeing it up when not needed
- some other process running on your pc is hogging memory
Wipe the laptop - Fresh copy of OS with the latest drivers - latest stable release of VDJ.
And don't install Advanced System Ripoff. The more you have running in your systray, the more issues you'll have.
And don't install Advanced System Ripoff. The more you have running in your systray, the more issues you'll have.
if you wipe the laptop, the basic settings will be inplace and you still need to reconfiggure them as I pointed out at the above post
I would try reconfigguring the computer before doing a total format and see how it works out.
*** GEEK POST ***
DJ~EZ-TIP:
Alot of thought has gone in to this 2nd posting so enjoy...
:yoreading: Thoughts :yoreading:
if and when you need to format the HARD DISK DRIVE (HDD), make the HDD in to two Partitions, that way you can store your music in the 2nd Partition (D:\), so if you have to format the C:\ (Drive), your only formatting the 1st partsision that contains the Windows Operating System (O/S), and leave the 2nd partision alone, so you don't format the D:\ at all ( Also in this case, your CD Rom Drive will be E:\ ...Next drive/device EG: usb memory stick) will be F:\ and so on...
heres a simplefied table Below,
if you have to format the HDD, pop in the Windows Xp or whatever windows O/S you happen to be using, please also note you Must have the W/O/S/A key
Please note, I am doing the from memory... so there may be other screens involved, where you would normally have to click agree or I accept, or OK or input the date/time and password/user name ETC ETC...
after booting the pc, it will ask you to push a key from the keyboard to boot from CD rom, follow the on screen promps...
a menu will be displayed asking if you want to install a fresh copy of windows or if you would like to repair windows, select INSTALL FRESH COPY...
follow the on screen promps....
then it will ask you where you like to install the O/S this is the part where you can format and Partition your HDD, once you see the HDD screen, click on tools
EG: HDD Total Size 320GB, Partition 0 Drive 0 = C:
click on Tools
Click on Make new Partition
make it say {125GB}
now you will see:
Drive 0, Partition 0 = C: Size 194
Drive 0, Partition 1 = D: Size 125Gb {unformatted}
Reserved space for O/S 1Gb <leave this alone>
Now format the Drive 0 part. 0 [194gb} this is where you Need to install the O/S, to the C:\ follow the on screen promps to install windows, this will take about an hour or so...
you also may be asked to re-boot a few times, ask to input a pass word/user name, and at the end it may ask for a windows key code
Once you get to the windows desk top, open up My Computer you will see the following drives
C:\
D Unformatted drive
Right mouse button on the unformatted drive icon (ONLY) and select FORMAT
this will open up a small window, format the drive in NTFS and you can use the quick format (place a tick in this box) and hit format, A prompt will ask you are you sure you want to format this drive and its contains click YES...
Once complete, you now have a 2nd hdd Partition, make a folder called Storage and in that folder called Music then add all you sub catigerys/Genre folders
go back to storage make a new folder call it Videos
go back to storage make a new folder call it Pictures
go back to storage make a new folder call it Programs Etc Etc Etc... you get the idea...
your not done yet,
I would recomend to install the drivers for your system EG display, Wifi/network (NIC)
once you have installed the first two drivers above you can set up your computers internet connection or wyfy (wifi) and normally you can go to your computers make model website EG DEll.com type in the Service number located on the side or back of your computer or click your make/model of computer and select by type from the site and down load it and save it guess where go into your new drive D:\Storage\ make a new folder and call it Computer Drivers
once all complete you may need to restart or shut down and restart you will also need to do all the micro $oft updates, and may need to get 3rd party software EG: a quick list from my installed programs:
Adobe Flash
Advanced system care
AVG
Direct X
GTK +2.10.13 run time Env.
IObit and tool box
Java
Micro$oft Net Frame 1,1 & 4
Mouse Driver
Mozilla fire fox
I.E 9
MS- Visual C++
MS Silver light
Real player
Smart Defrag
Spybot
VDJ 7-Pro
Winamp
Winzip
Win Rar
save all them file to D:\Storage\Progrmas
Now IF and When you need to format your HDD Only format the C:\ part and all the rest is saved on the other Part including all your divers and everything in the storage folder and its safe, but I do advase a back up of your files, if you have another HDD you can use a SATA/IDE Dongle to USB and just copy your files over to the other HDD, or you if you have a DVD buner you can make a CD ROM of D:\ but its limited to 7.5 GB or 20 gb depending if you get dual layer DVD writer, so thats a few CD Roms to have, or you can use a USB flash drive but again your limited to the GB it is capable of storing... personaly I would use a 2nd HDD and store it out of the way until you back up your files abt once a month but as a word of notice hdd's can fail.
Good luck
Dj~Ez
I would try reconfigguring the computer before doing a total format and see how it works out.
*** GEEK POST ***
DJ~EZ-TIP:
Alot of thought has gone in to this 2nd posting so enjoy...
:yoreading: Thoughts :yoreading:
if and when you need to format the HARD DISK DRIVE (HDD), make the HDD in to two Partitions, that way you can store your music in the 2nd Partition (D:\), so if you have to format the C:\ (Drive), your only formatting the 1st partsision that contains the Windows Operating System (O/S), and leave the 2nd partision alone, so you don't format the D:\ at all ( Also in this case, your CD Rom Drive will be E:\ ...Next drive/device EG: usb memory stick) will be F:\ and so on...
heres a simplefied table Below,
if you have to format the HDD, pop in the Windows Xp or whatever windows O/S you happen to be using, please also note you Must have the W/O/S/A key
Please note, I am doing the from memory... so there may be other screens involved, where you would normally have to click agree or I accept, or OK or input the date/time and password/user name ETC ETC...
after booting the pc, it will ask you to push a key from the keyboard to boot from CD rom, follow the on screen promps...
a menu will be displayed asking if you want to install a fresh copy of windows or if you would like to repair windows, select INSTALL FRESH COPY...
follow the on screen promps....
then it will ask you where you like to install the O/S this is the part where you can format and Partition your HDD, once you see the HDD screen, click on tools
EG: HDD Total Size 320GB, Partition 0 Drive 0 = C:
click on Tools
Click on Make new Partition
make it say {125GB}
now you will see:
Drive 0, Partition 0 = C: Size 194
Drive 0, Partition 1 = D: Size 125Gb {unformatted}
Reserved space for O/S 1Gb <leave this alone>
Now format the Drive 0 part. 0 [194gb} this is where you Need to install the O/S, to the C:\ follow the on screen promps to install windows, this will take about an hour or so...
you also may be asked to re-boot a few times, ask to input a pass word/user name, and at the end it may ask for a windows key code
Once you get to the windows desk top, open up My Computer you will see the following drives
C:\
D Unformatted drive
Right mouse button on the unformatted drive icon (ONLY) and select FORMAT
this will open up a small window, format the drive in NTFS and you can use the quick format (place a tick in this box) and hit format, A prompt will ask you are you sure you want to format this drive and its contains click YES...
Once complete, you now have a 2nd hdd Partition, make a folder called Storage and in that folder called Music then add all you sub catigerys/Genre folders
go back to storage make a new folder call it Videos
go back to storage make a new folder call it Pictures
go back to storage make a new folder call it Programs Etc Etc Etc... you get the idea...
your not done yet,
I would recomend to install the drivers for your system EG display, Wifi/network (NIC)
once you have installed the first two drivers above you can set up your computers internet connection or wyfy (wifi) and normally you can go to your computers make model website EG DEll.com type in the Service number located on the side or back of your computer or click your make/model of computer and select by type from the site and down load it and save it guess where go into your new drive D:\Storage\ make a new folder and call it Computer Drivers
once all complete you may need to restart or shut down and restart you will also need to do all the micro $oft updates, and may need to get 3rd party software EG: a quick list from my installed programs:
Adobe Flash
Advanced system care
AVG
Direct X
GTK +2.10.13 run time Env.
IObit and tool box
Java
Micro$oft Net Frame 1,1 & 4
Mouse Driver
Mozilla fire fox
I.E 9
MS- Visual C++
MS Silver light
Real player
Smart Defrag
Spybot
VDJ 7-Pro
Winamp
Winzip
Win Rar
save all them file to D:\Storage\Progrmas
Now IF and When you need to format your HDD Only format the C:\ part and all the rest is saved on the other Part including all your divers and everything in the storage folder and its safe, but I do advase a back up of your files, if you have another HDD you can use a SATA/IDE Dongle to USB and just copy your files over to the other HDD, or you if you have a DVD buner you can make a CD ROM of D:\ but its limited to 7.5 GB or 20 gb depending if you get dual layer DVD writer, so thats a few CD Roms to have, or you can use a USB flash drive but again your limited to the GB it is capable of storing... personaly I would use a 2nd HDD and store it out of the way until you back up your files abt once a month but as a word of notice hdd's can fail.
Good luck
Dj~Ez