Wanted: Miracle Worker

[Darth Vader]

Need somebody who can find a way to install and run Microsoft Netmeeting on Windows XP.

Sounds funny that 2 programs from the same company are incompatible, but thats how it seems.

[Darth Viscera]

O_o
I believe that Netmeeting comes installed with Windows XP. Nevertheless, I shall explore your problem till I get bored and decide to do something else. Those Micro$oft beasts have yet to best me this year! They may have bested me...578 times last year, what with so many reformats and OS reinstallations and all, but this year I am untouchable! muwhahahaha!

[Darth Viscera]

Go to the following directory:

C:\Program Files\NetMeeting

There should be an icon called "conf" there. Double-click it, wait a few seconds, and the Microsoft Netmeeting wizard will pop up, gather information from you like your First/last name, location, bandwidth, it'll test your microphone and speakers to make sure they're working, and test your primary video capture device (your webcam), if you have one. Once you're done with that, you'll be in the Netmeeting call window, and Netmeeting will ask to put two shortcuts on your quick launch bar and desktop.


P.S.-*Notes that his TV tuner is listed as a primary video capture device*. Hmmm...theoretically I could use Netmeeting to broadcast low-quality HBO video.

[Darth Vader]

Oh thank God....you rule!

[Gav Mortis]

May I remind you that it is only the 7th of January Viscera. There's a long, long way to go yet until this years out! Mwuah ha ha!!! >D

Sorry Darth, wish I could help you out with the problem except I don't even know how to work Net Meeting. :cry

But who needs Netmeeting anyway when you can have AIM!? Yeah baby!!

http://www.plauder-smilies.de/party/ylsuper.gif

[Darth Vader]

alas, you can't have videochats in AIM :) And I got me's a new webcam toy

[Gav Mortis]

I got a webcam, and Netmeeting, I just don't know how to host a netmeeting with someone, it's pretty sucky really. I mean I can't anything from the supposed directory!

[Darth Vader]

I'll try with ya when you're ready Gav

[Darth Viscera]

I was able to broadcast HBO East to Dark Helmet here. Sure, it was at 160x120, and it was about 6-12 fps, but it was HBO east!

And I have a webcam too.

[Morgan Evanar]

I used to format every 3 months, now only every 6 with xp =], or whenever I get more HD space

[Mortaniuss]

I need another HD. And a reformat. And while I'm at it, a dual-boot with XP would be nice, too.

[ReaperFett]

still darent reformat, as I have no idea what it does for definate :)

[Darth Viscera]

I'm currently running a triple-boot (Win98FESU1, Win2kSP2, WinXPSP1)

Yep. I'm thinking of adding Red Hat to that list. Why Win2K AND WinXP? Simple. Windows XP doesn't yet have the nonconditional driver support to become my primary OS (learned that the hard way), yet I still like to tinker with it. Win2K basically gives me 99% compatiblity, and Win98 is there just in case the other two screw up.

Oh yeah, and I have 2 IBM 60GXP 7200RPM HD's hooked up to a UDMA/100 IDE RAID 0 striping system. I tell ya, you think of 120 gigs of storage as large, then you get used to it. :rolleyes

[Darth Turbogeek]

:: Pats 4 way Duron 800 cluster::

You want speed? You aint SEEN speed until you build a cluster. And why the hell do you want to f*** up your system with Linux? It's not goign to give you anything Windows doesnt

[Gav Mortis]

What is a cluster?

[Darth Viscera]

Just to have something to tinker with.

[Zara Drecker]

A cluster Gav is creating a set of Computers and turning them into one "virtual" machine, creating a machine that is far more reliable and faster and more disk space and memory and more processing power. A four way cluster like I built would nail any standalone PC big time.

There are two type of clusters. Failover or Load Balance. The one I have is Load balance, which means the work of 1 PC is spread over four. Failover is simply where one box fails, another takes it's place seamlessly. Load balance is good for video render and sheer cruching power. Basically, my cheap as Duron setup can blast Vis' box off the planet for sheer processing power and speed.

a 8000 way cluster of normal PC's runs www.google.com and the render farm that create the CGI of LOTR is about 100 Sun Sparcs. Now that is some serious power

[Darth Viscera]

Oh ****, he's ripping on Ol' Betsy. It done got personal now!


Basically, my cheap as Duron setup can blast Vis' box off the planet for sheer processing power and speed.

Care to back that statement up with a 3dmark2001 benchmark? You can have a Cray, but if you don't back it up with adequate daughtercards, she'll go nowhere. If you can beat a score of 7441 then you win, hands down. If not, then you can't back up your statement.

http://gamershq.madonion.com/products/orb/?publish_compare.shtml?&project_type=6&dprid=2102642

Use 24-bit Z, Compressed textures, and 640x480x16 res. Update your drivers, then download 3dmark2001 here:
http://gamershq.madonion.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml

[Hector Lien]

<-- feels blown away with his 475 AMD K6-2 processor..with 192 RAM and 45.03 gig HD.

[Lady Vader]

Oh-HO! So you came here for help with Netmeeting. And here I thought you'd figured it out all by yourself. :p

Well, at least it worked. :mischief

[Darth Viscera]

Apparently, he did figure it out all by himself. By the time I had finished writing instructions for him, I was 12 hours late.

[Marcus Telcontar]

No, becuase it's pure common sense Viscera. Think about why a cluster nukes a single box.

Does the fact I am running 4 * porcesssors mean something?

The fact I have an availible 1Gb memory, expandable to 16Gb?

The fact there are 8 drives in the cluster that load share?

That the availble netowrk is 4oomb in effect?




Think for a second. 4 boxes, combined into one. You have a scale up in straight out number crunching.I dont need to benchmark, becuase it is 100% obvious what will get work done faster. 4 processors v's one. 4 wins all the time.

Why do you think distributed computing and clustering is used for real heavy work in video rendering or databases or SETI?



Why do I have one? Testing the construction and configuration for a database. Quite interesting, especially the way it's so hard to crash fully.

[Darth Viscera]

*makes chicken noises and flaps his elbows in a v-shaped pattern*

Bock bock bock bock bock bock bock!

[Marcus Telcontar]

Build one.

I find your lack of clusters.... disturbing

[Darth Viscera]

I think that a Uniprocessor system fits the bill for my needs (gaming, light rendering, video encoding).

Besides, do you know how much it would cost to outfit each machine in the cluster to my specifications? Then there's maintenance.

[Darth Turbogeek]

That here cluster doesnt need a lot of maintenace once it is running. And the point of a cluster is to get cheap PC's to exceed the power and uptime of far more expensive ones.

Why do you think one of the uni's here built a supercomputer out of 200 ordinary P200's? Either spend several million or less than 100,000 USD for somethign that can beat just about anything number crunching wise?

Why do you think Google, with it's fairly extreme databases uses an 8000 way Linux cluster?

It's cheap and it performs one hell of a lot better than any other solution.

You dont need a high end machine once you know clustering. Did you know the cluster that rendered LOTR was a Linux cluster? = dirt cheap and hot as performance

[Sanis Prent]

The aussie does have a point. I did a little bit of research a year ago on modular cpus and such. They're pretty much killing the supercomputers now that they've got the data transfer between them working well enough. Theoretically, you could just keep popping on modules until you out-performed whatever you were up against.

[Darth Viscera]

For my purposes, a cluster is not feasible. Hell, it takes a lot of money just to keep one computer in updated parts.

[Darth Turbogeek]

OLD systems combined to give you far greater power than any new and expensive system. 4 way duron cluster, bulit out of spares almost. $4000.00 AUS. Will nuke any Dual MP Athlon system for light rendering, video encoding. Not a gaming box admittedly, but once your running 100fps, why the hell do you need to upgrade?!? Geek value? For straight out data crunching, you just cant get a single box to beat a cluster. Considering how cheap PIII 450's are and that you can do this in Linux, plus the render programs that are cluster aware are availible

Now if you want to run really cheap, do a Linux cluster. I'm running a W2K A-S setup that is hideous in cost if you licence properly. Of course, warez are cheap.

The main point of clustering is if you run out of power, you add another cheap as box. Hell, people are throwing out PIII 450's, set of those would make a wicked cluster.

So why would you need to upgrade parts?

[Darth Viscera]

I don't think that SDRAM-driven Durons with potentially dubious Video can pull 100fps in 1024x768x32 lightmap, trilinear on RtcW. My pure DDR system can handle that fine, albeit not 100fps. More like 60-80 fps. A quad Duron cluster, each equipped with Matrox G450s, would pull 10fps in this environment, perhaps 18fps if they were equipped with Nvidia TNT2's. I need a high resolution in order to determine whether the target belongs to the Allies or the Axis by looking at the color of their socks with my sniper's scope at 400 yards. Axis forces wear black socks, Allied forces wear gray socks. It's my own IFF (Identify Friendly Foe) indicator. If their socks are black, I shoot them in the ankle, which due to a bug in RtcW, causes an 82% fatality.

[imported_Firebird1]

And the lesson here is not to wear any socks....

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

You know there are easier ways to determine friend or foe in Wolf.

Allies wear the old "bowl" helmets

Axis wear the "K-Pot" or "Fritz" style helmets that are now adapted by our modern army.

Allies have olive drab duster jackets, while Axis uniforms are a more crisp-cut grey.

Oh, and for some insane reason, the Nazis like to wear bright red armbands too.

[Darth Viscera]

-_- I explained that to you! sheesh.

You cannot identify a man by his helmet if he is standing behind a fuel truck. You can, however, still see his socks through the bottom clearance of the truck. He can't see you, but you can damn sure kill him.

My reason for memorizing sock colors is because the Axis end up hiding in an RtcW Allied defense level. To circumvent the sniper defense, they charge in packs of 6 to 8. 2-3 of them are taken down by head shots at 300 yards (usually by myself and another sniper), which sends the remaining Axis into a panic, and they go and hide, sometimes behind a truck, sometimes behind cargo crates.

I must admit, I do find it rather convenient when I am presented with numerous enemy medics. So many submachine gun-toting Nazis, all with red crosses painted on their foreheads....it's like they're giving me a third gun sight :D

[Sanis Prent]

Well you hadn't explained before :p

At any rate, their beady little kraut eyes give them away every time! Godless Fascists!

[Darth Viscera]

I did! You just weren't listening to me because I was in muse mode. I don't know about using my scope to target the political beadiness in their eyes.

[Darth Turbogeek]

:rolleyes


Try building one and then do some serious video editing work. Discover the power of a cluster then. Until then, I'll add a control unit to the cluster and enjoy real PC based power and leave you play with the single unit toy.

I'm serious. Until you've seen a cluster in action, you aint seen speed.

[Darth Viscera]

I will save my cluster experimentation stage for when I'm richer. Sure, I'm rich now, what with my profit from AMD stocks and all my credit cards and all *ahem, females :D* but I'll wait until I get my A+ cert and my MCSE and a job that takes fine advantage of those certificates (and of the fact that I've been using computers since I was 2), then I'll appease my favorite Aussie by building and outfitting a cluster.

[Milivikal k'Vik]

Clusters are worthless for CAD and 3d modeling, in which the Athlon MP has no competitor. Just ask CADie on the Arstechnica OpenForum.

(however, they are quite useful for the end rendering which is usualy done in software.)

And theres no way you'll be chumming 100 fps in anything but tweaked out Quake 3 or older, and thats pretty much half video card.

My point is that it all depends on your app.

[Marcus Telcontar]

OLD systems combined to give you far greater power than any new and expensive system. 4 way duron cluster, bulit out of spares almost. $4000.00 AUS. Will nuke any Dual MP Athlon system for light rendering, video encoding. Not a gaming box admittedly, but once your running 100fps, why the hell do you need to upgrade?!? Geek value? For straight out data crunching, you just cant get a single box to beat a cluster. Considering how cheap PIII 450's are and that you can do this in Linux, plus the render programs that are cluster aware are availible



I believe I indicated I wouldnt use a cluster for gaming and I was being fairly specific in it's uses. . It's not the point. A cluster is there is give yourself much higher datathroughput than a single machine could ever hope to achive.

And actually - I could think of a way that a cluster would nuke any Athlon cooktop. I would need to design a touch differently to a load balance, but it would. Plus there are other alternative systems like SGI's and Suns that would also roast a Athlon system quite nicely for 3D or CAD.