Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

Alright Micros

I need your help. A happy mod is a good mod and Im sick and tired of pokersites Im playing on running like crap. Things used to run well but recently even stars is eating CPU like it is going out of fashion. Admittedly I never paid much attention to it but it all came to a head when I Started whoring ipoker bonuses and I found that even without PT and PAHUD running the site (VictorChandler and Titan) would run their poker exe at 50-80%. Sometimes it would start out at sub 30% but after a few minutes or a bit of congestion it would rise and never fall.

Here is some taskmanager screenshots of running it at some sites. See anything majorly wrong here...remembe rIm running a almost 3yr old laptop with 1G ram @ 3.06GHz. Up til now its been a relaible bit of hardware. I run PT using access adn ive been running ipoker in a new database so PT database size shouldnt be an issue.
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/8...ard01furl6.jpg


http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3...pboard2zr1.jpg

in the second shot it shows pT at a high useage ... this isnt very indicative of the average state but is here for completeness.

So basically Im an ipoker bonus but I cant play more than 2 tables whilst running PT and PAHUD without the occasional timeout.

Do you see anything strange in teh above shots? I recently increased my virtaul memory size but it didnt seem to help much. Ill turn on my aim tomorrow (US Sat night) incase anyone wants to suck up to a mod and give me some lightbulb moments.
Basically whenever I run ipoker or prima for that matter the casino.exe for the site runs at between 50-80% of CPU. PT and PAHUD kick it up to 100%. What is interesting is that if I open 2 tables and play for a bit it runs fine but then aftew a few minutes it hits 100% (even without PT and PAHUD) and stays there. I can run PT and PAHUD okay but if I try to do anything else I Get timeout and lags

Heres are some details
- 3.06Ghz 2+ year old laptop with 1G ram running XP
- Prima used to run without any problems
- Im running ZoneAlarm + Norton + Spybot + Spyblaster

IVe tried
- degragging
- deleting cookies and temporary internet files (I hadn’t done this for a while and I have noticed some improvement..just not with poker software)
- ran cleanup function (stalled the first time and crashed pc)
- chkdisk
- removing uncessary processes as part of programs ive used (mosaic on mlb.tv and Norton ghost) and/or dumping as much as I can (videos, mp3s etc) to my external hard drive.
- setting PT to low priority
- changing to windows classic mode
- turning off flicker free in PAHUD
- rolling PAHUD back from the latest beta (1.19.2) to 1.18
- contacting VictorChandler support and they said that on a similar spec machine they can run 7 tables with a 15% CPU load and suggested I try updating drivers and OS software. My windows is set to autodownload updates and I install them when I get them. Im not sure what drivers they are talking about but I can go into system and check I guess….
- ive googled various processes that run under task manager and the worst ive seen is some that say that if the process is running in an official windows dir then it is okay but otherwise it could be a trojan. when checked..ive found nothing suspicious.

Other points of Note
- I recently got a new BenQ 22in monitor that ive connected with D-sub and Ive got the laptop as a second screen. Not sure if was imagining it but I sometimes swear that things run slower when I put windows on the laptop. I only started playing ipoker recently so I don’t know if the monitor has any effect but Im mentioning for completeness.
- also am using a super old keyboard (like one that I got with my P-90 like 10 years ago) because I haven’t gotten round to buying a new one yet. Surely a keyboard or monitor cant cause this but Im at my wits end!
- Im pretty sure this is a problem with my laptop…I scan with Norton and run spybot weekly. With spybot I keep getting tagazaurus, zedo and a few other adaware stuff show up even though I keep deleting them. Im not really very knowledgeable at registry server stuff and an sceptical of sites that come up on google claiming be able to delete pest software permanently because some of them are actually spyware themselves.
- ive never knowingly been hacked and Im pretty thorough when it comes to what I let zonealarm pass.

Q: If my CPU usage is really low when Im not doing anything then is that a good indication that I dont ahve any/much spyware doing bad things and chewing up my precious CPU resource?

if anyone has any suggestions for me I'd appreciate it.

Reimaging should be considered a last resort although if it is a surefire way to make things better at the expense at having to reinstall software then Ill consider it. I have a 160G ext harddrive to dump stuff to for saving. I really really don’t want to have to reinstall everything. I also cant justify buying a new computer or upgrading the laptop (ive already doubled the ram so am probably out of slots and would have to replace the two 512 sticks in their).

So what to do? Help make Ozi happy again

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

This happens sometimes to me both at FTP and UB. When I use Task Manager to end the program, my winlogon.exe CPU usage shoots through the roof and I have to restart my computer.

So the short answer is I don't have an answer.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

Try crossposting over to computer technical help, there are some folks over there who love this kind of stuff.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

every how many minutes is your pt set to import new hhs?

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

I'm totally not qualified to comment here but I'll repeat something I read in a post and you can decide if it fits. Is your data base so large that it is time to start a new one for speed purposes?

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

Ya, what Bona said, what is the point of having more then a couple month's worth of hands in a DB?

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm totally not qualified to comment here but I'll repeat something I read in a post and you can decide if it fits. Is your data base so large that it is time to start a new one for speed purposes?

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I run PT using access adn ive been running ipoker in a new database so PT database size shouldnt be an issue.

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However, do you move away the already imported hhs? That could be an issue...

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

Looks like everybody's trying to push this off on PT, but if you notice in the first image PT isn't even running and MPPoker.exe is at 85% CPU.

I've noticed the same thing with 'stars in the last couple of weeks, Oz, without PT running at all (and I don't even use PA-HUD anymore). The client seems to be using waaaay more than its fair share.

Of course, I've also noticed that my DNS servers bog down unbelievably for an hour or so, right around midnight ET every night, but I'm attributing that to script kiddies.

In short, I don't have any answers, but I don't think it's isolated to you. Tyler, you have any input? You run some seriously outdated hardware...does your hamster have to run any faster in his wheel these days to get the sites to work?

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

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I've also noticed that my DNS servers bog down unbelievably for an hour or so, right around midnight ET every night

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is this when your nightly crons run?

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Tyler, you have any input? You run some seriously outdated hardware

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i only rarely play poker online but last weekend i played a few hands and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. this was just running pokerstars (no PT, no PA, and my regular assortment of firefox, xmms, and a billion terminal windows).

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

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is this when your nightly crons run?

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No, and I've traced it, it's not local it's the ISP's (Pacbe..., uh, SB..., uh, AT&T?) DNS boxes bogging down.

I know, I can setup a bind cache on my computer that'll solve the problem, I'm just too lazy to do it ATM.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

Morning!

1. ive tried PT with long and short times...but as Boz said...even without PT or PAHUD running things are sucky. PT and PAHUD just push it over the edge of the CPU 100% cliff
2. I used to use pahud cache but that is a pain in the ass if you forget to update it so i dont use it anymore...my new DB for ipoker is really small at the moment anyway
4. yes, I move HH to my pokertracker dir
5. task manager in itself uses a chunk of CPU. doh.
6. i have an ADSL2+ connection...i Get in excess of 5G up and 700M down. I cant see this being an issue i know ive 'disconnect protected' at least once but that was when the laptop totally locked up right (as I raised AA UTG preflop which held up to take down some of the pot)

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I know, I can setup a bind cache on my computer that'll solve the problem, I'm just too lazy to do it ATM.

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umm, what exactly is a bind cache. should I try it? should (and how) should I check my dns stuff? this is all making me feel like such a noob [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

keep it coming guys, Ill cross post if I have to but I wanted to give u guys a chance to show your awesomeness and this sort of stuff first

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

oz

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

How's your network been lately? When you download files does it take longer than usual?

Maybe turn ZoneAlarm off and see if that helps?

I just opened up a table on PokerStars and I notice that the process jumps to the top whenever an action occurs, but when it is sitting waiting for an action it is at 0 CPU.

Since it happens across poker clients I'm thinking this may be a network issue.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

[ QUOTE ]
5. task manager in itself uses a chunk of CPU. doh.
6. i have an ADSL2+ connection...i Get in excess of 5G up and 700M down. I cant see this being an issue i know ive 'disconnect protected' at least once but that was when the laptop totally locked up right (as I raised AA UTG preflop which held up to take down some of the pot)

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Point 5: one of the worst wastes of CPU is moving your mouse. Put up the graph of CPU usage and wiggle it. See what I mean?

Point 6: I hope you got these two backwards, but that's a niiiiiice connection. How much you pay for that?


[ QUOTE ]
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I know, I can setup a bind cache on my computer that'll solve the problem, I'm just too lazy to do it ATM.

[/ QUOTE ]

umm, what exactly is a bind cache. should I try it? should (and how) should I check my dns stuff? this is all making me feel like such a noob [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

TL;DR version: if you're running XP or Vista, don't worry about it.

This is uber-geekery. bind (pronounced "bin-dee") is the daemon in *nix that provides DNS services. You probably get DNS from your ISP (so do I). Every time you put "http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/...", or any other address, in your browser, your computer asks the DNS server for the IP address that maps to the host "forumserver.twoplustwo.com" or whatever. The problem is, your computer is like a child: every time it gets the answer, it immediately forgets it, so the next time it has to ask again. EVERY TIME. Typical DNS lookup times are in the 30-60ms range, so you don't really notice it compared to the time that it takes the server, once you find it, to transmit the data you're requesting. However, now make that DNS lookup take 5 seconds and oh, Mary, mother of GOD it's slow!

If you're running *nix, it's a fairly trivial matter to set up bind running on your system in "caching" mode, which means that every time you make a DNS request the computer remembers what it already found out. (It's even more trivial now than it used to be, using a little thing called dnsmasq.) However, iirc WinXP and Vista both have a DNS cache built in, so it's probably not an issue for you.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

Boz, thx. yep, down and up were back to front. Im paying $55/month for 20G of downloads. 10G is $45/month The speed is line dependent with theoretical max being 24G down.

anyway, Im dont want to turn zonealarm (may as well throw the front door to my house wide open every time i go to work) but ive got norton doing its auto realtime detect for viruses so maybe Ill try turning that off....hmmmm

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Boz, thx. yep, down and up were back to front. Im paying $55/month for 20G of downloads. 10G is $45/month The speed is line dependent with theoretical max being 24G down.

anyway, Im dont want to turn zonealarm (may as well throw the front door to my house wide open every time i go to work) but ive got norton doing its auto realtime detect for viruses so maybe Ill try turning that off....hmmmm

[/ QUOTE ]

So, your SPEED is 5Gb/sec downstream, but you can only use up to 20G (b or B?)/month? What happens if you exceed that usage?

The problem isn't ZoneAlarm or Norton or anything else. The usage in TaskMan is attributed to the process doing the using, it's the poker client. Try turning off animations and such and see what happens.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

once i hit the 20GB limit my line gets 'shaped' down to 64kbps. ill see what settings I can turn off when I run up the sites later today.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

heres a different screenshot of taskmanager with just an ipoker skin running and 2 tables open. Nothing else was open, not even Outlook or IE and Ive disabled Norton realtime scan.

a few more observations are that when i closed the 2 tables the site software runs fine and hardly uses any CPU. Also it seems like sometimes the software runs okay but then 'freaks out' (eg when i start a new app the resource usages rockets up) and doesnt recover til i close tables.

also does anyone see anything strange or wrong in any of the numbers?

thx

oz
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4...board03lv6.jpg

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

I was reading through this thread with some curiosity because my computer, too, very often slows down when I run poker software. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to resolve it, either. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

This may be way too obvious a suggestion, but did you consider posting this thread on the "Computer Technical Help" board of the 2+2 forums? I assume there would be a lot more technical expertise there than on the micros board (but I could be wrong) [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

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anyway, Im dont want to turn zonealarm (may as well throw the front door to my house wide open every time i go to work) but ive got norton doing its auto realtime detect for viruses so maybe Ill try turning that off....hmmmm

[/ QUOTE ]

Then turn on Windows firewall temporarily.

What IP do you get assigned by your DSL modem? If it's a 192.168.x.x number then ZoneAlarm is kind of redundant because they'd have to make it through the modem to get to your computer. Unless you have some whacky DSL modem that does an automatic address translation.

I still say I think it's a network issue, and it doesn't have to do with bandwidth. Dropped packets can cause this and they don't have to be caused by excessive bandwidth.

A firewall like ZoneAlarm has to process every packet inbound and outbound. It doesn't have to be using CPU to do this, but the time the client spends waiting for the packet could be the CPU delay you're seeing.

I've got a worse computer than you... but I don't run any iPoker stuff. Pokerstars tables don't even register on the CPU gauge. I don't run firewalls on my systems because I have a router in between me and my DSL modem.

Firewalls, Zonealarm, etc are very necessary for systems directly connected to the internet that have an IP routable Ip address. If your system has a 192.168.x.x number then nobody outside can directly address your system without going through a network address translation.

If you go to http://whatismyipaddress.com/ and see the IP address on your computer then your directly connected to the internet and you need a firewall. If you're using dial-up, then you need a firewall. To get the IP address on your system go to a Command prompt (start... run.. cmd.exe), then typing 'ipconfig /all' ... you may have to scroll around to find it. It'll look something like this:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking Control
ler
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-A6-67-65-BC
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
<font color="red">IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.5</font>
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, November 16, 2007 8:40:55 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038 10:14:07 PM

Addendum: Reading through the thread again I see that you said there are performance differences when it is on the laptop screen, etc. It could be the software is waiting for screen update calls. No matter what I think this is some resource contention issue, and not the software itself eating the CPU. Finding out what the resource is that is being contended for, whether it is network, display writes, or memory is going to result in the answer.

Maybe some of your memory is going flakey.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

thx KO. ive got an NB5 modem. I have a non 192.168 address on myip and I see

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : magnus
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek TL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-F5-44-1D-6F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, November 18, 2007 8:07:52 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, November 18, 2007 9:07:52 AM

Im not really sure how to check for contention issues though. I think Ill crosspost to CTH shortly. thx again bro.

Re: Aussie Needs Your help ... A happy mod is a good mod (LC)
 

I think ive had a breakthrough. KOs comment about resource contention got me thinking and I recalled that i thought I saw lag when I moved open windows between my laptop screen and the new one I got a month ago. So I changed the settings under Display from a Primary and Secondary (1 and 2) screensetup to one that only uses the new monitor.

Result = things run much better. I havent tested under game conditions (ie actual play) but ive been datamining prima for over an hour and instead of the CPU maxing out it is at much better levels...average &lt;25% with PT + PAHUD running.

remember I mentioned Im connecting the new monitor via D-SUB? Well it also has a DVI-D connection. I dont have a cable for that though. Anyone got any thoughts on whether this could be a D-SUB issue that would go away with DVI-D? I'd really like to be able to use 2 screens when pokering so I can put PT on the smaller laptop screen....

thanks again and woot!