Audio stutter - due to DUALCORE ??

[Snakker]

Hi there

I've had this problem of stuttering of audio both inside the GAME-Ex interface and in the normal interface. The way I was able to fix it in normal Windows interface ONLY was to open MAME, then use taskmanager to set processor affinity for the tast to CPU 1 - then it would work fine. I was never able to get this right for the GAME-Ex interface.

Huge was my exitement when the AMD DUALCORE OPTIMIZER was silently released in July 2006, and I hoped this would sort out my problems. It did - but once again only for MAME within Windows-mode.

Does anyone here have ANY IDEA what's happening here ?? Tom ??

Regards,

Will

[headkaze]

Go to the webpage of your motherboard's manufacturer, and download/install the latest onboard audio drivers. While your there update the inf and BIOS to make sure you have your basic system drivers up to date.

[stephenp1983]

I have a 4400 x2 processor and have never noticed any shuttering whatsoever. I did notice shuttering in gameex using my laptop which has a single core p4 2.4 ghz

[Snakker]

Sorry - I neglegted to mention that I have a Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music card with the lastest driver. I should also say that while I was still using onboard-audio, it showed the same symptoms - so I think we can rule out audio drivers as the cause. Pretty sure it MUST be something to do with the way GAME-Ex tells MAME to operate with regards to the processor usage ??

Any futher thoughts ?

[Deadly]

LOL! This will always be an age old problem...drivers.

If the latest and greatest drivers doesn't fix it then if available revert to an older driver.

If onboard sound was doing this also, then I'd have to safely assume you have other issues as I have a dual core laptop and dual core desktop and neither have an issue.

DEFRAG my man defrag.... this will cause chattering.

Make sure you have the latest bios installed.

If none of the affore mentioned works then try another flavor of mame. ... like advanced mame for instance. One of the above should give you closure.

[Ricci]

LOL! This will always be an age old problem...drivers.

If the latest and greatest drivers doesn't fix it then if available revert to an older driver.

If onboard sound was doing this also, then I'd have to safely assume you have other issues as I have a dual core laptop and dual core desktop and neither have an issue.

DEFRAG my man defrag.... this will cause chattering.

Make sure you have the latest bios installed.

If none of the affore mentioned works then try another flavor of mame. ... like advanced mame for instance. One of the above should give you closure.

I know your pain!! I personally like older generation machines to run MAME, versus the hotrodded newer stuff..it just seems to run smoother to begin with. I use a stripped down P4 with just a 128 card, and all is well..if I try to use it on a 3000 +, with my 512, all hell seems to break loose....MAME is a simple beast, so I keep it going on a simple machine..more bells and whistles are not always a good thing, IMHO.

[hlehman]

Hi there

I've had this problem of stuttering of audio both inside the GAME-Ex interface and in the normal interface. The way I was able to fix it in normal Windows interface ONLY was to open MAME, then use taskmanager to set processor affinity for the tast to CPU 1 - then it would work fine. I was never able to get this right for the GAME-Ex interface.

Huge was my exitement when the AMD DUALCORE OPTIMIZER was silently released in July 2006, and I hoped this would sort out my problems. It did - but once again only for MAME within Windows-mode.

Does anyone here have ANY IDEA what's happening here ?? Tom ??

Regards,

Will

Will,

I'm no expert, but wanted to write about my experience with this in case it helps.

I had the same problem with AMD dual core. When you talk @ the AMD Dual core optimizer, I assume you're trying one of the optimized builds at http://redump.emubase.de/mame.php

?

I tried both of the AMD optimized builds (Athlon XP & 64), and the Athlon XP worked just fine. Perfection - no more stuttering frames or sound. I don't know that this build leverages the full processor cycles for 2 threads, but it seems to perform as well or better than my p4 3GHz w/ HT with MAME.

I read several posts elsewhere in the MAME community with advice on changing drivers, turning off the "cool 'n quiet" technology, etc. Using the Athlon optimised build was the only solution that worked straight away.

Good Luck!