problem with my laptop - picture is too jumpy

[mohen]

dear folks ,

i got an laptop pen 4 , 2.6 Ghz celeron ( yeah i know celeron is suck )
256 MB RAM ( in the next days i'mma add 500 RAM so i'll had 700 + ) - runnin on windows XP home edition SP1 .
i just bought the Grand Av USB 2.0 - hardware for capturing video and audio throught USB .
anyway , i connect it to my computer - the software is work alright , but the picture is so jumpy . i mean , i can see like 4 sec out of 10 ... it's just get stuck , and sometimes it's goin smooth for couple of sec and it's getting stuck again .
i tried everything , cleaning my computer .. defrag it , virus scan , other softwares ( same results ) , going through this forum and didn't find the answer too .
now , i know i need to enable the DMA , but the problem that i don't got DMA on my hard disk ... so i go to the bios , but i don't know what to change ...
that's what i see :
LBA MODE CONTROL : ENABLED
32 bit i/o : DISABLED
transfer mode : epio4/dma2
ultra DMA mode : mode 5
smart monitoring : enable

plus some of you said that the computer need to be on 24 or 16 bit instead of 32 ... but in my GRAND AV USB 2.0 it's said it must be on 32 bits .

please help me out with this one

[upshot]

One thing you have not mentioned is what sort of graphics core your laptop has (GPU)... If you are previewing the video while you are recording, I would bet your processor is being overworked....

This is the reason I use IUvcr with my 1.8 P4 running onboard GPU.... It allows me to turn off the preview while capturing.

This is only scratching the surface though. It also depends on what codec you are trying to capture. Different codecs will demand more/less of the CPU during the capture.

I'd also bet that many here will blame the USB interface... There has never been alot of praise for USB capture. Are you sure your laptop is USB 2.0 (1.1 will simply not cut it)?

[mohen]

hey thank you very much for the software .. i'll buy it tomarow.
now, how can i check if i got that GPU ... ?
plus my computer is not overworked... i ran defrag , antivirus , clear everythin in my status bar , and then restart it ... ( there is manual here i did as it told ) .
and yep ! my laptop is USB 2.0 ! if it was 1.1 i wouldnt even see a pic ..
my computer is pretty new i think
thnx for your comment mate .
anticipating for the next

[mohen]

for some reason when i start the application ( IUvcr ) it's got an error msg : Eaccessviolation ... dunno what is that mean ..

plus i heard i should go to Device manager -> Controllers -- > Pri channel properties -- > advanced .. and change it to DMA IF AVIABLE . now i change it but the transfer mode still stand on PIO MODE ... any ideas how to change it ? and is it worth tryin to change it ?

[mohen]

or any other good software ?

[Sillyname]

It's not a problem with your computer, it's a problem with how LCDs display fields. You need to mess with your monitor refresh rate under display advanced settings.

[mohen]

well i got only one choice there
60 hertz (and a box says that , not showin' the hertz the computer cant show to not make any danger to the hardware )
but i got another lcd that i can plug to my computer ... maybe it will work .. but i don't think it's the problem , cause i use virtualdub i can see much better , but still every 5 frames there is like 100 dropped ! it's krazyyy

[redwudz]

Well, I'm a little confused, but let me summarize.

USB 2.0: Good, that should work fine.

GPU: Asking what video processor you have. Control Panel>Display>Settings>Advanced>Adapter.

LCD: 60HZ refresh is normal for a LCD laptop, nothing to do with capture anyway.

DMA: If for your harddrive, ULTRA DMA 5, normal. Not a problem. But if you see in your Device Manager that DMA is not enabled for your harddrive, could be a problem. Normal advice is to delete that channel and let Windows reinstall it.

CPU: 2.6 Celeron, 256MB ram, OK.

It seems to leaves your capture device as the problem.

[upshot]

I still think he's dealing with a GPU with shared memory that does not cut it... That's typical of consumer laptops. Therefore the system has to take up the slack (cpu and paged memory on the primary HD) which is causing the choppy video and dropped frames....

[winifreid]

So try capturing without viewing and then view your capture afterward. What codec are you using? Try capturing at a lower resolution and bit rate.

[Sillyname]

OOPS!

I went off on some tirrade that had nothing to do with your trouble. Sorry.

[mohen]

okay , i install a new windows XP SP2 pro !
and right now i got 768 RAM ( 702 with the 64 MB of the display card ) on 2.6 celeron - mobile computer .
i check out my GPU and this is what i got
RADEON IGP 345M (internal DAC 350Mhz)
now i use the software i get with my Grand AV USb 2.0 , and it still not workin ..
i mean , the picture is too jumpy .... unbelieveable.
i'm amazed that after i upgrade my computer it's still like that

[redwudz]

I have a similar GPU in my laptop, a Radeon 320. I don't think it would be a problem. I don't have USB 2.0, so I have an PCMCIA USB 2.0 card. That is one option if your on-board USB is the problem.

I would try the USB capture device on a different computer and if that works, maybe a add on USB 2.0 card would work better.

[mohen]

i don't think it's a problem ...
right now , when i preview the video ! it's look pretty good ! but when i rip it , it's missing frames.
i tried dr. divx that record without preview , but still it's missing frames ....i tried pinnacle and ulead softwares too .. no luck ....
and virtual dub is pretty complicated even tho it's missing so many frames - it just immposible too watch