Vista/Stars: Reoccurring & worsening freeze periods

[McMelchior]

I'm running Vista Home Basic SP1, PT2 v.2.17.03b, PostGreSQL 8.3 and PAHUD v1.19.8 beta. My system is sufficiently powerful, Dell Inspirion 9400 18 month old with Core 2 Duo Intel processor, 2GB shared RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 video, the works. No UAC.

Over the last couple of weeks the annoying brief periods of freeze while playing 10 tables on Stars have increased in frequency and duration to a point, where I can't use my HUD anymore.

During the freezes that last up to 15 - 20 seconds I can move the mouse, but not click any buttons, and the tables do not update - the only thing that's not frozen from my POV is the mouse cursor.

Since my hands time out obv. I can't use my HUD.

WIth PT running and no HUD there are no problems, and with the HUD running and PT not running no problems either (but that's not all that helpful).

Suggestions, please?

[WhiteRider]

Have you got the cache enabled?
If not, you should try it, this will speed things up a lot, especially if you have a lot of, or very large, databases.
Options -> Preferences -> Databases.
Please note when you first build the cache it can take a long time, so run it overnight or something.
(If you are using postgres 8.3 databases, the cache won't work.)

You should also check that you don't have the stats updating too often; have a look at Options -> Preferences -> Refresh Rates (and Filters).

[McMelchior]

Thank you for the reply :)

(If you are using postgres 8.3 databases, the cache won't work.)

Yes, I am using PostGreSQL 8.3. So does that mean I cannot use my PAHUD anymore :o , or are there other solutions? I installed PostGreSQL following the "cook book recipy" directions in PT forum, and know absolutely nothing about datebases; are there any alternatives to this?

You should also check that you don't have the stats updating too often; have a look at Options -> Preferences -> Refresh Rates (and Filters).

Thanks. You didn't tell me what ranges would be good, but I reduced the update from the default 5/10/20 to 10/20/40. Is that better?

[WhiteRider]

That will help, yes.
8.3 doesn't stop PAH working, it just means you can't use the cache.

[McMelchior]

8.3 doesn't stop PAH working, it just means you can't use the cache.

So ... since the freezes regrettably still are too comprehensive to allow me to run PT & PAHUD while I play, is the only solution you can think of to (if it's possible, what I don't know) revert to using a non-PostGreSQL and cache???

Or is it possible to get hold of and revert to an earlier version of PostGreSQL that will allow me to use cache?

Or are there any other solutions open for me that you can recommend?

[WhiteRider]

Sorry, I meant to say that - Yes, you can revert back to PostgreSQL 8.2.9 which (last I heard) is the latest 8.2.x version; which is what PAH supports.
http://www.postgresql.org/
http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/binary/v8.2.9/

(looking at the site, there is now an 8.2.10, but I don't know whether that works - I would assume so, but I'm not sure).

You will need to be careful downgrading your version - it will be possible but you will need to back up your database and restore into the new install.
I'm not sure of the exact procedure, so I would recommend posting in the PT2 forums and I'm sure that Pat will be able to give you a link which explains it all.