XXHighEnd

Ultimate Audio Playback => XXHighEnd Support => Topic started by: Stanray on June 27, 2013, 08:53:05 pm



Title: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: Stanray on June 27, 2013, 08:53:05 pm
Please place this in another thread if its too off topic.

I created two virtual drives with IMDisk:
(a:) for XXHighEnd and XXData
(b:) for Playback Drive

I did this in Normal OS.

When I start XXHE all is working fine, but when I Minimise OS the virtual disks are gone  :dntknw:

What did I do wrong ?  :scratching:

Thanks.

Stanley


Title: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: AlainGr on June 27, 2013, 10:54:08 pm
Hi Stanley,

I hope I got the question correctly... Since the ramdisk is in memory (ram), it needs to be re-created each time the pc is booted... Since Minimize OS requires a reboot, you will have to create your 2 drives again and copy XXHE and XXDATA as you did the first time...

It also means that if you modify any parameter in XXHE while using the copy in the ramdrive, you will have to copy back XXHE over the original folder (on the physical drive) and (I guess) XXDATA also...

There are different scenarios that can be prepared to spare you the trouble each time. One of them could be a "batch" file...

Maybe a thread for this could be started (Peter ?) :)

Regards,

Alain



Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: PeterSt on June 28, 2013, 07:29:41 am
Quote
Please place this in another thread if its too off topic.

Couldn't be more :offtopic:
So I did. :)


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: Stanray on June 28, 2013, 09:41:42 am

I hope I got the question correctly... Since the ramdisk is in memory (ram), it needs to be re-created each time the pc is booted... Since Minimize OS requires a reboot, you will have to create your 2 drives again and copy XXHE and XXDATA as you did the first time...

It also means that if you modify any parameter in XXHE while using the copy in the ramdrive, you will have to copy back XXHE over the original folder (on the physical drive) and (I guess) XXDATA also...

There are different scenarios that can be prepared to spare you the trouble each time. One of them could be a "batch" file...


Thanks Alain,

I was confused because I used the RAMdisk program in the past.

RAMdisk however saves a disk image at shutdown and loads this image at startup. Not so with IMdisk. . .

Stanley


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: AlainGr on June 28, 2013, 12:15:41 pm
Hi Stanley,

I think Imdisk can do the same, but I haven't explored this aspect of things yet. I took a different path with a batch file that creates the ramdrives each time I boot. But I have to click on the batch file each time... It can also be put in the Task Scheduler...

Regards,

Alain


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: phantomax on June 28, 2013, 12:25:48 pm
Maybe someone can help with this, is advisable cosume 3 Gb  in RAM discs on a PC with 6Gb only (I could expand up to 8 Gb)? I expected better sound with the ImDisks but I think it sounds slightly worse. A compromise solution I am going to try is use a single 1Gb IMDisk for XXHE and we'll see.

Maxi


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: AlainGr on June 28, 2013, 12:53:15 pm
Hi Maxi,

I can't tell if adding 2GB of ram will improve SQ, but it would probably not make things worse :)

I have set my ramdrive at 2GB (I have 16GB ram), but I do not put a lot of music in a row. Of course, this is just me, but all depends on how a person prefers to play his music :)

Regards,

Alain


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: christoffe on June 28, 2013, 01:22:13 pm
Strange,

in August 2011 it was recommended to remove the RAM disc for a better SQ, and now ................. .

http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1601.msg16126#msg16126

Joachim


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: PeterSt on June 28, 2013, 02:17:04 pm
Joachim,

I won't say it is easy to so, but if you follow ALL what's written about it, you will see that there's much context.
This starts (today) with Windows 8 and quite some derivals of that.

So it's not much useful to refer to years back, plus - without reading - the reason to not use a RAMDisk per the topic you linked to has a context just the same. This already starts by everybody using 64 bits today, while back then this was not common at all and not more than 4GB could be in a system anyway.

So it is not so difficult to understand how views can change. And how environments change which make views change. And how an OS can encourage for it. And ... blahlahblah.

Regards,
Peter


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: nik.d on June 28, 2013, 03:31:44 pm
@stanrey

Stanley, there is ImDisk Toolkit with which you 'll be able to load RAMdisk at computer startup.
Link: http://reboot.pro/files/file/284-imdisk-toolkit/

However I could not make it load two disks - similar to Dataram's (RAMdisk) free software limitation(s).

Simple solution to that: Install & run both apps :)
Dataram's app needs be installed while in full OS.

There's no need keeping content (creating disk image) of Playback drive - it's content is emptied while exiting XXHE.

Suggestion:
As IMdisk is regarded 'better' or simply faster than Dataram's one, use Dataram's RAMdisk for XXHE and XXData folders
and ImDisk for 'Playback disk' role. Back in 2011 it was advised to format this disk w/ smallest cluster - 0,5KB NTFS.

George


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: AlainGr on June 28, 2013, 05:22:57 pm
Hi George,

I was not aware of this toolkit - but thanks !

In the meantime, I do have 2 ramdrives as presented by Peter - one being for playback and one for XXHE and xxdata. As of yet, I haven't done anything about data recuperation, so nothing is saved between reboots since all sits in ram and I have concerns about what to recuperate without risking to generate errors...

I am preparing a batch file with a little documentation to allow for ramdrive creation. As of now, it will be minimalist, with space for improvement through time.

I will do this in the following times and post it in the "Playback Tweaks" category. Sorry if it takes some time though, because doing something for myself and suggesting it to others has its limitations (...).

Regards,

Alain


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: christoffe on June 28, 2013, 05:23:54 pm
Joachim,

I won't say it is easy to so, but if you follow ALL what's written about it, you will see that there's much context.
This starts (today) with Windows 8 and quite some derivals of that.

So it's not much useful to refer to years back, plus - without reading - the reason to not use a RAMDisk per the topic you linked to has a context just the same. This already starts by everybody using 64 bits today, while back then this was not common at all and not more than 4GB could be in a system anyway.

So it is not so difficult to understand how views can change. And how environments change which make views change. And how an OS can encourage for it. And ... blahlahblah.

Regards,
Peter

Ok, there is another link

http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1592.0

As far as I can remember, the OS was not the main issue for a minor SQ, it was the storage media.

Joachim


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: PeterSt on June 28, 2013, 05:32:19 pm
Hey Joachim,

So indeed, Storage Media which I don't use.
Do you get it now ?
(no probably not, because you missed that; but no worries ... but no discussion either. :) :))

Regards,
Peter


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: CoenP on July 02, 2013, 09:58:20 am
@stanrey

Stanley, there is ImDisk Toolkit with which you 'll be able to load RAMdisk at computer startup.
Link: http://reboot.pro/files/file/284-imdisk-toolkit/

Hi,

I installed one IMDisk with this tool and check "launch at Windows startup", than I mounted another IMDisk with the "IMDisk Virtual Disk Driver" utility.

I don't know if the above has anything to do with it, but both drives are installed at the WIN8 boot. Bug or feature....?!

If you are into using the two IMdisk drives than this could be convenient.

regards, Coen


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: nik.d on July 02, 2013, 10:28:49 pm
Hi Coen,

Nice finding. I'm using 'Primo Ramdisk'. With IMDisk another utility - 'Rawcopy' is needed to keep RAMdisk(s) content
over PC restarts. Task Manager is not running in minOS for process automation so I went 'easier way' :)
 
Brds,
George

Edit: 
Oups, Task Scheduler IOF Task Manager :)


Title: Re: RAMDisk disappears while going into MinOS
Post by: CoenP on July 02, 2013, 11:09:13 pm
Hi George,

I have an official Primo licence, but found IMdisk to work as well and is a little easier to setup. I have created the imdisks with two .img files with the first checkbox checked in order to save changes in the virtual disk  to their corresponding files.
Actually IMdisk created the files, I only set the filename (with .img extension).

This works like a charm in min OS. I now only use the IMdisk as playbackdrive.

Regards, Coen