I am trying to record my karaoke performances using an AKG Perception 420 studio condenser mic connected to a Behringer mixer connected to a Boss Pro CL-50 compressor/limiter/gate plugged into the line in input of my Creative Soundblaster x-fi xtreme music soundcard. I am using stereo mix or what-u-hear on the soundcard which records whatever can be heard on the headphones which includes vocals and backing track played on the computer karaoke software. I record the video separately using Logitech Full HD C910 webcam and its video recording software (muting the webcam's mic) and then record the audio at the same time using the Creative audio console program. Problem is my computer keeps crashing and rebooting. Is this a RAM problem (I use 3 GB RAM) or a CPU problem (I use Intel duo quad core Q6600 2.4 Ghz) or something else? The recording manages to go through past half way of the song which is around 2 minutes and a half. Sometimes it evens get to the end of the song but rarely. I have much more success recording in 720p than 1080p.

Edited by sabathiel (09/11/11 01:50 AM)

Bump: I know jack but want to find out!

I am betting ram.

Dave.

I thought I was getting an answer to the problem when I saw there was 1 reply. LOL Anyway if the PC doesn't crash it simply freezes and everything comes to a halt meaning I have to turn off the PC.

Quote sabathiel:

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I thought I was getting an answer to the problem when I saw there was 1 reply. LOL Anyway if the PC doesn't crash it simply freezes and everything comes to a halt meaning I have to turn off the PC.

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Sorreee!

Dave.

I guess false hope is better than no hope.

Edited by sabathiel (09/11/11 08:44 AM)

Quote sabathiel:

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I guess false hope is better than no hope.

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Like...."If I didn't have no bad luck..."!

Dave. (again...SOZ!)

Hi there - what OS are you running? Try right click "my computer" - "manage" - "event viewer" and see if you have any error logs which would throw some light. Also check inside the box and see if you've much of a build up of gunge which would cause overheating and that your fan/heatsinks are firmly attached - give it a hoover. Finally try Memtest 86 (http://www.memtest.org/)- you basically burn it to a cd, boot off the cd and let it run. That will tell you how your RAM is.

Good luck.

^^^^

You might try disabling automatic restarts in case the error screen sheds any light on the problem. (Probably varies with OS, but Google will show you how.) Is this the only application which causes the restarts...? If so, it's more likely a software problem than a hardware problem. You could make sure you're running all the latest drivers for your A/V stuff, or try a clean reinstall.

On the other hand, if the restarts happen randomly, it's more likely power/RAM/overheating/drive errors...(done a disk check...?)

Quote sabathiel:

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I am trying to record my karaoke performances using an AKG Perception 420 studio condenser mic connected to a Behringer mixer connected to a Boss Pro CL-50 compressor/limiter/gate plugged into the line in input of my Creative Soundblaster x-fi xtreme music soundcard. I am using stereo mix or what-u-hear on the soundcard which records whatever can be heard on the headphones which includes vocals and backing track played on the computer karaoke software. I record the video separately using Logitech Full HD C910 webcam and its video recording software (muting the webcam's mic) and then record the audio at the same time using the Creative audio console program. Problem is my computer keeps crashing and rebooting. Is this a RAM problem (I use 3 GB RAM) or a CPU problem (I use Intel duo quad core Q6600 2.4 Ghz) or something else? The recording manages to go through past half way of the song which is around 2 minutes and a half. Sometimes it evens get to the end of the song but rarely. I have much more success recording in 720p than 1080p.

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This is typical of an overheating problem. Open your computer, make sure all fans are turning and the CPU heatsink isn't clogged with fluff.

OS is Vista home basic 32 bit. Before the PC reboots there is this blue screen saying the computer is forcefully being turned off to prevent damage to the computer. I don't think there is much dust or dirt inside the PC because I just upgraded my CPU and heatsink + fan and the people at the computer shop would have cleaned the inside of the PC at that time when installing the CPU. I notice at the back of the desktop it is somewhat warm but not excessively warm in my opinion. I am getting a new second hand CPU this week from eBay. An Intel extreme duo quad core QX9650 3 Ghz 12 MB which is an upgrade from the current Intel duo quad core 2.4Ghz 8MB Q6600. I hope this will do the job if not maybe I will have to increase the RAM.

Quote sabathiel:

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OS is Vista home basic 32 bit. Before the PC reboots there is this blue screen saying the computer is forcefully being turned off to prevent damage to the computer. I don't think there is much dust or dirt inside the PC because I just upgraded my CPU and heatsink + fan and the people at the computer shop would have cleaned the inside of the PC at that time when installing the CPU. I notice at the back of the desktop it is somewhat warm but not excessively warm in my opinion. I am getting a new second hand CPU this week from eBay. An Intel extreme duo quad core QX9650 3 Ghz 12 MB which is an upgrade from the current Intel duo quad core 2.4Ghz 8MB Q6600. I hope this will do the job if not maybe I will have to increase the RAM.

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There's not much point in putting all that ram in if you are using a 32 bit OS - it doesn't use anything past 3gb.

yes I know about the RAM thing I was going to upgrade the OS to vista home premium 64 bit and install 6 GB RAM. But I am hoping I don't have to go that far and the CPU should solve the problem. Upgrading the OS and increasing the RAM is too much hassle because I got to go back to factory default setting and reload all my programs one by one. Changing the CPU is a simpler process.

I had a similar problem with my PC. I tracked it down to the thermal paste
had deteriorated over the years...i.e. there was none! I replaced it and been perfect ever since.
Not saying that's the problem, there are other factors but if nothing else, worth taking the heatsink off and have a look.
Cheers.

Quote sabathiel:

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I just upgraded my CPU and heatsink + fan and the people at the computer shop would have cleaned the inside of the PC at that time when installing the CPU.

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I wonder if they did the job properly? I'd check the CPU temperature while you are recording video.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Sounds like overheating to me, download this temp checker and let us know know your cpu temps etc:

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

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http://www.williammorrismusic.com

Well that's a big hint about the thermal paste solving a similar problem. When the new second hand more powerful CPU comes it will come with a new heatsink and fan as well thermal paste. I really hope this will solve the problem. I don't think the thermal paste has deteriorated though in my case the CPU was just installed 2 months ago with a brand new heatsink (which already has thermal paste on it). The thing is that in my case I can run the video recording in Full HD 1080p or 720p with the karaoke player software playing the backing track fine (with maybe about 3 minor audio split second breaks in a 4.5 minutes song. But the moment I try to run the Creative soundblaster audio recording console with the other 2 programs the PC cannot handle it and reboots or freezes. Another solution is to forget recording the video in HD but a lower screen resolution. But I want my videos to be in HD preferably Full HD. So there is obviously something that causes the PC to not be able to run all the 3 programs simultaneously.

Quote Will_m:

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Sounds like overheating to me, download this temp checker and let us know know your cpu temps etc:

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

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Does this program really can check the temp of the CPU? I looked at the link and it only says it can tell you what is inside the PC like CPU, RAM etc. I will try this if it really can check the temp of the CPU but I will have to do it tomorrow and give the result for people to comment on.

Definatly worth checking for overheating & memory problems

Just a thought:- Are you recording HD video to the PC ?

If so what format is the drive you are recording to ?
If it's FAT32 theres a file size limit of 4Gb.
You could easily be getting that sort of file size in 4-5 minutes if you not using a video compression codec.

Quote sabathiel:

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But the moment I try to run the Creative soundblaster audio recording console with the other 2 programs the PC cannot handle it and reboots or freezes.

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If the problems occur consistently when you perform certain actions on the PC, you really need to look at the event log. Sounds like it might be easier to look for a single program that can record the video and the sound at the same time...?

Quote Jumpeyspyder:

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Definatly worth checking for overheating & memory problems

Just a thought:- Are you recording HD video to the PC ?

If so what format is the drive you are recording to ?
If it's FAT32 theres a file size limit of 4Gb.
You could easily be getting that sort of file size in 4-5 minutes if you not using a video compression codec.

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Yup recording from Full HD webcam to the PC. The hard drive is NTFS and the video files are compressed so 4.5 minutes Full HD is around 450 MB. What do you mean by memory problems? RAM problems?

Quote BJG145:

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Quote sabathiel:

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But the moment I try to run the Creative soundblaster audio recording console with the other 2 programs the PC cannot handle it and reboots or freezes.

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If the problems occur consistently when you perform certain actions on the PC, you really need to look at the event log. Sounds like it might be easier to look for a single program that can record the video and the sound at the same time...?

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I will try and look at the event log as someone already mentioned that here and told me of how to do it. I just wouldn't know how the interpret the data but I can always posted it here for others to interpret it.

Yeah I originally tried recording video and audio using the one program which is PowerDirector 10 Ultra but there are minor audio glitches such as 3-5 times audio split second breaks within a 4.5 minute song if recorded in HD which is annoying if I want to post my videos on Youtube for my karaoke cover performances. So someone suggested that I record the video and the audio separately and then join them together. Yes the audio and the video are smooth with no glitches but this method leads to the PC freezing or crashing if recorded in Full HD.....less of a problem in 720p HD but still not 100% reliable.

Quote BJG145:

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Quote sabathiel:

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But the moment I try to run the Creative soundblaster audio recording console with the other 2 programs the PC cannot handle it and reboots or freezes.

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If the problems occur consistently when you perform certain actions on the PC, you really need to look at the event log. Sounds like it might be easier to look for a single program that can record the video and the sound at the same time...?

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This is what I got.

Event type/ last hour/ 24 hours/ 7 days/ total

critical/ 0/ 0/ 1
error/ 190/ 471/ 3,648
warning/ 1/ 89/ 233/ 21,648
info/ 50/ 4,568/ 7,469/ 62,054
audit success/ 36/ 946/ 1,564/ 40,062
audit failure/ 7/ 246/ 414/ 4,961

error details mentions Windows Media Player Networks and WMI a lot
critical says something about source: kernel power


I have no idea what these things mean.

Edited by sabathiel (09/11/11 12:00 PM)

Quote sabathiel:

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Quote Will_m:

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Sounds like overheating to me, download this temp checker and let us know know your cpu temps etc:

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

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Does this program really can check the temp of the CPU? I looked at the link and it only says it can tell you what is inside the PC like CPU, RAM etc. I will try this if it really can check the temp of the CPU but I will have to do it tomorrow and give the result for people to comment on.

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Hi sabathiel!

Yes, Speccy provides a readout of the current temperatures of your CPU, graphics card and each hard drive.

I recommended it to SOS readers back in my January 2011 PC Notes column, where you'll find this screenshot showing all these details:



www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan11/articles/pc-notes-0111.htm

It really is important to check temperatures periodically rather than guess and hope, and it's incredibly easy

Just report back if anything's significantly above 60 degrees Centigrade, as this could well be the cause of your problem.


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

So I take it that the CPU temperature is to be measured whilst performing the task that is causing my PC to crash? Thanks for the information to everyone who has posted comments and tried to solve this problem of mine. I will download and install that program tomorrow morning and report back what the situation is.

Just open speccy when you boot up, check the CPU temperature and possibly the graphics card too then start the process that is causing the restarts. Keep checking in speccy to see if the temps are rising too much.

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http://www.williammorrismusic.com

My old Athlon based pc had this problem & it was the PSU on its way out.

Quote mick.n:

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My old Athlon based pc had this problem & it was the PSU on its way out.

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And how can you tell if the PSU is on its way out?

Quote sabathiel:

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Quote mick.n:

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My old Athlon based pc had this problem & it was the PSU on its way out.

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And how can you tell if the PSU is on its way out?

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Lacking test equipment, swap another one in.

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Quote sabathiel:

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Quote mick.n:

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My old Athlon based pc had this problem & it was the PSU on its way out.

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And how can you tell if the PSU is on its way out?

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Lacking test equipment, swap another one in.

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They cost a lot of money on eBay and I have no idea which one is the correct one for my PC. I guess I'll tell the computer shop to test the PSU when I ask them to install the CPU that is coming. I just hope they won't charge me too much for the test. The cost of installing the CPU is $50.

I woke up today and did a test to find out what the CPU temp goes up to. I turned on the PC and notice the CPU temp started at 39 C. Graphics card at 41 C. Motherboard at 15 C. Hard Drive at 37C. Then I started the 3 programs and the first recording was successful all the way to the end of the 4.5 minutes song. The CPU temp peaked at 54 C towards the end of the song. The graphics card peaked at 47 C. But the video when I was previewing was choppy and did not get many of the scenes as if it was edited. I did a second recording which was successful even after previewing it with the little clicks (around 14 times throughout the 4.5 minutes song) on the video which was recorded without audio anyway. The audio recording of the song have no flaws at all whether that is the vocal or the instrumental backing track. The second time around the CPU peaked at 56 C. But then I realised the first 2 takes was recorded in small file 1080p file not medium or large files. The small file meant the 4.5 minutes song's file size was aroun 150 MB. If it was medium size file it would go up to 320 MB and if it was large size (lossless) file it would go over 500 MB. The third take the PC screen froze after around 1 minute (CPU temp was at 50 C) into the song and I have to reboot the PC manually. I took a 10 minutes break and then went for a 4th take at medium file size. It went all the way to the end and the CPU temp peaked at 52 C but when I clicked the stop button for the video recording that blue screen appeared saying the PC is rebooted to prevent damage to the PC. It looks like the CPU doesn't have an overheating problem because it never went over 60 C.

Yeah, I'd also look to test the psu at this point. Random freezes can point at the psu having small power dips that's hanging the system. How old is it? I'm guessing if it was new with the computer then we're looking at least 3 years and that would put it in the firing line for an upgrade regardless.... the PSU itself isn't full of dust is it?

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ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

I agree with Pete - none of those temperatures are particularly high, so it’s not the CPU overheating.

Swapping out the PSU would confirm whether or not the current one is being temperamental


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

I think I've found the culprit. It seems that the reboot and the screen freezes were caused by two mics being on at the same time. The webcam mic was on although muted while the audio was being recorded through the studio condenser mic connected to the mixer through to the line in of the Creative sound card. Now I simply turn off the webcam's mic and let the webcam video recording software record everything through what-u-hear (stereo mix) and let the audio recording program do the same. Later during editing I just delete or turn off the video's audio and substitute it with the audio recording. I have recorded this a few times in large lossless high quality files and there was no problem at all.

Quote sabathiel:

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I think I've found the culprit. It seems that the reboot and the screen freezes were caused by two mics being on at the same time.

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Well you do surprise me!

I've never heard of anything like this before

If it's true then it points to some sort of driver conflict, but I'm not convinced that you've solved your problem just yet.

Fingers crossed though!


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Quote Martin Walker:

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Quote sabathiel:

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I think I've found the culprit. It seems that the reboot and the screen freezes were caused by two mics being on at the same time.

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Well you do surprise me!

I've never heard of anything like this before

If it's true then it points to some sort of driver conflict, but I'm not convinced that you've solved your problem just yet.

Fingers crossed though!


Martin

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Hmm?Well I know diddly but if you have turned something "off" surely you have just dropped the CPU demand a gnat's and the system might crash at the next demand spike?

Dave.

Quote Martin Walker:

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Quote sabathiel:

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I think I've found the culprit. It seems that the reboot and the screen freezes were caused by two mics being on at the same time.

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Well you do surprise me!

I've never heard of anything like this before

If it's true then it points to some sort of driver conflict, but I'm not convinced that you've solved your problem just yet.

Fingers crossed though!


Martin

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Well to be accurate it is more than just turning the webcam's mic off. It is more like going to the recording properties on Vista and then disabling the webcam's mic. Before I did this the recording properties were set to webcam's mic being set as default device and what-u-hear being enabled at the same time. I have since then recorded in Full HD mode 5 times with no trouble whatsoever. Now I just have to do a proper recording meaning I have to sing for the whole song and not just simply record the karaoke backing track playing on the PC onto the video. I don't know if this have any bearing on the no rebooting now but I turn the recording volume down quite a lot on the mixer so the record level do not reach the red lights.