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Date:	Wed, 9 May 2001 20:49:38 PDT
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Big...Huge problem

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Sheridan George wrote:
>
> ... my main computer stops doing its thing about every two
> minutes. This stopped situation lasts for about 15 seconds.
> During that time the hard drive light stays on (one of the
> 4 drives can be heard rattling) and the CPU meter in Warp
> Center goes to no activity (yes, down to nothing). If I'm
> typing during this time all the keystrokes are captured and
> when the spasm passes all the letters are sent to the screen.

My main computer has been doing this exact same thing for a long time.
I haven't got the slightest idea why. Background tasks seem to continue
running without any problem (downloads, .mp3 file playback, the Warp
Center digital clock). My Warp Center cpu activity meter drops to zero
just as yours does.

I usually get the clock icon while this is happening. I hadn't timed it
until your post but my machine acts just like yours - stops for exactly
15 seconds, then resumes.

I'm mostly suspicious that it's caused by my (and your) IDE drives. I
have four IDE hard drives in this machine (CD-ROM and tape are SCSI) and
I'm using Daniela's drivers. Are your four IDE drives all hard drives,
set up as Primary/Secondary Master/Slave? My two Primary drives are old
and don't support busmastering, while the two Secondary drives are a
year old and support busmastering.

The drive noise every couple of minutes *might* be a thermal
recalibration of your drive (this is done by the drive's onboard
electronics). My drives do this, but with four of them it's hard for me
to tell from the noise which ones are doing it and how often each one
does it. Multimedia drives, by the way, don't do this.

My system's 15-second hangs don't appear to be related to the drive
thermal recalibrations.

- Peter

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