For the past month, since I started using my new HTPC, I was getting odd performance problems that were not on my older, slower computer. Most were display problems, but both computers had the same video card, the Radeon 9700 pro.
On my new HTPC, I could NOT get VMR9 to run in Zoomplayer. When I tried, I would get a lockup that would force a hard reboot.
On my new HTPC, I could not get smooth WM9 to play on anything but Windows Media Player.
Other lockups on the HTPC included trying to use HDTV2MPEG. I would too often get a lockup when I added a .tp file to the list. Theatertek would also lockup.
So today, I looked closely at the ATI settings and Powerstrip. The first thing I noticed in Powerstrip's Adapter info is that the HTPC had transfer mechanism disabled (no DMA) and that no system memory was being used. A simple thing to check, really, and my old computer had both available.
It turns out that (for some reason) the Smartgart in my video setting had fastwrite turned off. Simply turning that on, and then rebooting solved all problems. DMA was activated, and now the card has system memory available.
Best of all, I can now use Theatertek. HDTV2MPEG doesn't lockup. I can play WM9 files in ZP. As an added bonus, I can also play HDTV (.tp .ts) files in WinDVD player (much more robust that MyHD player).
So... if you have ATI Radeon, and your computer supports fastwrite, by all means use it. I don't think I have ever done something so simple that fixed so many problems.
On my new HTPC, I could NOT get VMR9 to run in Zoomplayer. When I tried, I would get a lockup that would force a hard reboot.
On my new HTPC, I could not get smooth WM9 to play on anything but Windows Media Player.
Other lockups on the HTPC included trying to use HDTV2MPEG. I would too often get a lockup when I added a .tp file to the list. Theatertek would also lockup.
So today, I looked closely at the ATI settings and Powerstrip. The first thing I noticed in Powerstrip's Adapter info is that the HTPC had transfer mechanism disabled (no DMA) and that no system memory was being used. A simple thing to check, really, and my old computer had both available.
It turns out that (for some reason) the Smartgart in my video setting had fastwrite turned off. Simply turning that on, and then rebooting solved all problems. DMA was activated, and now the card has system memory available.
Best of all, I can now use Theatertek. HDTV2MPEG doesn't lockup. I can play WM9 files in ZP. As an added bonus, I can also play HDTV (.tp .ts) files in WinDVD player (much more robust that MyHD player).
So... if you have ATI Radeon, and your computer supports fastwrite, by all means use it. I don't think I have ever done something so simple that fixed so many problems.
