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Old 06-06-2009, 15:48   #1
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MaxSea v 11 Crashing Problems

G'Day all,

Got a laptop that has Maxsea V 11.0.2 cr02 installed on it. I quite like the program, and feel that it has significant improvements over the V 10 that I used in the past. It runs reliably until I start inputting GPS data -- then it crashes at random moments, often within a minute of starting up, but sometimes running for an hour or more. This is pretty unacceptable!!

The laptop is a HP Compaq 6710b, Centrino duo CPU, 2 gigs of RAM, all the usual bells/whistles, and is running XP pro sp3 as the OS. Like most newish laptops, it has no RS232 com ports, but has 4 USB ports.

We started with a USB to comport adaptor for inputting the GPS data stream. Had lots of problems, including interfering with software that had nothing to do with the adaptor. So, got a ST Lab PCMCIA serial input card. This has been much more stable in general, and works well with other devices (Pactor modem for instance). But MaxSea still crashed... So, I bought one of the little hockey puck USB GPS units, thinking that surely this would fix things. It works just fine... but MaxSea still crashes!

I am beginning to think that there may be some system settings that are compromising the software, but am not knowledgeable enough to progress further on my own.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on possible cures for this vexing problem? I'll be most thankful for advice.

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Manly, Qld Oz
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Old 06-06-2009, 15:55   #2
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Hi Jim, Warwick off Archer here, I have had the same problem with 11 on some installations, our main version that we run on our own computer has been fine it had been cracked a bit differently but unfortunately the disc got damaged so I sourced another disc which has proved problematic, not much help for you though. By the way we have sold Archer and have bought a property and Mussel Farm in Dover Tasmania, mussel farm is just off point by Rabbit Island anchorage and Land Farm is about a mile up the river, look forward to seeing Insatiable II lying there one day
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Old 06-06-2009, 16:44   #3
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Mussels???

G'Day Warwick,

Good to hear from you, mate! Interesting thought about different sources for V 11, but hard to rectify at this point!

And yes, we plan (PLAN?????) to return to Tassie next summer, and we always spend some time by Rabbit Is, so we'll get in touch when we're closer.

Good luck with your new venture... our only experiences with mussels are with garlic and white wine, or on the prop. The first is better...

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Manly Qld Oz
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Old 06-06-2009, 20:12   #4
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Originally Posted by Nauticatarcher View Post
By the way we have sold Archer and have bought a property and Mussel Farm in Dover Tasmania, mussel farm is just off point by Rabbit Island anchorage and Land Farm is about a mile up the river, look forward to seeing Insatiable II lying there one day

Hi Nauticatarcher - Off topic but are you going to keep the dam stocked with trout at the farm??

Pity the river isn't a bit deeper so you could tie the boat up at the jetty!!

Good luck with your new venture.
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Old 06-06-2009, 21:42   #5
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Hi Nauticatarcher - Off topic but are you going to keep the dam stocked with trout at the farm??

Pity the river isn't a bit deeper so you could tie the boat up at the jetty!!

Good luck with your new venture.
You must know the property and Grant and Margaret, and yes we will keep the dam stocked, probably about 6' of water at jetty, so as long as not too deep a draft shouldn't be a problem
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Old 14-06-2009, 22:40   #6
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Jim
Have you tried to reduce the virtual paging file size? I have an old MaxSea, to run it I have to lower the paging file size to 300Mb.
To change size, go to System in the control panel, Advanced, Performance settings, then Advanced, Virtual memory change, Custom size and guess a value. Click Drive if necessary. I normally set both Initial size and Maximum size to 300. It works for me.

By the way, be careful with your battery charger. In my long electrical career I have known of many people being electrocuted. There is no need to add to the list. I am sure you are worth far more to your family than that lousy battery charger.
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Old 01-10-2009, 03:09   #7
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Fix for Maxsea 11 crash

Your problem is that Version 11 has a bug, causing it to crash on duo processor PC's.
If you let me know your email address I will send you the correct fix.
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Old 01-10-2009, 10:40   #8
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It sounds like some of your problems at least are caused by the lack of proper 'virtual' USB/serial drivers. Your USB GPS should come with the proper virtual serial drivers (but maybe not). You also may need to manually assign the com port to your GPS in Windows, even after installing the virtual drivers.
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Old 23-11-2009, 05:54   #9
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Your problem is that Version 11 has a bug, causing it to crash on duo processor PC's.
If you let me know your email address I will send you the correct fix.
Hi Eugene,

I too am having crashes with Maxsea 11 on a Duo Core Advent laptop. If your fix is still available, can you please email it to me?

With thanks

Biggles
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Old 23-11-2009, 13:18   #10
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Often the fix is to tell the system you want that program to only use one processor.

In Windows 7, that is done by opening Windows Task Manager, find the process, right click on it and choose the option that is something like "Set affinity". Set it to one processor.

I never had XP or Vista on a multi processor, but it's probably the same fix.

If I remember correctly, if you find the application in task manager and right click, there is an option to find the associated process. That's the easiest way to find it in case the process name is something strange.

-dan
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Old 24-11-2009, 06:09   #11
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Thank You

Hi Dan,

many thanks for your suggestion. It all worked in Windows 7 as you described. However, I believe that I might have to do this every time I start Maxsea? If I shut the program down then revist the processor choice page I see that 'use all processors' was ticked.

I cannot find anyway to pin the program to use one processor permanently. Maybe Eugene's fix may modify the software?

The good news is that since following your advise, Maxsea 11 has not fallen over.

Regards

Biggles
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Old 24-11-2009, 08:11   #12
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If you're going to use the laptop as a chartplotter, then use it as a chartplotter. When you begin using the modem, and running other CPU intensive applications at the same time (i.e. 'multitasking'), then you are just asking for problems. What is needed is a laptop dedicated to GPS/mapping, (and stripped of all extraneous software garbage to prevent software/hardware conflicts), and a separate laptop that is used for all other duties & uses. Everything else is just a compromise waiting for problems.
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Old 24-11-2009, 08:39   #13
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Multitasking

I have to respectfully disagree with what you say. I have been using a 13 year old Toshiba P3 Toshiba Tecra 8000 laptop on my yacht for the past 10 years running Windows 2000 Pro with just .375 GB of RAM. It is on continuosly whilst underway running Maxsea and Nobeltec simultaneously, Wefax, Airmail, Sidekick, Office and accounting software, ham radio logging and cleanup utilities. It has never once crashed, but then it has never been exposed to the dangers of connecting to the internet either.

My Duo Core is the back up machine. I also have a third AMD64 laptop too, just in case. It is only on the Duo Core that there has been a problem with Maxsea, but that now seems resolved by selecting a single core on starting the program.

I am quite happy multitasking on the nav computer and have made many single handed voyages including across the N Atlantic via Greenland without any problems. The option of chart plotting on one computer and doing the rest on another would simply consume too much power.

Regards

Biggles
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Old 24-11-2009, 11:31   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biggles View Post
I have to respectfully disagree with what you say. I have been using a 13 year old Toshiba P3 Toshiba Tecra 8000 laptop on my yacht for the past 10 years running Windows 2000 Pro with just .375 GB of RAM. It is on continuosly whilst underway running Maxsea and Nobeltec simultaneously, Wefax, Airmail, Sidekick, Office and accounting software, ham radio logging and cleanup utilities. It has never once crashed, but then it has never been exposed to the dangers of connecting to the internet either.

My Duo Core is the back up machine. I also have a third AMD64 laptop too, just in case. It is only on the Duo Core that there has been a problem with Maxsea, but that now seems resolved by selecting a single core on starting the program.

I am quite happy multitasking on the nav computer and have made many single handed voyages including across the N Atlantic via Greenland without any problems. The option of chart plotting on one computer and doing the rest on another would simply consume too much power.

Regards

Biggles
I will ask some people here at work to see if there is a way to make it run in single cpu mode all the time. From the OpenCPN thread, I will need to set it up the same way when I start using grib files (I think it was gribs....

EDIT http://www.overclock.net/operating-s...-affinity.html
WARNING: This is just one I found on a search. I have not tested it. But the information I get is that there are quite a few programs out there that accomplish this. Trick is, some accomplish it transparently, but some require you to use it to crank it up each time. A quick glance looks like the one linked above should work. I'll try it tonight.

EDIT2: BTW, the information I get is that there is no way from within Windows to do it. It takes an outside utility.

-dan
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Old 24-11-2009, 20:07   #15
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The afinity setting utility that seems the best so far is WinAFC from SourceForge. I just set it up on my machine and used it to set my FAH process to just use one processor.

WinAFC

-dan
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