Lots of crashes

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ariaaudio
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Lots of crashes

Post by ariaaudio »

Picoscope v5.15.16, 3206, XP Home, Dell Dimension B110.

Getting a lot of crashes in psw32.exe

It's unclear what sequence of operations is causing them. It does seem that once the timebase is set to something fairly slow, like 200ms or less, and trigger to "none," changing anything, like vertical sensitivity, just causes a hard crash in psw32.exe.

After that, PS won't load again, getting only partway through the splash screen then locking. If I launch Taskmanager (ctrl-alt-del) then launch PS, it shows psw32.exe using 99% of the CPU, and it will stay that way all day. TM can't be launched at all if I first try to launch PS. Either way, the computer needs to be restarted before PS will launch successfully again.

Also, once the timebase is set slow enough, only one channel gets displayed. In Standard or Chart mode, only Channel B gets plotted when the timebase is 200ms/div or less. Channel A does not display until I get to 100ms or faster.
-- mike elliott

ziko
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Post by ziko »

Hi Mike,

I cannot recreate your problem, could you try this on another computer and see if you have the same problem? Also try downloading our latest software, 5_16_2. In terms of using a large amount of CPU time this is normal.

Let me know how you get on.

Kind regards
Ziko

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ariaaudio
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Post by ariaaudio »

Thanks, Ziko - it's early in the morning here and I'll get on to some of your suggestions a bit later in the day. I wanted to add that I just added a second video card to this computer, an Nvidia GeForce FX5500, so we could run two monitors. The new card took over as Primary monitor, and the integrated video card (Intel 82865G) became the Secondary.

It doesn't matter whether the scope window is on the primary or secondary monitor: both problems (crashing, and "only Channel B shows with timebases slower than 100ms/div" problems persist.

Two Questions:

1. Is one supposed to uninstall the old software before installing the new? or just install on top of the old?

2. You're saying that 99% CPU usage when PS hangs on launch is normal?
-- mike elliott

ariaaudio
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Post by ariaaudio »

Two more tests

1. Removed the Nvidia card and went back to standard integrated card, single monitor. At 100ms/div timebase, Channels A and B both displayed. Selected 200ms timebase and only Channel B displayed. Tried turning Ch B off, and psw32.exe crashed.

2. Restarted computer. Installed 5.16.2 software. Relaunched PS. At 10ms timebase, everything fine, both channels displayed. Selected 200ms timebase, psw32.exe crashed.

It's not a video card issue, and the latest software didn't help. This is a quite new computer, just got it a month ago, and all it does for a living is run XP Home, Firefox, and Audio Precision (APWIN) software. None of those are loaded when I'm trying these PS experiments. According to Task Manager, the only running application is PS. I have shut down all the little system tray background apps (like Google Desktop, my firewall, automatic backup proggie, etc.) and psw32.exe still crashed.

I'll try another computer later today. If I need to buy yet another computer to run PS I'm going to be fairly annoyed.

Would it do any good if I emailed to you the .pss file?
-- mike elliott

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Post by ziko »

Have you got a dual core computer?

You don't have to uninstall the software before installing the newest one. I only say this if a customer is having a problem. High CPU usage can be high but not at all times, on my system I am getting approx 50%.

Kind regards
Ziko

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ariaaudio
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Post by ariaaudio »

Hi,

It's not a dual-core, it's a cheap and cheerful Dell Dimension B110

http://tinyurl.com/2pn4ux

Please re-read my post. The 99% CPU usage occurs after psw32.exe crashes and an attempt is made to re-launch PS.

In that condition, PS does not launch completely, it stays on the splash screen, and stays there forever. CPU usage for psw32.exe at that time is 99% and would stay that way forever, also, if the process were not terminated. However, Task Manager can't terminate it -- the computer needs to cycled off and on again to end the process. This problem may be fixed in the latest software upgrade -- PS still only shows Channel B when the timebase is 200ms or slower, and it still crashes if I try to change any setting when the timebase is 200ms or slower, but PS does seem to be relaunchable without it hanging.

No other programs are having any trouble at all -- at least the ones we run on that box.

Right now I am trying to look at how a regulated voltage changes in response to Mains voltage variations. I need both channels to work, chart recorder mode, 1s/div timebase. All I get below 200ms is one channel, and PS wants to crash if I try to change any settings. None of these problems are occurring when the timebase is 100ms or faster.
-- mike elliott

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Post by ziko »

Hi i did read your post, perhaps I should have been clearer.

It all depends on what you are doing and what product you are using and on your computer these can all contribute to your CPU usage. If you are on a really slow time base then you will get a higher CPU usage even up 99%.

The software works in 2 modes, streaming and fast block mode, on time bases on 200ms or slower it is on streaming mode, so at least we know this is where the problem lies.

However I cannot recreate your problem. What I can suggest is if you can try this on another PC and see if you still have the same problem. In the meantime I shall investigate this.


Kind regards

Ziko
Ziko

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Guest

Post by Guest »

I also had some problems with the software freezing whilst showing the splash screen. I had to unplug the PS from the USB-Slot, to kill the process in the task manager.

Your initial problem would still remain, but perhaps you won't have the annoyance to reboot your computer all the time.

Chrigl

Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi,
I also suffer from "crashes" whilst using the software PSW.32, I usually find that it happens if I change timebase settings or voltage settings whilst the scope is running, the screen just freezes and i have to unplug the scope and restart it.
I could be using it for an gour and have 3 or 4 "crashes" in that time.
My laptop is brand new with more than enough capability !

Regards
David

Guest

Post by Guest »

I have also had a crash or two when I change settings while the scope is running. This on a Amilo dual core 1.66GHz with 1GHz RAM.

Sure would be nice to be able to change settings while the scope is running since it can be usefull when searching for signals of unknown frequency.

/Peter

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Post by ziko »

Hi, I have attached the latest dll which should solve your problem, let me know if you are still having problems and we shall do our best to resolve any issues promptly.

Kind regards
Attachments
ps3000.zip
(237.17 KiB) Downloaded 769 times
Ziko

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ariaaudio
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Post by ariaaudio »

Sorry -- it's still buggy, no change. When running at 200ms or slower, it only shows channel A, it still crashes when any settings are changed, and ps32.exe can't be relaunched until the process is terminated, and Task Manager can't terminate it, the computer needs to be rebooted. Since the fix seems to be to get another computer, even though this is a new clean one, it will be less expensive to purchase a hardware scope.
-- mike elliott

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markspencer
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Post by markspencer »

Hi,

I am sorry to hear that you are still experiencing problems, since the above download was posted the ps3000 driver has been improved, the driver that you need is version 3.2.8.0, which is available in the new download.

Best regards,
Mark S
Attachments
ps3000.zip
PS3000.dll Driver version 3.8.2.0, ps3000.h, ps3000/lib
(245.98 KiB) Downloaded 736 times

ariaaudio
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Post by ariaaudio »

Sorry - I wish I had better news for you, but this version behaves exactly like the previous one. PS is unusable with timebases of 200ms or slower.
-- mike elliott

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Post by markspencer »

Hi,

I am sorry to hear that you are still experiencing problems, I have tested the ps3000.dll version 3.2.8.0 with the latest Picoscope release 5.16.2 and could not get the software to become unstable.

Please could you provide a screen shot of the Help | About from Picoscope with the device connected. Can you also provide the steps that you are going through to create the problems so that I can try and replicate them here.

Best regards,
Mark S.

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