Major Frame Dropping problem, since converting to NTFS

[drb1973]

Converted my drive from FAT 32 to NTFS using the "convert" tool in XP, up until this point i could capture with no dropped frames (via firewire) using Pinnacle Studio 8 and WINDV, but only 4gig at a time.

When i try and capture with either of these pieces of software under NTFS the dropped frame counter just starts going mad.

I have gone into task manager and shutdown tasks i do not need, my hardrive is set to ultra DMA and i have shut down virus protection, firewalls etc. i have even changed the desktop setting by reducing resolution and colours.

Is this something to do with the NTFS conversion or is it just a coincidence?

Any help would be appreciated.

cheers

[daamon]

Hi drb1973,

This link might be of use. It's a "sticky" in the "Capturing" forum...

[guns1inger]

Have you defragged the drive ? Fragmentation can be a side effect of the conversion process due to the change in block sizes etc.

[lukearndt]

That's strange -- I've been having a similar problem to yours. Up until the past couple of weeks, I have been using Windows 98 SE (with FAT 32, of course). I upgraded to XP, formatted all of the drives to NTFS, and now I'm having problems capturing. I have a 7200 WD 160 GB hard drive that is my capture drive and an 80 GB drive as my main drive -- where XP is installed. The problem is my computer seems to be much more susceptible to dropping frames. For instance, simply browsing the web will increase the drop frame total, whereas in 98 I had no such problem. I might drop 130 or so frames after capturing 15 minutes, and the number dropped seems to increase by five or so every little bit. If I leave the computer totally alone while capturing, I'm able to get the video with no dropped frames. I'm just wondering what's causing the computer to be more sensitive!

Here are my specs:

P4 2.4 GHz
768 MB DDR ram
C: drive - 80 GB (Windows XP)
D: drive - 60 GB
E: drive - 160 GB (capture drive)

The DMA settings are correct. I disabled system restore for both the D: and E: drive.

If anybody has any suggestions, I would very much appreciate it!

Thanks,

Luke

[guns1inger]

Turn off the indexing services and any others not required. These may not show up in the process list.

[lukearndt]

Thanks for the suggestion. I gave that a shot, but that didn't seem to help. I even tried capturing to my D: drive, with a similar problem with dropped frames.

This is really baffling!

[MpegEncoder]

Converted my drive from FAT 32 to NTFS using the "convert" tool in XP, up until this point i could capture with no dropped frames (via firewire) using Pinnacle Studio 8 and WINDV, but only 4gig at a time.

When i try and capture with either of these pieces of software under NTFS the dropped frame counter just starts going mad.

I have gone into task manager and shutdown tasks i do not need, my hardrive is set to ultra DMA and i have shut down virus protection, firewalls etc. i have even changed the desktop setting by reducing resolution and colours.

Is this something to do with the NTFS conversion or is it just a coincidence?

Any help would be appreciated.

cheers

The allocation unit size that "convert" uses is terrible. It's best to do a clean install and get the allocation unit size set to a larger value.

[lukearndt]

Any ideas what is going on? I've done virus scans, spyware scans. What's weird is I seem to drop frames regardless of what I do. I can have nothing open and I will drop frames. To complicate the matter, I can be opening and using a LOT of programs while capturing and it won't seem to affect the capture. It seems to just drop frames when it wants to...

[cellmaniac]

Is it possible that since Windows XP is more of a CPU and memory hog over W98 that it is causing the problem. Do you need to find XP drivers for your capture card?

[lukearndt]

Hmm.. I don't know if I need XP drivers for the card. I believe I'm just using the built-in firewire drivers. It shows up in Device Manager as "Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller."

[ZacMan]

If I leave the computer totally alone while capturing, I'm able to get the video with no dropped frames

I've always left the computer totally alone while capturing. I've done it this way since 98SE and still do it with XP.

The firewire drivers for you card appear to be correct. You should be using the standard drivers that come with Windows.