How to watch movies while mining on windows.

[P4man]

Many people have their ATI drivers crash when they try to watch movies, or even youtube when simultaneously mining under windows. There is an easy fix.

1) disable windows aero. Not even sure if thats needed, but its a good idea nonetheless
2) disable hardware acceleration in flash. Just right click a flash movie (youtube clip), chose settings, uncheck "hardware acceleration". If you have a somewhat decent CPU, you wont notice any difference, except, it will no longer crash.
3) to watch dvd, h264 etc movies, use an alternative mediaplayer. I use smplayer:
http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/downloads.php

Start smplayer, go to options, preferences, general, video, output driver and set it from Direct3D to DirectX fast. Optionally, go to Performance, and set decoding threads to 2. That helps prevent stuttering for me.

Thats it. Havent had a driver crash since I made those settings, while cgminer is constantly running in the background

BTW, I suspect you can change this in VLC too if you prefer VLC. I havent tested this as thoroughly, but if you go to extra, preferences, video, output, you have the option DirectX (directdraw) which does the same I suspect. If that doesnt help, try disabling the hardware acceleration /overlay option.
Feedback on VLC settings that work are welcome.

[1715302317]

1715302317

[1715302317]

1715302317

[1715302317]

1715302317

[Valalvax]

Hmm... I always super lowered the intensity until it didn't crash anymore, but it results in a way low hashrate

[payb.tc]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

[Matthew N. Wright]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

lawl. QFT.

[P4man]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

My main PC has a 5850 in it; its not my main mining rig, but its nonetheless mining 23.5h/24. Why shouldnt it, as its nearly inaudible. Its not that hard to keep 1 card quiet.

[SgtSpike]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

I'd rather make money watching a movie than lose money watching a movie.  I can deal with a little extra background noise while watching my wallet grow larger. 

[Valalvax]

My one card machine is so quiet sometimes I have to walk over to make sure it's on, because the power supply doesn't have any lights on it anymore I'm sure the volume will increase when my two cards /finally/ get here

[Eveofwar]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

I'd rather make money watching a movie than lose money watching a movie.  I can deal with a little extra background noise while watching my wallet grow larger. 

This.

Speakers on max = win

[payb.tc]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

I'd rather make money watching a movie than lose money watching a movie.  I can deal with a little extra background noise while watching my wallet grow larger. 

This.

Speakers on max = win

depends on the movie "I am Legend" comes to mind, where he's looking for his dog in the dark concrete building... it's supposed to be almost dead silent in those scenes. no flashing LEDs either!

[SgtSpike]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

I'd rather make money watching a movie than lose money watching a movie.  I can deal with a little extra background noise while watching my wallet grow larger. 

This.

Speakers on max = win

depends on the movie "I am Legend" comes to mind, where he's looking for his dog in the dark concrete building... it's supposed to be almost dead silent in those scenes. no flashing LEDs either!

In those sorts of scenes, I appreciate the extra noise!   

[Eveofwar]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

I'd rather make money watching a movie than lose money watching a movie.  I can deal with a little extra background noise while watching my wallet grow larger. 

This.

Speakers on max = win

depends on the movie "I am Legend" comes to mind, where he's looking for his dog in the dark concrete building... it's supposed to be almost dead silent in those scenes. no flashing LEDs either!

In those sorts of scenes, I appreciate the extra noise!   

Guess he missed the water drops in the background...your loss, not mine payb.tc =]

[payb.tc]

movie computer needs to be as silent as possible.

mining computer is about as noisy as it gets.

seems strange to me that anyone would attempt watching a movie while mining.

I'd rather make money watching a movie than lose money watching a movie.  I can deal with a little extra background noise while watching my wallet grow larger. 

This.

Speakers on max = win

depends on the movie "I am Legend" comes to mind, where he's looking for his dog in the dark concrete building... it's supposed to be almost dead silent in those scenes. no flashing LEDs either!

In those sorts of scenes, I appreciate the extra noise!   

Guess he missed the water drops in the background...your loss, not mine payb.tc =]

i made the stupid decision to watch that movie at the cinema, so mainly i just heard two indian ladies chatting.

[conspirosphere.tk]

Many thanks, finally I can see streaming vids again.
Yet, I still need to find a way to make Media player classic (from K-lite mega codec pack) to work instead of crashing instantly if I try to play a video while mining.

edit: Smplayer worx fine though, so: problem solved