PDR8 constantly hard crashing my PC

ntechnic

Newbie Joined: May 11, 2010 00:52 Messages: 4 Offline

Solved by

May 11, 2010 01:00

This is regarding: PowerDirector Deluxe v8.00.2704

This is my basic hardware:
Mobo: Asus P6X58D Premium, updated with all current drivers 5-5-2010
CPU: Intel i7-960
RAM: OCZ 6 GB (3x2) 1600 DDR3
Video Card: XFX Radeon 5870 (running latest ATI v10.4 software)
C: Drive: Intel SSD X25-M 80 GB
D: Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB
PSU: Corsair TX850 850 watt

My Problem (Yes, I read the thread on reporting a problem):
In one week of usage, PD8 crashed so often that it corrupted my Windows 7 install.

I did a complete reinstall, starting with the OS, then reinstalling each app one by one (I store data on a separate home server & do backups of all my machine each night). I did not use the system restore image I had, I did it the thorough way. I did not run any software, only activated when needed. I then made a Windows 7 backup image with restore disk.
I did not reinstall PD8 for two days, using the machine normally. No problems for two days.

I then installed PD8 and began hard crashing (black screen crash and reboot--no error written to event logs) within seconds of launching PD8.

There are two kinds of failures I get, black screen crash with instant reboot, and sometimes the PC fatally locks up, unable to do anything, can't even CTRL+ALT+DELETE to Task Manager.

I have never used Capture or Produce tabs in PD8, only Edit and Create Disk. There is NO consistency to what I'm doing when the crash occurs. It can occur within seconds of launch and just starting to import files, or it can crash ten minutes into a work session. It can occur while doing any task in Edit mode (it has occurred during importing, inserting into time live, trimming clip length, inserting transitions, inserting chapter breaks, etc.).

It also can crash during burning (again, just starting, or menu preferences, disk preferences, authoring, burning (at random percentages complete, never the same percentage twice).

Because it crashes to black screen reboot or total system freeze, there are no screen caps I can take.

By saving three times a minute, and enduring the crashes and restarts, I finished a project with one 45 second long h.264 clip and another project with 9 clips, total 15 minutes long with title and transitions. They did burn successfully. Understand that the crashes/freezes occurred repeatedly during editing and burning, but I eventually got through it to test burning function
I then restored to my clean system restore image from yesterday (before I started to try to do the two projects and burn the dvds).

I tried to FTP my diag file but I couldn't get in. I'm confused what variables to use for name and password. I tried to do it using FileZilla, trying my screen name here, my registered e-mail, and my real name, and my password and the example password, to no avail. Could use a little help here.

I need this machine and I need to do this project. I mostly work with h.264 files and burn to standard DVD (single and dual layer). I like this software, there's none better unless I step up to the $600-$900 range and I can't afford that. But every time it hard crashes, the risk of Windows corruption grows. The last time it corrupted so badly I couldn't even boot or repair with the Windows Repair Console (and I know what I'm doing in there).

Diagnostic file attached

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

May 11, 2010 02:20

Hi ntechnic -

You don't need an FTP location to post your attachments. Just click Attach Files when you're posting, then browse to locate your file on your PC.

When you say "data" is stored on a separate home server, do you mean software? Is PowerDirector located on the C drive along with your clips, images & audio resources for the project? If not, that may be part of your issue.

Cheers - Tony
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Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

May 11, 2010 03:53

http://directorzone.cyberlink.com/posts/list/1795.page
The above link is to replies to Richards' post on that forum. The CL Community Forum is now where the thread will continue.

I've attached the zipped data so Tony (and others) can see what the situation is.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Filename	ntechnic.zip	Download
Description	zipped data from ntechnic
Filesize	240 Kbytes
Downloaded:	480 time(s)

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

May 11, 2010 04:02

Hi Richard (ntechnic),
Thank you for sending me the information.

test4.png.
The image shows you have video files replaced with the black color board.
1. Where are the source files located - on what hard drive?
2. When you opened the pds and started up PD, were you presented with a browse option to locate the missing video?

FTP. I think you've tried to use the sample data on how to use an FTP location address, and are not the current access codes.

Tony raised the question of file location, see also "1" in my list. Please answer that, it's VERY important.

I'll be in touch regarding the download of PD. For the moment you don't need to use an FTP location.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at May 11. 2010 04:04

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

May 11, 2010 04:44

Thanks for that Dafydd -

I didn't realise you'd already responded to Richard's issue.

Richard - is your project title an indicator of the .pds file location?

If media for the project, PD software & your project are stored on different drives, that may be the cause.

I'm still a little flummoxed by the "corruption" of your Win7 installation after PD's repeated crashing.

Cheers - Tony
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donbroadband

Member Location: Caldy, Wirral UK Joined: Aug 06, 2009 06:04 Messages: 119 Offline

May 11, 2010 09:30

Hi Richard, This does sound very hairy. Could you please clarify the following for me:
1. Has this system EVER run PD8 without problems?
2. Does simply opening PD8 cause the crashes?

I am a great follower of the "something has changed" approach to diagnosis - DXdiag doesn't seem to indicate anything nasty. The only thing I have found with PD8 is that it really does thrash hardware so any memory/hardware "weakness" will be highlighted.
I too have an I7 (only a 920) and at one time I used to overclock it with PD8 up to 3.8GH, now if I do that it will crash but only with PD8. Have you tried slowing the system clock and/or running fewer cores.

I personally think this is a sytem shortfall being exposed by PD8, but with out getting up close and personal and some meaningful diagnostics I am at a complete loss - sorry, but good luck with the problem.

Regards,

Don

Gigabyte I7/4940 O/C 4.3, Noctua Cooler 10GB DDR3, 4 x 1TB, 1TB SSD, Geoforce GTX660 TI 8500W PSU, Windows 10 Pro 64bit.

ntechnic

Newbie Joined: May 11, 2010 00:52 Messages: 4 Offline

May 11, 2010 14:17

Thanks for the responses, in order:

Tony:
I have a triple redundant real time backup home server. All the machines keep their application files on their local C: drive. Data, such as documents, files, and in PD's case, the original h.264 files are kept on the server. I transfer the files to my machines E: drive and create the PD production file in the same folder on the D: drive.

So all files for a project are on the local drives.

Dafydd:
1. The PD app is installed on the C: drive, which is the Intel SSD.
2. No, when I opened the corrupted PDS I was not presented with a browse option.

Tony:
The PD app is installed on the C: drive. The project files are stored on the machine's E: drive. I have one SSD and two HDs in the machine.

I've had it happen in the past on XP machines. If you have too many "unclean" shutdowns, you increase the risk that shut down occurs right was the system is writing a critical system. That's why Windows has the whole shut down procedure, to let the system update all the settings and cleanly close any running processes.

Donald:
1. The system ran without any trouble for 5 months of 8-10 hours of heavy usage a day before installing PD. I often have 8-10 apps running as I'm working on web dev projects.

2. No, simply opening and leaving PD alone never causes a crash.

3. I have a modded Cooler Master Cosmos case (increased air flow) and one of the best air CPU heatsink/fans there is (Megahalem) my home office has it's own A/C and the machine stays cool.

To answer the question, yes, when I did the clean re-install of the OS and apps, I reset the bios to "safe default" and ran it that way for a while. PD crashed just as badly and often. So I reset my mild OC, ran my usual stress tests (IntelBurn, Cine Bench, PCMark Vantage) to test the system and ensure that temps were cool (high 50's on CPU, low 70's on GPU).

Lastly, at one point I uninstalled PD (using regular uninstall, then Revo Uninstaller, and finally hunting through the registry myself for left over entries), and then the machine ran fine again.

I don't think this is system related, but I'm open to ALL suggestions!

just_for_fun

Member Joined: Jan 23, 2010 11:41 Messages: 111 Offline

May 11, 2010 16:03

mtechnic:
I have a i7 920 overclocked to 3.7ghz, it was 3.8+ (I lowered but not becuase of PD

I run PD8 on it no problem.

I also have PD installed on local C drive and media on E:

As I was building my machine I read that some asus mobos would reset the BIOS back to defaults, since Donald said he think PD8 thrashes the hardware maybe somethings is reset thats not know.
Just For Fun
i7 Core@3.8ghz 6gig mem 3 HDD geForce8400
Canon HF S20

Richard

Newbie Location: Australia Joined: Jan 04, 2009 08:23 Messages: 36 Offline

May 11, 2010 22:10

Hi ntechnic, sorry to hear your troubles,

I also run media, PDS files and program files on different drives without issue.
Your hardware seems well suited to the task, however, this error IMHO is probably related to a driver as this has been my biggest issue in the past with hardware lockups without BSOD and no traces of it in the logs, which is most frustrating. Now I only ever update a driver if it fixes something which is broken or has been intentionally disabled in the past.

You seem pretty tech savvy, so you could try running sysinternals on top of PD8 to see if you could catch a sytem lockup, but will all things PC related, it might prove futile.

Good Luck Richard

Camera Canon HG21 PAL, PD-Ultra v8.00.2508
PC Asus KFN32-D SLI, Dual Opteron 2216, 4GB ECC Registered, Nvidia Quadro FX5600 Driver v181.20, Vista x64 Ultimate SP2, Plenty of fast HDD Space.

donbroadband

Member Location: Caldy, Wirral UK Joined: Aug 06, 2009 06:04 Messages: 119 Offline

May 12, 2010 04:42

Hi Richard,
from your response i deduce that whilst this runs everything (and has done for 5 months) - it has NEVER actually run PD8 without problems. I understand you are using "safe" BIOS settings but that is not the same as a) slowing the machine clock b) closing Cores down. I note you are also running SSD (very nice and very fast!).

The only problem i did have at one time was with (at the time) a "latest ATI driver" on my 4870 (not crossfire) reverting back a version fixed it, and then ATI issued a further update.

I also note that you can get PD8 to start with no problem, so its only when you load the time line with your *.mov files that you have issues. Do you have any other input media you can try.

Good Luck,

Don Gigabyte I7/4940 O/C 4.3, Noctua Cooler 10GB DDR3, 4 x 1TB, 1TB SSD, Geoforce GTX660 TI 8500W PSU, Windows 10 Pro 64bit.

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

May 13, 2010 06:25

Hi Richard,
CyberLink would like to have some data from you. Please can you send me the data?

************************************
For this case, CyberLink CS requests your system event log to understand the situation.
Please ask users to follow the below steps to get system event log.
[1]Trigger PowerDirector. (run it until the application crash)
[2]Input “eventvwr” in command line
(start > run> Command line > eventvwr)
image- 001.png

[3] Now you should see the event viewer displayed (or similar in XP/w7 os)
Image - 002.jpg
[4] Select the “Application” in left side panel.
[5] Scroll on the event list in the right side to find if there is any “error”
[6] right click on the “error” item and select “Save selected event”.
[7] Email the saved record to us..
**************************************

Dafydd
[Moderator]


Filename	image002.jpg	Download
Description	Event Viewer
Filesize	95 Kbytes
Downloaded:	183 time(s)


Filename	image001.png	Download
Description	Command line input
Filesize	94 Kbytes
Downloaded:	193 time(s)

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at May 13. 2010 06:33

Anonymous

May 13, 2010 06:51

Quote: Thanks for that Dafydd -

...

If media for the project, PD software & your project are stored on different drives, that may be the cause.

I'm still a little flummoxed by the "corruption" of your Win7 installation after PD's repeated crashing.

Cheers - Tony

I cannot - keep my fingers crossed! - confirm that. Win7(64) on HDD:0 Partition C:\, Win7-Pagefile on HDD:2, Partition E:\, PD8-Software - with Win7 on HDD:0 part.C:\, Video-source and PDS-Files on HDD:4 part.I:\, when I need a media file from "elsewhere" I make a copy to HDD:4 part.I:\ - but I did NEVER (yet!) encounter crashes as ntechnic reports!

Yes, some now and then - when I forget to save and fuddle around with the undo-feature 'too much' - PD8 crashes - to desktop. But it NEVER (yet) affected Win7 installation in ANY way.
That's a strange observation.
As for Win7: sometimes! I get the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) while 'working' on desktop, once even while finishing start-up. But I had no application 'beyond Win7' then crashed to the BSOD - only had CTD's (Crashes To Desktops).

I should set more suspicion to the SSD drive and using it as the system carrying drive.

All in all it sounds strange - though ntechnic's line of proof is plausible.
Michael.

Richard

Newbie Location: Australia Joined: Jan 04, 2009 08:23 Messages: 36 Offline

May 13, 2010 20:28

Number 4 should read

[4] Select "Event Viewer (Local)->Windows Logs->Application” in left side panel.

Sometimes it is hard when drilling down into the logs

Good luck catching it. Richard

Camera Canon HG21 PAL, PD-Ultra v8.00.2508
PC Asus KFN32-D SLI, Dual Opteron 2216, 4GB ECC Registered, Nvidia Quadro FX5600 Driver v181.20, Vista x64 Ultimate SP2, Plenty of fast HDD Space.

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

May 21, 2010 04:35

Quote: Hi Richard,
CyberLink would like to have some data from you. Please can you send me the data?

************************************
For this case, CyberLink CS requests your system event log to understand the situation.
Please ask users to follow the below steps to get system event log.
[1]Trigger PowerDirector. (run it until the application crash)
[2]Input “eventvwr” in command line
(start > run> Command line > eventvwr)
image- 001.png

[3] Now you should see the event viewer displayed (or similar in XP/w7 os)
Image - 002.jpg
[4] Select the “Application” in left side panel.
[5] Scroll on the event list in the right side to find if there is any “error”
[6] right click on the “error” item and select “Save selected event”.
[7] Email the saved record to us..
**************************************

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Any news, CyberLink are asking me for the additional information?

Dafydd
[Moderator]

donbroadband

Member Location: Caldy, Wirral UK Joined: Aug 06, 2009 06:04 Messages: 119 Offline

May 25, 2010 05:55

Hi, How is this problem going - if it is fixed I would really like to know what happened and what the solution was.

Don Gigabyte I7/4940 O/C 4.3, Noctua Cooler 10GB DDR3, 4 x 1TB, 1TB SSD, Geoforce GTX660 TI 8500W PSU, Windows 10 Pro 64bit.

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

May 25, 2010 09:09

Hi Don,
Me to. I didn't get any follow up information to send onto CyberLink.
Dafydd

ntechnic

Newbie Joined: May 11, 2010 00:52 Messages: 4 Offline

May 28, 2010 14:55

Hi All,

I'm sorry for dropping off the earth, I was hospitalized for a week after an accident. I appear to have suffered a bad head injury. I'm recovering and will be fine, but when I returned home I felt so bad I didn't work or play at all.

OK, to let you know, I tried selectively turning off Windows services and rebooting, etc. I couldn't get an event to log because it was always a hard system lockup and crash, and nothing would write.

I sent out dozens of e-mails to the various hardware vendors of the parts in my machine, key software, Microsoft, etc. Boy, if you want tech support from Asus you had better write down EVERY model & Serial number in your machine! Luckily I had.

Of all the responses, I got an interesting one from Asus about my motherboard (P6X58D Premium). They provided me with a link to a Beta BIOS (v0808 - which now appears on their site and is marked as "Beta"). I upgraded the BIOS from v0703 to the new version, and guess what? Problem solved!

Asus documentation on the Beta BIOS says that it corrects "Memory addressing problems".

So it WAS my system, on the most basic level possible. I'm happily editing away now!

Thank you all for your help!

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

May 28, 2010 15:28

Wow Richard,

Hope your head feels better.

Thank you for the information update.

Issue is now closed (but certainly worth noting).

Dafydd

donbroadband

Member Location: Caldy, Wirral UK Joined: Aug 06, 2009 06:04 Messages: 119 Offline

May 30, 2010 05:12

Hi Richard,
Sorry to hear about your acident, I know PC's can be frustrating but geting into a confrontati!on wth tecnology would
hurt your head! - Sorry bad taste - I do hope you are now fully OK. Good news about the PC, but the journey to reslution was painful. Still glad you are now good on all fronts - happy editing.

Regards,
Don Gigabyte I7/4940 O/C 4.3, Noctua Cooler 10GB DDR3, 4 x 1TB, 1TB SSD, Geoforce GTX660 TI 8500W PSU, Windows 10 Pro 64bit.