Uninstall Completely

[crisnee]

Peter,

I think you should either create an uninstaller that completely removes XX... and all its components from the system, or at least tell us where all the parts are in the registry and where ever else scattered about the computer. 

I've had continuous trouble with 09-z2. Some of the problems (all in attended mode) include :

1. Not playing at all, no error message.
2. Playing one or two pieces and then no sound although the bar keeps moving, no error message.
3. Locking up the whole system when clicking on next track.
4. Locking up the whole system at various times when I click on a second button when the first didn't respond.
5. Taking five minutes (literally) to start a new track and then stalling a track or two later.
6. Great desire to throw chair through monitor

I didn't have these problems initially and got it running pretty well although never completely smoothly. What I didn't have was lock ups and eternal waits which led me to think that something was corrupted somewhere along the line. So, uninstall etc. Well...

I've un-installed and reinstalled, gone through the registry and cleared what I could find, all to no avail. I could tell by the XX's reaction (it remembered settings) that I hadn't found all the pieces. And XX kept having the same problems.

I've finally given up on it and went to 9-y8, which so far is playing well except for a tiny tick at the beginning of tracks. It does exhibit one similar problem to 9-z2. When I hit Next track nothing happens, if I then click play everything locks up, program doesn't respond etc. I have to wait 5 minutes or more until anything responds again, can't even get to task manager. So I'm thinking this version might share a registry entry or .ini or whatever file somewhere that hasn't been cleared.

So please let us know how to completely uninstall this lovely sounding (I think, I get so nervous expecting it to blow up it's hard to enjoy completely  ) bugger.

Chris

[PeterSt]

I am very sorry to hear about these problems Chris. And I don't recognize a single bit of it ...

There is no install, so there is also no uninstall. If you have found registry entries then they must be of a general kind, like from wich location the program has been started the last time or whatever Windows registers from programs. The only thing which does install since 0.9z is those two little OCXes, and they are in "Phasure OCX". So you can uninstall them from Software/Programs or however it is called on your system.

But there is this : How to delete a misbehaving ConfigFile
and I think you really should do that.

Next, you will be having a "Data" folder - you can point at it in the Settings Area. Create a new folder for that and don't copy the contents of the old one to it. Point to that new one in the Settings Area.

Does that help ?
If it does, please copy the files one by one (try again after each one) to the new Data folder. At one of the files it will stop working again. Which one is it ?

5 minutes to start one track is totally crazy; should be 5 seconds at most, but merely 1 second.

Let me know what happens (and don't throw your chair through your monitor yet ).
Peter

[crisnee]

Hi Peter,

I just read your response, thanks. I'll look into that sometime in the next few days... weeks... years.  Since I've finally got XX working reliably using 09-y8, I'm not too eager to muck about with 9z anytime soon. Plus I can actually see the controls on 09-y8.

And speaking of controls, is there a help section in this version? (The wordy tool-tips disappear before I'm done with them) If not, is there a way to pause them on screen?

Chris

[crisnee]

One more thing Peter--unless it's more.

I have a suggestion, that if applied would be helpful to me and possibly a number of others. Write a short version of basic instructions for computer literates, like for the delete-config-file, or how-to-install section.

Why? Take delete-config-file instruction. Many of us just need to know where it is (which dir) which one to delete if there's more than one, what to edit if anything, and any other steps. We don't need to know how to do each step.

For me, your long instructions are confusing and headache provoking. The other day when re-installing XX I decided to look through your install instructions; I thought you'd mentioned something unusual about installation. Well it was a nightmare trying to find anything because of millions of screen shots, and billions of words. Since I was looking for about 5 of said words I gave up and fudged it with head throbbing. (Some may find slight exaggerations in the above, others will not--I'm thinking martians for instance)

Don't get me wrong, The long version is fine for computer noobies, or the lost. But it would be soooo! helpful to have a short succinct version, at the beginning. It should take no time at all to do and with anything new you write it could serve as your outline for the nooby version. You could put a skull and cross bones near the succinct version and warn noobies off.

And just for your info, I have no idea what you're talking about in the Delete-Config-file instructions (I'm impatient with all instructions but particularly when they involve Dutch screen shots). The computer that has XX on it is not on-line so I can't look now, but I'm guessing that I'll figure it out if I can find those/that config file.

Chris

[PeterSt]

Haha, some people ...

But what about ctrl-f and looking for those words in your mind, once you found back the topic concerned ?
Btw, when it is about dutch screen shots, I always took care of "referencing" it such that one will be able to see what it is about. Ehhmm, *if* you try to follow from the start ...
Anyway, right now it is as it is, so I can only tell you that you must be able to deal with it, if you're only not too much in a hurry ? (but how isn't).

About those tooltips ... If it could be done that they stay as long as I like, I would have done it. But this is why I created it like it is in the last 0.9z version (not the first !). Again I can imagine you don't like to go there at this moment, but anyway this is why it was created in that version ... just for your particular complaint.
Maybe you can make screenshots of some sort ?

But your remarks are appreciated Chris, and whereever I can (like in the eventually coming manual) I will think about small summ-ups.


Allright. Do you have a clue what you did to have it workable again ?
Thanks,
Peter

[crisnee]

But what about ctrl-f and looking for those words in your mind, once you found back the topic concerned ?

Normally I would, but my ctrl key had too much wine. 

Btw, when it is about dutch screen shots, I always took care of "referencing" it such that one will be able to see what it is about. Ehhmm, *if* you try to follow from the start ...
Anyway, right now it is as it is, so I can only tell you that you must be able to deal with it, if you're only not too much in a hurry ? (but who isn't).

I've always had trouble following instructions (reading manuals) my eyes cross and my head cramps; and I've been a computer tech/consultant since Apple computers first made their appearance. It's not because I'm in a hurry, instructions are usually so poorly written, I find it quicker to figure things out on my own. Unfortunately that does not always turn out to be true... but hey...

About those tooltips ... If it could be done that they stay as long as I like, I would have done it.

You must have the latest tool-tips in a file somewhere. Maybe you could post them or email them to me, and we/I could figure what belongs to what, and what doesn't apply to the version we're using, and use them as a manual of sorts. In fact if you send them to me, I'll put them together in a manual like fashion. I'll note what applies to what, and send a copy back to you.

Allright. Do you have a clue what you did to have it workable again ?

I haven't gotten 9z working. I haven't tried. If you're referring to 9-y8. It worked immediately when I installed and did for another day or so. Then it acted up too; same problem; long times, 2 minutes to start, stops in the middle of a song, locks up the system while getting ready to play and after closing (x-ing) XX the system remains unavailable for minutes.

So, without the help of the del-configfile-instructions (he mentions proudly) I found and deleted all of them, just left the empty Phasure folder, and deleted all recent files that had been modified in the last few minutes, cleared out the XXdata folder. Rebooted. Prayed--I'm a pagan.

Restarted 09-y8; settings stuff again, propelled My Bloody Vanlentine to the playlist, clicked play. It didn't look good, of course I'm using 9y not the snazzy new 9z (I think I actually prefer the clunky old school 9y look). But it didn't sound good. Nothing. No sign of life. I let it roil for a bit--it would be nice if XX showed that it was working so one wouldn't be tempted to click play again (which makes things much worse); but I digress. We can all thank my patience, because after 2 minutes? Music, er Bloody, Loveless.

Things got better from here.    I stopped and closed XX, restarted, no wait time, and later again, no wait. I have my fingers crossed. (I'm thinking that the time XX took at first may have had to do with reconstructing all the files that I deleted, although I think that's probably stretching it a bit.
 
Peter, I was at the J River forum recently. (I have their program too; I didn't know about yours or). I noted in a response to a post that there are people out there who believe that pc background activities etc. going on during music rendering influence the sound. The response "They're wrong." They're so eloquent and open minded over there--yes every one of them. 

Chris

[PeterSt]

Chris, suppose I ask you to choose Arc Prediction Upsampling (2x or 4x doesn't matter), untick "Copy to XX Drive", set Split File size to 60, untick "Start Engine3 during conversion", use normal Attended Playback, load one album of 10 tracks or so in the Playlist Area, and click Play on the first track (and do this only one time) ...

How long does it take for sound to emerge ?

If this is a .WAV it should be within 2 seconds. If it is a .FLAC 4 max.

Please set the things as I just asked you, and let me know what comes from it.
You are allowed to press play a second time, but then you first must quit and restart XXHighEnd for reliable results.

Peter

[Per]

Chris,

I am pretty sure you have a software conflict of some kind.

If I have Microsoft Essentials running with the realtime option checked everything slows up and comes to a halt. (Should have posted that separately - sorry Peter)

It also could be PC memory at a fault too but thats rare in my experience.

Hope my post can be of any help.

Per

[crisnee]

Chris, suppose I ask you to choose Arc Prediction Upsampling (2x or 4x doesn't matter), untick "Copy to XX Drive", set Split File size to 60, untick "Start Engine3 during conversion", use normal Attended Playback, load one album of 10 tracks or so in the Playlist Area, and click Play on the first track (and do this only one time) ...
How long does it take for sound to emerge ?

Peter, You didn't seem to notice that I said it was working correctly at the end. As to the settings you mention, those are what I use, Arc Prediction, 2x, Split size 60, (also less and 100 all of which didn't work when I used them) Engine 4, adaptive and I never tick "copy to XX Drive" and "start engine3 during conversion." The only time I clicked play a second time was when nothing happened after some time, much longer than a few seconds.

The last time I tried it and it didn't work it was with the above settings with 5 tracks chosen and it took approximately 2 minutes to start and then stopped after about a minute. No errors. If I have troubles again, I'll try it again.

Chris

[crisnee]

I am pretty sure you have a software conflict of some kind.

It also could be PC memory at a fault too but thats rare in my experience.

Per

Thanks for your comments Per. I have almost no software on this computer, never mind running. It's neither connected to the internet nor a network, I even have various services related to networking disabled. This pc is just meant for music and occasional word processing, so no virus or malware apps either. So there's not much to have a conflict with. I do run J River Media Center on it (not at the same time) and have had no problems with it.

The boot up memory test doesn't show any memory problems, but maybe I should find a memory test utility, just to check it out more thoroughly.

Thanks again for your thoughts Per.

Chris

 

[Per]

Sounds like a good idea to have a dedicated music pc. I can see that you are running Vista 64 bit on it. If my memory serves me correctly 64 bit versions have caused more comments / problems in here and generally than 32 bit - driver software conflicts? - but that might be a thing of the past.

Good luck chasing down the problem.

Per

[crisnee]

Well Peter,

I just started up the pc with XX and went to play music not expecting a problem since it worked nicely earlier today. Wrong. All the settings were as per your request except "split file size," was at 100. Music mp3. As soon as I realized it was going to be slow again I started a timer.
 
hard disk light on almost constantly
3:41 plus about 20 seconds to start timer, so about 4 minutes in all for music to start.
hard disk light on almost constantly
played the whole first piece, 2:05 long (2 minutes 5 sec) and stopped.
hard disk continued with frantic activity
I could do nothing in XX, (I tried to high light another piece in the playlist)
hard disk continued with frantic activity
A few minutes later the hard disk activity stopped
clicked play on the same piece I played at first, it played immediately as did everything else
Very little hard disk activity now that music is playing normally

That's the full report.  It's 3:00 A.M.

Chris

[PeterSt]

Well Chris, Good morning then.

Ok, let's assume for now that your Split File size of 100 is doing this to you (but you may try to proove that when you're recovered from all this).
Please notice : this (100 or larger) should be totally harmless, BUT you may run out of memory. In yout case though, it looks as if the Swap file is addressed, and it should NOT. Or better put : I anticipate on that not happening, which is merely because I never saw it happening, PLUS it wouldn't make any sense to cut a "one memory job" in two, hence put half of it to the swap file (it should be all or nothing).
But what if your system contains the "intelligence" to do so afterall ? It would be swapping in and out for relatively ever, until all other stuff is swapped out, and then at last you are free to go. Unworkable of course.

If the above is the case can be proven by chutting off the swap file (virtual memory). If would then bring you an out of memory instead (or just a crash because out of memory can not always be reported because of the lack of memory hehe).

Anyway it is highely unlikely that this is the case (again, it just shouldn't), so what can we think of next ?

The MP3 conversion is just another thing which should go in 2 seconds or so, but notice (for your testing) that once it has been done, it is cached. This is why quitting and restarting XXHighEnd at a next attempt (of testing) should be in order; then the caches are gone.

If you can proove it is about the MP3 conversion (or porrible any other conversion) opposed to a plain .WAV (if you have a few to test with), we at least know in which direction to look. That is, at this moment I don't know what else to look for. Fact is I never heard of such a thing.

Ehm, unless you have less than 2GB of internal memory ?!

Peter

[crisnee]

Ehm, unless you have less than 2GB of internal memory ?!

Peter

Ehm, I have 4GB, but who's counting.

It's not the 100 split, because I've had the same problem with a 26 split and a 45 split. And I've not had the problem at times with 100 or bigger when using XX several times, closing it and using various pieces of music.

Having said all that, I think I might be on the trail for real this time. However, I shall not say more until I've gotten XX to work for several days. I will report back one way or the other in a few days.

Did you miss/forget about my request about tool-tips? About posting them as a file or sending a copy to me?

Thanks for racking your brain Peter; I truly appreciate it. 

Chris

[PeterSt]

Did you miss/forget about my request about tool-tips? About posting them as a file or sending a copy to me?

I certainly did not, but it isn't there in any convenient way, and who am I to imply a lot of extra work from you only because you offered it ? But I will send it to you. No obligations !!

Peter

[crisnee]

Did you miss/forget about my request about tool-tips? About posting them as a file or sending a copy to me?

who am I to imply a lot of extra work from you only because you offered it ? But I will send it to you. No obligations !!
Peter

It's the kind of thing I enjoy doing. Assuming I can make heads and tails of it I'll be glad to, but it may take some time.

Chris

[PeterSt]

Hi again Chris,

I was just working on something that let output those ToolTips in a "readable" fashion for you, but had some problems doing it right. Btw, it is based on asking for a ToolTip first. But then I saw that just copy (Ctrl-c) the selected text from the Help Area does exactly what I wanted to make for you, except you'll have to paste it yourself in your own text (which obviously has to be done somehow anyway).

So, wouldn't that suffice ?

Peter

[crisnee]

Peter,

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean. Do you mean "activate a tool-tip and then click Ctrl C, to copy. Will that automatically copy the tool-tip? I'll try it when I get to that computer; if it works, good. Or, if I misunderstood let me know.

I just thought you that you must have the tool-tips lying around in a file somewhere on your computer. You don't recreate them for every version of XX do you?

Chris

[PeterSt]

Chris, the ToolTip Texts are in the program itself, and unformatted to your eyes (and techniques to get them out).

I meant : Activate a ToolTip, go to the Help Area where it is visible, select all, and perform Ctrl-c. Then paste into something else.
Of course this works with 0.9z-2, but you'll have to go there anyway at some stage (but maybe wait till 0.9z-3).

Peter

[crisnee]

And when would 09.z3 be chuggin roun, de bend, approx, massah Peter? I jus' might dare'de try'er agin (z2)  yessuh, if dat lon'some whistle ain't gonna blow fer'while.

Ok, so I had too many drugs; no no don't call the coppers, jus 

Chris

[PeterSt]

Better don't do that now hehe

0.9z-3 will be One of These Days.