www.virtualacorn.co.uk/forum

Hello,
I have been using VRPC Adjust for about a year now and while its without a doubt the best RISCOS emulator out there, there is one problem that just refuses to go away: sound.
I use RISCOS a lot for playing tunes, but for some time I have found that when I am either using the Internet (RISCOS or Windows), copying files or working on graphics in Windows, the sound seems to jump or cut out while the tune is playing. I thought that this was was just happening when I used Windows, but it seems to be occurring frequently when I use RISCOS as well.
I have tried altering the filter level, priority level, processor speed, but so far nothing has worked.
Is this is a general problem and if so will it be solved in the future, as it does cause me considerable frustration.

Does this happen with RISCOS both full screen and in a Window?

Yes.

OK, do you use either MacAfee or Norton?

Yeah, I use Norton Internet Security.

Right, it could be the internet security program knicking a ton of the machines CPU time. With VA running in a Window and playing audio
press CTRL ALT DELETE to bring up the Windows task manager. Go to the Processes Tab - what's using CPU time? What happens if you kill off whatever is using CPU time (don't kil off VirtualAcorn)
And a different idea, have you tried disabling the VirtualAcorn power management? The quick way to do this is (from Windows) to drag out
HostServices from:
C:Program Files\VirtualAcorn\VirtualRPC-Adjust\Plugins
and dump it next to the main VRPC executable. Then check VA to se if it's any better. To retore power managemnt just put HostServices back into the Plugins folder.

Hey Aaron,
I think that solution of yours may have worked.
The thing that was taking up, get this, 99 per cent of the CPU time was 'System Idle Processes' and obviously I couldn't remove that. I then moved the Hostservices as you suggested and System Idle Processes became 0, whereas VRPC Adjust now uses 97/99 per cent of the cpu time.
I have been using this setup for two days now and apart from a disruption in sound when I minimise or make the VRPC window visible or when using hefty Windows graphics packages, the sound output is massively improved.
It seems that the System Idle Processes was the VA Power Management, now that's disabled, VRPC is much more stable (sound wise).
So in a word, thanks a lot Aaron!

OK, it looks like when VRPC power management came on things were OK, to start with. Once VRP needed more CPU cycles, because it was doing more work it didn't get them.
Is the machine a desktop or a laptop? What power management setting is applied in Windows (you can check from the Control Panel)?

Hi Aaron,
Sorry, I haven't posted for a while, but things have been busy.
On the RISCOS side, the sound has been very good, but it does stil mess up a bit when either returning to Windows or doing things like running applications, copying and running files, editing graphics etc. All of these things cause the cpu time required for VRPC Adjust to lower slightly.
On the Windows side, my Power Settings are Home/Office/Desk and my machine is a desktop, to be precise an A6+.