Fatal exception!!!

W

winchcomputer

New Member
hi guys, im from australia, and i work in a panelshop. About a year ago, we were broken into, and uninsured, so lost everything.

As we had no security measures in place, there was basically nothing we could do.

I've installed an alarm, and a computer with a 4 input capture card (OLD Pico2000 software, cheap card) and originally, was running windows xp

i had a heap of issues in regards to networking, and a stop error here and there and after thinking about it, i realised that the card, and the software, is dated 2000, before windows xp

due to not having a copy of Windows 2000, and never liking it anyway, i reverted back to Windows 98.

Deleted all partitions, formatted the SATA hard drive as fat32, and then mapped the Sata Channels as legacy IDE in the bios, along with the Primary IDE channel, which the DVD burner is using.

Initially i had a problem with the bios not storing settings, such as the legacy config, and could not boot into windows 98, due to it having 6 channels, rather than the expected 4.

after replacing the cmos battery, and it having no effect, i realised it was a matter of changing the bios jumper to "config", and then back to "normal" when i was done, yay intel for making it hard

through changing the battery, the time was reset.

after getting windows 98 to boot, and being happy with everything, apart from a few devices missing drivers (i dont need onboard sound anyway), i installed the Pico2000 software, and card

everything working well, so it would seem, and so i left in on overnight.


this morning i come back, and i have a Fatal Exception error in "VXD VTD (01)"

To my knowledge, that means there was an exception with the virtual timing device in windows, but i have no idea how this works.

The system is a P4, with 2x512 mb ram, and an intel board.

The ram was in "dual channel" mode, as in stick 1 in slot 1 of channel a, stick 2 in slot 1 of channel b.

The time was incorrect, and i wasnt sure how 98 would handle dual channel ram.

After setting the time, and pulling out ram 2, and putting it in slot 2 of channel a for "Single channel" mode, i boot the computer, and everything looks normal.

No exceptions YET

what im wondering, is has anyone on Windows 98 come across this error before? and if so, did you find it was a System clock issue, a ram issue, or a software issue?

i have NOT checked the ram, and have not ruled it out as a possibility, but am exploring other avenues first, as the error said VTD.\

could the virtual timing device crash because it came across a bad sector in the ram? or could it be as simple as the fact that the time hadnt been set, and the system date was prior to the software being developed?

BTW this system is not used for anything other that recording camera input, and networking via encrypted VPN to view said video, so im not worried about security when putting it online, but as of yet, i havent even installed the LAN drivers

any help would be appreciated

With windows 7, vista, and xp, Windows 98 is more or less gone, but not forgotten.

after returning to it after all these years, im amazed at the response, and ease of use, but puzzled by the errors

also, i have hyperthreading enabled for the cpu, havent diabled it because i know in the past i have run 98 systems with hyperthreading for years, without issues, and i really dont understand how it works anyway

thanks
 
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As I read your (very long) explanation, I could feel the collective groan of everyone else reading it. While I can understand some of the reasoning, you are creating a system that you alone will be able to maintain and cannot be easily expanded in the future. I'm all for low budget and making use of what you have, but not this.

You can get an upgraded Pico2000 for $US 40 and the new cards are not expensive, $US 30 if the old cannot be used. It sounds like you are strapped for cash but what's the price of another break-in? Re-install XP, or if that is lost, look for a cheap secondhand PC with it on.

For switched alarms you can get "hobby" USB I/O that should do the trick (for robotics and home automation). An example picked at random from a Google search, $US 39. I'm sure there are plenty of others even cheaper.
 
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Nanobyte said:
As I read your (very long) explanation, I could feel the collective groan of everyone else reading it. While I can understand some of the reasoning, you are creating a system that you alone will be able to maintain and cannot be easily expanded in the future. I'm all for low budget and making use of what you have, but not this.

You can get an upgraded Pico2000 for $US 40 and the new cards are not expensive, $US 30 if the old cannot be used. It sounds like you are strapped for cash but what's the price of another break-in? Re-install XP, or if that is lost, look for a cheap secondhand PC with it on.

For switched alarms you can get "hobby" USB I/O that should do the trick (for robotics and home automation). An example picked at random from a Google search, $US 39. I'm sure there are plenty of others even cheaper.
Click to expand...


the alarm is fine, and has nothing to do with the pc, it will call us when the shop is broken into, and being gsm it matters little if our phone line is cut. its more or less flawless


the problem i am having may not be anything to do with the Pico software

the problem i am having is the BSOD, which seems to be related to the "VTD"

i know nothing about "VTD", all i want to know is, could it be that the error was due to the system clock being set wrong (before the pico software was created) or is the problem software based, or hardware based.

the card i have works fine, the camera's are to records what happens outside (and inside when there is a break in), but when the pc BSOD's, it stops recording, and at 2am, im not about to go to work to restart it just in case someone comes snooping around at night (which they have been).

I dont know if the BSOD is in any way related to the PICO software, because i have not, and do not wish, to run the system for long periods of time without the software running.

furthermore, i can afford a much better computer, but im not about to hand
out any money for a pc that will do more or less the same job.

xp gave me a framerate of about 1fps, and was almost impossible to network, because the software assumed xp doesnt exist, and that everyone must be running windows 2000, or prior.

windows 98 has given me a perfect framerate (around 12fps, on 4 cameras), and takes up little space, and boots almost instantly.

i give you every detail, because to someone who knows what i am experiencing, every detail helps.

the problem is either hardware, software, the incorrect time (im still yet to have the error come back since changing the time, but its not 2am yet), or a conflict somewhere.

id like somebody who knows about the "VTD" to tell me what its more likely to be.

someone who suggests i install windows xp, obviously, like myself, has not used 98 in a long time, and has forgotten everything about it
 
winchcomputer said:
xp gave me a framerate of about 1fps, and was almost impossible to network, because the software assumed xp doesnt exist, and that everyone must be running windows 2000, or prior.

windows 98 has given me a perfect framerate (around 12fps, on 4 cameras), and takes up little space, and boots almost instantly.
Click to expand...
That's why you pay $40 for the updated software that will run properly on XP (that I linked to).

Are you really strapped for space? XP only takes a long time to boot because most people start up a load of programs. You are not even starting any security apps. Presumably you can set all the necessary, essential software to automatically start so why are a few seconds important?

That's all the help I can offer.
 
I forgot to mention, among other reasons for not wanting to run xp, if you try to start pico before its partner apps, it crashes, so at boot when xp loads, the pico app is run at the same time as the partner apps, it crashes, and it has to be opened again.

In 98 it works fine, the partner apps are run before the main app.

Thanks for the help, maybe someone will come along who knows more about this
 
Nanobyte said:
That's why you pay $40 for the updated software that will run properly on XP (that I linked to).
Click to expand...

Also, unless you have used the software before, that is an assumption.

The program appears to look different, but we dont know for sure how it works without buying it, and im not about to buy it to find out the only difference is the user interface.

anyway, computers been on for more than 24 hours now, no bsod.

it was either the ram config, or the incorrect time.

that or it just likes me today
 
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