CF29 MK2 CPU freezes

Hi,

I have a CF29 mk2 which I use as a chart plotter aboard my boat.
It is a 1300Mhz 760 mb of ram version and runs xp sp3.
It occasionally freezes - the cpu usage goes to 100% - for a short while and I cannot do anything with it until if frees up again some 30 secs or so later(which seems like an eternity!). As the laptop is used for navigation purposes you can see my frustration with it.

I don't use it much for multi tasking - the problem occurs when only one window is running. Normally this is the chart plotter software (OpenCPN) which is not very computing intensive (or so the writers say!). Today it happened when I was running IE 8 (admittedly with 5 tabs open).

Last week OpenCPN hung for ages and I had to force it to close. I rebooted the machine and it still hung. Eventually I deleted and re-installed the whole application and it all works okay.

Can anyone give me a clue whats wrong with my machine?

My only thought is that when I rebuilt the machine using a larger hard drive I did not partition the hard drive and reserve some space at the start of the disc for the OS to use.
Could this be the reason for the freezing?
If so, what size should I partition it at and how do I go about getting the OS to use it as part of the system.
if this is not necessary can anyone suggest a reason for the problem??

Many thanks
Dave

 

If the hard drive has only 1 partition, i.e. you only see a C: drive, that should be OK. WinXP does not need to be installed at a particular location within the partition. But with only 768 MB memory you do need some virtual memory. Look in My Computer => Properties => Advanced => Performance Settings => Advanced Virtual Memory, select Change and click on "System managed size" then press Set and reboot it. If the virtual memory was 0 or less than 512 MB this should fix it.

- Replace the physical memory stick from 512 MB to 1 GB.

- Check the processor temperature is not overheating.

- Turn off the WiFi in the BIOS and/or update to the latest Intel driver but delete ProSET and let Windows manage the wifi connection.

 

Thanks very much for your quick reply - that's what I like about this forum!!

Glad to hear that I don't have to partition the hard drive! But i'm still not sure that what you suggest is the solution.
My virtual memory size was Initial 2, Maximum 1137 mb, but wasn't 'system managed'. I 've changed this and will see how I get on.
I've installed the maximum ram that I can fit in the machine (760mb)
The processor temperature only occasionally gets above 50% load - normally it sits around 10% load or less with only the OpenCPn software is running!
I let windows manage the wifi, but when on the boat I disable the wifi completely to save power, so this should not be the cause of the problem.

Anyhow, I will see how I get on with 'system managed' virtual memory size.
Thanks for your input so far
Dave

 

If you have a larger stick of ram, try it. Many of these machines will take more ram than Panasonic states. Search the forum. I know it's been discussed before. If I recall, low density ram with 16 chips works best. I have had good luck using it on different brands of machines.

 

The Mk2 will take a 1 GB stick of DDR memory, for a total of 1280 MB ram (less 8 MB or so for the shared video memory). They are not cheap at about $30 or so. I've had good results using Kingston, Crucial, Samsung, and Hynix brands.

You do not need "low density" type. (That advice applies for older PC-133 type memory used in model CF-28 to add a 512 MB stick.) Believe PC-2700 is fast enough for CF-29 Mk2.

 

I would do a custom size pagefile. I would make the minimum 1152 and maximum 1152 which is 1.5 times your RAM. But before you do that you need to turn off the pagefile and reboot the system. Then with no pagefile on the system run defrag, after defrag has finished then go back and set up the custom pagefile.

If you are still having issues you can make the pagefile bigger. I do a lot of video editing and in the past I have run pagefiles with 2.5 to 3.5 times the RAM I had because the software ran better that way. The 1.5 that Microsoft recommends is just a guideline.

I find tweaking the pagefile on machines with smaller amounts of RAM really helps performance.

Here is a pretty good write up on pagefiles:

Optimize Page File

 

I may have an extra stick at home. I will check tonight.