Graphical corruption when system is under stress

[samo79]

From time to time i noted certain small graphical corruption on my Workbench desktop screen, see grab:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21 ... tionn.png/

As you can see there are some strange black points around the OWB window and even certain black lines inside the about window !
I don't really know how exactly reproduce it for a proper testcase but it seems that this problem happen mostly when the system is under stress (but not always), for example in this specific case problem happen once i start a compiling of a project while the system was also busy copying from CD to hard disk some big video files (also some other things was runned in background) ..

Still i don't know if this bug report can be usefull, but almost the developers may know and maybe they are able to found why and then a quickfix

The test system is:

Sam440ep Flex 800 + ATI Radeon 9250 PCI (ATIRadeon.chip 53.23) + AmigaOS 4.1 Update 4

[Slayer]

I don't think I'd ever compile and try and do something else; I think copying files to a device and trying to do anything else offers itself up for potential problems.

Still, some people believe the computer should be able to do as many tasks simultaneously as a human can humanly set in motion.

I'm not here to argue what one now thinks a computer should be able to cope with what I am saying is obviously there is differences in how people use there machines, I've always preferred to do 1 thing at a time and only do more if the same task requires it.

I tend to use the 2 machine approach myself

I'd put this down to ghosts in the machine and probably equally as harmless

[samo79]

I think copying files to a device and trying to do anything else offers itself up for potential problems.

Perhaps 30 years ago, today doing many things at the same time is a normal operation, an OS must support any kind of similar operation

Still, some people believe the computer should be able to do as many tasks simultaneously as a human can humanly set in motion.

It's called multitasking, have you ever heard?

[xenic]

From time to time i noted certain small graphical corruption on my Workbench desktop screen,

I have a SAM Flex 800 and had a lot of strange problems like crashes, graphics corruption and network lockups. Several months ago I started using HyperClock to switch my system clock speed to 733/122 when I turned the computer or or performed a hard reset. All my strange problems disappeared so I run at 733/122 all the time now.
I run a script from WBStartup that checks my system speed and starts HyperClock if the system speed is 800/133. That way I only need to reset the system speed with HyperClock if I do a hard reset but not if I do a soft reboot (Ctrl-A-A). It certainly wouldn't hurt to run your SAM at a lower speed for a while to see if there is any improvement.

[ChrisH]

@samo79
If you are using "Sam440ep_setup", then try removing it from the WBStartUp, and then doing a hard reset.

I don't think I'd ever compile and try and do something else; I think copying files to a device and trying to do anything else offers itself up for potential problems.

Unless you are running out of RAM (which is possible if you have only 512MB) then I see no reason to avoid multitasking, and indeed I frequently compile stuff while using OWB, listening to TuneNet, etc

If your computer can't handle "multitasking" (i.e. being stressed) then it has a hardware or driver problem.

[tboeckel]

From time to time i noted certain small graphical corruption on my Workbench desktop screen, see grab:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21 ... tionn.png/

Amazing! Firefox is not able to show the screenshot as it is, but MUIOWB is

As you can see there are some strange black points around the OWB window and even certain black lines inside the about window !

For me this looks like trashed memory and by pure luck it just hit some portions of the background image instead of any more sensitive data. However, this may be caused by anything, a driver problem, bad 3rd party software or even MUI itself. Nobody can tell.

[SOFISTISOFTWARE]

@tboeckel

What are you saying? Timberwolf is able to show the screenshot, i've just seen it on my Sam460 very well and in the same mode as MuiOWB has done.

[samo79]

I have a SAM Flex 800 and had a lot of strange problems like crashes, graphics corruption and network lockups.

Really ?
Here my system still already more than stable, sure it crash sometimes but mostly when i launch some broken or not so compatible apps or just when i found a bug during my usual bug reporting

Several months ago I started using HyperClock to switch my system clock speed to 733/122 when I turned the computer or or performed a hard reset. All my strange problems disappeared so I run at 733/122 all the time now.
I run a script from WBStartup that checks my system speed and starts HyperClock if the system speed is 800/133. That way I only need to reset the system speed with HyperClock if I do a hard reset but not if I do a soft reboot (Ctrl-A-A). It certainly wouldn't hurt to run your SAM at a lower speed for a while to see if there is any improvement.

Interesting, i can try to downgrade eventually altrough i'm not sure if at the end it worth seeying my "quite stable" situation, btw maybe can you provide your script for public usage ?

If you are using "Sam440ep_setup", then try removing it from the WBStartUp, and then doing a hard reset.

Yes i use it ! .. and now i start to think that it could be the cause of my graphics corruption, though i can remove this one for now .. i will tell you, thanks

Amazing! Firefox is not able to show the screenshot as it is, but MUIOWB is

Hei Thore have you try with Timberwolf ?
Here on Firefox 12 on Windows i can see the grab

For me this looks like trashed memory and by pure luck it just hit some portions of the background image instead of any more sensitive data. However, this may be caused by anything, a driver problem, bad 3rd party software or even MUI itself. Nobody can tell.

Yep you are right it's not so easy to track, altrough as Chris say it also might be an issue with the Sam440ep setup, i will try to remove it first

[Spectre660]

You might also want to check ye olde power supply .
I had a case were the power supply caused crashes and glitches with the Radeon 9250 display .

[xenic]

@samo79

Interesting, i can try to downgrade eventually altrough i'm not sure if at the end it worth seeying my "quite stable" situation, btw maybe can you provide your script for public usage ?

Yes. Someone else suggested the script at an Amiga forum when I asked how to get the CPU speed. It didn't quite work as suggested but I modified it and got it working. You need to add a tool icon with "Start From" set to "Shell" and a TOOLTYPE of "DONOTWAIT". The S protection bit needs to be set for the script file. I have my WBStartup prefs set to run the script first (highest priority of my WBStartup programs). Here is the script:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Set CPU info
Set info `echo *`C:idetool -c*``

; Save the current speed in the "info" variable.
Set speed `C:Cut "$info" w 12`

; Run hyperclock if needed.
If $speed GT 733
;Change the path to match the location of HyperClock on your system
PushCD Work:Utilities/HyperClock
HyperClock
PopCD
Endif

Unset info
Unset speed
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I think there is some variation in the max reliable speed that SAM systems can handle. You may be lucky and have one that works fine at 800 Mhz but mine is unreliable at that speed. After almost a year of enduring crashes when I compile large programs, run MUI-OWB or use several other programs, I now have a stable system by running at the slightly lower speed (733/122).