What reason for sudden slow encodes?

[nomorecoasters]

Ive read a few threads but didnt want to hijack them as a lot were for BD rips.

My problem is for dvd encodes.

I used to be able to do a full encode @7 Pass for a 7-8GB film in around 5-6 hours on a P4 Intel 3.00ghz(its not a dual core) with
2GB Ram on Windows XP Pro SP3

I was perfectly happy with this time but over the last week or so its started taking 20+hours :eek:

I was just wondering what the possible reason this could be?

Could it Hard Drive Failing as i encode purely to one HD?
Could it be a RAM failing?
Could it be CPU problem?
Could it be PSU problem?

Could it be all of the above? lol

I think i have some hardware problem as occasionally i do get a complete PC freeze, (no BSOD but just a freeze and maybe 1-5/6 times its when DVD-RB is running)

My hard Drive although new(6 months) has stopped given readings of health status via Hard Drive Inspector and a Western Digital diagnostics test couldnt help either.

I will be trying to encode to another hard drive when i get time to see if that helps.

I have run memtest and they did come back clear but im not sure how accurate these types of programs are.

Many thanks if anyone can help me out as i dont want to replace everything if i can help it.

[Taurus]

1.: DMA enabled for your HD's and /or DVD player/burner?
2.: Check with HDTach or similar program writing and reading speeds of your HD.
3.: Did you install by accident another decoder for your DVDs?

[nomorecoasters]

Thanks for replying

1.: DMA enabled for your HD's and /or DVD player/burner?
Not sure how can i check?
Although as far as im aware i havent altered any settings like this.

2.: Check with HDTach or similar program writing and reading speeds of your HD.
Tried the WD test and Hard drive Inspector but it wont read the drive, but i can still access it via windows explorer.

3.: Did you install by accident another decoder for your DVDs?

Not as far as im aware, i have insatlled DVDFab but it was for ripping so not sure if it ahs its own encoder?

[Taurus]

WinXP: control panel/system/hardware/device manager/ide or sata controller/check first and second controllers if DMA modus is enabled.
Not as far as im aware, i have insatlled DVDFab but it was for ripping so not sure if it ahs its own encoder?
Not encoder, I'm asking if you have changed the mpeg2 decoder.

[nomorecoasters]

Oh sorry no i havent changed any mpeg2 decoder(wouldnt know how to unless i have by mistake)

Ok checked the DMA and :-
Primary IDE Transfer Mode: DMA If available
Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 5

Secondary IDE Transfer Mode: DMA If available
Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 2


I have 3 hard drives, 2 IDE and 1 SATA, the SATA is the new hard drive i encode too but i couldnt see it listed?

[Taurus]

Look under scsi and/or raid controller/device info.
If you see:
Look ahead: enabled
Write cache: enabled
Current Transfer mode: Ultra DMA mode 6
Host link speed: Generation 1 (1.5Gb/s)
Device link speed:Generation 1 (1.5Gb/s)
Everything is ok.
If not, I guess you've got a VIA controller....trash it:p
Only use brands like Silicon Image or even higher priced items.
But since you've mentioned that in the past everythings worked fine
I doubt it's a software failure, more likely it's hardware bump.
Or something in your BD Rebuilder setup.

[jdobbs]

I'd look and see:

1. Am I getting close to full on the working drive (last 10%)?
2. Is the working drive defragged?
3. Do I have indexing turned on for that drive?

Any of these can slow you down to a crawl.

[Taurus]

1. Am I getting close to full on the working drive (last 10%)?
2. Is the working drive defragged?
3. Do I have indexing turned on for that drive?

Any of these can slow you down to a crawl.

Yeah, forgot about them :p
These are the first things I normally look for
and are part of the maintenance for every encoding machine.
Especially the indexer can sometimes be very annoying and disturbing on some machines.
Conclusion: Turn it off and forget it :mad:

[mariush]

Check you CPU cooler and remove the dust... make sure it spins properly at high rotation speed when you encode. It could be that your CPU overheats and throttles itself to lower frequency to keep itself within operational temperature.

[nomorecoasters]

Thanks for all your replies, but my pc finally gave up the ghost and the cpu blew!!!

I have since re-built my pc and with a new quad-core cpu encodes take around 2 hours at 7pass :)

Than ks again