"Memory could not be read" error

smashguy37 wrote on 12/28/2006, 8:49 PM

Hi guys. I use Vegas 6 and have done tons of projects with it with no problems. I encode to MPEG-2 and use two pass and set the video quality to the highest the slider goes. I have about 736 megs of RAM and it holds up fine. Lately, my renders start and turn into the reference memory error and it closes Vegas. Vegas isn't listed in the Task Manager, but is on the list of processes and I close it off there, but it shouldn't still be running.

I uninstalled and reinstalled, I've done massive amounts of cleaning to my computer (registry, etc.) and no luck. I thought I had it last night after I reinstalled -- the render made it past 2% and was at like 50%, but when I checked it in the morning the program had closed itself or something and I was left with 18 seconds of footage sitting on my harddrive from it.

If I render without two pass and without the high quality settings, it'll work -- well at least it did for one video, but I don't want to do that. I'm at my wits end, I have no idea what to do.

Comments

smashguy37 wrote on 12/29/2006, 11:58 AM

If I render to .avi, Vegas crashes almost immediately with the "An error has occured with the current operation" and the details seem to mention "vegas60k.dll", which is in my Vegas folder. Does that give anybody any clue?

fldave wrote on 12/29/2006, 4:19 PM

Since you are getting it on both avi and mpeg2, I would say it would be some corrupt dll, whether windows, .net or vegas; or it could be some overheating problem. Several people in recent threads show vegas in task manager after crash.

I would start with making sure Windows is up to date, then reinstall .net 1.1, then reinstall vegas. Also make sure your dynamic ram (vegas, options, preferences, video tab) is low to allow vegas as much RAM as possible. Also make sure your swap file is set at 1.5 times physical memory.

smashguy37 wrote on 12/30/2006, 9:08 AM

How do I set my swap file to 1.5 times physical memory?

I've done the whole reinstall thing twice with reinstalling 1.1. I also have Framework 2 installed...does that matter? Vegas gave me 1.1 and 1.1 SP1 so I don't know if it matters which one is installed. It's so frustrating. I had a new hour long project and it killed itself at 27% instead of the usual 2%. It's like if the project is past a small amount of time the computer chokes up and dies. I've also played with the dynamic RAM option and it seems to make no difference.

If this "vegas60k.dll" is corrupt then I don't know how it's supposed to be fixed if when I install it it's always corrupt.

fldave wrote on 12/30/2006, 10:01 AM

Swap file:

Control Panel -> System -> Advanced tab -> Performance Settings button -> Advanced tab -> Virtual Memory section.

Some key points:
1-You can have windows manage the size (system managed size option), or the general recommendation is that it should be 1.5 times physical memory.
2-Microsoft recommends against using the "no paging file" option. Those with 3-4 GB of physical ram need to have at least a small swap file.
3-My paging file is on D: drive separate from my C: Windows system drive. That said, you still need a minimum swap file (say, 256KB) on the C: drive so that if D: drive fails, you can still start your computer with the C: swap. The rest of my swap file is on the D: drive.

It sounds like you may have a heat problem with your system, or a bad memory module. That would explain the random fail points. Open your case up and spray some canned air in there. If it is still crashing, you might try a program called MemTest86 or SySoft Sandra to see if it can detect bad memory modules or other system components.

smashguy37 wrote on 12/30/2006, 10:23 AM

Thanks I'll look into that. Some of this is still foreign to me, but I roughly understand what you mean. I'll be honest, my computer is messed and it probably IS a heat problem. I've had this computer for a few years and twice we had the power supply replaced because of problems, and it gets overly hot. Strange because I moved it out of my desk where it would overheat, and elsewhere on the ground where it can "breathe". It gets warm, but not burning hot like it used to.

That being said, I did get the blue screen of death once and I opened up my computer to clean it out and one or two of the capacitors on the motherboard looked damaged...but I'm no expert, I could only sort of tell from limited experience with my audio equipment. I've looked at that memtest, but I didn't understand it, so I'll see if I can get someone to help me with that later.

I don't know if it helps you, but this is my system information:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name MIKE
System Manufacturer ECS
System Model M810DLU
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 7 Stepping 1 AuthenticAMD ~1300 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T, 4/2/2001
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name MIKE\Michael Crawford
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 768.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 392.43 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.18 GB
Page File F:\pagefile.sys

smashguy37 wrote on 12/30/2006, 8:15 PM

I installed Vegas on another computer and left for work. Apparently it crashed and closed itself. While my computer has it's own problems, I think maybe Vegas is screwed. I'm going to try a third computer in my house and see what happens. My fiancee tried using her webcam with Movie Maker apparently and she ended up getting the blue screen of death too.

Right now I don't know if I'm looking at a bad disc of Vegas or it being strictly a computer problem. I ran that Sandra problem, but I don't know where I can run it to say "your memory works and is fine" or not.

smashguy37 wrote on 12/30/2006, 8:29 PM

I also don't get why I can render to MPEG without changing any options and get it to work, but as soon as I set them to better quality options it doesn't work. The CPU Usage still maxes out at 100% either way. .Avi's are still a problem.

smashguy37 wrote on 12/31/2006, 7:52 AM

I tried my brother's computer to no luck either. I think anyway. He has a 3 GHz processor with 1.25 RAM and an external video card and it was working and then this morning we found it at 65%, with no error message but the remaining time was at 0 and the elapsed time was still climbing. I could tinker around some more, but I don't want to hold up his computer for hours on end. Right now I'm rendering an .avi on his computer and it seems to be working, but I'm going to let it finish (or try to) and see because my computer hates .avi for some reason.

Can somebody tell me how big of a difference changing the MPEG slider for quality makes? You know can set it to low, medium, high, etc.? How about two pass? I know some people say you can't really see a difference. Just curious, because while these problems bother me, I think I'm going to try to render normal MPEGs for the time being.

fldave wrote on 12/31/2006, 10:05 AM

Sorry I haven't been much help so far! Strange that all of your installs seem bad. You might try downloading the latest build from this website (download menu above) to see if your disc is bad.

Other than that, is there something strange in your veg file? Third party plugins?

smashguy37 wrote on 12/31/2006, 10:36 AM

I appreciate all your help so far, it's been hard to get much. Thanks, I'm installing the update (version D) to see if that makes a difference. I have Sony Vegas 6b...so we'll see what happens. I don't have any third party plugins. I'm trying to render the simplest project I have -- straight video and audio from my camcorder -- no titles, nothing. Just a fade in and out with envelopes.

smashguy37 wrote on 12/31/2006, 1:03 PM

Okay, so for the hell of it I set the MPEG slider to full quality, but not two pass. It got to 47% after 2 hours and crashed. On my fiancee's computer, I did a 15 minute video (just a test video) as an MPEG2, full quality, two pass...and it worked. I installed the update for Vegas (d) on both computers. This also fixed my Media Manager error I kept getting. My computer crashed right away as soon as I put it on two pass.

Right now I'm heading out and leaving my fiancee's computer to render an hour long video on two pass, and I'll see if it works.

smashguy37 wrote on 1/3/2007, 8:35 PM

Just like to update I've managed to get my projects to render fine on the other computer. My computer still goes nuts when I try to do anything. I basically need a new motherboard...more RAM...etc.

I don't know anymore.