GPU PROBLEM WITH 1.3.8

iz7auh

I am very frustrated at this time to this **** problem that this version 1.3.8 I have a graphics card I think my graphics card is good ATI Readon 6700 with 1GB of DDR5 RAM but I notice when I activate the second RX starts to go jerky , its functionality is being slooly, the spectrum is a disaster, the waterfall has black lines, the TX and RX is not synchronized, the program disconnects and closes the dialog box asking me to reconnect to my flex-6500, we still have to wait for you to perquanto we can use decently this "gem" I'm tired of this .... sorry my outlet .... Look at this video uploaded youtube and tell me if this is normal!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKRZwlCJlgE

Steve N4LQ

Isolate problem.
Did you try a direct connection to the computer vs via router? 

iz7auh

By router with Ethernet cable Flex on Eth1 and PC Eth2

Jim Hawkins / K2JHV

I have exactly the same problem - black lines, jittery spectrum, delayed spectrum with RX and TX audio and it loses connection.  Rebooting fixes it temporarily, but it comes back.

Will try the direct connection.

Jim - K2JHV

GI4FZD

I had this problem also check this thread
https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/flex-6300-problem-jumping-panadapter-and-stuttering...
cheers
paul
gi4fzd

iz7auh

I just update driver, but no chages..... :-(

GI4FZD

Hi Frank
What are your computer specs, My laptop has 2 graphics processors, the built in Intel one and the ati one, i have to set whether to use the ati or intel one in the settings and always set the power options to high performance, I had to downgrade my graphics drivers to an earlier version to get it working ok,
Was it working ok with an earlier version of smartsdr?
Cheers
Paul

WX7Y

Mine doesn't do it util i get to the 7th slice, I'll bet it's a Ethernet Bandwidth problem going through my router here, I didn't notice the black lines running all 8 slices on earlier versions of SmartSDR though.

Bret
WX7Y

JB

There are several other possibilities that focus on the Ethernet connection. You indicate that you are using a router, not a switch or hub - correct? Assuming it's a router, have you looked to see if there is a firmware update for the unit? If it is an older unit you may want to replace it.

You should check and see what your PC's settings are under Device Manager. You may want to force the connection to 1 Gbs Full Duplex if the router is a 1 Gbs capable or 100 Mbps Full Duplex if not.

You should also determine what other connections there are on the router (is it also Wi-Fi?) to see if your available bandwidth is what it should be.

I have also seen CAT5 cables go bad. Have you tried replacing both cables (radio and PC)?

Hoping this helps.

DrTeeth

A meaty graphics card is definitely not needed to run SSDR. I can run it perfectly with max FPS with my laptop's Intel 3000 HD card, though I chose to run it with the integrated nVidia card.

Joe - KC2TN

I would think this really depends in what else is running. I like to run DXLab, which can have several windows open In addition to my email , IE , DDUTL, FRStack,, WaveNode., Wattmeter etc. I run 3 monitors. With all this running I have noticed a lag in the panadapter display. Up to a second or two.

Dale KB5VE

As many of you know I bought one of the newest AMD cards a r7 260x and after many phone and email conversations it was agreed the card was not compatible. Bought a Nuvidia gtx 750 TI runs great. So as smart sdr will run Ok on some lesser cards as you add other programs and flex adds items you might need a more powerful graphics card. I am not a computer guru but as I understand it when your graphics assigned memory is about to run out the graphics interface will start to search for enough memory to get the job done. In a case like that you have got to be sure you have given enough available memory to handle the need by the graphics card. I am sure someone else will correct me if what I say is not correct but I know this is where we went when I was having issues. I was able to rune smart sdr on a radon 5400 with 512 meg of memory not a lot but it will not run the three monitors running smart sdr and 5 other programs with one of those 5 being dx lab which is running 6 programs. Frank do you have another computer to run it on? Do you have another flex 6000 owner you could take your radio to and try it out. I will be honest the "thin client" we started with has been dropped and I will say that if you are running a very sophisticated radio like the 6000 and other ham related programs you need a good computer to stay on the cutting edge I would like to have over **** than under ****. Good luck.

Joe - KC2TN

BTW - I'm running an i7 with 2-Radeon 5670's. Each with 512mb. The system is configured to use native GPU memory and then chews into ram, which I have 16gb. Depending on how well windows handles the swapping and memory leaks developing, problems can arise over time if you leave your computer running without a reboot.

Dale KB5VE

Joe you and I are running almost identical programs incuding the wave node and dx lads. I have a amd 6 core desk top with 12 gig of memory a Nuvidia gtx 750ti with 2 gig of memory. Three monitors running and I have no problem with 4 slices open.

DrTeeth

Any 'stress' is put on a graphics card by apps that use LOTS of graphics memory due to big in application texture maps (i.e. games) and not programs that just use acceleration features like SSDR. 2D programs do not stress a graphics card at all. If somebody is having problems running several apps, the graphics card is one, if not THE last thing I will look at. I run SSDR on a laptop (my main PC has RFI issues - on the long list of things to fix). The laptop has 8GB of memory and can run any number of programs, including SSDR, using the Intel 3000 HD integrated graphics alone.

DrTeeth

Memory leaks are generally down to buggy programs and not the OS. They are easy to spot and deal with.

DrTeeth

Exactly, it is not a graphics card issue.

Jon_KF2E

Perhaps you should try this...

http://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/202118698-Using-LatencyMon-to-collect-DPC-Latency-Da...

Jon...kf2e

Joe - KC2TN

I notice the problem when I have a long transmission and I release the PTT, the panadapter still shows me transmitting for a second or two until the PC catches up! Short transmissions are ok! My transmission stops immediately but the graphic display on the panadapter runs on!

iz7auh

Many tnx for all post, I check my setup on a iMac on Bootcamp Windows 8.1 no problem, I suppos problem on my PC, now I make a new PC Intel i5 with Nvidia G Force 750 2Gb, 8Gb Ram DDR3, SSD 250Gb.

Stay tune

Tim - W4TME

Revert back to v1.3.0 and see if the problem still exists.  We have acknowledged a problem with display rendering in v1.3.8 that we are working on for v1.4

Jim Hawkins / K2JHV

Reverted back to V1.3.0.  It worked!  No dropouts, jitters or holes in the panadapter.
No disconnects.   Thanks.  Jim - K2JHV

Ken - NM9P

I had no apparent problems with v.1.3.8 until my Win8.1 machine did an update recently, which probably included a GPU driver update.  Now I find that after leaving the rig sit idle for an hour or two and returning, after moving the mouse and bringing the display out of screen-saver, the panafall seems to rush to "catch up" with fast motion scans for a few seconds (5-10) with gaps and holes in the panafall.  Then everything is fine.  

Just some additional information if it helps with the troubleshooting.  I have done nothing about this because it doesn't really affect what I am doing at present.  But I haven't been doing a lot of WSPR, WSJT-T, Skimmer, etc which would need constant data flow when I am not in front of the rig.

I am assuming it is a vid-card driver issue and I need to downgrade it, or wait until the next upgrade?  I remember reading somewhere that AMD video-drivers seem to skip a release between working well and not working well.....?

JB

Unless you are using the machine for intensive graphics (usually gaming) there are no demanding reasons to perform and video driver updates (short of some a security issue or major OS update like 8.0 to 8.11 on Windows).

I allow updates to download but only "critical" ones to install automatically. I review the others (recommended and optional) before install anything else.

Just my 3.5 cents due to inflation

Tim - W4TME

Here is my Gazillion dollars worth of free IT advice.  Never download and use hardware drivers that are provided by Microsoft Update.  These drivers have caused Support a lot of issues in the past.  In general Microsoft provided hardware drivers are optimized for compatibility on a wide variety of machines at the expense of performance.  This is especially true for new hardware that is going through a driver "churn" to get the bugs out and tweak performance.

With the FLEX Series radios, DPCs are a significant factor in the radio's performance.  I have seen updated video drivers from Microsoft perform horribly in this regard and the only "fix" was to install the latest manufacturer's driver. Only get updated drivers from your PC manufacturer or directly from the hardware vendor.  

Ken - NM9P

Once I download the new driver from AMD, how do I exclude it from automatic updates from Windows?  I know there is a way, I just haven't learned it yet.

Tim - W4TME

When you load a hardware driver that is not one sourced from Microsoft, it should not try and update the hardware with a Microsoft driver.

DrTeeth

I do not use a screen saver but I have also noticed the crazy superfast waterfall too.  I run Win 7 x64 on my laptop and use the nVidia 630M for SSDR although it works perfectly well with the integrated Intel 3000 HD. I do not think it is driver related, as I update my drivers frequently and this effect has been noticed for a while, but not often enough to nail down the cause. BTW, though Win7/8.1 are much better at supplying drivers that do not bork a PC (yes XP, I'm looking at you), I never upgrade drivers via WU. I always get the latest drivers from the manufacturers site and they are always more recent than those offered on WU.