[Lowfer] Blue Screen of Death Argo/Spectran

[DTX]

Rye,

I stopped using the Cyrix cpus many years ago when I discovered how poorly
their Math Co-processor functions were implemented.  Can your motherboard
support other CPUs?  Do you have the documentation to set the jumpers and
such for the various clocks, multipliers and stuff?  If so, and you want to
try to change the cpu, I have an Intel 90Mhz cpu sitting around here out of
the motherboard (long since gone, don't know why the cpu didn't go with it
;-) that I could send you for a $1.10 postage.  On math intensive apps, it
will run circles around the Cyrix, maybe 4 or 5 times better even at the
lower clock speed.

Gary WA6DTX
----- Original Message -----
From: Rye Gewalt
To: lowfer
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 2:49 AM
Subject: [Lowfer] Blue Screen of Death Argo/Spectran


I wonder how much computer is required to make Spectran/Argo work well.  I
know that both are computationally intensive and suspect I may be asking too
much of my old 133MHz Cyrix machine (96K memory)  that I use for low
frequency monitoring.
Both ARGO and Spectran run great -- except when they crash to the dreaded
"Blue Screen of Death" .  The blue screen error data seems arbitrary so
there is no clue there and it's hard to reproduce the failures.  Sometimes
the computer will run all night and other times it crashes just after I
leave the room -- in true Murphy fashion.
Here are some of my thoughts...
1   Thought it might be the Windows 95 so totally formatted disk and loaded
new 98/ME into a system with just ARGO and Spectran.  Same results.
2.  Thought it might be video drivers (Stealth 2000 3D) and got current
versions from web.  Same results.
3.  It may not be enough machine for the Job....  but it performs well on
other stuff (but not so computationally intensive)
I am using an old Plug and Play SoundBlaster 16 (CT2940) and wonder if it
may be the problem.  I think I may stop at the local computer hack store and
buy and new PCI card with all of the current drivers etc. since they seem to
sell OEM Creative cards for about $30.  Creative calls the CT2940 a legacy
card so maybe it's the problem.  I know that setting up some of the older
cards was a real  pain with regard to interrupts and addressing.  I think
that the new ones are more disciplined.
Perhaps somebody else out there has worked this problem and might have some
experience to share.  I do know that both ARGO and Spectran run great on my
bigger machines -- so it's not a problem with the software.
Otherwise I am having a great second season LFing and am finally starting to
hear things.
Regards All
Rye K9LCJ
Springfield, VA