A dream machine?

[l***@lindafranz.com]

If you could build a dream machine for video editing, what would you build? Do you know anyone who can build it?

I am doing 30 minute movies for broadcast and DVD, and had a new PC built for editing in September. I have been trouble-shooting ever since. The problems are endless--freezes, unable to burn DVDs, freeze on rendering, unable to boot, etc, etc, etc. Just about every possible part has been replaced, and we have done comprehensive troubleshooting using the techdocs from Adobe. The C drive has been reformatted. Nothing worked.

Today there is a brand new problem, with audio and video (linked) not playing in sync. I stop and restart playback and then it is in sync again. A DVD that I coaxed out of the system yesterday is not in sync either! This is the last straw.

This is what is NOT working for me:
Windows XP Home, SP2, with all of the updates. Adobe Video Collection, Canopus Imaginate 2.0, updated.

Intel Pentium 4 640 3.4 GHz dual processor 2MB L2 Cache
3 GHz RAM (Kingston, matched pairs for 2 GB DDR2-533 dual-channel memory, 1 GB DDR2-533 dual-channel memory)
ASUS P5AD2-E Premium motherboard
2 LCD monitors (Sony SDM-HS53, NEC 1700M+) Dual; Controller ATI Sapphire Radeon X550 Video Card - PCI Express ATI Radeon 7000 Video Card - PCI
3 SATA hard drives (10,000RPM Western Digital) (36, 74, 74)
plus LaCie Big Disk (400GB) on FireWire 800
HP 640i burner with associated Nero software (Media Player, Nero OEM, Nero Toolkit, NeroVision Express 3)
Antec SLK 1650B ATX case with 400 W power supply and 6 fans.

I need to calibrate my monitors (Monaco) but have not dared to do it on a system that is this unstable.

On paper, what I have should be enough, but it has never worked properly.

I am beyond desperate. I am tired of long days--and weeks!---troubleshooting with no success. I need something that works. This is costing me too much.

If you know of a combination that works, or can recommend a tech that specializes in building this kind of system, please respond.

Thank you,
Linda Franz
<http://www.lindafranz.com>

[S***@adobeforums.com]

Linda,

Your machine should be fine. At this point I would be suspicious of whoever
built the machine. What do they say? Can you get your money back? From whom
did you buy it.

Many problems like this are related to Video Divers. Do you have the latest
from ATI?

Steve

[l***@lindafranz.com]

Hi,

The latest video drivers are installed.

The engineer who built this system is not experienced with Premiere Pro, but he has built a lot of systems and I have been dealing with him for 5 years. He researched my needs ahead of time--thus the extra cooling, faster drives, choice of motherboard, etc. He has tried to help with all of this troubleshooting and has offered a full refund. His integrity and experinece are not in question, but he is out of suggestions for me.

I need to start fresh with something that will work from the first day.

Linda

[c***@adobeforums.com]

Linda:

As I said in your other thread:

If INCD packet-writing software is present on the system (or ANY packet
writing software, for that matter), it must be uninstalled(and only that
portion, not the whole Roxio or Nero program), not just deactivated. Even
then, some users (I, for one) report that they had to clear an upper/lower
filters key in the registry (tricky) (OR, use a program like End-It-All
or Clean Sweep to reset the registry) (OR, after uninstalling INCD, un/re-installing
Ppro). The full discourse on this is in the Pro-Wiki.




Have your computer designer research conflicts with the DVD Writer, such as the one I specifically mention above.

As Steven Cohen said, your machine sound fine, but your software may not be.

[S***@adobeforums.com]

I live in San Francisco and had a machine built from scratch by a local
outfit. I have not had any problems. I do have an NVIDIA display adapter and
have Roxio software instead of Nero. If you want to experiment, you could
try removing the Nero software as well as trying a different display
adapter. I assume you are using a normal run-of-the-mill Firewire adapter.

The problems you are having are not just related to Premiere Pro.

I considered an Alienware machine. They get good reviews. So does Dell.
Alienware probably has better tech support.

Steve > Thank you,

Post by l***@lindafranz.com
Linda Franz
<http://www.lindafranz.com>

[l***@lindafranz.com]

In CD uninstalled. No change.
Filters deleted in registry. No change.
Premiere Pro uninstalled and re-installed. No change.

I have read the Pro-Wiki and the Adobe techdocs and completed every step.

Some part of this system is not happy (fans? memory? bios? software? a combination of ??). NEW on September 29th and burned DVDs from the PPro timeline until November 3rd---although there were several other issues in bios and chipset, so motherboard, hard drive, cables were replaced. No new software or hardware was installed but on November 8th I could not burn DVDs from PPro have been troubleshooting multiple problems ever since.

I can occasionally get a DVD out of the HP 640 but the audio and video are not in sync, and I cannot repeat the burn with the same settings afterwards. (Freeze.) Same results with a test prproj with one short clip.

On Nov 11, the C drive was reformatted by the tech who built it and it did not fix the problem, even with only PPro and Imaginate installed.

Enough is enough. I am ready to start over with differnt hardware. I am looking for advice so I don't end up with a series of issues on the new system.

[D***@adobeforums.com]

Among the problems you list are problems with booting. I wonder if one of your memory sticks may be faulty? I have just spent 3 months trouble shooting allsorts of wierd symptoms on a self build and it turns out that the problem was with one of a matched pair of DIMMs, even though memtest showed them to be OK.

If you are still up for troubleshooting, have you tried running with just one memory stick at a time, trying them all out?

I used a utility called Prime95, downloadable from <http://www.downseek.com/download/7026.asp>

[Edited for typos]

[B***@adobeforums.com]

Linda I think your hardware is fine, and definitely not the problem. The only comment I can make is that you must run out of hard disk space pretty quickly. :) I have been using a bunch of quite inexpensive IDE hard drives to store finished work. When they fill up, I swap them out. I don't use them to edit from very often, although that works too.

I built my own machine two years ago. Loaded it with the usual assortment of software - MS Office, internet access, games for my daughter, etc. Couldn't get Premiere to do very much at all. I finally stripped the machine down to just the very basic stuff I need to edit video, and now it hums. While Premiere seems to want to access the internet, I don't let it do it. I download stuff onto a dreadfully slow notebook computer, and transfer what is needed to the video editing computer via a rarely used ethernet connection. As others here have recommended, make sure all drivers are up to date.

[g***@adobeforums.com]

linda,

we had freezes and all kinds of weird rendering faults after installing xp service pack 2. we had to get an update for adobe media encoder , after that the machine was ok. I cant remember where i found the update but it was somehwere on this site....

[l***@lindafranz.com]

Thanks, Gert. I think you mean <http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/333380.html> which had two solutions - installing the Adobe Media Encoder 1.1 update and installing the Windows XP Kb886716 update. Unfortunately neither one worked. They were installed last Wednesday on the newly-reformatted C drive - according to this exhaustive/ing troubleshooting log.

I started to order a new system this afternoon with a local company and was talked into letting them troubleshoot this machine first. Good attitude. His first impression when he opened the box: this is "one kickass machine" <tech talk, eh?> and that he'd like it for himself. He also complimented the tech who built it on the clean arrangements inside and the fans. We'll see if this new tech can figure out why this dream has become such a nightmare.

I passed along Daniel's suggestion about the memory, and my new tech suggested removing a gig of RAM (something that my original tech also mentioned on the weekend) - not wanting to see matched pairs of 1 gig and matched 512s in the same box. This machine it was originally supposed to have the max (4 gig) and there was a reason the ASUS could not take more than 3 ??? despite the P5AD2-E Premium specs. Anyone know about that?

He also preferred Intel to ASUS. Any recommendations here?

An initial diagnosis is due by 6pm ET. In the meantime, it is very strange not to be totally focused on fixes this aft. Apparently it is possible to live for hours at a time without troubleshooting a frozen system. Who knew?

The last resort is looming large -- to return this for a refund from my tech in Canada (a very good guy) and start over with a completely new system (suggestions?), and hope the network is still interested when these videos are finally ready.

I appreciate everyone's help in this forum, behind the scenes and publicly, and have been interested in other topics posted too. A tiny silver lining on this cloud.

Thank you,
Linda
<http://www.lindafranz.com>

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Linda, on the subject of the RAM, this may be a software issue rather than any limitation of the board. XP only allows applications to use 2Gb of any RAM installed so having more than 2Gb is potentially not going to give you any benefit.

On the subject of systems I'll say what I always say. If you're doing this for a living, get your editing system from a specialist hardware vendor who supplies turn key systems for Premiere. There is a world of difference between building a 'kick-ass machine' (which, to be brutally honest, could consist of doing nothing more than choosing the biggest and best of everything) and building a stable platform for the Video Collection. I don't need to explain the difference, you yourself are an example. How much time has these errors cost you so far? If my edit suite develops a problem I know that problem won't affect me for long. If it's not solved within 24 hours then a guy is dispatched to site to fix it or replace the machine. End of story.

How many posters to this board are using professionally supplied kit and posting technical problems? (Where they still have warranties.)

I know the cost may seem prohibitive when compared with a self-build (or self build by proxy) and I've no doubt your current machine is kick-ass in many aspects. But those aspects might well be playing Half-Life 2 or even running something like 3DS Max or Softimage. You only have to look through some of the technical postings here to see how many fiddly tiny elements can affect a Pro (or AE or Encore) installation.

It's something worth thinking about.

Jon

[l***@lindafranz.com]

Hi Jon,

That is EXACTLY what I am looking for. I don't de-bug for fun and I don't want to build from scratch. That is not the best use of my time.

Please recommend a hardware specialist vendor who can set me up with something that works.

When I called video businesses in Ontario and here looking for who built their systems, they were ALL self-built. Every single one. If I had been smart enough to know I could buy a turnkey online from a reputable firm I would have done it.

Please provide contact info of anyone you can recommend.

Thank you,
Linda

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Linda,

Good to hear you want to go that way. There are many people on this board who have very good self-builds but I don't believe it represents a wise move for a company unless that company is large enough to afford R&D on such kits.

If you were in the UK I'd have no hesitation in recommending my supplier Planet PC <http://www.planetdv.net>. I've had nothing but excellent service pre and post purchase and I can attribute their build to my frequent postings saying 'no problem here'.

While they're in the UK, they may be able to recommend someone in your region - or discuss shipping to you, although despite my glowing recommendations I'd always usually advise a local vendor.

Sorry I can't be of more specific help but anyone else I could find in your region would not be based on personal experience and as such would be largely worthless. Hopefully some other kind folk will pop up to contribute...

Jon

[S***@adobeforums.com]

I would suggest just trying the 2GB only in your system. Also the best method of testing RAM is to use memtest... <http://www.memtest86.com/> I would run this to make sure your RAM is OK. Also, I haven't heard if you have a Matrox capture card. They are great when they work, but they are very tempermental with what system you try to use it on. If you have a Matrox card. I would suggest removing it and you would have to reformat your hard drive to rid an incompatible system of its havok. Trust me I've been there.

Also, my biggest suggestion is to make sure you have an IEEE 1394 card that is manufactured by Texas Instruments. The only time I have ever had trouble (except for the matrox card) was when I tried a different brad of IEEE 1394 card. My system would freeze when I tried to use my sound card (Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS IEEE 1394 port).

A last suggestion is that since you have a dual core processor most people have been having trouble with those. I would go to your task manager and set the affinity to only use one core. I don't have any trouble with my AMD dual core, but many people are having trouble and the task manager workaround has worked for them.

Good Luck!

[l***@lindafranz.com]

Hi Steve, and all who have helped so far,

I spent more than two hours in the shop today with two techs working on the system. The memory checked out fine but we still tried running it with only 2GB RAM. No joy. Also tried uninstalling Nero and using two other DVD writing programs. No joy. It is even freezing when trying to boot or when it gets as far as the Welcome screen, or the desktop. There were several errors in the event log including one that was new to them: bucket failure? The system freezes do not show up in the error log and the reset button does not work. MANY hard shutdowns.

The system did not behave with only the C drive, with C and D, with C and E, etc. No combination worked. They are suspicious of the ASUS motherboard driver controllers but since we have already replaced the motherboard once it is hard to justify doing it again.

The system does not have a Matrox capture card so that is not the problem. I am using FireWire capture without a glitch <amazing> from a Canon GL-2. Never a hiccup on that, but I have not done any capturing for about three weeks, so who knows?

FireWire 800, 400 and 8 USB2 are built into the ASUS motherboard.

The tech who built this system has stood behind it all the way and will give me a full refund. I have been dealing with him for several years and I hate to do it but I am taking him up on his offer and looking for a new turnkey tomorrow. Have looked at Dell and
<http://www.alienware.com> and <http://www.4videoequipment.com/> and will look at others on the list at <http://www.videoguys.com/turnkey.html>

It is interesting that all of the components I have are in use on one turnkey system or another, but not in this exact combination. On this forum there are definite prejudices against Kingston memory, HP 640i LightScribe DVD Writer, ASUS P5AD2-E, etc, etc, by various users but they all show up in turnkey systems.

The local company here in Naples is also interested in quoting on a system with an Intel motherboard and Intel chip, 3 7200 drives (80-250-250 no raid), NVIDIA, FireWire 800 and 400, etc. These people have already been easy to work with (and it was quite a relief to discuss this with anyone who understood the problems) but again, they have no experience with the Adobe Video collection.

It is a difficult trade-off between local support and a turnkey designed by techs who test with Adobe video.

Is anyone out there running 4 GB RAM without problems? 3 GB?

Anyone with a favorite combination or a good experience with turnkey? Alienware is only 100 miles away but it is not clear from their web site that they have a turnkey specifically for the Adobe Video Collection anymore.

Suggestions are still welcome. Thank you to everyone who has helped so far.

Linda
<http://www.lindafranz.com>

[B***@adobeforums.com]

sounds like they may be aware of this but sometimes a bad power
supply will do wacky things. if they have it open and have a
different ps around, you might add it to the test procedures.
memory was my first guess.

[S***@adobeforums.com]

Linda,

All of these are good ideas that should be tried until you decide to throw
in the towel.

Steve Cohen

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Linda, as I'm quite sure you appreciate, it's the exact combination of elements that is part of the key to building a stable system and why blanket dismissals like 'this DVD writer won't work with Pro' are usually misleading at best.

I don't know how common it is these days but what makes it worse is when apparently identical components actually have slight differences - a different chip here, a different PSU there and so on. The delivery of my system was delayed as Matrox changed their supplier for one of the chips on the RTX.100 so presumably my RTX isn't actually identical to someone elses bought a year ago. It probably makes no difference whatever but sometimes computers are weird :) That's why I like turnkey. If it doesn't work I don't have to care why, it's someone elses problem.

Don't know if any of them will pop their heads up but I know there are several posters on this forum running 3 or 4Gb without problems. However, as I mentioned earlier, the current version of XP won't allow any single application to access more than 2Gb in any case so you it's unlikely you'll see any benefit from having more than this. There is a switch you can apply in the BOOT.INI file to force XP to give applications 3Gb but the opinion of those wiser than me in the IT world is that this is not actually doing you any good. Apparently, XP uses the extra memory for the application anyway (in some way I don't understand) and the /3Gb switch may do bugger all.

Jon