[grc] Trouble with Winamp

[al davis]

On Wed, 10 May 2017 13:26:28 -0700
Ellen Stewart via grc <grc at maillist.peak.org> wrote:
>  ..... Often, when
> programmers arrive, Winamp is frozen. We usually can reboot and get
> it started, but it seems to be freezing more and more often and at
> present, will not allow CDs and the mic to play through it.
> 
> Do we need to abandon Winamp for a more stable system? What system
> would that be? Is Rivendell a good option? What are the pluses and
> minuses?

Yes, Rivendell is a good option.

In general, if you are having trouble with computers freezing
requiring a reboot, it's usually a hardware problem.

It might be a bad hard drive.  Just one bad bit can cause a problem
like this.  It might be overheating.  It might have a bad fan that is
runnning slow, or maybe there is dust on the CPU heat sink that is
making it run hotter than it should.

You say "very low budget" .. is this a donated computer?

Sometimes wiping it clean (both in a hardware and software sense) and
reinstalling fixes the problem, sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes seems
to fix the problem, but really it defers the problem until you can do
something better. Sometimes trying to reinstall shows off how bad the
computer is, by failing during install.

As Michi sez ....  at the Grassroots Radio Conference, there are
sessions on things like Rivendell, and even how to make the best of
not-so-great equipment.  This year it will be in Albany, NY, Sep 29 -
Oct 2, hosted by WCAA-LP.