I think Im' having hardware problems during conversions

[johnharlin]

Yesterday I reported I was having trouble converting a 2 hour mpeg4 video to DVD and that each time the conversion would stop short. I used several different programs and each one would not just stop short of the conversion but also shut the program down which I thought was really weird. Sometimes it would not just shut the program down but also make my four SATA drive partitions disappear. My bootup drive is IDE. I wanted to be running only on my 1 terrabyte Raid 1 SATA drives but I could not get my bios to recognize them. I'm using a SATA 1 controller card that I installed about a month ago and my hard drives are SATA 2. Somehow booting with the IDE drive lets the computer recognize the SATA drives. Still, all does not seem right. Sometimes when I have the video editor up, the computer just shuts down. My purpose in all of this was to get more hard drive space since I only had a total of 70 gigabytes. If I render shorter videos I have more success though even then it can stop short. Is this a controller card issue or a Raid 1 issue or is it something else?

Well, I'm going to test my theory and try to make the mpeg4 to DVD conversion on a friend's computer and see what happens.

[redwudz]

My first thought would be CPU overheating, but it's sounding more like a RAID controller issue, or less likely a failing drive, loose or bad cable, or the card is loose in the socket. I would check all those. But I would also check CPU temps with Hardware Monitor or similar to rule out CPU overheating or power supply fluctuations. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

What RAID controller card are you using? It may have a marginal part that is affected by heat. Try running once with the PC side cover off and a desk fan directed in there and see if you can finish the encode. If so, check the card for problems or consider replacing it.

Possibly the reason your RAID wasn't recognized as a boot drive was that the controller card BIOS needs to load first. Sometimes you have to use a floppy to install the BIOS for a card. But I wouldn't use a boot drive for encoding or capturing as the OS has to access it all the time, and that can lower performance.

[johnharlin]

Thank you. I downloaded the hardware monitor but I have no idea what readings are good and what are bad.

I used my friend's computer overnight and successfully converted the mpeg4 video file to DVD using AVS Converter which I also used on my computer with no success. I definitely have a hardware problem on my computer. That can really be maddening. You think your settings are wrong or you think it might be the software but it ends up being the hardware.

I've had a little bit of a problem with my cards going in right because the screws don't perfectly align with the card sockets. When I screw the cards in it causes the outer part of the card to move out. -- So many weird problems. It might be something else too. I can only make assumptions and hope I'm right.

One reason I couldn't get the controller card to work with just the SATA drives is because I couldn't load the drivers because Windows XP will only let you install the drivers by floppy and nothing else. Without those drivers installed it won't boot up because it won't recognize the hard drives. I have used 3 different floppy drives but I can't get any of them to work. I don't think this floppy drive ever worked to begin with but I can't remember for sure. I do have a USB floppy drive I was using for my now broken laptop. Maybe I can use that one. In any case, I'm getting so moved in now with more and more things installed every day that it might be really tough now to switch. That's not to mention the down time which could end up being many days.

[Nelson37]

How many drives total and what is the wattage of your power supply?

The fact that it just shuts down when bringing up the editor is very important. There should not be major drive access at this point. Describe IN DETAIL what EXACTLY the editor is doing or loading when it opens. Loading the previous project, perhaps?

The issue with the card fully seating in the slot is most likely caused by board flex. Three possible fixes - remove the mainboard and install standoffs in the center positions to support the middle of the board, OR physically apply upward pressure when installing the card, either from underneath the mobo if accessible or by pulling on the slots themselves, OR bend the metal bracket so that the leverage on the far end of the card is reduced.

IMO it is extremely unlikely that THREE (3) floppy drives are all failing to function. Double-check cable connections and/or use a new floppy cable.

[johnharlin]

I have three hard drives installed. One IDE for boot and two 1 terrabyte Samsung sata 2 drives in a failsafe raid 1 mode. I also have two DVD drives installed. My power supply wattage is something like 380 watts.

It doesn't really shut down when bringing up the editor. It just shuts down sometimes at random and sometimes during the video conversion process. My cards seem to be in pretty tight now because the last time I messed with them about a month ago I got pretty mad and forced them in as best I could.

I have a pretty slow Pentium 1.6ghz processor that I'm told is not even supposed to get very hot.

I think I did try a different floppy cable. I spent like about 8 hours one day trying to get the darn floppy to work but I never could. I also remember disconnecting the dvd drives and other hard drives in case there was some kind of limit to the number of drives.

I don't know about all of you but I feel like every day I use a computer I have at least a dozen issues to deal with - software or hardware. I have a number of video software questions right now.

[Nelson37]

Simple diagnostic steps. Boot into BIOS setup and just leave it there, overnight or so.

If it shuts off, unplug a drive or two and test again.

"Something like" 380 Watts?? They print the numbers right on the PS in fairly large print. If that's the best you can do, coupled with the three floppy issue, I am sorry but this tends to indicate that you have no clue and any information you give cannot be relied upon.

Your power supply is weak and the PC is obsolete. You can probably find an upgrade processor sitting by the side of the road. The whole box minus the new drives is not worth $50.00.