A communication error with Pulsar2 (brd 0) has occured.

[dynamixii]

I keep getting a hi pitched ringing noise and find a dialog box from win7 saying:



System error

A communication error with Pulsar2 (brd 0) has occured. This problem can normally be corrects by reloading the DSPs. DO you want to try that?



Anyone know whats going on? I am using ableton latest greatest and win7 32.

[garyb]

i hate to say it, but that card may have failed.

reseat the i/o plate and clean the contacts and pray...

[dynamixii]

I clicked yes and it reloaded em but has been doing it for the past few days I will pull the crd out clean the contacts and re seat it. I had it on 24 48 when it happened also going to try and switch to 16 441

[dynamixii]

I can't imagine my world without sonic core...

[dynamixii]

Update Gary, seems that everything works perfect when I am in 16 bit 44.1 mode it only does this when I'm in 24.48 bit mode and using my card as the master. Does this mean my 24/48 section on my card is toast? any suggestions>?

[garyb]

no, that's strange.

you might inspect the board carefully. if any of the caps(little cans) look distorted or leaking, that might be the problem. anyone familiar with electronics should be able to replace anything that's obviously bad. if it's anything else, just use it until it fails is probably all you can do.

did you reseat the i/o daughter card? i think that is the part of the entire card that has the clock...

[Music Manic]

I had this happen years ago and all is still ok now.

I think it had something to do with the z-link device. Try opening SFP without anything linked, either software or hardware.

Maybe check your drivers aren't corrupt too.

[dynamixii]

I had this happen years ago and all is still ok now.

I think it had something to do with the z-link device. Try opening SFP without anything linked, either software or hardware.

Maybe check your drivers aren't corrupt too.

MM, can you elaborate on this? when you say without anything linked do you mean attached to my mixer in the routing window or the outputs of the card which are connected to the a16 ultra. but the ultra is not on so I have the card set as the master clock at present.



Thanks in advance for your help!


DII

[Music Manic]

Hi dynamixii

Take all the leads out that are attached to the card. Make sure your card is seated in the PCI slot properly.

The communication error could just be an OS error which pops up occasionally.

Try changing the samplerate settings too.

It was so long ago but I think it was to do with z-link and the OS. I have A16 ultra too.

Sometimes the cset.ini file plays up. Do you have just one board?

[dynamixii]

I have just one pulsar pci card and a a16

[Music Manic]

Have you tried the different sample rates without the A16 attached or try a different PCI slot.
It sounds like a software prob to me.

Reload scope and its drivers.

[dynamixii]

I disconnected all the routing points in the routing page and all problems went away.
I am beginning to think that this is a UE (user error) lol Maybe I have something improperly configured here! Ill update you asap!

[Music Manic]

I disconnected all the routing points in the routing page and all problems went away.
I am beginning to think that this is a UE (user error) lol Maybe I have something improperly configured here! Ill update you asap!

Yes I remember removing the connections to the mixer and it disappeared.
Try re-installing a fresh version of scope so you know no files are corrupt.

[dynamixii]

Did that and the error seems to be gone but im still getting crackling and i set up the routing page so that all there is is a midi source form the sequencer then a multimax to a small mixer then out of the stereo out of the mixer to the stereo analog outs.

I think it could be an irq problem I have a gigabyte ga-p35-s3g the scope card is in pci 1 and the uad is in pci 3

Is there something I need to configure in the bios for the pci irqs? Maybe this is a question for Gary I believe he recommended me that card because it has 5 pci slots and i still have my uad 1 and scope pci card ...

[garyb]

no, not bios irqs.

there are important things in the BIOS, the Basic Input Output System, in other words the basic set of instructions that are needed for all the hardware and software to communicate.

the assignment of the irqs, the Interrupt ReQuests, is also imprtant. since the cpu can only do one thing at a time(quadcores can sometimes do four), every process that hardware and software requires the cpu to calculate must INTERRUPT the cpu from continuing with it's present task. this must be done in a very orderly fashion. some things can wait for an extra cycle of interrupts(the next time their ticket number comes up), some things cannot wait. with Real-Time Audio, anything involving the cpu means a buffer, since Audio can't wait. if the buffer runs out before the next chance to talk with the cpu and there is consequently missing data in the realtime stream, you get a pop or a click.

as in the letter that came with v5.1, in the bios(you may have already done this) disable any of these things, or anything that is obviously the same, but slightly differently named:

Intel EIST
Intel C State
C1E Support
Overspeed Protection
Hyperthreading
Execute Bit Support
Set Limit CPUID MaxVal to 3 (maybe not so important)
Intel Virtual Tech
Intel VT-d Tech

[garyb]

go to start\programs\accessories\system tools\system information\conflicts/sharing and tell me what, if anything is sharing an IRQ with Scope hardware.

[garyb]

in windows 7 go to start\control panel\power options click on "change power settings". make sure that sleep is "never". click on "change advanced settings". open PCI Express and turn off "Limk State Power Management"(especially for XITEs). i like to set the minimum and maximum level for the CPU at 100%. ok it all.

the reason for the bios changes and the power changes is to insure the the cpu is always 100% on. realtime audio does not have time for the power to the cpu to ramp up, as windows believes the software requires.

for the cards, i would go to the device manager. in XP it's in start\control panel\system\hardware tab. in win7 go to start. right click on computer and choose properties. click on device manager. find the Scope hardware and choose properties. uncheck "reset board if idle". that way if you leave the computer unattended for an hour or two, windows won't decide to cut power and make you have to restart scope and reload dsps.

there are actually a number of ways to get to these settings. if you already have a way you like, use it.

you can also click on the "advanced tab" in xp or advanced system settings and then the advanced tab in win7. push the performance "settings" button. choose adjust for best performance. this will give you plain win98 type windows, but it will save a TON of overhaed that the fancy windows graphics waste.

[dynamixii]

I/O Port 0x0000A000-0x0000AFFF Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
I/O Port 0x0000A000-0x0000AFFF NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

I/O Port 0x00000000-0x0000000F Direct memory access controller
I/O Port 0x00000000-0x0000000F PCI bus

I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

Memory Address 0xF7000000-0xF9FFFFFF Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
Memory Address 0xF7000000-0xF9FFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

IRQ 23 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 293A
IRQ 23 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2934

I/O Port 0x0000B000-0x0000B007 Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
I/O Port 0x0000B000-0x0000B007 Intel(R) ICH9 Family PCI Express Root Port 5 - 2948

IRQ 16 Intel(R) ICH9 Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 2940
IRQ 16 Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
IRQ 16 Intel(R) ICH9 Family PCI Express Root Port 5 - 2948
IRQ 16 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2937
IRQ 16 Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
IRQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

Memory Address 0xD0000000-0xDFFFFFFF Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
Memory Address 0xD0000000-0xDFFFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xEFFFFFFF Intel(R) 82801 PCI Bridge - 244E
Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xEFFFFFFF Universal Audio UAD-1 DSP card

IRQ 17 Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
IRQ 17 Intel(R) ICH9 Family PCI Express Root Port 6 - 294A
IRQ 17 High Definition Audio Controller

IRQ 18 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2936
IRQ 18 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2939
IRQ 18 Universal Audio UAD-1 DSP card
IRQ 18 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 293C

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF PCI bus
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

IRQ 19 Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2935
IRQ 19 Intel(R) ICH9 Family 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1 - 2921
IRQ 19 Intel(R) ICH9 Family 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2 - 2926

I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB Intel(R) G33/G31/P35/P31 Express Chipset PCI Express Root Port - 29C1
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB NVIDIA GeForce GT 520

I/O Port 0x00000290-0x0000029F Motherboard resources
I/O Port 0x00000290-0x0000029F Motherboard resources

I/O Port 0x0000C000-0x0000C0FF Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
I/O Port 0x0000C000-0x0000C0FF Intel(R) ICH9 Family PCI Express Root Port 6 - 294A

[garyb]

looks good.

i don't know how the UAD will handle sharing interrupts with usb. if you still have problems, you can disable usb controllers 2936 2939 and 293c and see if things improve.

if you have done all of the things i mentioned, your computer should work properly. if it doesn't, it may have nothing to do with the Scope card.

[dynamixii]

How do I disable the controllers? Are they in the device manager / usb ?

PS Thanks Gary for taking the time to help out you have always been a Godsend!