computer slows/stops when AC is running <<new option in beta 3>>

[toddberk]

When backing up to my dvdrw, my Dell 8100 almost stops. I have a P4 2.5, 1 gig ram (600 free), xp home.

I installed the Adaptec utility, rebooted, and my computer does not see the dvdrw when set to aspi layer, so I am unable to try that.

I have the smooth run checked, 200 MB buffer. What else can I do? This is unacceptable because it takes too long to back up the 20 Gigs, and I can't operate my PC.

Thanks, Todd

[MichaelT]

Todd,

During the processing...

...we are doing heavy image processing of many files and this pushes the IO and processors to their limits. If we did not do this the processing would take longer. This is a processor intensive operation. If you are processing 20 GB worth of files the index become quite large and potentially 1,000s of files need to be processed with intensive inmage based computations. 20 GB is a lot of data to work through.

During the Burn...

..we are looking into this to allow more free usage of the PC during the burn. While writing the Index which is quite large, the IO system is maxing out and tieing up your machine. We have found the following workaround to be effective...

Open the task manager and set the Thread priotiry of AC to Normal from High. You will notice 2 copies of AC in the Task Manger. It is the one with the Larger amount of memory used that needs to be changed. It will only go to High after the burn has begun.

This will allow you to use your machine during the burn, but we recommend not doing any intensive work. You want as much processing available for the burn as possible.

Setting the thread priority in the Task manager should only be done if you are familiar with the Task manager, and it may or may not work on your machine.

You mention that it "takes too long to back up". How long is it taking to burn each DVD? What speed are you burning at? What type of media?

Thanks..

[toddberk]

It will only go to High after the burn has begun. TAKES A VERY LONG TIME TO CHANGE THIS WHILE RUNNING AC.

How long is it taking to burn each DVD? 2 HOURs FOR EACH DVD INCLUDING VERIFY.

What speed are you burning at? 1.5x

What type of media? DVD+RW

Thanks..
Todd
__________________

[MichaelT]

Todd,

At 1.5X the burn should take about 45 minutes and the verify about the same. It could be that the media is not perfect and is causing some reburns or re-reads during the verify. OR based on the specific # of files and their sizes this might be OK. A large Index slows the burn and verify down, so you may get better results by splitting the Archive Set into 2 or more smaller sets.

Also please note that RW is not considered an Archival media by many (including me) and should be used for short term interim backups only. For highest data integrity -R or +R should be used.

On my system I can burn +RW at 2.4X and -R at 2X. This will depend on the specific drive and media, but in the end, the burn can only happen as fast as the file data can be passed to the drive, so in many cases the burn is limited by disk IO activity which is very high when writing a large Index.

Just as a note...if you are writing a 10,000 file Archive Set, 30,000 files have to be written into the index, in addition to the 10,000 files being archived. This is not a trivial task, even for a fast machine like yours.

I hope that this information is helpful..

[darinf]

I agree.

My computer slows down SO much that it takes a LONG time for me to get the Task Manager open and change the priority of AC. If I forget to open it BEFORE I start the burn process.

Why not just have a preference to set the priority of the application during a burn?

If it doesn't work, then we can always switch back the preference.

BTW, once I put AC to Normal priority, everything works great with my Pioneer A04 using DVD-RW media.

I can do just about anything on my computer (2.4GHz Pentium 4, Windows XP) while the DVD is burning.

-Darin Fong
www.darinfong.com

[toddberk]

I second that. I have a 2.4 also, and it takes FOREVER to open the task manager. Why not just have a preference to set the priority of the application during a burn?

Todd

[MichaelT]

We have added a "burn priority" option in the beta 3 version now available here..

http://www.pictureflow.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=810

[darinf]

Thanks Michael.

I will give it a shot today.

-Darin Fong
www.darinfong.com

[Jan Brittenson]

I've had similar problems on Win2k. It'll run nicely for 5-10 seconds, burning and using about 5% CPU as indicated in the performance tab of the task manager. In the process list, AC ticks every 10-15 second (CPU usage). Then all of a sudden AC pegs the CPU at 100%, and its CPU usage ticks at 1 per second. All burning and disk activity stops. The mouse pointer barely moves (USB mouse); even the performance monitor only updates every 3-5 seconds. This suggests AC sits looping on a system call polling some status or retrying a failing operation?

[Jan Brittenson]

BTW, that's AC 2.0b2, Sony DRU500AX on Firewire, images on a firewire drive on the same card but the other port, DVD-R, 1/1.5/2x (all exhibit the same behavior), W2k SP3 with all recommended patches. P4-2.4, 1GB memory. No DHCP or MS networking. No other applications.

[MichaelT]

Jan,

Please try the beta 3 version with the High Priority option turned off.

Thanks..